October 21th
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1893- On
a winter day in 1892, in the broad daylight of downtown Memphis, Tennessee, a
middle class woman named Alice Mitchell slashed the throat of her lover, Freda
Ward, killing her instantly. On this
day in 1893, New Orleans magazine "The Mascot" recounts the murder of
Freda Ward by her lover Alice Mitchell (aka "story of the love of two
women-licentious, horrible love") with the headline "Good God! The
Crimes of Sodom and Gomorrah Discounted." Says Mitchell, "I was in love
with Freda. I could not live without her. Long ago we made a compact that if we
were ever separated we should kill each other. When I found that Josie had forbidden
Freda to have anything more to do with me I saw nothing else to do but to kill
her. I took father's razor, but told no one what I was going to do." After she murdered Freda ward she kissed her spilt blood. Testimony caused women in the court room to faint
- Alice Mitchell and Freda Ward, aged 19 and 17, had become close friends at the Higbee School for Girls in Memphis. So close, in fact, that they declared their love for each other and planned to elope to St. Louis to live together as husband and wife. When Freda’s family stopped the relationship, forbidding Freda from seeing Alice, events took a dreadful turn. On the afternoon of January 25, 1892, Alice Mitchel met Freda Ward on Front Street and cut her throat with a straight razor. Freda Ward and her sister Jo, daughters of a wealthy planter and merchant, met Alice Mitchell and Lilly Johnson, also from prominent families, at the Higbee School for Girls in Memphis Tennessee. They became very close friends, with Freda especially close to Alice. It was not uncommon in 1892 for girls to form close relationships and express undying love for each other in letters and diaries. They were considered “a rehearsal in girlhood of the great drama of a woman’s life”, something the girls would outgrow when they reached adulthood. It was not considered unusual that Alice and Freda were seen kissing and embracing. After Freda’s family moved several miles south to the town of Gold Dust, Arkansas, they began to see Freda’s relationship with Alice as unhealthy. One night in August 1891, Freda’s older, married sister, Ada Volkmar, caught Freda, with her suitcase packed, ready to leave for Memphis. Alice had given her a ring and the two considered themselves engaged. They had planned to elope to St. Louis where Alice would be the man, changing her name to Alvin J. Ward, and Freda would be the wife. Mrs. Volkmar stopped the elopement and forbade any further contact or correspondence her sisters and Alice Mitchell and Lillie Johnson. The following January the Ward sisters were visiting a family friend, Mrs. Kimbrough, in Memphis. Alice and Lillie had attempted to visit them but were turned away. On January 25, Alice arrived at Lillie’s house with a horse and buggy and they went for a ride. They drove past Mrs. Kimbrough’s house and saw Freda and Jo leaving for the ferry to take them back to Gold Dust. As the sisters were heading to the dock on Front Street, Alice jumped out of the buggy saying “I’ll fix her!” She ran to Freda, grabbed her by the arm and slashed her face with a straight razor she had concealed in her hand. Jo Ward knocked Alice down and hit her with an umbrella as Freda ran away. Alice jumped up and ran after her. She caught up with her and slashed her face again. Then Alice grabbed Freda by the hair, pulled her head back and slit her throat from ear to ear. Alice went back to the buggy and Freda was carried to a nearby office where she bled to death. Alice was arrested that night at her parent’s home and Lillie was arrested at her home the next morning. Lillie Johnson went on trial February 23, 1892. Lillie Johnson’s habeas corpus hearing was held first, to determine whether there was enough evidence to try her for murder. Though it would not determine anyone’s ultimate fate and was far less important than the pending murder trial of Alice Mitchell, it would be the most significant trial held in Memphis to date. The anticipated crowd would be so large that Judge Julius DuBose delayed the opening so that construction could be done to enlarge the courtroom until it had a seating capacity to rival Memphis’s largest theaters On the day the trial opened judge Dubose was overwhelmed by a crowd of over a thousand people of all races and nationalities, about half of them women. In an effort stem the confusion he issued a “ballroom order”: “Ladies to the right, gents to the left.” Women were drawn to the hearing in numbers unprecedented for a criminal trial. All