This Day In Gay Utah History SEPTEMBER 21

September 21th

Piers Gaveston

King Edward II

1327- King Edward II of England died by being murdered by having a hot poker shoved up his rectum. Edward II was king of England from 1307 - 1327.  He had several male lovers, of whom Piers Gaveston is the most famous. 

1887 Arrest At Beaver- A dispatch from Beaver states that Thomas Taylor, formerly of this city [SLC] was arrested on Tuesday at Cedar City on an indictment charging him with a “Crime Against Nature”. He was released on $3000 bail Deseret News

1896 - Sheriff Fowler and Deputy Marshal Hans Olsen of Spanish Fork captured four tramps here last Tuesday night who were wanted as being members of a gang of ten tramps who got drunk over at Spanish Fork and shamefully used one of the party, a lad 16 to 17 years of age. Eight of the ten men wanted were captured three in Spanish Fork, four in Springville, and one in Payson. They were all taken to Provo on Wednesday. The victim of the disgraceful affair was tramping his way to San Francisco where he has a brother-in-law living. The boy was so seriously injured that he was placed under the doctor’s care. Deseret News Springville Independent 

Madchen In Uniform

1932- New York Times film critic Mordaunt Hall referred to "Girls in Uniform," a German film with lesbian overtones, as "a beautiful, tender, and really artistic cinematic work."  It is noted as the first feature film to be produced with an openly pro-lesbian storyline and remains an international cult classic.

Del Martin & Phyllis Lyons

1955--The Daughters of Bilitis, “the oldest lesbian organization of America and the world” was organized. DOB was founded in San Francisco by four lesbian couples, including Del Martin and Phyllis Lyons. It was the first homophile organization in America founded exclusively for women. In 1955, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon had been together as lovers for three years when they complained to a Gay male couple that they did not know any other lesbians. The Gay couple introduced Martin and Lyon to another lesbian couple, one of whom suggested they create a social club. The following month in October 1955, eight women — four couples — met to provide each other with a social outlet. One of their priorities was to have a place to dance, as dancing with the same sex in a public place was illegal. Martin and Lyon recalled later, "Women needed privacy...not only from the watchful eye of the police, but from gaping tourists in the bars and from inquisitive parents and families." Although unsure of how exactly to proceed with the group, they began to meet regularly, realized they should be organized, and quickly elected Martin as president. From the start they had a clear focus to educate other women about lesbians, and reduce their self-loathing brought on by the socially repressive times. The name of the newfound club was chosen in its second meeting. Bilitis is the name given to a fictional lesbian contemporary of Sappho, by the French poet Pierre Louÿs in his 1894 work The Songs of Bilitis in which Bilitis lived on the Isle of Lesbos alongside Sappho. The name was chosen for its obscurity; even Martin and Lyon did not know what it meant. "Daughters" was meant to evoke association with other American social associations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution. Early DOB members felt they had to follow two contradictory approaches: trying to recruit interested potential members and being secretive. Martin and Lyon justified the name, writing later, "If anyone asked us, we could always say we belong to a poetry club." They also designed a pin to wear to be able to identify with others, chose club colors and voted on a motto "Qui vive", French for "on alert". The organization filed a charter for non-profit corporation status in 1957, writing a description so vague, Phyllis Lyon remembered, "it could have been a charter for a cat-raising club."

Sunday Bloody Sunday

1971-The film "Sunday Bloody Sunday" opened in New York City. Sunday Bloody Sunday is a British drama film directed by John Schlesinger and starring Murray Head, Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch. It tells the story of a free-spirited young bisexual artist (played by Head) and his simultaneous relationships with a female recruitment consultant (Jackson) and a male Jewish doctor (Finch). The film is significant for its time in that Finch's homosexual character is depicted as successful and relatively well-adjusted, and not particularly upset by his sexuality. In this sense, Sunday Bloody Sunday was a considerable departure from Schlesinger's previous film Midnight Cowboy, which had portrayed its Gay characters as alienated and self-loathing.

1982- The Oklahoma State Supreme Court granted custody of two eleven year old boys to their Gay father, stating that sexual orientation alone is not grounds to deny custody.

1986- At the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ General Conference Elder Pamela Calkins announced formation of a polygamous marriage with Lynn LeMasters, Leanne R Anderson, and Carol L. Dee. “Everyone thought it was the men who wanted polygamy!” Elder Antonio Feliz, Elder Pamela Calkins, and Elder John Crane were sustained as Prophets, Seers, and Revelators of the Restoration Church. Pamela J. Calkins, of Sacramento, was the first woman to be ordained to the priesthood in the RCJC. She entered into a polygamous lesbian betrothal sealing in advance of a celestial marriage with three female partners, thus becoming the first women in Mormondom to do so. Calkins and Lynn R. LaMaster were the first lesbian couple to be sealed for time and eternity (celestial marriage). Later that same evening, Leanna R Anderson and Carole L. Dee were also sealed for time and eternity to each other and to Calkins. No other polygamous homosexual celestial marriages were performed for any other members of the church. In theory it was conceivable that a heterosexual member of the church (someone who joined the church primarily because of its liberal principles, not primarily because of its compatibility with LGBT people) could ask to be sealed in a regular heterosexual marriage, but this did not happen. Pamela Calkins Obituary

1987- The Department of Health and Human Services honored singer Dionne Warwick for raising over $1 million for AIDS research with her song "That's What Friends Are For."

