Summarized by Kent Larsen

LDS Church Lobbying Crucial to King Holiday In Utah
Deseret News 11Mar00 D1
By Edward L. Carter: Deseret News staff writer

PROVO , UTAH -- Utah State Senator John L. Valentine credits LDS Church lobbying for passage of a bill in the just-ended session of the Utah State Legislature. Valentine, speaking to the Provo/Orem Chamber of Commerce on Friday, said that the LDS Church made it clear that it would like to see the "Human Rights Day" holiday changed to "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day" to match the rest of the United States. The legislation made Utah the last U.S. state to name the day after Dr. King.

"I didn't get a call from (church headquarters)," said Valentine to the businesspeople, But, "it was clear that this was something they would like to see done." He said that the Church was seeking to avoid public embarrassment. The Confederate flag flying over the South Carolina statehouse is the only larger issue to civil rights groups, according to Valentine. He indicated that the Church feared that civil rights groups would try to put the issue in the national spotlight as the 2002 Winter Olympics approached, "Some people would be looking for a negative where there wasn't one," Valentine said.

Some Utah legislators felt that Utahns didn't have much of a connection to King, "Some of us felt there have been plenty of people here in the state who have dealt with human rights," said Rep. Jeff Alexander, R-Orem. "To us it was a shame we were just focusing on Martin Luther King." Several representatives on the House Government Operations Committee nearly killed the legislation, but House leaders rescued it in a re-vote, allowing the legislation to get to the House floor, where it was approved.