This Day in Gay Utah History JULY 23rd

JULY 23

1900 Ogden Standard Examiner page 4 OAKLANDS CHIEF OF POLICE WAS IN OGDEN SEVERAL HOURS YESTERDAY S. C. Hodgkins, chief of police of Oakland Cal., was in Ogden several hours yesterday and visited the city police department and sheriff’s office. Hodgkin went to see [Mike] McCormick who was this morning sentenced to eight years in the penitentiary tor sodomy. He says McCormick was formerly a prize fighter and had a hard record in the west and especially at Oakland and San Francisco.

• 1900 Ogden Standard Examiner page 5 THREE SENT TO THE PEN McCormick gets an eight year sentence, Wilson and Powers six years. The trio sent up for sodomy. This morning Judge Rolapp in the second district court sentenced Mike McCormick to eight years in the penitentiary and George Powers and Fred Wilson to six years each, all on the same charge sodomy of which they were convicted last week.  Sheriff Layne took the trio to the pen this afternoon

1969 Wednesday The 3rd and last Community Action Meeting was held again at

St. John’s in New York City in response to the Stonewall Rebellion.  Marty Robinson attempted to interest straight Villagers in the problems of the Gay world.  Very Few straight or Gay Villagers even turned out. Robinson was blamed for the failure of the community meetings by not keeping committee members informed and the Mattachine Society was accused of having a lack of interest in the group.

• Martin Robinson, 49, Organizer Of Demonstrations for Gay Rights New York Times published 24 March 1992 Martin Robinson, an organizer for gay-rights causes for 27 years who was known for his provocative protests, died on Thursday at home in Brooklyn. He was 49 years old.  He died of complications of AIDS, friends said.  Mr. Robinson was present at a catalytic event in the gay-rights movement, when the police raided the Stonewall, a Greenwich Village bar patronized by gay men, in 1969.  Such raids were common, but for the first time the customers resisted and fought back. Afterward, a rally in Sheridan Square drew 2,000 sympathizers. Mr. Robinson, who had been active in the Mattachine Society, the main organization for homosexuals until then, was a lead speaker. A New Era of Activism The Stonewall riot became a symbol that galvanized many gay men and women and started a new era of activism. At the forefront, Mr. Robinson co-founded the Gay Activist Alliance and the Lavender Hill Mob. He was also active in the Gay Liberation Front and was a founding member of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, or Act Up.  He helped develop "zaps," inventive and confrontational protests, such as infiltrating someone else's event, grabbing the microphone and upstaging the proceedings.  Mayor John V. Lindsay was interrupted at a ceremony marking the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 100th anniversary, in an effort to prod him into stronger support for gay rights legislation. Such tactics often caused resentment but also got attention and sometimes won access. Pressure on Dick Cavett persuaded him to give Mr. Robinson the platform of an appearance on national television. Sometimes Mr. Robinson resorted to more conventional methods, like testifying before the Presidential Commission on AIDS in 1987.  Mr. Robinson was born in Brooklyn and attended New York University. He worked as a union carpenter specializing in residential remodeling.    Surviving are two sisters, Esther of Staten Island and Dorothy of Minneapolis.

1979 - " Karl Idsvoog picked me up. We watched the Andrew Welch documentary at the Channel 2 studios. It is helping me prepare what I want to say. He drove me home and I gave him some Christmas cookies..... I still fear some type of reprisal from the Church, its security or a berserk member. My friend David (not Chipman ) called. He worked in the genealogical department in the church office building. He had a gay male companion but lived with his parents. His mother was very ill. He had been questioned at work concerning being homosexual. He was turned in by a fellow employee. The Bishop was going to the Stake President with these reports so David was concerned how this would affect his mother's health. David decided to resign his position. I tried to be empathetic. [Diary of Donald Attridge]

1985-A publicist for Hollywood legend Rock Hudson announced that he was being

Rock Hudson

treated for inoperable liver cancer in Paris as a cover up that he had AIDS.

Sharon Kolwaski & Karen Thompson

1985-After a two-year legal battle a Minnesota judge granted custody of Sharon Kowalski to her father rather than her lover, Karen Thompson. After Kowalski was severely disabled her father put her in a nursing home and forbade visits by Thompson. Thompson would continue the legal fight, but it would be over three years before she would see Kowalski again.

1987-At its national convention in Miami Florida

Joseph Ratzinger

, Dignity voted to peacefully challenge the Vatican's “Ratzinger letter” which referred to homosexuality as " a strong tendency to behavior which is intrinsically evil." Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons” (often called the Halloween Letter by its detractors, as it was released in late October 1986) was  written by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became the future Pope Benedict XVI. He opposed civil rights for gays and lesbians, barred churches from allowing organizations which do not agree with church teachings on homosexuality from using church facilities, and suggested that anti-gay violence should not come as a surprise to society. The Vision Statement of says that DignityUSA envisions and works for a time when Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Catholics are affirmed and experience dignity through the integration of their spirituality with their sexuality, and as beloved persons of God participate fully in all aspects of life within the Church and Society.