Amanda Bearse

1993- Actress Amanda Bearse (of "Married…With Children" and the movie "Fright Night") discussed her lesbianism in an Advocate interview. She had previously been outed by a supermarket tabloid.

1995 Thursday, 1 defendant was acquitted; a 2nd was found guilty only of manslaughter. DEFEAT IS PROSECUTORS' 3RD IN 3 WEEKS Prosecutors for the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office have lost three cases in as many weeks. Their latest defeat came Wednesday when a jury found Max A. Johnson not guilty of murder, first-degree felony, in the death of a man last summer. Two weeks ago, a different jury also acquitted a man charged with first-degree murder in the gang-related killing of Justin P. Raso. The office's other defeat came in the case of Tam T. Nguyen, a teenager charged with capital murder in the 1993 shooting death of Chet O. Harris. The jury found the boy guilty only of manslaughter, a second-degree felony. Walter Ellett, chief deputy for the county, points to similar jury instructions as the demise in the Nguyen and Johnson cases. "Basically, the instruction allows the jury to find the defendant not guilty if (the defendant) believes he was acting in self-defense. We've argued against it but in the end have to accept the ruling of the court," he said. He couldn't explain the

loss in the Whittaker case but wonders how much Utah juries have been influenced by the O.J. Simpson case. "I think it perhaps has given juries an entirely different approach . . . we'll have to wait and see. But sometimes going to a jury is like going to a dice table in Vegas, you throw the dice and see what comes up." © 1998 Deseret News Publishing Co.

1996-The Defense of Marriage Act became law

1998 Will & Grace premiered on NBC. The Sitcom was set in New York City and focused on the relationship between Will Truman, a Gay lawyer, and his best friend Grace Adler, a Jewish woman who owned an interior design firm. Also featured were their friends Karen Walker, a rich socialite, and Jack McFarland, a struggling gay actor/singer/dancer who also has had numerous other brief careers. The series ran until May 2006