of the salient evidence came out in this hearing; the “unnatural love” of Alice for Freda, the attempted elopement, Lillie’s intimacy with Alice and with the Ward sisters, and vivid descriptions of the murder scene. The defense argued that Lillie had no idea of Alice’s intention that day and in no way assisted her. But Judge Dubose ruled that: "The proof is evident that the defendant aided and abetted in the commission of the crime, a crime the most atrocious and malignant ever perpetrated by a woman." Lillie Johnson was released on $10,000 bail. Alice Mitchell trial on July 18, 1892- Alice Mitchell pled not guilty to murder but also entered a plea of “present insanity” which meant that before she could be tried for murder a hearing would be held to determine if she were mentally fit to stand trial. To show a genetic predisposition to madness, Alice’s father testified that her mother, who had borne seven children, suffered from “puerperal insanity” after the birth of her first child and had to be committed to a lunatic asylum for several months. After the death of the child she became increasingly unstable. Other testimony brought by the defense stressed Alice’s boyish behavior growing up as an indication of her insanity. The engagement ring, inscribed “From A. to F” was entered as evidence and the story of the elopement was retold. Frank Mitchell, Alice’s brother, testified that Alice had once tried to commit suicide by taking laudanum over Freda’s infidelities. The prosecution argued that though Alice’s behavior was strange, it was not insane. Her tomboyish behavior was not even unusual, just a normal part of growing up. However, the defense brought in a number of psychologists who unanimously thought Alice insane, probably incurably so. Her predisposition to insanity was triggered by an “exciting cause” - the emotional disturbance of love and jealousy. Alice’s belief that she could marry Freda was a manifestation of her insanity. Throughout the trial, Alice seemed docile and unconcerned which, to some observers, seemed further evidence of her insanity. On the witness stand she remained calm and indifferent as she told of her love for Freda detailed their intended elopement. Then she told of her plan to kill Freda: “I wanted to cut her because I knew I could not have her, and I did not want anyone else to have her… My intention was to cut Freda’s throat and then my own, but Jo’s interference made me cut Freda again.” The trial lasted ten days and the jury returned the verdict of insanity. She was committed to the Tennessee State Insane Asylum at Bolivar, Tennessee. Charges against Lillie Johnson were later dropped. Aftermath: Officials at the Tennessee State Insane Asylum could have, at any time, declared Alice Mitchell competent to stand trial, but she never left the institution. In 1898 she reportedly died of tuberculosis. However, one of her attorneys later stated in an interview that she committed suicide by jumping into a water tower. In 1892 the terms “lesbian” and “homosexual” were not commonly used in America. At that time, the medical term for Alice’s condition was “sexual inversion”, the condition where a person inappropriately took on the characteristics of the opposite sex. While much was said about the “unnatural love” of Alice Mitchell for Freda Ward, there was never a suggestion that their relationship was sexual. The public also had trouble accepting Alice’s sexual inversion as the driving force behind the murder. Though Alice never wavered from her assertion that she killed Freda for love, two other stories were told as a motive for the murder: Alice, Lillie, and the Ward sisters were “fast” girls, always flirting with men. Freda was prettier than Alice and had more luck with men. Alice was jealous of Freda’s beauty and was only trying to disfigure, not murder her. A mysterious man was involved. He followed Alice’s buggy and disappeared after the murder. The murder was the result of a rivalry for the love of this man. The folk song "Alice Mitchel and Freddy Ward" expresses this view. Alice Mitchell judged insane
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| Maidie De Long |
1920 Pantages Has
Peppy Offering Schipps Comedy Circus carries a wallop of fun. Maidie De
Long, the well know woman impersonator comes with the bill, sure of a welcome.
Ogden Standard Examiner.
1973- Laverl K. Harris
withdrew from Metropolitan Community Church of SLC, taking about thirty-five women members and founded the Grace Christian
Church which continued to exist until 1976.
The Grace Christian Church hired Harris as pastor. The church met at 2680 South
West Temple SLC at a home since demolished.