1987-President Reagan announced the formation of a presidential commission on AIDS. None of the 13 members was an expert on AIDS. It included Richard DeVos, political ally of Pat Robertson; homophobic New York Archbishop John Cardinal O'Connor; and Penny Pullen, associate of Phyllis Schlafley. It was viewed as an embarrassment by medical authorities, a joke by the gay community, and a fiasco by several members of the Reagan administration.

1988 Saturday- This morning about 9 a.m. Beau Chaine, Dan Fahndrich, John Reeves, and I drove up to the YMCA  Camp Rogers to check things out for Beyond Stonewall. Beau is going to make large welcoming banners for Beyond Stonewall. Dan Fahndrich checked out the nature hiking trails.  Beau Chaine also told me to take PMS Midol for the muscle spasm pain I am in and he gave me some and they really worked.

1989 Sunday- I went to Quaker Meeting this morning and sat with Robert Smith and Robert Erichsson, Rocky O'Donavan's lover.  Rocky was at a meeting with Liza Smart concerning their trip to Berkley, California to lecture in behalf of the Gay Historical Society of Utah.  After the meeting Robert Smith came over to my place and gave me some bamboo poles to hold up the banner I made for Gay Pride Day which is next weekend.  Mike Pipkim left for home to Moab for the weekend so Robert and I were alone to talk about the Sacred Faeries.  He was excited and wanted to know what he had to do to join and I said just have your medicine cards read which I can do.  Robert Smith was my first card reading and I felt privileged to do so. His main totem is the Dragonfly-Illusions however I think he mainly identified with his coyote medicine. The trickster or Loki in the European tradition.  At 5 p.m. Robert Smith and I went to the Gay Community Center planning meeting which was at Jim Hunsaker's house since he is the chair of the committee.  Only thing really agreed upon was that we ought to look at buying a building rather than renting.  The next meeting is on Aug 6th at 5 p.m. Later Robert Austin picked me up at 6:15 p.m. because we were supposed to do a program on K-Talk radio about Gay Pride Day at Sunnyside Park. Rocky O’Donavan was suppose to meet us also but we heard that he was out with Terry Trout the Radical Faerie from California so we left for the station without him.  At the last possible second he came charging in and joined us just in time. All three of us were on the Steve House's show doing live radio.  We had two negative callers but the rest were pretty supportive.  We were only there for an hour but I think we more than held our own. [Journal of Ben Williams]

1992 SLTRIBUNE Page: B3 CO-FOUNDER OF UTAH AIDS COALITION DIES AT 32 IN TEXAS David Sharpton, co-founder of the People With AIDS Coalition of Utah, died of complications from the disease early Wednesday at a Dallas hospital. He was 32. ``He was in terrible pain,'' said his mother, Doreen Sharpton, ``but was brave and courageous to the very end.'' Mr. Sharpton had returned to Lancaster, Texas, in February as the disease progressed, and had been hospitalized for two weeks. His mother and other family members were at his bedside. As death approached, among those sending letters of support was Gov. Norm Bangerter, who cited Mr. Sharpton's ``valiant effort to continue life to its fullest given your physical restraints.'' Mr. Sharpton, who converted to Mormonism in his early teens but was excommunicated after revealing his homosexuality, often said he had moved to Utah in 1987 ``to fulfill the church mission I never had an opportunity to fulfill earlier.'' He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1985. Along with Tom Lindsey, he founded the Utah coalition and conducted a high-profile, public-information campaign, saying he had encountered ``so much ignorance [about AIDS] that no one here was really speaking out.'' ``David felt people in the Salt Lake City area hadn't fully come to grips with the AIDS crisis,'' said Ken Verdoia, senior producer at KUED-Channel 7 at the University of Utah and producer of an upcoming documentary on Mr. Sharpton. Some 3 1/2 years in the making, ``Remembering David'' will be aired nationally in September by PBS. ``David agreed that the disease should be chronicled,'' said Mr. Verdoia. The documentary ``graphically shows how the disease claimed every aspect of this man, who once stood so tall.'' The producer last visited Mr. Sharpton in Texas three weeks ago. In 1988, Mr. Sharpton addressed the 7,000-member U.S. Conference of Mayors on behalf of the National Association of People With AIDS, with which the local coalition is affiliated. ``I have as much right as anyone to live and die with dignity,'' he said shortly after moving to Utah. ``I will probably die of AIDS,'' which he described as part of everyone's life. ``But death is no longer my enemy. It is my friend.'' Mr. Sharpton was born Feb. 8, 1960, in Kimball, Neb., a son of Wayne and Doreen Robinson Sharpton. He was educated in Nebraska and Lancaster, Texas, public schools, and worked as an interior designer in Dallas. Survivors include his mother of Lancaster; brothers and sisters, Dennis Byers, Dallas; Daniel Byers, White House, Texas; DeeAnne Richard and Donna Richard, both Emporia, Kan.; numerous nieces and nephews, and a special cousin, DeeDee Raye of Arlington, Texas. ``David was the first person with AIDS in Utah to come forward and say, `I am not going to live in the shadows because I am a human being.' '' -- Ken Verdoia on the late David Sharpton, the focus of a KUED, Channel 7, documentary. KUED wins award ``Remembering David,'' a one-hour KUED special that chronicles the final years of the late Utah AIDS activist David Sharpton, has been awarded a Gabriel in the 1993 Gabriel competition. The show was written and produced by Ken Verdoia, KUED's senior producer, with photography by Carl Siebert. The Gabriel competition is sponsored by the National Catholic Association for Professional Communicators and is focused on radio and television programming. ``The Gabriel Award is given in recognition of a program or series that enriches viewers with a true vision of humanity and life,'' said Scott Chaffin, director of broadcasting for KUED, the Salt Lake City- based PBS affiliate. The documentary is available on videocassette from University of Utah Press.

