Gay Rights Activists Arrested In Utah

Thirteen Utah gay rights activists were arrested on Monday at the state Capitol after a sit-in to demand lawmakers hear a bill barring housing and job discrimination based on sexual orientation, authorities said. About 20 activists, buoyed by a court ruling that briefly legalized same-sex marriage in the conservative state, had blocked access to part of the Capitol. They said they would not leave unless the Utah Senate president ensured the bill would get a hearing.

"For five years, the Utah legislature has refused to hear a non-discrimination bill. We're tired of their excuses, we're tired of the delays," organizer Troy Williams said as the protest started outside the governor's office. Thirteen of the activists were arrested after they moved their protest to the doorway of a Senate committee hearing and blocked entry to the room. They were being held on suspicion of disorderly conduct, according to Utah Department of Public Safety spokesman Dwayne Baird.

The protesters were released about six hours after the arrests. They were greeted outside the jail by some two dozen supporters who cheered and snapped cell phone camera photos of the group. The protest came after heavily Mormon Utah temporarily became the 18th U.S. state to legalize gay marriage when a federal judge overturned a state ban on same-sex nuptials as unconstitutional in December. That ruling was put on hold by the U.S. Supreme Court, but not before about 1,400 gay couples tied the knot.

The bill activists were seeking to have heard at the state legislature, which includes a religious exemption for churches, would make it illegal to use sexual orientation as a justification for discrimination in job and housing issues.