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SALT LAKE CITY — Can an attorney working for the state in its defense of a ban on same-sex marriage also be connected with a political action group that advocates for specific marriage laws?
According to Sen. Jim Dabakis, the answer should be “no.”
“It puts him in a difficult position of having to decide, ‘Who do I represent, the person who is paying my paycheck now or the person who has promised to give me a paycheck in a month or so?’ ” Dabakis said.
Dabakis was one of the first to marry his same-sex partner after Judge Robert Shelby struck down Utah's ban on gay marriage.
He thinks attorney Gene Schaerr is facing a conflict of interest. Schaerr is currently the special outside counsel in charge of defending Utah’s same-sex marriage ban. When that’s done, he will work with the conservative think tank Sutherland Institute.
Dabakis said it’s inappropriate for Schaerr to have a working relationship with Sutherland, just as it would be if he had a similar relationship with same-sex marriage supporters Equality Utah.
The questions about a potential conflict of interest came up after Schaerr and the Attorney General’s Office advised lawmakers not to consider bills related to LGBT matters, essentially killing Sen. Steve Urquhart’s non-discrimination bill for this year.
“The question was, ‘Was that a part of his responsibility for the state?’ ” Dabakis said.
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Sutherland Institute President Paul Mero said Dabakis’ claims are baseless and that he’s trying to create a political distraction from Schaerr’s arguments supporting a same-sex marriage ban.
“Attorney Schaerr isn’t on Sutherland’s payroll,” Mero said.
Sutherland didn’t want the moratorium Schaerr pushed for, Mero added.
“Sutherland Institute opposed the moratorium that killed the non-discrimination bill because it also killed our religious freedom bills that were in play,” he said.
