BYU NewsNet - Huntsman supports civil unions

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman revealed Tuesday that he supports civil unions for gay couples, baffling many political pundits and prompting some to speculate he is planning a presidential run in 2012.

“He could have some kind of aspirations for higher office,” said Quin Monson, a professor of political science who closely follows state politics. “But as a Republican I’m not sure that’s a wise position to take.”

While campaigning for governor in 2004, Huntsman said he supported an amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage and civil unions.

But on Tuesday, Lisa Roskelley, spokeswoman for the governor, said he is in favor of state legislation that would extend additional rights to gays, adding that “he supports civil unions.”

According to a recent Salt Lake Tribune poll, 70 percent of Utahns oppose civil unions, which would give gay and transgender couples many of the same legal rights as married couples. With such a strong majority of the electorate disagreeing with Huntsman’s newly-revealed position, Monson said the news was unexpected.

“It’s quite surprising, not only because it runs counter to public opinion in this state but also because it seems quite unlikely that he’s going to change anything within the legislature in terms of civil unions,” Monson said.

Four bills involving gay rights were introduced to the Utah legislature last month as part of the Common Ground initiative, an effort backed by advocacy group Equality Utah to extend more rights to gay and transgender Utahns. However, the legislators who sponsored two of the bills have already abandoned them, and the remaining ones are unlikely to pass in one of the most conservative state legislatures in the country.

Virtually all national polls, however, show that the majority of Americans support civil unions.

Monson said Huntsman is one of the most popular governors in Utah’s history, but he has repeatedly pledged not to seek a third term.

“It seems he's more concerned with what people outside the state of Utah think of Utah than he is with what people inside Utah think," Jeff Reynolds, spokesman for the conservative think tank Sutherland Institute, told the Associated Press Tuesday. "It would certainly appear that there's some political aspirations to blend more into mainstream national politics with these kind of statements."

However, Huntsman told the AP that he changed his position after consulting with legal experts who told him that supporting civil unions would not threaten the traditional institution of marriage.

"I believe in the traditional definition of marriage, but I also believe that we can do a better job in enhancing equal rights for more of our citizens,” he said.

Noting that Huntsman has yet to introduce a policy proposal, and since most Republicans are opposed to civil unions, Monson said the revelation could simply have been a mistake on the part of his spokeswoman.

“It’s interesting that the news didn’t come from (Huntsman), which makes you wonder if it was a mistake,” Monson said. “If somebody spoke out of turn.”

Huntsman’s spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.