• DAVID SHARPTON, WHO HELPED FOUND UTAH AIDS COALITION, DIES IN DALLAS Associated Press Published: Thursday, July 23 1992 12:00 a.m. MDT David Sharpton, co-founder of the People With AIDS Coalition of Utah, has died of complications related to the disease. Mr. Sharpton died early Wednesday at a Dallas hospital. He was 32."He was in terrible pain," said his mother, Doreen Sharpton, "but was brave and courageous to the very end." Mr. Sharpton had returned to Lancaster, Texas, in February as the disease progressed and had been hospitalized for two weeks. His mother and other family members were at his bedside. As death approached, among those sending letters of support was Gov. Norm Bangerter. He cited Mr. Sharpton's "valiant effort to continue life to its fullest." He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1985. Along with Tom Lindsey, he founded the Utah coalition and conducted a high-profile, public-information campaign. "David felt people in the Salt Lake City area hadn't fully come to grips with the AIDS crisis," said Ken Verdoia, senior producer at KUED and producer of an upcoming documentary on Sharpton.  Some 3 1/2 years in the making, "Remembering David" will be aired nationally in September by PBS. The documentary "graphically shows how the disease claimed every aspect of this man, who once stood so tall," said Verdoia, who last visited Mr. Sharpton in Texas three weeks ago. In 1988, Mr. Sharpton addressed the 7,000-member U.S. Conference of Mayors on behalf of the National Association of People With AIDS, with which the local coalition is affiliated. "I have as much right as anyone to live and die with dignity," he said shortly after moving to Utah. "I will probably die of AIDS . . . but death is no longer my enemy."

23 July 1992 Some awful and depressing news today. When I came home from an evening at the genealogical library Jeff Workman said that Gary Boren had called. Gary heard that David Sharpton had died yesterday. I was so stunned I burst into tears. I cried and cried. Dave Ball was here and the dear fellow was so sympathetic. He didn't really know who David was but he tried to comfort me. David Sharpton gone! I almost have to pinch myself to really believe how many people are gone. David seemed so invincible and if anyone was going to beat this thing it was going to be him. The last few times we were together he'd always say that he was dying and that he was going to die but I just could never accept it. Not if you knew David at all. He died in Texas at home. As soon as I calmed down I began the weary task of informing people. I tried calling people but no one was home. I left a message for Gary to call me back and he finally called back after midnight. Gary said he only heard about David's death because he happened to be at the Stonewall Center and heard Michael Angotti, David's lover, make an announcement at the Youth Group. David Sharpton really represents for me the old days when we were so full of piss and vinegar. God could it only have been five years ago that I met David? So many changes in the community these last five years. So many deaths. Nothing changes yet everything changes. I am so upset right now I'm not able to even write what I feel. David "Sharp Tongue "gone! Darryl Webber gone! David Reed gone! I know its hard for Jeff to understand my loss. I asked him to try to imagine that within the next five years many of your dearest friends now so full of life and fun will be gone. That is the face of AIDS for me. [Journal of Ben Williams]

• 24 July 1992  I called a lot of people today to let them know about David Sharpton's death. There was an excellent article on David in the Salt Lake Tribune eulogizing him. It mentioned that he was the co- founder of the People With AIDS Coalition here in Utah and mentioned all his AIDS education awareness programs he promoted. Rev. Bruce Barton told me that David died at home in Texas and that he had a series of strokes towards the end which virtually incapacitated him. He died with his mother by his side. I guess David went home to Texas from California because he couldn't get medical assistance there. [Journal of Ben Williams]
• 26 July 1992 I called some more people about David Sharpton's death. It has affected me more than I thought it would.
• 27 July 1992 I took a bus down to the Stonewall Center to meet with Melissa Sillitoe, Mike Angotti, and two their friends of David to plan a memorial service for him here in Salt Lake. We decided to hold it next Sunday at 6 pm at the Resurrection MCC. I gave them some money to help defray the costs of the wake to be held the following Monday.

