Same-sex marriage in Utah?

On February 10, 2009, UPI had an article about Governor Huntsman backing a civil union law for same sex couples:

The Republican governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman, backs a proposal that would give same-sex couples the right to civil unions in the state.

A spokeswoman said Monday that Huntsman backs legalizing civil unions, as well as the Common Ground Initiative, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. The initiative is a package of legislation on gay rights that is now two bills, down from four.

Polls show 70 percent of Utah voters oppose civil unions.

On February 11, I posted the article to a message board and said:

This should hurt his chances of running as the next Republican candidate for President. Although most Republicans overlooked Romney's liberal views.

Someone asked me:

Just curious. What were Romney's liberal views?

I responded with:

Right now the ones that come to mind were his views on abortion, gay rights, and spending. He did dump most of those views so he could be considered a legitimate Republican candidate.

Someone else posted:

Well, I support the idea of civil unions if not full-blown marriage rights, and Huntsman is conservative enough to get my vote anytime. But hey, you can tell by my sig, right?

I responded with:

I was thinking of you when I started this post. Sadly, I probably know less about his views than you do. He does seem to understand economics and how to manage a government. Plus he is fluent in Mandarin which could be helpful. In his State of the State address he mentioned a study that found Utah is one of the best run states.