1998 :  Don R. Austin, a longtime gay activist and mental-health therapist for those with HIV/AIDS and gay men, will receive the Kristen Ries Professional Award on Friday; Jump Page J3: Lynn R. Johnson/The Salt Lake Tribune Don Austin, shown in his Salt Lake City home, sees his task as giving AIDS patients hope.  AIDS Crusader: People with AIDS Coalition honors a counselor with heart; Don Austin Is a Crusader For  AIDS Cause Byline: BY HELEN FORSBERG THE SALTLAKE TRIBUNE   Don R. Austin has always been ``out'' in the trenches.   It began 20 years ago this month, when the Salt Lake native was part of a gay-rights demonstration against singer Anita Bryant's appearance at the Utah State Fair. Austin was aghast at Bryant's well-publicized anti-homosexual stance in Dade County, Fla., where she lived. ``That was pretty scary for a group of gays to get together then,'' said Austin, whose battle for human rights continues. Austin has been called a pioneer in Utah  AIDS activism, as a professional and volunteer.   He was the first director of client services at the Utah AIDS Foundation and, later, the first mental-health therapist for those with HIV/AIDS and gay men.   He also was the first chairman of the People With AIDS Coalition of Utah's Community Awards Banquet/Conference in 1994 and oversaw the same event in 1996. This week, the coalition honors Austin at its fourth banquet with the Kristen Ries Professional Award, named for the Utah pioneering AIDS physician. The award is given to an individual whose contributions go beyond professional life. ``Don has been very loyal to the cause over the years,'' said Ries. ``He's always been willing to treat people with AIDS/HIV, the first counselor to really put things on the line.''   ``I always had a desire to work with gay men,'' said Austin, remembering his own painful coming out. ``While AIDS is not a gay disease, it certainly is the biggest disease that affects the gay community.''   ``He's a crusader,'' said Maggie Snyder, a physician assistant specializing in AIDS care. ``He was the only social worker early on who would come forward for people with HIV/AIDS. He really stepped out of the closet, so to speak.''   Social Worker: Austin began his career as a social worker at Holy Cross Hospital and switched to counseling those on renal dialysis at LDS Hospital from 1980-88. During that time, he was a founding member and president of the board of the National Kidney Foundation of   Utah.   Those years, working with chronic and acute kidney-disease patients, helped prepare him for counseling people with HIV/AIDS   Austin's clientele is not limited to gay men wth HIV/ AIDS. He also counsels women and children.   Pat Fairbanks, diagnosed with HIV in '88 and   AIDS in '91, is a colleague and client of Austin. The Salt Lake woman, mother of two daughters, said, ``He is my hero. . . . He gives support, feedback and unconditional love. He goes beyond the call of duty. You know his heart is in the right place.''   Fairbanks said Austin's physical problems heighten his compassion.   Three years ago, Austin was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a syndrome characterized by achy pain and stiffness in soft tissues, including muscles, tendons and ligaments.   ``In one sense, why I'm doing this, there are some similarities, some symptoms like those associated with HIV,'' Austin said. ``Obviously, it's not a life-threatening illness, but I've tried to use it to help me be a better therapist.''   Some assume that he is HIV-positive or has AIDS because of his illness. ``Some people wonder why you do what you do. But when I did dialysis work, no one questioned that I had kidney disease.   ``It's not a bad assumption, but it's always a stereotype you have to live with.''   Austin graduated from Westminster College and received his master of social work from the University of Utah in 1985.   He came out while a freshman in college.   Statistics show suicide remains high among gay teens. Austin remembers being on the brink.   ``I was hating myself, feeling pretty suicidal, and my father had just died,'' said Austin, whose academic adviser at Westminster saved his life. ``I went to him and said, `This is just awful.'  ``He said, `Look, you be who you are.' He's totally responsible for me being here and he probably doesn't know it.''   When Austin took the job at the Utah AIDS Foundation, he brought energy to a new position.   In two years as the disease escalated, his client list went from 32 to 200.  Most of his work was ``crisis-oriented.''   ``We were worrying about people not having food and finding housing, and there was so much death and dying.''   There was little time to reflect on a client's death. ``As soon as someone died, another person would come into your schedule.'' Austin learned a lot. ``They taught me to be comfortable with myself.''   But his tenure was short-lived.   He and the foundation parted ways in 1991``due to administrative differences.'' The split was acrimonious. Austin was devastated. The wounds still have not healed. ``There have been points in the past when people have said they thought I was trying to destroy the foundation when I left,'' Austin said. ``It was the complete opposite. My passion for that organization is still there.  ``I have people who dislike me right now,'' he said. ``It's really painful.''   No Gray Area: His passion works for and against him.   A colleague mentioned that there is no gray area when it comes to Austin. ``People either love him or hate him.'' ``I hear people can get intimidated by me. I guess that's the case,'' Austin said. ``I get very passionate about what I'm doing. If I say I'm going to do it, I do it. I expect that of other people. I'll push for change.''   His fervor has been likened to ``shaking the dog to death.''   But age has mellowed Austin. ``Some of that edge has come off,'' he conceded. He credits his 22-year relationship with Brett Clifford, Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control wine coordinator, with giving him an anchor.   The two share an elegant antique- and art-filled home in Salt Lake's 9th and 9<sup>th</sup> neighborhood. A rainbow flag, the symbol of gay pride, hangs outside.   Their partnership is one of balance. ``I've taken on some of his compassion, his gentleness,'' Austin said. ``He's taken on some of my assertiveness. We've seen each other through good and bad.''  The two once thought of moving to San Francisco. But after a visit to the Bay area, they drove back into the Salt Lake Valley and said ``Why?''   ``We can do whatever we want to here, and we have, as a gay couple,'' said Austin. ``There is only one time we have been discriminated against. We just go about our business.   ``I feel pretty damn lucky to be doing what I want to do. It may sound corny, but by doing this AIDS work, my life has been enriched. I'm a better person today by what I've seen my clients live through.''   He opened his private practice in 1991 – the first man advertising as a Utah gay HIV/AIDS therapist. ``I wanted to say I was a gay man as a gay therapist. It was really a risk, but I didn't want to go back into the closet professionally.''   ``As a counselor, Don is very good with gay-related issues, with sexual problems,'' said Kristen Ries. ``He has a lot of professional experience, and experience counts in this kind of stuff.''   Austin is credited with rescuing the People With AIDS Coalition of Utah – a grass-roots organization offering recreational activities, educational programs and a library --from extinction. Founded in the late '80s by AIDS activist David Sharpton, the coalition had fallen on hard times.   ``He has been the key person in keeping the coalition alive,'' said board member Snyder. ``Interms of the first banquet and conference, he almost did that whole shebang singlehandedly. He really lives what he thinks.''   Austin's unassuming but tasteful office is down the hall from the People With AIDS Coalition; he was instrumental in getting the organization housed in the Sugar House-area building.   ``He has always made himself available to anyone working in our office,'' said Robert Chase, chairman of the coalition's board. ``He never says no.''   In addition to his coalition work, Austin has offered his expertise to other committees and organizations. He has served as HIV Committee chairman of the National Association of Social Workers, Utah Chapter, and chairman of the Utah HIV Coordination of Care Councils/Consortium Services. In 1996, with Clifford, he received the Utah Stonewall Center's DIG Award for lifetime achievement in the gay community.   In the past decade, Austin has seen the face of  AIDS/HIV change nationally and statewide. ( AIDS is no longer the No. 1 killer of young adults nationally, according to recent statistics. Overall, AIDS deaths fell 26 percent in 1996.) Austin credits the Ryan White Program, funded by the Comprehensive Resources Emergency Act of 1990, in which Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) played a pivotal role, as a key factor in the increase of services for those with AIDS. ``As the disease escalated, so too did the services,'' Austin said. ``[The foundation] has provided food vouchers, dental and mental-health vouchers for clients of practitioners like myself.''   Even though there is a lower mortality rate for people with AIDS, Austin said the epidemic is far from over.   ``It's a little scary. People don't think we have to worry about AIDS anymore. . . .   ``I don't want to sound like doom and gloom,but I think there is going to be a new generation of people with AIDS. But I hope I'm wrong.''   He wonders if the new medicines – protease inhibitors -- credited with prolonging the lives of many infected with AIDS will become ineffective as have other AIDS drugs, such as AZT. Austin sees prolonged life through medical advances having a double-edge effect on hisHIV-positive clients. ``There are still some of the same issues, but things are changing,'' he said. ``People were planning to die, and now, all of a sudden, they're going to live.''   For many, he said, the question is ``Now, what do I do with my life? Do I go back to work? Uncertainty creates insecurity.''   Other issues are the high cost of housing and the disease itself.   ``There's just no way the thought `I am diseased' can go away,'' Austin said. ``You try to cope with it, but you can't escape the ideas of disease running through your blood.''   Emotional despair is almost always present. ``There's a lot of depression in the gay community -- even before the advent of AIDS  . And there's good reason,'' Austin said. ``Growing up in a society that says you're wrong creates all kind of defenses. ``I try to break down those defenses and help people like themselves. That's why I want to work with gay men. I want to be able to help the community I'm part of.'' ``I tried to commit suicide the day before I moved up here from California,'' said Kevin McMullin, Austin's client for 18 months. He was despondent over his disease and the end of a 13-year relationship. ``Between Don and Maggie [Snyder], things have settled down right now. I'd be dead if it weren't for them.''   Austin is bothered by a comment he hears from young gay men: ``It's not if I get AIDS, it's when I get AIDS.''   And, thus, he worries about the continued practice of unsafe sex.   At the epidemic's beginning, Austin would say to gay men, ``This is how it is transmitted; this is what we have to avoid. They would say `Fine, we can do that [practice safe sex]. . . . We can even do that for 10 years.' Well, 10 years have come and gone,'' he said, ``and basically, nothing has changed. So, some gay men say, `What the heck?' '' and abandon safe sex.   Austin will not back down.   ``We need to keep educating the younger generation and we need to do outreach work, particularly in the gay clubs. We need to put hope back into people's lives.'' Salt Lake Tribune Page: J1