Mike Leavitt

1993 Two women with AIDS have rejected the governor's offer not to enforce a state law invalidating marriages with partners infected with the disease. The proposal will not ``magically validate marriages'' that the state now decrees illegal, the women's attorney contends. On Thursday, Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt agreed to issue a temporary injunction staying enforcement of the 1987 law until the Legislature meets next January. He also said he would urge lawmakers to repeal the statute. If they refuse, he said, the state would continue to not enforce the law until a federal judge decides whether it is constitutional.  ``The attorney general and I agree this law should be repealed,'' the governor said in a prepared statement. But plaintiff Cindy Kidd, who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1991, will not wait. ``They've missed the point,'' said the 36-year-old Salt Lake City woman. ``Prosecutors are not enforcing the law now. But what about third parties? My insurance company may say `Oops! We won't pay your health bill because you weren't legally married.' Then what?''  Even if the Legislature were to repeal the law, said Ms. Kidd's attorney, Brian Barnard, the action would not ``magically validate marriages that were illegal

Brian Barnard

when they occurred.'' The state would also have to pay damages suffered from consequences of invalidating the marriages, he said. Last week, Mr. Barnard filed a suit on behalf of Cindy and Brian Kidd; a second, unidentified couple, and children of both marriages. He argues that under existing state law, the children could lose health-care, insurance and Social Security benefits upon the death of their mothers. ``What the state is proposing is nonsense,'' Mr. Barnard said. ``The damage is done. Like HIV-infected persons . . . vulnerable to opportunistic diseases, our clients are vulnerable to opportunistic insurance companies, governmental entities and

persons waiting to take advantage of the void marriage.'' Ms. Kidd did not know she was ill when she was married in 1991. Her husband adopted her 8-year-old twins, but she contends they would have no legal claim to their adoptive father's estate should she die. Another woman, identified in the lawsuit only as ``T.E.P.,'' (Peggy Tingey) was diagnosed with AIDS after her 1989 marriage. She fears her biological child could be considered illegitimate under current law. On Wednesday, the woman's child, who also has AIDS, was hospitalized. Mr. Barnard wants the governor to consent to an immediate court ruling on whether the 1987 law violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Utah is the only state that annuls a marriage if a partner contracts AIDS. (07/23/93 Page: B1 SLTribune)

1994- Saturday Chance W. Tingey, age 4, died from pneumonia brought on by  AIDS.  Chance was born March 7, 1990 in Salt Lake City to William L. and Peggy E. Moss Tingey. Chance was a beautiful child and gave us much joy. He educated thousands on the tragedy of  AIDS and touched many hearts. Nephew of Becky Moss host of Concerning Gays and Lesbians on KRCL.

2002 Diane Hartz Warsoff to Chad Keller: Hello to UNA Members and Friends, Below is a job announcement for the Gay & Lesbian Community Center. Please contact them directly, not UNA.  This job will also be posted on our website. Jolaine Randall Utah Nonprofits Association Hospitality & Retail Program Manager Application Deadline: August 15, 2001  General Job Description: The Stonewall building (361 N 300 W) will become GLCCU’s major hospitality center. The Hospitality Center will be the first point of contact for many people. The Program Manager will be responsible for identifying and pursuing the vision of the Hospitality Center including creating a welcoming environment; maintaining a strong customer service philosophy; identifying and handling all retail sales for GLCCU. General duties include overseeing and managing staff, product development and sales, ensuring multiple use of the building, and maintaining all records pertinent to the duties of this job. Will report directly to the Executive Director.  Specific Tasks/Duties 1) Oversee management of building at 361 N 300 W, which houses Stonewall Coffee Shop, an information/resource area, GLCCU’s gallery and a public meeting space/lounge. 2) Design, develop and execute GLCCU’s Hospitality Center program including budget, staffing needs; training program; all operations including hours of operation and use of meeting space. 3) Management of all staff (both paid and volunteer). 4) Set up training program for all staff & volunteers for both retail and hospitality including orientation to all programs and services provided by GLCCU and it’s affiliates; policies & procedures for GLCCU and any additional policies as developed for the operation of building 361. 5) Product development and purchase including display, and marketing. Note: All product carried must be in alignment with the hospitality centers’ goals and mission. 6) Financial management - tracking daily receipts and register tapes, COGS, making daily deposits and reconciliation of register tapes, pricing and sales of products and maintaining established budget for all assigned operations (generally program based, not facility). 7) Will spend a minimum of 16 hours as the primary staff person on site (working behind the coffee bar). General Requirements: • Requires a flexible schedule, working some weekend and evening hours. May require personal transportation resource. • Attend weekly management staff meetings. qualifications Experience managing a food service or related facility. • Strong bookkeeping background • Management skills, both personnel & facility • Procurement & product development experience desired. Compensation: Full time salaried position, $22,000 and $26,000 DOE. Raises are dependent upon funding resources, which include sales of product, and/or other secured funding (e.g. grants, workforce). Benefits include Health care, dental plan and pension plan after 3 years of employment, 2 weeks paid vacation and 15 personal days annually (10 holidays plus 5 personal days). Probationary period 3 mths, Salary & performance review annually thereafter. To apply submit the following: 1) Cover letter 2) Resume 3) Three references – two of the references should have direct knowledge of your work experience but were not direct supervisors. One reference may be personal. Apply: Submit resume, cover letter and three references to Hospitality Program Manager Search; Executive Director, 355 N 300 W, 1st Floor, Salt Lake City, UT 84103. Deadline for application is August 15th, 2002.

