A group of young people incensed over the demise of a conversion therapy bill in the Utah Legislature staged a sit-in outside Gov. Gary Herbert’s office on Thursday, resolved not to move until the state’s chief executive had apologized.
At 2 p.m., Amelia Damarjian and Isaac Reese, both 19, were the first to arrive for the demonstration over Herbert’s decision to support dramatic changes to the bill. The legislation sponsored by Rep. Craig Hall was initially written to protect LGBTQ youths from the widely discredited practice of conversion therapy, or attempts to alter sexual orientation or gender identity.