Cleve Jones

1997 Community Awards Banquet Friday the People with AIDS Coalition of Utah  presents its fourth annual Community Awards Banquet Friday at the Salt Lake Hilton, 150 W.500 South. A reception and silent auction begin at 5:30 p.m., with dinner at 7:30. This year's keynote speaker is Cleve Jones, founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Jones serves on the national board of governors of Project Inform and the advisory board of the Harvard AIDS Institute. Jones, Santa Rosa, Calif., is a long time survivor of HIV/AIDS and travels to educate schools, universities and community groups about AIDS.   This year, the PWACU honors five individuals and one organization with the Red Ribbon Community Service Awards for their commitment to people living with HIV/AIDS. They are Pete Suazo, Political/Social Policy Award; Don R. Austin, Kristen Ries Professional Award; Brook Hart-Song, Individual Red Ribbon Award; Utah AIDS Foundation, Organization Red Ribbon Award; Carolyn Jones, PWACU Volunteer Award; and Smart Bodies, Business Award. Music will be by the Calvary Baptist Church Men's Choir. Tickets are $45, $450 a table. For information, call 484-2205. Proceeds go toward client-support services, educational programs and recreational activities. In conjunction with AIDS Awareness Month, the People With AIDS Coalition will present its ninth annual Living With AIDS Conference, ``Living Beyond,'' at  Westminster College of Salt Lake, Gore School of Business Auditorium, 1840 S. 1300 East, Oct. 25-26.Speakers are Martin Delaney, executive director, Project Inform; Glenn Gaylord, client health-education advocate, AIDS Project Los Angeles; and Utah AIDS physicians Kristen Ries, University Medical Center, and Larry Reimer, Veterans Administration Medical Center. Registration fee for the conference, open to the public, is $25. Scholarships are available forpeople with HIV/AIDS. Salt Lake Tribune Page: J3 

Mason Rankin

1997- “Mason Rankin, a philanthropist who helped supply thousands of knitted afghans, sweaters, and scarves to AIDS patients at Christmas time, has died. He was 56. Rankin died Sunday morning at University Hospital. The cause was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a type of lung disorder, said Linda Graham, a friend.  Rankin had lived with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS for about 15 years, Graham said. With a small volunteer army of volunteer knitters, Rankin’s nonprofit organization called Kindly Gifts gave its homemade Christmas presents to AIDS patients, hospitals, the Utah AIDS Foundation, and the People With AIDS Coalition of Utah.  He did it all out of his small Salt Lake condominium, filling a spare bedroom full of yarn and other knitting supplies. In 1994 J.C. Penney  named him a regional winner of its Golden Rule award which promotes volunteerism.  In 1995 his 135 member volunteer knitting corps produced 200 afghans, 100 sweaters, and hundred more scarves, slippers, hats, and cotton dishcloths.  In his last years, Rankin had tried to educate younger people about AIDS, Graham said.  He was also involved in counseling inmates at the Utah State Prison.  Rankin a former real estate broker was born 27 Oct 1940 in Provo and attended public schools there.  He was an active member of the Republican Party and the People With AIDS Coalition.  The Body will be cremated and a memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Jenkins-Soffe Mortuary at 4760 South State Street.  Friends have requested donations to Kindly Gifts in lieu of flowers.” (SL Tribune 23 Sept 1997 B6) Obituary 25 Sept 1997-Mason was born in Salt Lake City October 26, 1941 and died  September 21, 1997