2003 Wednesday, Subject: Kiosks Money Ben Williams to Paula Wolfe- Dear Paula, Looking in my picture document files I found a downloaded copy of the original contract USHS made in May that I had copied for my files. I hadn't thought to look there thinking it was a word document. The printed copy was signed and brought to the center. I also have attached a signed copy of the contract you sent today. I made a hard copy, signed that one, and am sending it to you as an attachment. If you need a hard copy for your files you can either print the attachments or I will be happy to bring a hard copy down to your office today. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.  Sincerely Ben Williams Class of '69

• Subject Kiosks Money Paula Wolfe to Ben Williams Thanks, Ben. The printout should be all we need. See you on the 10th. I believe formal invitations will be emailed later this week. Paula

 2003 Subject: Community Partners Dinner Erin Litvack- Dear Utah Pride 2003 Community Partners, Please join us for the Utah Pride Community Partner Dinner. This dinner will be held to say "thank you" to your organizations for partnering with Utah Pride 2003.  We will be providing dinner and beverages, as well as presenting each organization with your check for all your hard work. We ask you to invite up to 6 members from your organizations.  We encourage you to include staff, board members and volunteers to attend. Here are the details: Utah Pride 2003 Community Partner Dinner Sunday, August 10, 2003 6:00 pm Stonewall Coffee Shop (Italian Cafe') 361 North 300 West Please RSVP to Erin Litvack with your 6 participants by Monday, August 4th at 539-8800 x 12 or elitvack@glccu.com. Thank you for everything and we look forward to celebrating all of our success together! See you on the 10th! Warm regards, Erin Litvack

• Subject: Community Partners Dinner Ben Williams to Mark Swonson Mark, Could you attend this function to get the check for the Kiosks? Chad and I won't be available to attend but to the rest of the board if six want to go hey its a free dinner. Please contact Mark if you are planning on attending so that he can RSVP Litvack. Ben
• Subject: Community Partner Dinner Ben Williams to Chad Keller- I would rather choke than sit down to dinner with those people after trying to weasel out of paying us for the Kiosks…especial Litvak…she was so nasty to me. Thank Gawd I made a copy of the application or they would have screwed us…like having the Kiosks at Pride Day weren’t enough?
• Subject: Community Partner Banquet Mark Swonson to Ben Williams Yes, I will attend this event!
• 25 Jul 2003 Subject: Community Partnership Banquet Mark Swonson to Ben Williams Ben- So far me, Cathy, and maybe Chad will go. I will wait till the Aug 4th because they need to know by the 5th of August. We will not know how many Board members want to go till the Aug. 4th. Then I will rsvp. We still should be at my apartment depending how fast my brother gets to my place. So far you and Michael Picardi agreed to help me move. Thanks

2004  Dr. John Reeves PhD former resident of Utah and cofounder of Beyond Stonewall married Jimmy Hamamoto, former KRCL disc jockey and member of Utah’s Sacred Faeries are married at Boston City Hall, Massachusetts with a reception on July 24th in the backyard of the "Oldest House in Cambridge", Massachusetts. “Former SLC activists to marry in Massachusetts  Many people who know Jimmy Hamamoto know that he moved to Boston in 1996. The KRCL family may not know that he and his partner, John Reeves are planning to be married on July 23 in Boston. I am hosting a reception at my home on Saturday, July 10th from 5:00 pm - on. We will have a videocam set up so people can record good wishes and thoughts for Jimmy and John. People can call me at or just show up on Saturday, July 10, after 5:00 p.m. Bring an appetizer, salad or dessert to share. I hope to see you there Susan K.” (USHS Note-Dr. John Reeves was Vice Chair of the Gay and Lesbian Community Council of Utah in 1988, and co founder of Beyond Stonewall a Gay and Lesbian Weekend Retreat held at Camp Rogers. He now teaches sociology courses at Bunker Hill College in Mass. Jimmy Hamamoto was vice president of Lesbian and Gay Student Union at the U of U in 1979 and was a member of the Sacred Faeries from 1990-1995, a Gay men's spiritual path founded in SLC in 1989. He was a host of several obscure music programs on KRCL for over 10 years. Jimmy is heavily involved in reanimating the Radical Faerie movement of Boston

2005 Volunteers Needed at the GLBTQ Youth Activity Center – Volunteer training on July 23 Make a difference in the lives of GLBTQ young people by volunteering at the Youth Activity Center , a program of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center of Utah. Volunteers are needed to support ongoing programs, to help develop new programming, to staff the youth drop-in center, and to help with administrative tasks. Many positions require a weekly commitment of 3-4 hours. Some positions require a monthly commitment of 4-6 hours. Other volunteer possibilities could include a onetime activity or event. Responsibilities may include the following: Welcome, support, listen to, and refer young people. Foster a warm, welcoming, and pleasant atmosphere. Accurately report and document data, events, and happenings. Build relationships with and between youth. Participate in volunteer meetings and development trainings as requested by the Director of Youth Programs. Abide by the protocols and standards of the GLBT Community Center. Report any incidents involving abuse of, by, or against youth clients. Contribute creativity, skills, perspective, influence, resources, and associations to youth programs. Consider

Stan Burnett

voices not present or not represented. Participate in discussions, fulfill assignments, and contribute to orderly problem-solving and decision-making processes. Interested volunteers must: Pay for and successfully pass a background check. Attend initial and ongoing volunteer training. Demonstrate expertise or competence that will help the Youth Activity Center meet its goals and objectives. Prove to be reliable, consistent, and committed to the mission and philosophy of the Youth Activity Center . The Youth Activity Center (355 N. 300 W) will host a volunteer training on Saturday, July 23 from 9pm to 1pm. If you are interested in committing to the future of GLBTQ youth, email Stan Burnett