1979-3,360
letters between Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Lorena Hickok were made
available. Many of the letters are of a romantic nature.
1980 Dr. Nyla Cole, Dean of the Psychology Department at the
University of Utah spoke at a Salt Lake Affirmation Meeting on her research in
human sexology. Dr. Cole was one of the top specialists in sexuality in the
West
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| Cris Williamson and Tret Fure |
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| Dan White |
1985-Dan White, who murdered San Francisco mayor George Moscone and
gay City Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978, committed suicide by asphyxiating
himself in his wife's car. White served just over 5 years for the murders.
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| Palmer DePaulis |
1989 Luci Malin asked Rocky (Connell) O’Donavan and Ben Williams to be on a panel at the
National Organization for Women conference on the role of men in the feminist
movement. "Got up early about & a.m. and started working on my talk for the NOW Conference. Rocky and I are suppose to discuss why men should be involved in the Feminist Movement. I then took a bus down to the Salt Lake County complex on 21st and State where I participated with Rocky O'Donovan, Mark Mensh, and Chris Rohrer as panalists. We discussed the role of men in the feminist movement. We were chosen because we all are all actively working to dismantle patriarchy. In the Conference brochure I was discribed as ' a Gay activist and community builder, he is teh past director of Beyond Stonewall, founder of Unconditional support for Gays and Lesbians; and co-producer of Concerning Lesbians and Gays, a weekly public affairs radio program on KRCL.' (journal of Ben Williams
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| Jeff Freedman |
1990 Sunday-The Gay Bowling League was organized by Jeff Freedman
as an alternative to the usual bar scene. Bowling League began tonight at the
University of Utah lanes in the Olpin Student Union.
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| James Herlihy |
1996 GAY SUPPORTERS OF CLINTON TAKE PART IN COMING-OUT RALLY
Deseret News Published: Monday,
Oct. 21, 1996 Members of the Clinton/Gore campaign's Lesbian and Gay Leadership
Council Utah Steering Committee participated in a National Coming Out Day rally
recently at Sugarhouse Park, said David Nelson, a member of the Clinton/Gore
Utah steering committee. "More than 72 percent of bisexual, gay and
lesbian
households polled in 1992 by the national Voter News Service voted for
Bill Clinton, which is more than Latino and union-worker households," said
Nelson. Nelson believes that 3.2 percent of all voters and 8.3 percent of urban
voters in 1992 were gay, lesbian or bisexual. Nelson hopes homosexuals
supporting the president can turn out even more voters for him this year.
_with_Vice_President_Al_Gore_in_1996.jpg) |
| David Nelson & Al Gore |
1996 Page: D1
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE.-- Anderson's top
flip-flop in Cook's view comes courtesy of Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats, a
group that charged last summer that Anderson broke his promise to them to push
for the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. After winning the primary, the
Democrat then said he would poll constituents and vote their wishes as long as
the issue was constitutional. Anderson said recently he never said he would
support a same-sex-marriage law in Congress; rather he would have opposed the
Defense of Marriage Act, which would define marriage for federal purposes as
the union of aman and woman and allow states to reject same-sex marriages
sanctioned in other states. As for polling constituents, Anderson acknowledged
recently that ``90 percent of the district'' opposes same-sex marriages.
``I'd honor that.''
1998 About 300 people protested the Salt Lake City Board of
Education ban on all non-curricular high school clubs rather than allow Gay clubs in high school.
1998-United States Surgeon General David Satcher released a report
with recommendations for suicide prevention. The report recognized that gay and
lesbian youth are a high risk group and recommended target prevention efforts.
