Utah official’s speech resonates

Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY

Amid the outpouring of grief after the Orlando nightclub massacre that left 49 people dead, a Republican lieutenant governor in a deep-red state stood at a vigil organized by an LGBT group and apologized.

In an emotional speech, Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox honored the slain and said he was sorry for how he treated kids growing up in his small hometown who he now realizes were gay.

“Over the intervening years, my heart has changed,” he said in the Monday speech. “You have treated me with the kindness, dignity, and respect – the love – that I very often did not deserve. And it has made me love you.”

His words have since resonated around the country and been tweeted by people like Dan Rather and Hillary Clinton.

“There is almost nothing that she and I agree on politically, but if we can agree on this, then that’s something,” Cox said in an interview Friday.

“We’ve become so divided as a country ... but there’s this vast group of us who are just out there who believe we can disagree and still care about each other. It was sad to see that not happen in the moments after this horrific shooting,” Cox said Friday.

People have thanked him for articulating empathy with LGBT people from the perspective of a straight, white man who’s a member of the conservative Mormon faith – one that’s had a strained relationship with the LGBT community.