His move to eject was a mistake, as Chair Jolley quickly realized. He backed off when he saw how he'd suddenly created a hotbed of furies. After four hours of debate, the two Councilwomen, Joanne Milner and Deeda Seed as well as one male, Councilman Tom Rogan , voted to retain the gay/lesbian protective law.

But these votes on behalf of simple fairness were not enough. They were nullified by four other Councilmen: Council Chairman Bryce Jolley, Roger Thompson, Carlton Christensen and Keith Christensen—all of whom stood on the side of repeal. These four men thereby ignored the nearly 80 people who'd asked the Salt Lake City Council to retain its job-protective ordinance (See GayToday, Archives, World feature, December 11, 1997). Only 16 persons, in fact, had spoken in favor of actual repeal.

The University of Utah and Salt Lake County have both adopted existing employment nondiscrimination policies. In an area where The Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) is the predominant force behind local mores, however, and in which Salt Lake City is, in fact, Mormonism's world capital, local news reports say that the Council's vote was expected.

What was not expected was a valiant attempt by Councilman Tom Rogan who moved to adopt a statement nearly identical to the rapidly repealed ordinance. The Council was thrown off balance, but was assured by City Attorney Roger Cutler that because the action hadn't received public notice prior to the meeting, voting on it would count for nothing.

"Preposterous," retorted Rogan

Councilwoman Deeda Seed told the assembled citizens and her fellow Councilmembers that "tonight we (are) taking a giant step backwards…I'm at a loss for words to explain how sad that makes me."

Protest signs were brandished in the hallways with slogans such as "Bigotry is OK if done with a smile. Jolley 3:3."

Chair Jolley, as he summed up the quasi-religious crusade he'd led to repeal the protective law, said "I felt the majority of people in Salt Lake were (served) tonight, even though they weren't represented at the meeting. But its not something I want to go through again."

Councilwoman Seed charged that the Salt Lake City Council had opened floodgates to discrimination, sending "a message to these people (employers in the city) that its OK to discriminate."