1997:  Stonewall Center Will Move;   Gay Organization Getting Overhaul, Going Virtual; Stonewall Center Gives Up Downtown Location Byline: BY PATTY HENETZ THE SALTLAKE TRIBUNE The rent doubled, and that was it. By the end of the month, the Utah Stonewall Center will end its four-year tenure in the huge, funky building in downtown Salt Lake City's warehouse district.   Which isn't to say the gay and lesbian community center is closing, said interim director Alan Ahtow. Rather, ``we are in transition from one type of organization that has not worked for us to something new.'' At a meeting Tuesday night, the Stonewall board of directors decided that it was time to regroup. A major fund-raising effort has had a disappointing start. Operating expenses have gotten out of control; it costs $1,700 a month just to open the doors. The director's salary, utilities and supplies are extra.  ``As a board, we are not viewing this as quitting,'' said board President Brook Heart-Song on Wednesday. ``A business reality has made itself apparent and we are dealing with it.''   There are never more than 200 monthly donors to the Stonewall Center or more than 30 volunteers, she said. An estimated 150 people per week use the center, ``but they are always the same 150. Is it worth what we're going through to stay in this building to serve that many people? The answer, clearly, is no.''   So while it was painful, Heart-Song said, it was also a relief when the board decided to end its tenure at 770 S. 300 West and find smaller digs. It expects to open a new office space within two months of leaving the current building.  In the interim, the Stonewall Center will go virtual. A new Web site -- www.stonewall.org – was up and running Monday. Still under construction but already replete with resources and hyperlinks, the site offers information about Salt Lake City and Utah's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. A chat line is planned.   One of the resources on the Web page is a list of all the sponsors of the Stonewall community card. Former Director Michael O'Brien, who came on board in May and resigned Aug. 15, had hoped enough people would buy the $30 cards to retire Stonewall's existing debt.  Businesses that signed on as card sponsors --most of them gay-owned -- would offer discounts to card holders. Heart-Song said the business community's response has been gratifying, with new sponsors signing on regularly. The community seems to like the idea, she said. But not enough of them have been willing to shell out $30. So instead of retiring the debt, the cards have contributed to it.  But if you have one, don't throw it out. They are still good for the discounts, and Ahtow has plans to revive the sales campaign for the cards for the Christmas buying season. For now, Stonewall officials are concentrating on reducing their expenses and reorganizing. ``We know we're not meeting the needs of the vast majority of our community,'' Ahtow said. ``So we're literally reinventing the concept of the Stonewall Center.''   They will find ways to help groups to meet, either in their office or in other meeting spaces. Travelers and new residents who want to know about Utah's gay community can go to the Web site. And by going virtual, the Stonewall Center is more open to people who live outside of Salt Lake City, Heart-Song said. This will be the second time the Stonewall Center has moved since it opened six years ago. What it needs, Heart-Song said, is a small space that includes an office, library and meeting room. ``And if everyone who was at Pride Day this year would give us a dollar a day,'' she said, ``we would have a wonderful center.''

1999 Tuesday, Tolerance is a 2-way street. Kellie Forman (Sept. 8) provides a classic example of those who beseech tolerance but refuse to "do" tolerance by demanding gays be included in civil rights circles while simultaneously trivializing ex-gays. Ms. Forman is indignant regarding Jeanetta William's statements concerning civil rights. However, inconvenient as it may be, it is disingenuous to compare gay activism to other civil rights movements when the definition of homosexuality is clearly based on behavior, genetically engendered or not. This is particularly true when activists discriminate based upon behavior as much as those they criticize.     I absolutely agree that homosexuality is not usually chosen and that all gays should be treated with respect and dignity. However, I resent that many gay activists are so obsessed with promoting an image of "happy gays" that they completely ignore "dirty little secrets," such as the fact that an abnormally high percentage of homosexuals are victims of emotional or sexual abuse. If Ms. Forman is going to resort to name calling by discounting all therapists who work with unhappy homosexuals as "psychobigots," then myopic illiberal zealots should be similarly discounted as "homofascist," since their behavior makes those they condemn look broad-minded in comparison.  I personally know numerous men who have been involved in reparative therapy. Some resent it. Others think it is the best thing they have ever done in their lives. It is their life, their choice and their responsibility to do what works for them. Those who argue that ex-gays cannot exist because they harm gay rights are little different from those who claim gays and lesbians should be bashed because they don't fit their particular political agenda. Similarly, I also wonder how the ACLU and those gay activists who blame all religious conservatives for the death of Matthew Shepherd differ from those who stereotype all gays based upon the behavior of Jeffery Dahmer, Andrew Cunnanan, John Wayne Gacey or Arthur Bishop. Progressive thinking involves more than recycling malevolence to one's own advantage. Activists cannot credibly advance gay rights while concurrently embracing the exact same character traits they claim to oppose.    Doug Dansie    Salt Lake City

2003 You're Invited to the PWACU Barbeque Come Join Us for our Annual PWACU (People With AIDS Coalition of Utah) SUPER DUPER - END OF SUMMER BBQ BASH!! When: Sunday, September 21 - 4:00 PM Where: Fairmont Park, (900 East 2400 South)