1999 Utahns often unaware of hate crimes Week Without Violence starts with
some statistics By Susan Whitney Deseret News special writer Utah averages 100 hate crimes a year. And the average
Utahn would like to think there are none. The disparity between reality and
myth came to light Monday night at the kickoff event for the YWCA national Week
Without Violence, held at the Salt Lake City YWCA. At a panel discussion on
hate crimes, Sen. Pete Suazo, D-Salt Lake City, gave the statistics. Nationally,
there are 8,500 hate crimes every year. Since 1992, when the state Department
of Public Safety first started collecting statistics, more than 500 hate crimes
have been reported in Utah, Suazo said. Since 19 local jurisdictions don't
report hate crimes, he's sure the number is even higher. His fellow panelist,
Monica Owen, who directs the Salt Lake Police Department's Victim Advocacy
Program, said she was also sure that number is too low. Gays and lesbians may
know they were assaulted because of their sexual orientation but may not
mention the fact. Owen says too few police officers are trained to ask the
right questions about hate crimes. Another panelist, Dave Litvack, with the
local office of the National Conference for Communities and Justice, says
several known hate organizations have chapters in Utah, including the World
Church of the Creator. Hate crime watchdogs know of two neo-Nazi groups on the
Wasatch Front, Suazo said. Another is in southern Utah, Litvack added. Suazo
said 60 percent of Utah's hate crimes are committed because of the victim's
race: 15 percent because of ethnicity and 13 percent because of sexual
orientation. The rest, more than 10 percent of the crimes, are committed
because of religion. Quite a few of those crimes are against property,
specifically LDS ward houses. Litvack says he defines a hate crime as one in
which the defendant intentionally selects the victim or property because of the
victim's race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, national origin,
religion, disability or age. His definition is more broad than either the
federal or the state definition, which just take into account race, ethnicity
and national origin. There is a move in Congress to expand the definition to
include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation and disability. Locally, there is also such a
movement. Suazo met with the Utah Sentencing Commission to come up with a bill
he hopes will pass during the next Legislature. It would define a hate crime as
one in which the defendant selects the victim because he or she is "a
member of a group." "Why have hate groups come to the West?"
Suazo asks. "Because they think there is a level of tolerance here."
It is the job of every Utahn to show there is no room here for hate, he said. But
first, we have to be willing to admit racism exists, said another panelist,
Haruko Moriyasu. Moriyasu directs Asian-Pacific American Studies at the
University of Utah. A diversity class is required for students to graduate, she
notes. She's found students often resent having to take it. She says students
react in one of several ways when they study about the struggles of minorities.
An example: When they learn of how Japanese were sent to relocation camps
during WWII, some try to downplay the difficulties. They may refuse to believe
the Japanese people did not commit treason. They may say the government would
never be guilty of racism. Or else they ask Moriyasu why they never learned
about it before, she says. Students tell her they went all through school
without learning about racism or hate.
1999 THE DESERET NEWS: SANDY WOMAN AND HER PARTNER ARE IN PROTECTIVE CUSTODY SANDY — A Murray woman and her roommate are in protective custody after the woman's family allegedly tried to force her to return to her native country in the Middle East last week because they disapproved of her lifestyle. Police were contacted Oct. 14 by the woman's roommate, who told them her roommate had gone to her family's home in Sandyto talk with them and had never returned, Sandy Police Sgt. Kevin Thacker said. The roommate told police the woman's family, who are natives of the country of Jordan, objected to the fact that the two women are lesbians and was afraid the family would harm her, Thacker said. The woman and her family have lived in the United States for about four years, Thacker said. The roommate gave police a cell phone number for one of the woman’s brothers. When detectives called it, they found that the brother had taken the woman to the airport and intended to board a plane for Jordan, Thacker said. Detectives convinced the man to bring his sister to the police station to talk with them before leaving the country, Thacker said. At the station, the woman told police her family had threatened to stab her with a knife and had beaten and kicked her repeatedly and had taken her to the airport against her will. The woman also had injuries consistent with assault, Thacker said. On Tuesday, prosecutor charged the woman's parents, Jamil A. Hawatme hand Wedad J. Hawatmeh, and her brothers, Shaher J. Hawatmeh and Iehab J.Hawatmeh, with aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony; aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; and assault, a class A misdemeanor, according to documents filed in 3rd District Court. All four were arrested by Sandy police and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail. They were scheduled for arraignments Wednesday. Sandy police have placed the woman, 23, and her roommate in protective custody as a precautionary measure, Thacker said. "We don't know for sure what was going to happen, as far as if she would be taken back to Jordan, but there was some concern for her safety,” Thacker said. "The investigation is far from over."
