Brent Hatch, the son of long-time Utah senator Orrin Hatch, is now running for the Senate himself — and he has asserted the government should stay out of LGBTQ+ issues. Hatch, a Salt Lake City lawyer, said in a recent interview with Newsweek, that he thinks the government largely needs to stay out of these things, and people need to live their lives. Hatch didn’t go into specifics, but it appears he’s distancing himself from many of today’s Republicans, who have made it a priority to attack the LGBTQ+ community, especially its most vulnerable members, such as transgender youth. As a senator, he said, his priorities will include efforts to improve border security and reduce the national debt. He also said he is very clearly pro-life but considers abortion a personal decision. His view of the history of LGBTQ+ rights is somewhat at odds with the facts. Ten to 20 years ago, politicians, activists, and ordinary citizens were talking about LGBTQ+ issues — employment discrimination, hate crimes, marriage equality, and more. As LGBTQ+ people and their allies, mostly liberals, fought for equal rights, conservative forces resisted. Some activists have attributed today’s widespread anti-trans actions as a response to progress made by other segments of the LGBTQ+ community.
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