Gloria Steinem

2004 Holly Mullen Reflects on Feminism in Utah Mullen: Moore flap reminiscent of Steinem SL Tribune Regarding filmmaker Michael Moore's upcoming appearance at Utah Valley State College, will you take a little trip with me? If you would, strap on your goggles, buckle your seat belt and hop into the time machine. Destination: the University of Utah campus, almost 29 years ago to the day. It was fall 1975. The Women's Resource Center at the U. was gearing up for its annual Women's Conference, an event partially funded with student fees. Keynote speaker: Gloria Steinem, pioneering feminist, founder of Ms. magazine and vocal advocate of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment - a measure that died in no small part because of the LDS Church's well-organized and aggressive opposition campaign throughout the '70s. The parallels between the explosion created by the UVSC student association's decision to pay Moore $40,000 for a stop along the route of his anti-Bush, anti-war road show and the U. of U.'s invitation to Steinem are stunningly similar. The mere mention of their names - both of them firebrands within a particular cultural and political freeze frame - have led smug conservative legislators to threaten snipping at state higher-ed purse strings. People start screaming for boycotts and equal time for opposing speakers. Then the scramble is on to round up all those brazen little college students who are risking and experimenting and learning to think and shut them down. "I always have found it fascinating that on college campuses we have this pretend environment where students are encouraged to make decisions to help prepare them for the real world. And then they get punished for it," says Cynthia Boshard, who was a student chairwoman of the 1975 U. of U. conference that brought Steinem to Salt Lake City. In the framework of the time, Steinem's appearance on a public university campus in Utah was every bit as controversial as Moore's is today, following his rise to fame around "Fahrenheit 9/11." The ERA had been hotly debated nationwide. The U.S. Supreme Court had legalized abortion two years earlier. Women were joining the workforce in droves. Title IX, passed in 1972 and requiring equal access for females in high school and college athletics, was taking hold. Among the bedrock right wing in Utah, feminism was a filthy word and Gloria Steinem was feminism's guru. "We couldn't think of a more exciting speaker at the time," recalls Boshard, who today is director of IHC's Community Health Partnership. "Unfortunately, too many people see a university's invitation to a controversial speaker as an endorsement of their position, and not as an opportunity to learn more." The days leading up to Steinem's speech had been peppered with threats from conservative student leaders to pull funding from the Women's Resource Center. Protesters threatened to gather outside the University Union Ballroom. Boshard remembers dining with Steinem shortly before her speech. "We were worried about no turnout. We drove back to campus and found the parking lot overflowing. Our first thought was, 'Oh no. They've scheduled a conflicting event here for the same night.' '' The ballroom was packed. Spectators lined up against the walls. If there was a boycott, no one felt it. Boshard even heard from a few attendees, who, while still vehemently opposed to Steinem's views, found some value in the way she challenged their beliefs. And scary as it seems, Moore will do the same. Just as Steinem did before him, and Ronald Reagan and Karl Rove have done in between. Because the message to take home is never really about the speaker. It's about stretching the mind.

2005 September 21st- EQUALITY UTAH  ALLIES DINNER-5pm-10pm  Salt Palace... cost $100.00  Come support Equality Utah in Honoring the Allies who have supported them and who have made a difference in our community.

2006 Sexual Shame and On-line Crusing -UTAH AIDS FOUNDATION PRESENTS Pre-INVENIO EVENT Sexual Shame and On-line Cruising Presented by: Mark Malan and David Ferguson THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2006 Salt Lake City Main Library 210 East 400 South 4th Floor Meeting Room 7:00 pm This interactive discussion will explore both these issues. This discussion is a sample of what you can experience at Invenio--Utah's Gay Men's Health Summit. Invenio happens October 6-8, 2006 at the Radisson in Salt Lake City. Registration is only $25 Registration is only $25 until October 3.  After that, it becomes $45 so Register now!!

2006 LGBT center and LGSU aim to include all students By: Alex

Charles Milne center

Steele Daily Utah Chronicle  The Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center, along with the Lesbian and Gay Student Union, are working to get more students involved on campus than ever before. Charles Milne, the coordinator of the LGBT center, said this year's theme, "Reaching Out," is aiming for just that. "People shouldn't just have to come here, but we should be giving information out to people," Milne said. Awareness campaigns, safe-zone training, events and speakers are already on schedule for the semester. Bonnie Owens, co-president of the U's LGSU, said coordination is already taking place with other groups and that this will help fuel LGSU.  "We're planning a Halloween dance with a lot of other student groups on campus. It will be a lot of groups with a lot of members so we can really make it something huge," she said. Although both groups are working in a partnership and for similar goals, the LGSU and the LGBT center are different entities.  "LGSU is a student group that was formed on campus in 1974," Milne said. "The resource center is an official university department that was formed five years ago." Owens said LGSU is more of a

Heather Franck & Bonnie Owens

social group. "We're a student group. We're a student-run, social and political group to meet people. That's what LGSU is really for," she said. According to Owens, membership this year is already more than twice what it was last year and LGSU meeting attendance has doubled. John Spillman, co-president of LGSU, said one misconception he wants to clear up is that LGSU is only for students who identify themselves as LGBT. "Campus is a place where everyone is welcome. There is a huge misconception that the LGSU is only for gay people. We welcome anyone who wants to attend, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or even school enrollment status," he said. Per capita, Salt Lake City has the third largest gay population in the United States, Owens said. "There are certain issues that we have to contend with that no other state has to," she said. "We have to contend with political ideologies that are not as inviting as other states." Milne agreed that the U's LGBT center has a unique role, but said it is a positive aspect for incoming students. According to Milne, the U's LGBT center is the only official agency of its kind at any university in the state. "I definitely think it (the LGBT center) brings in potentially more gay-friendly students than other colleges statewide," he said. Both organizations are putting on various events this year to promote awareness and understanding, such as Pride Week events, events for World AIDS Day, Coming Out 101 meetings every Tuesday, LGSU meetings every other Monday and a Fiona Apple concert in late October. "We're here for the students and we're here for the community. We don't want to be underutilized," Owens said.