2006 Sunday  Naked Days of '47 Campout Sunday July 23, 2006 6:00 pm - 6:00 am This event does not repeat. The next reminder for this event will be sent in 10 days, 4 minutes.  Event Location: Broken Arrow Beach  Street: This is your chance to finally get the gumption up and join us!  Celebrate Pionekkid Day in the buff! Join Utah Male Naturists for an overnighter at Utah's nude 'beach' near Stansbury Island. Bring water, something to grill or eat, sunscreen, bug spray, a good attitude and friends. Stay overnight or join us just for the evening. We're working on some fun activities as well. Naked Twister? Bodypainting? Hmmmmm... We'll have a caravan out for those who don't know the way. Meet at 5:45pm at the Saltair parking lot and we'll leave at 6pm. The 'beach' is about 45 minutes west of Saltair. Passenger cars should have no problems. Must be 18.

2006 EMPEROR KIM RUSSO XXXI, PRINCESS ROYALE VANESSA VAUGHN XXXI, CROWN PRINCE PARKER HARE XXXI, Along With The Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire Present BARBEQUE IN THE PARK WITH THE GAY AND LESBIAN SOFTBALL LEAGUE SUNDAY, JULY 23RD A BENEFIT FOR THE PEOPLE’S CONCERN FUND JORDON PARK (900 West 1100 South) 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Hamburgers, hotdogs, chips…$3.00, $4.00, OR $5.00 Suggested Donation COME AND MEET THE MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL COURT AND GET TO KNOW THE POSITIVE AND GOOD WORK THAT THE ORGANIZATION DOES.   THE ROYAL COURT IS COMMITTED TO SERVING THE COMMUNITY!!! COME AND JOIN US FOR THIS WORTHY BENEFIT

Joe Redburn, Chad Keller, Francine

2007 from: "Ben Williams" To: "Joe Redburn" Chad told me on more then one occasion how much he loved you and thought of you as a father figure. We will all miss him whether we loved him or hated him. I'll be at the Trapp next Sunday to drink a cocktail in his memory. Appreciate all that you do and have down for this community. Ben

2010 Salt Lake Tribune Church’s message to gays is a message of death  By isaac higham July 23, 2010 Isaac Higham is a political activist involved in the fight for LGBT equality as well as a graduate student at Utah State University. When I was a little boy, my

Isaac Higham

beautiful mother would take me in her arms and together we would sing the words of the LDS Primary song: I am a Child of God And He has sent me here Has given me an earthly home With parents kind and dear. There was no qualifier of “unless I grow up to be gay.” And yet nearly 20 years later things seemed to come full circle as I sat sobbing on the bathroom floor of a dirty missionary apartment where, after taking a knife from my hands and calling for help, my mission companion took me in his arms and began singing in a soft trembling voice “I am a Child of God.”  I had struggled since childhood to combat what I felt was my true nature in favor of what my church taught was the plan of God. Weary, beaten, and worn, I couldn’t fight anymore. I was lucky. I failed. But sadly there are those we love who do not fail. Tearfully we learn of and mourn those whom we cannot judge for being weary of the fight and succumbing to the constant barrage of lashes coming from Utah’s predominant religion and dominant political party; their invariable actions declaring that we are not worthy of the same treatment as everyone else — that we are less than. When will we learn that this is not a game? The harsh rhetoric is not something to be used to score political points or to climb the rungs on the ladder of piety. When the stripping of legal status and protections from gay relationships is celebrated like a Super Bowl victory, what does the gay person feel? When a state senator tells gay adolescents they shouldn’t come together to talk about their struggles in accepting their sexuality, what message does that send? When a bishop stands at the pulpit and preaches to ward members that loving, committed gay relationships will destroy their families and asks for time and money to “defeat” them, what unimaginable fear shakes the soul of the gay child in the pews? We must normalize gay relationships. Every day that passes in which being gay is viewed as undesirable and gay relations viewed as abnormal is one more day that pushes our loved ones one step closer to the edge — to the point of no return. I’ve said it before and I reaffirm it now: This is a fight for life! As an LDS missionary I was taught that my purpose was to “Invite others to come unto Christ.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has admittedly done much good and provided legitimate hope and peace to many, but my dear Latter-day Saints, your actions as members and the actions of your church when it comes to your LGBT children, brothers, sisters and friends has done anything but invite me to come unto Christ. Gandhi put it beautifully: “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Your message on LGBT-related issues is a message of intolerance, a message of hatred — both external and internal self-loathing — a message of torment and death. And regrettably, too many children of God are hearing that message loud and clear. Isaac Higham is a political activist involved in the fight for LGBT equality as well as a graduate student at Utah State University