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| Pete Suazo |
1999 THE DESERET NEWS: SANDY WOMAN AND HER PARTNER ARE IN PROTECTIVE CUSTODY SANDY — A Murray woman and her roommate are in protective custody after the woman's family allegedly tried to force her to return to her native country in the Middle East last week because they disapproved of her lifestyle. Police were contacted Oct. 14 by the woman's roommate, who told them her roommate had gone to her family's home in Sandyto talk with them and had never returned, Sandy Police Sgt. Kevin Thacker said. The roommate told police the woman's family, who are natives of the country of Jordan, objected to the fact that the two women are lesbians and was afraid the family would harm her, Thacker said. The woman and her family have lived in the United States for about four years, Thacker said. The roommate gave police a cell phone number for one of the woman’s brothers. When detectives called it, they found that the brother had taken the woman to the airport and intended to board a plane for Jordan, Thacker said. Detectives convinced the man to bring his sister to the police station to talk with them before leaving the country, Thacker said. At the station, the woman told police her family had threatened to stab her with a knife and had beaten and kicked her repeatedly and had taken her to the airport against her will. The woman also had injuries consistent with assault, Thacker said. On Tuesday, prosecutor charged the woman's parents, Jamil A. Hawatme hand Wedad J. Hawatmeh, and her brothers, Shaher J. Hawatmeh and Iehab J.Hawatmeh, with aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony; aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; and assault, a class A misdemeanor, according to documents filed in 3rd District Court. All four were arrested by Sandy police and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail. They were scheduled for arraignments Wednesday. Sandy police have placed the woman, 23, and her roommate in protective custody as a precautionary measure, Thacker said. "We don't know for sure what was going to happen, as far as if she would be taken back to Jordan, but there was some concern for her safety,” Thacker said. "The investigation is far from over."
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| Craig Miller |
2003 Please forward to any and all of your friends, family and
associates. TUES OCT 21 7 P.M. A reminder that the Utah Stonewall Democrats are
holding the first of three training sessions for delegates to the State Party
on Tuesday, October 21, 2003. These delegates, who will be selected at the
March 2004 mass meetings, will choose the candidates of the Utah Democratic
Party in 2004 and 2005. This month's session will be at 7:00pm at the Gay and
Lesbian Community Center, 361 North 300 West in the "gallery" above
the Coffee Shop.
The training will be SHORT and
concise. I hope to see many of you there. We do make a difference. Mike
Picardi, Chair, Utah Stonewall Democrats
2004 Join us
Thursday, at the Rose Wagner Theatre (138 W 300 S) at 6:30 PM for an Equality
Rally Everyone is welcome!
2004 FAMILY VOICES FOR EQUALITY SLC
October 21, 2004 Kick-off event of the PFLAG National Conference
Proceeds to benefit Don't Amend Alliance Featuring: - CATIE CURTIS, folk-rock
goddess - KATE CLINTON, faith-based, tax-paying, America-loving political
humorist - REV. BARRY LYNN, Executive Director of Americans United for
Separation of Church and State - PHYLLIS LYON and DEL MARTIN, the first
same-sex couple officially married in the U.S. - JOE MUSCOLINO BAND, the Wasatch Front's premier band
Thursday, October 21, 2004 7:30pm Abravanel Hall Tickets $20-$40 ($10 students) 801-355-ARTS or 888-451-ARTS $100 VIP tickets (includes
premium seating and a post-show reception sponsored by Equality Utah) are
available through Ruth at Don't Amend Alliance at 801.746.1314. Join us on the
plaza outside Abravanel Hall at 6:30pm to rally against Amendment 3!
2005 The Utah AIDS Foundation, University of Utah LGBT Resource
Center, and Wells Fargo are proud to present: Queer Comedy 101 7:30pm @ Rose
Wagner Theatre Come hear comedians Stephanie Howard (featured on Comedy
Central), Jerry Calumn (producer and performer for LA’s recent OutLaugh event),
Roy Cruz, and Alan Walker jest about the trials and tribulations of coming out
of the closet and stepping into high heels.
