Senator Scott McCoy (D-Salt Lake City District 2), Utah’s first openly gay senator, has announced his resignation from the Utah Legislature effective at the end of the week, according to a Salt Lake Tribune article.
Although he has indicated he will still seek political office at some point in the future, for now this is sad news for Utahns.
“We feel Senator McCoy was not just an advocate for the [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community, but for Utahns as a whole,” said Brandie Balken, executive director of Equality Utah. She said his service helped to break down stereotypes and the group is confident that whoever replaces him will also represent the LGBT community.
Even McCoy’s fellow legislators who often opposed his stances on issues says he will be missed.
Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, who was majority leader during much of McCoy’s tenure and clashed with the outspoken Democrat on occasion, said McCoy’s departure is “unfortunate.”
“I think it will be a loss,” he said. “Scott’s a very capable legislator. Philosophically, Scott and I came at issues from entirely different points of view, but I found in working with him, he was a man of his word. He demonstrated integrity, courage. … Even through some of the challenges we’ve had in the last couple of years, Scott always maintained a very dignified and professional decorum.”
Recognizing the difficulties of being a part time legislator, McCoy has announced that his legal career needs his full time attention right now and that he needed to step down to focus entirely on that.
Democratic Party delegates are currently deciding on a replacement.
Filed under: Equality, Gay rights, Human rights, Legislators, Utah Legislature
[...] Former Utah Senator Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake District 2, Utah’s first openly gay senator, announced his resignation from politics on December 9, [...]