Lady Gaga

2010 Republicans block bill to lift military gay ban By ANNE FLAHERTY The Associated Press Recording artist Lady Gaga speaks at a rally in support of repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gay service members, in Portland, Maine, on Monday, Sept. 20, 2010. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach) WASHINGTON • Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked legislation that would have repealed the law banning gays from serving openly in the military. The partisan vote was a defeat for Senate Democrats and gay rights advocates, who saw the bill as their last chance before November’s elections to overturn the law known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.” With the 56-43 vote, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation. It also would have authorized $726 billion in defense spending including a pay raise for troops. Senate Democrats attached the repeal provision to the defense bill in the hopes that Republicans would hesitate to vote against legislation that included popular defense programs. But GOP legislators opposed the bill anyway, thwarting a key part of the Democrats’ legislative agenda. Now, gay rights advocates say they worry they have lost a crucial opportunity to 

Richard Socarides

change the law. If Democrats lose seats in the upcoming elections this fall, repealing the ban could prove even more difficult — if not impossible — next year. “The whole thing is a political train wreck,” said Richard Socarides, a former White House adviser on gay rights during the Clinton administration. Socarides said President Barack Obama “badly miscalculated” the Pentagon’s support for repeal, while Democrats made only a “token effort” to advance the bill. “If it was a priority for the Democratic leadership, they would get a clean vote on this,” he said. Democratic Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas sided with Republicans to block the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also voted against the measure as a procedural tactic. Under Senate rules, casting his vote with the majority of the Senate enables him to revive the bill at a later date if he wants. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine had been seen as the crucial 60th vote because she supports overturning the military ban. But Collins agreed with her GOP colleagues that Republicans weren’t given sufficient chance to offer amendments. Reid allowed Republicans the opportunity to offer only one amendment to address GOP objections on the military’s policy on gays. Collins said she planned to vote against advancing the bill unless Democrats agreed to extend debate so that her colleagues could weigh in on other issues. Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid, said the senator would be willing to allow more debate on the bill after the November elections. “Today’s vote isn’t about arcane Senate procedures,” Manley said. “It’s about a GOP’s pattern of obstructing debate on policies important to the American people.” An estimated 13,000 people have been discharged under the law since its inception in 1993. Although most dismissals have resulted from gay service members outing themselves, gay rights’ groups say it has been used by vindictive co-workers to drum out troops who never made their sexuality an issue.


2013 Provo Utah held its 1st Pride Festival Fox 13 News  PROVO, Utah -- One of the most conservative cities in the nation is about to host its first-ever gay pride festival; that city is Provo, and the event is this Saturday. Rebecca Taylor said growing up LGBT in Provo wasn't easy, but she said she thinks it could have been had she known she wasn't alone. “We need to let people know that we’re here, that we are human,” she said. “That we have a voice and that we want that voice to be heard, and more than anything we want other people feeling alone and isolated to not feel that way. The new non-profit organization Provo Pride agrees, which is why the group has been working day and night since its establishment back in May to bring the first ever pride festival to Provo. “We had to teach ourselves how to put on an event of this size and how to convince a city like Provo to allow us to do that,” said David Pate, who is the president of the Provo Pride Counsel. The family friendly festival will have food vendors, live music, and games. The event will happen this Saturday, in a city and county that is consistently recognized as one of the most conservative in the country. FOX 13 News asked local conservative group Utah Eagle Forum how they felt about the festival, and officials with that organization called it a poor choice, especially during a week when the Constitution should be the focus of celebrations.
“As heterosexuals  we don’t celebrate the way we practice sex, and so it just seems like they could be better using their time by celebrating something we can all celebrate instead of a special segment of society,” said Barbra Petty with the Utah Eagle Forum. Taylor had a different perspective on the event. “If we had the equal rights that heterosexual couples have, that normal society has, then we wouldn’t need this type of event, but where it’s out of the norm, we need to let people know that we’re here,” Taylor said.


2013 Salt Lake Tribune  Provo • While many think this Utah County city ranks among the most conservative in the United States, many of those attending the first Provo Pride Festival at Memorial Park on Saturday found themselves pleasantly surprised. "Provo hosting an event standing up for equality is amazing," said Samantha Sowers, a volunteer for Equality of Utah who was trying to get those attending the event to support nondiscrimination laws at the Utah Legislature. "The rest of the nation will listen." Even before Mr. Gay Pride Utah Kolton Starr Von-Cartiay, a Utah County resident for 23 years, welcomed festival participants and music began to play at 11 a.m., a good number of folks already had started to visit booths representing groups as diverse as Atheists of Utah, Post Mormons and Friends. Utah Gay Fathers Association, Mormons Building Bridges, the Provo Community Church of Christ and the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. That pleased David Pate, president of the Provo Pride Council, who worked with students at BYU and Utah Valley University to set up this first-time event. He didn't expect to see a fairly large crowd so early in the day. He said holding a Pride Festival is important because 30 percent of youth suicides and 40 percent of homeless teens are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) nationally and that Utah's rates are even higher than that. His hope was an event of this type would educate parents. Brian Stewart of Lehi, who had some of his nine children in tow at the festival, fit into that target audience. "We want to teach our kids that it [being LGBT] is not a choice and there is nothing wrong with being gay," he said. "We want to educate our children that though some may have different skin color or sexual preferences, we're all the same." Corey Howard, of Salt Lake City, worked in the Mormons Building Bridges booth offering "free hugs from a Mormon." "Some are surprised there is a Provo Pride Festival," she said. "It's kind of well-known as the conservative center of Utah. People assume they don't support LGBT, but we found that might not necessarily be true. There is a misunderstanding that Provo is all right wing. There are silent, less vocal groups, but they are here." Bridey Jensen, of Understanding Same Gender Attraction, a BYU group, said it was important to be part of the event and celebrate. "A lot of people still think BYU and Provo are homophobic and hateful," she said. "That's not true." Bev Larsen, of Provo's United Church of Christ, was there to tell festivalgoers that "we are one of the open and affirming churches in Utah County. We are accepting of people. We are glad that people have the opportunity to be who they are." Though this event is far smaller than Salt Lake City's Utah Pride Festival, which drew about 28,000 people this year, some commercial vendors also showed up in Provo to introduce their products. Tanner Street, of Winder Dairy, for example, said buying a booth offered his company a chance to spread a product to a wide range of potential customers that his company typically might have difficulty reaching.

