Dear Senator Weiler:

I have watched the news with a full heart the last few weeks. I have personal friends who have been waiting to be married, and they have finally been given the opportunity to do so. I am proud to be a Utahn, and proud that we were the 18th state to allow same-sex marriages instead of the 50th.

I read today that Utah plans on spending two million dollars to hire outside counsel to fight Judge Shelby's decision. Senator, fifteen percent of Utah children live in poverty(1). Please, please do not allow this money to be spent in such a way. A recent poll (out of BYU) shows that the majority of Utahns no longer feel the way they do when they passed the amendment back in 2004.

"According to a recent poll by the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, 54 percent of Mormons now favor civil unions for same-sex couples, and opposition to any legal recognition has dropped from 69 percent in 2004 — when state voters approved the ban — to 38 percent now."(2)

Senator, if it is not too much to ask, will you tell me what you are doing to make sure that our party of fiscal responsibility does not squander 2 million dollars on a cause that does nothing more than prevent people from exercising their free agency?

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Taylor Ogden

(1) http://www.publicnewsservice.org/2013-09-24/childrens-issues/u-s-census-bureau-15-of-utah-children-live-in-poverty/a34609-1 (2) http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/utahs-battle-over-gay-marriage-is-a-sign-of-a-larger-shift/2013/12/23/82d65988-6c00-11e3-a523-fe73f0ff6b8d_story.html