Utah Pride has just announced that this year's recipient of the Pete Suazo Political Action award at this weekend's Pride festival will be none other than soon to be ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman! I think this is just amazing and wanted to share it with you. More after the jump!
In a press release issued today, Utah Pride has announced that Jon Huntsman will receive the Pete Suazo Political Action Award at this weekends festival.
They say
Governor Huntsman is noted for his support of LGBT issues throughout his tenure as Utah Governor.
He has encouraged legislators and policy makers to take the LGBT community’s needs into consideration when developing policy and/or legislation and stepped out to lend his support to the “Common Ground “ initiatives introduced during the 2009 legislative session.
Governor Huntsman is also the first Utah governor to openly support civil unions for same-sex couples in Utah. His public stand on LGBT issues in Utah has brought national attention to LGBT issues and Utah’s LGBT community laying, what some believe, an important foundation for true equality in Utah.
The Pete Suazo award is in honor of Mr. Suazo's tireless fight for passing Hate Crime legislation here in Utah
and former recipients include Rocky Anderson (!) and others who fight for equality here in Utah. Not such an easy battle i might add!
One of the things that the Obama administration has taught me is that really, we need to talk to everyone, even republicans! And I also think that Huntsman is a great choice for the award, as he will be able to have a dialogue with Mormons who supported Prop 8. And isn't that what this is about? Opening up dialogue among diverse groups?
So congrats to Utah Pride for making a great choice. And congrats to Jon Huntsman, who has the integrity to stand up for what he believes in. It's really a great step.
For those of you in SLC this weekend, the Pride festival, which has grown quite large over the years, here is the link to the festival schedule of events. SLC pride