2013 We drove down to Provo and it was a beautiful day. I was a little worried that traffic might be heavy since it’s the BYU versus Utes Football game today and they are playing in Provo but we went earlier enough that it wasn’t even a consideration. The Pride event was held in memorial park on about 8^th east and Center Street. We were there about 11:30 and there weren't a whole lot there yet maybe 150 people strolling. The booths were all set up across from  each other on a little paved path that made it seem like there was more people then there actually was. There were no signs that said Gay Pride nor any abundance of Gay Rainbow Flagsbut by the people you could tell it wasn’t your typical Mormon day in the park. No big corporate sponsors, mostly organizations and a couple of retail booths. No support from the bars but I doubt if they had been asked.  Michael and I strolled the hundred feet which about all the distance of the booths were.  The Post Mos, Mormon Building Bridges, Atheists of Utah, Affirmation, Human Rights, Equality Utah, Utah Pride, and a few others were the main booths. It will be hard to estimate how many will attend because people are coming and going and it lasts until 8 p.m. Michael Aaron texted me after I had already gotten home and said he was just heading down. I saw Meagan Risbon and her blue green hair at the festival and Seth Anderson and Michael Ferguson .. The boys were getting free massages and Seth had a free HIV test...I wanted to tell him you have to have sex first before you can get AIDS but I bit my tongue. I asked them why they weren’t selling their tea and they said they wanted to but the organizers just never got back with them in time. I told them they should have just come down and set up a booth and no one would have been the wiser. I figured there was about 400 people there while we were there and I bet they will say 1000 when it’s all said and done. If they say more than that then they are just bragging. I told Michael I want to come down next year and set up a Gay History Booth and sell Gay theme buttons...there were NO Gay paraphenelia at all... I think I could have made some money with fun buttons. Later I told Charles Frost we should go into the Gay Festival button business and hit up Moab, St. George and Provo. It was getting warm so Michael and I sat under a pine tree for a while and listen to some of the performers. We mainly heard “Please Be Human”, Clark Radford’s Shout Poetry and Joel Pack. I was entertained by Radfords youthful angst and I enjoyed Joel Pack. While under the tree this kid named Diego began talking to us. He’s from Costa Rica but married to this Ogdenite guy named Dan Parkinson. He was also friends with Seth and Michael. Dan turned out to be friends with Marilyn Johnson in Ogden where Charles Frost is going tonight to speak like I did last July. Anyway we left about 2:00 and it was nice and a very enthusiastic spirit…like Pride Days use to be in SLC. It was a let's show our Pride instead of what are you going to do to entertain me. I took a picture of my old apartment on 9^th East and Center street where I lived with Mike Allred and next to Steve and Meg Madsen so many years ago. It was a little freaky for me being back in Provo with the park, being just around the corner from my apartment on 900 East and Center Street.  The middle apartment facing the street was the last place I lived in Provo back in 1976. It was here on a snowy April day that my boyfriend Larry Copenhagen came to tell me he swallowed a bottle of aspirin to commit suicide because BYU security had entrapped him. He wanted to see me before he died but I was able to save his life when he began to pass out and I was able to take him to the hospital. It was a horrible awful period of my life when BYU made me feel that it was all my fault for being Gay. No one to talk to... so alone... so much judgement for a 25 year to have to bear. So while today was a gladful day for the young people for me it was kind of melancholy dredging up some very sorrowful memories. You get scars that never truly heal. We took HWY 89 most of the way back for the drive and was home by 3:00. Levon had gone out to meet Pearce Danner and friends for the AIDS walk. Levon has been acting kind sweet around me. Maybe he realizes he has been kind of a jerk and not appreciating what I am doing for him. Down in Provo there was an organization seeking to place ay youth in homes like mine. I told them I already have one kid already. It was an eventful first day of Autumn. It is warm and windy out right now but cooling off.

I posted on Facebook- As a BYU alumnus I am returning to Provo today... forty years after I first came to Provo, to attend its 1st Gay Pride Day event. Going back to the land where I was humiliated, despised, mentally tortured and persecuted, to let Utah County know they couldn't lick me or beat me down. Forty years. That is how long Moses had the Israelites wander in the desert to kill off the stiff necked generation before being allowed into the promise land.

• Bruce Barton Wrote-I HAVE CLIMBED THE MOUNTAIN AND HAVE SEEN THE PROMISED LAND!! FREE AT LAST-FREE AT LAST--THANK GOD ALMIGHTY I'M FREE AT LAST.
• Bill Poore wrote: Well if you are going to compare yourself to Moses, you already have the beard. Bad time to travel though on the BYU/Utah Holy War Game day. Can’t think of anyone else better to go back to Ernest Wilkinsons torture chambers than you. It was truly scary times for the young gay man. Give them Hell my friend. Really happy you went to Provo Pride, real cool.  We have come a long ways baby.  When I think of you wandering that campus confused and scared all those years ago and what you have gone through to get to where you are today makes me almost cry.  I don't cry much, but do get a tear once in a while.  Who did you go with?  I wished you would have asked me I would have gone with you, yes I would have.

2015 First meeting of Gay Men Aloud held at the First Baptist Church on 1300 East.