Gregg’s Gaffe
Let me start this by saying John Gregg is a pretty smart guy. You don’t become Speaker of the House, work for major Fortune 500 companies and become the interim President of a University without knowing what you’re doing. This is why I was surprised at his major gaffe at last night’s gubernatorial debate.
It was on the subject of RFRA and LGBT rights. Gregg stated that the legislature passed a law that prohibited local governments from passing their own human rights ordinances.*
Not true.
There was a bill introduced by Sen. Travis Holdman that would have prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation, but not gender identity. And as part of the original legislation all local HROs would have been superseded by the state law. But there was an uproar and it was later changed to allow existing HROs to stay in place but prohibit any new ones. That bill never got to a vote because the two sides could not agree.
The local HROs are still in effect and Gregg should have known that. In fact, there is no reason why Gregg should not have know that.
As a former Speaker of the House, he of all people should know this process works. As someone who has been running on the LGBT rights issue, he should have known that. And as a candidate who knows that people like me write about people like him, he should have known that.
Now will this derail Gregg’s campaign, not really. But I think it does undermine his credibility somewhat on this issue which has been a foundation for Gregg. And in a close race, little things like this can take on a life of their own.
*I got word that Gregg realized he made a mistake regarding the local HROS and corrected himself in the media availability shortly after the debate.
