Xander Gordon is running what could be a historic race.
If he's elected to the Murray Board of Education, gay rights advocates and a community historian believe he'll be the state's first openly gay school board member.
Gordon, a 31-year-old social worker for the Division of Child and Family Services, acknowledges that being gay may be a "big deal here in Utah," where family values are deeply carved.
"I don't identify that as part of what motivates me to be involved," he said. "It's not an agenda. . . . If I were a board member, I would advocate for equal treatment for all students."
Gordon said it's critical that school boards are aware of issues students face, including safety. Bullying and gangs are two key issues that he feels schools need to address.
"Schools need to be safe," he said. "We entrust our children to the schools for pretty much the major chunk of their day."
Gordon earned the most votes in a three-candidate primary, over Tom Henry and incumbent Lloyd Naylor.
"I don't know where (Gordon) stands on issues. All I can say is where I stand — as a candidate for traditional family values," Naylor said. "I do know traditional values, and I do know my record. I've been on the board eight years, and I've been a very solid voice."
Gordon is among Utah candidates backed by the Victory Fund, a national group that supports openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender candidates.
Mike Thompson, executive director of Equality Utah, said the gay rights advocacy group will interview local candidates for potential endorsement early next month.
In an online endorsement of Gordon, the Victory Fund said "With your help, Xander, a strong, progressive voice fighting for our nation's future, can succeed in his fight against a 'family values' incumbent."
Said Naylor: "I don't think they could have paid me a higher compliment."
Community historian Ben Williams and representatives of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Utah, and Equality Utah, said they weren't aware of any past sitting gay school board member.
Valerie Larabee, executive director of the center, downplayed Gordon's orientation, saying what's important is that school board members be willing to put their religion aside and have tough conversations about what's really going on in schools.
"If you have a member of the gay community who is also a school board member, that's a different level of understanding because you have the gay experience," she said. "All school board members have the capacity to develop compassion and understanding for the issues facing kids."
Matters involving gay students have come up in Murray School District in the past two years.
In 2004, two Murray High students, who said they were gay, received permission to pair up in the junior prom's time-honored promenade at the Capitol rotunda. When one of the girls left town before the dance, a straight friend stood in for her. Case law supported the district's decision, which district officials said the decision was made for students' sake, even though it stirred controversy among community conservatives.
A year ago, a lesbian pair were featured in Murray High's yearbook as "cutest couple" — a title earned by popular vote. School and district officials stressed the importance of tolerance and acceptance when commenting on the matter.
"That had the potential to be a very bad situation and it turned out wonderful for the student body and youth involved," Larabee said. "I feel they handled that very well."
But handling isolated issues well doesn't mean the Murray community has taken a more liberal turn.
"(Those) were out of the same 400 students, and they're just two kids," Naylor said. "Seems to me to be a very small group."
E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com