Jason Osmanski

2010 LGBT kids coming out earlier By Rosemary Winters The Salt Lake Tribune As a child, Jason Osmanski, now 16, and his family attended a Southern Baptist church where Jason was taught that being gay was a sin. He remembers hearing his father say that having a gay kid would mean he had failed as a parent. Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune St. George • Jason Osmanski knew he had to tell his mom, but he didn’t know how. He was 14 years old and had spent half his life sensing he was different. Now, he had the words for it. Wanting to break the news somewhere public, someplace safe, Jason tagged along with his mom on a shopping trip to Walmart. But he still couldn’t say it. He took a pad of paper from the pharmacy counter and wrote, “Will you love me no matter what?” Carolyn Osmanski gave him a quizzical look but answered, “Of course.” Jason scribbled another note, crumpled it, handed it to his mom and bolted to a nearby aisle. She looked down at the wrinkled paper: “I’m gay.” Awareness is growing • As society has become more open about sexuality, people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) are coming out at younger ages. It’s no longer rare for a high school — or even a middle school — to have one or more students who are openly gay or bisexual. They are taking same-sex dates to proms and launching gay-straight alliance clubs. And people who are transgender, who feel their gender differs from their biological sex, are sharing that with their families — and sometimes their peers — during adolescence. Some might start a transition from one gender to another as teenagers. Others can come out as “gender queer,” meaning they don’t see their gender identity as solely masculine or feminine. “The fact that kids are coming out in high school says a lot” about how society has changed, said Jude McNeil,

Jude McNeil

youth programs director at the Utah Pride Center, which served 3,000 people ages 14-20 in its youth activity center last year. About 700 teens attended the pride center’s Queer Prom in April, up from 250 in 2004. LGBT people are more visible now, in their communities and in the media, McNeil said. Youngsters might know someone who is LGBT or have seen positive images in television and film. Plus, McNeil said, the Internet has allowed teens to learn more about what it means to be gay or transgender and to connect with others who are. “As a community and as a society, we’re hearing more and more about LGBT people,” she said. “We’re thinking more about what it means to be LGBT. Parents are learning more. Schools are learning more.” But acceptance hasn’t necessarily accompanied awareness. Many youths who come out grapple with rejection by family members and friends. Gay and transgender teens are at higher risk for suicide, depression and homelessness. Margaret Rosario, a psychology professor at the City University of New York, recently reviewed a number of national and international surveys of representative samples of adolescents. She found 21 to 35 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual youths reported attempting suicide in the past year, contrasted with 4 to 14 percent of their heterosexual peers. She shared her findings at a University of Utah conference earlier this year. A relatively small portion of juveniles and young adults identify as LGBT — 5 percent to 8 percent — but they compose 20 percent to 40 percent of the homeless youth population in the U.S., according to the National Coalition for Youth. In Salt Lake City, Volunteers of America conducted a survey from October 2008 to February 2009 that found 42 percent of those served at its Homeless Youth Resource Center were LGBT. Each year, the center works with more than 700 homeless young people ages 15 to 22.  Fear of rejection • The fear of being thrown out of his home was one of many that Jason Osmanski struggled with before he decided to come out to his parents two years ago. As a child, his family attended a Southern Baptist church where Jason was taught that being gay is a sin. He remembers hearing his father say that having a gay kid would mean he had failed as a parent. “I prayed every single day, asking God to take it away from me because I didn’t want to feel like this and I didn’t want to go to hell,” said Jason, now a sophomore at Snow Canyon High in St. George. The summer after eighth grade, Jason lit several candles in his bedroom and wrote a suicide note. He lay down on his bed and held a knife to his wrist. But he stopped. He pictured his mother’s face when she found him. “I thought, ‘I can’t do this to her,’ ” Jason said. Instead, he called his best friend and confided for the first time what he was going through. After Jason passed his mother that crumpled note in Walmart, she found him shaking on the floor in the cosmetics aisle, beneath rows of mascara and eye shadow. Carolyn Osmanski lifted her son to his feet and gave him a hug. She told him, “I love you no matter what.” The role of parents • Parents play a key role in the well-being of gay and transgender kids, mental health experts say. One of the challenges of coming out as an adolescent is the lack of control minors have over their own lives. Their parents decide where they live or where they go to school. Often, home might be the only place where they feel loved. But rejection there cuts deep. “If you’re a member of an ethnic minority group and you’re bullied at school, you can go home and talk to your parents about it and they understand — provided you’re not adopted,” said David Huebner, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Utah. “For gay kids, they can’t necessarily count on that. Often they experience the same mistreatment in the home that they do outside.” In a 2007 survey of 6,209 LGBT students nationwide, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network found that 86 percent had been verbally harassed at school because of their sexual orientation. One in five students (22 percent) said they had been physically assaulted, including kicked, punched or injured with a weapon. GLSEN reports bullying rates have remained fairly consistent since the biennial survey was started in 2001. Huebner and his colleagues surveyed 224 young gay and bisexual adults who came out in adolescence and found that family rejection was linked to higher health risks. The study, published in January in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, reported that young adults ages 21 to 25 who experienced greater levels of family rejection during adolescence were 8.4 times more likely to have attempted suicide, 5.9 more times likely to have high levels of depression, and 3.4 times more likely to use illegal drugs than peers who experienced little or no rejection. On average, young adults in the survey reported they first knew they were attracted to members of the same sex at 10. They first told a parent at 15. Parents don’t have to throw their kids out of the house to engage in rejecting behaviors, Huebner said. It’s usually more subtle. Some parents can deny or ignore the news their child is gay. Others might place blame on the child when he is bullied at school by suggesting he “tone down” his appearance. “We really recommend that parents take a good, hard look at themselves and what they are doing,” Huebner said.  Parents, no matter how they feel about their kids’ sexuality, need to continue to parent and let their kids know they are loved, he noted. Parents ought to express their feelings of sadness, concern, fear or even disgust with another adult — not with their LGBT child.  “I don’t think parents are engaging in these sort of rejecting behaviors because they are bad parents,” Huebner said. “I think parents are doing the best they can with a difficult situation — one where parents often don’t have any guidance or support themselves.” Many parents wait months or years before seeking out support groups like PFLAG (Parents, Families and

