Repercussions from the Sunday massacre at an Orlando gay nightclub have been many in the past few days. But one of the most unusual came when a politician apologized for his past homophobia.
Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, struggled to keep his composure at a vigil Monday evening in Salt Lake City for victims of the rampage, the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. The emotional and riveting speech has rippled across social media and is being applauded by some in the LGBT community.
Cox started on a light, self-deprecating note, saying "I recognize fully that I am a balding, youngish, middle-age straight, white, male, Republican, politician... with all of the expectations and privileges that come with those labels. I am probably not who you expected to hear from today."
Then he admitted that bullying may have played into his younger years, particularly to those who were gay.
"I grew up in a small town and went to a small rural high school," he told those assembled at the vigil. "There were some kids in my class that were different. Sometimes I wasn't kind to them. I didn't know it at the time, but I know now that they were gay. I will forever regret not treating them with the kindness, dignity and respect — the love — that they deserved. For that, I sincerely and humbly apologize. Over the intervening years, my heart has changed. It has changed because of you."
He went on: "I’m here because, yesterday morning, 49 Americans were brutally murdered. And it made me sad. And it made me angry. And it made me confused. I’m here because those 49 people were gay. I’m here because it shouldn’t matter. But I’m here because it does."
Cox, who supported Marco Rubio in the GOP presidential race, continued to speak bluntly.
"And I am speaking now to the straight community. How did you feel when you heard that 49 people had been gunned down by a self-proclaimed terrorist? That’s the easy question. Here is the hard one: Did that feeling change when you found out the shooting was at a gay bar at 2 a.m. in the morning? If that feeling changed, then we are doing something wrong."
Queerty, an online magazine and newspaper covering the gay-oriented lifestyle, hailed the speech with this headline: "GOP lawmaker gets it right on Orlando attack; this Is the Republican Party we need."
Cox was elected to the Utah House in 2012 and became lieutenant governor in 2013. He is the oldest of eight children and grew up on a farm in Fairview.
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