Kathy Goodwin

Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Kathy Godwin, president of the Salt Lake City PFLAG chapter, tells parents it’s OK to make mistakes. The first thing Godwin said she tells them: “You must be an amazing parent because your child just told you the most important thing in their lives.” Trapped in the wrong body • Melanie, a Sandy mother of four, thought her first child was going through a phase. Her 5-year-old daughter insisted on being referred to as a boy, telling everyone, “Call me Tommy.” Melanie’s transgender son, Bruce, transitioned to life as a boy when he was 14. (Bruce, now 20, is not out to everyone he knows and asked to use a pseudonym for this story. Melanie’s last name isn’t used to protect Bruce’s identity.) Many children will express gender variance and not come to identify themselves as transgender, noted McNeil, of the Utah Pride Center. Some boys just like pink or playing with dolls. Some girls are tomboys. But for Bruce it was more. As a 2-year-old, when he dressed in Western get-up, he insisted he was a “cowboy.” In grade school, every self-portrait showed a boy’s face with short hair, not the girly mane he really had. When he had to don a Sunday dress to attend the family’s LDS ward, Bruce reacted as if the fabric were “toxic,” Melanie said. At 12, Bruce would hide his hair under a baseball hat and hang out at skate parks. He was pleased the other boys easily mistook him for one of them. He’d tell them, “Call me Bruce.” But his boyish appearance made him a target for school bullies. In eighth grade, he liked to wear his hair short and dress in boys’ clothes. Other kids would call him a “freak,” or cry, “Transformer, transformer, female in disguise,” Bruce recalled. “They’d shove me and push me around.” One day, Bruce tucked a suicide note in his friend’s locker and went home. “I cried in my room and I thought, ‘What am I going to do? I want to be this person [a boy], and I don’t know how to tell my parents.’ ” But death was too “scary,” he said. The next day, Melanie was alerted by the school about the suicide note. She was advised to seek counseling for Bruce. With the help of a therapist, Bruce expressed his strong sense that, on the inside, he was male. He was diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder, a condition found in the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual. Melanie sees it as a medical condition, not a mental disorder. At some point in the womb, she says, hormones signaled Bruce to develop a male brain even as he developed a female body. Bruce, with the support of his mother, decided to start living life as a boy. He began ninth grade at a new school with a new name. He changed his name on his birth certificate, and when he turned 16, he got a driver license with an “M,” not an “F.” “All of a sudden, everything fit into place,” Melanie said. “He’s the same person, but now he’s able to just be himself.” Bruce has not had surgery or taken hormones, but he has a masculine appearance — helped by his broad shoulders and bulky biceps. He’s still weighing the health risks of those medical treatments. “I’m never going to have a normal life,” he acknowledged. “You just have to live your life one day at a time. I’m thankful that I’m this way. It makes me more compassionate.” Support for LBGT teens • Despite facing greater risks for depression and other problems, studies show that the majority of LGBT kids are “not in trouble,” stressed Huebner, the University of Utah psychology professor. “They’re finding ways to cope and to adapt to situations that are very hard,” he said. “That points to the resilience of these kids, the strength of these kids.” Often, they find support in one another. Morgan Shattuck first told friends she was “questioning” her sexuality when she was 15, two years before she came out to her parents as a lesbian. As a conservative Mormon kid growing up in West Jordan, Morgan, 17, had been a homophobe herself.  “I viewed gay people as, like, these slutty monsters,” she said. But she found support from her peers at the Utah Pride Center and the Gay-Straight Alliance at Salt Lake City’s East High. Now in her senior year, she is president of the GSA, a tight-knit group of about a dozen students. “It’s sort of like our own little family who protects each other throughout the weeks,” she said. Even when she was fighting with her parents and “didn’t feel like home was home,” she had her friends. Learning to love herself has helped her reach out to others.  “I was this dark person who didn’t see any light in the world. I hated everybody,” she said. “Now that I’ve come out, I love everybody. Even if they hate me, I love them.” rwinters@sltrib.com

•  Help for parents Utah Pride Center • Offers support groups for parents and LGBT youths, 361 N. 300 West, Salt Lake City, 801-539-8800, www.utahpridecenter.org.
• PFLAG • (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, www.pflag.org) has three Utah chapters: Ogden, ogdenpflag@q.com; Salt Lake City, slcpflag@gmail.com; St. George, pflagsaintgeorge@gmail.com.