$15 for Students and National Gay Men’s Health Summit Participants $25
General Public Queer Comedy 101 featuring Comedians Jerry Callum, Alan Walker, among others at the Rose Wagner
Theatre at 7 PM. This event is held in
collaboration with the National Gay Men’s Health Summit and the Utah AIDS
Foundation.
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| Rocky Anderson |
- Subject: ROCKY SPEAKS @ GAY MEN'S
HEALTH SUMMIT Almost a month after
signing a domestic partners benefits plan for city employees, Salt Lake Mayor
Rocky Anderson on Thursday told an audience gathered for the National Gay Men's
Health Summit to focus their efforts on local government. Having health
benefits expanded to cover gay couples "is absolutely crucial,"
Anderson said. "This is a matter of life and death, it's a matter of
quality of life for so many that are impacted by these issues." The
biennial conference is the group's fourth and addresses health and health care
issues facing gay, bisexual and transgender men: threats of anti-gay marriage
initiatives, rising trends in STD and HIV infections among young gay men and
gay men of color, anti-gay violence and the effects of crystal methamphetamine
and other drugs on the community. Although some attendants wondered why the
meeting is being held in conservative Utah, Stan
Penford, executive
director for Utah AIDS Foundation, responded, "Why not Salt Lake City? My dream is that our ability to live safe, happy and healthy lifestyles is not limited by the community you reside in. It has to be Salt Lake City and it has to be all those other small towns because we are already here and we are in every small town across the country." Penford said Anderson, named recently by gay advocates as one of America's top 10 influential leaders and who was given two standing ovations Thursday, an "amazing ally and advocate." Anderson detailed his 1996 congressional campaign in which he openly stated he supported same sex marriage. "But just consider the mass progress made in the last decade," he said, noting mainstream support for marriage equality. "We're seeing now whole nations adopt the principle as a matter of fundamental fairness and we will get there." David Ferguson, one of nine men on the national organizing committee and program director for the Utah AIDS Foundation, said the summit is primarily designed for public health workers and medical service providers dealing with gay clients but has a wide aspect of health topics, including physical, emotional, spiritual, mental and social well-being."The gay men's health movement is rooted in HIV organization and HIV work," he said, noting a broad change took place in the mid- 90s. "We had to start thinking about other issues. It's a hard thing to sort of turn the corner on because gay men have only been conditioned to consider their health in terms of their HIV status." Several hundred people are expected to attend the summit — an estimated 100 from the local area.
Stan Penfold
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| Mike Thompson |
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| Chris Buttars |
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| Dan Fandrich |
2006 MASQUE FOR AIDS Some people say Halloween is just for kids.
Pshaw! They just aren’t looking in the right place for the right party. Voila -
the first annual Dance to music by DJ Georgee and enjoy dessert by Butterfly*
You can also enjoy an affordable, pre-fix menu at Butterfly before the party,
and there will be fantastic live-auction items for your bidding pleasure as
well as fabulous prizes for the best masque! MASQUE REQUIRED. CLOTHING
REQUIRED. COSTUME OPTIONAL. Please join us! Saturday, October 21, 2006 8 pm –
Midnight The Depot* at the Gateway 400 W. South Temple (in the Union Pacific
Building) Must be 21 to attend Dancing / Dessert / Live Auction / Cash Bar $50
for Single Tickets $500 for a Table of 4 $1000 for a Table of 8 $1000 for a
Section of 10 All tables include complimentary wine *A Private Club for Members
Utah Aids Foundation Presents: Mayor Rocky Anderson presents the First
Annual Masque for AIDS A Benefit for the
Utah AIDS Foundation The Depot** at the Gateway Saturday, October 21, 2006
8:00pm-Midnight All tickets $50 * Cash Bar * Music, Dancing, Desert
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| Sister Dottie S Dixon |
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| Dallin Oaks |
2016 Acceptance Speech at the 2016 Equality Utah Allies Dinner: By Neca Allgood - Text of the acceptance speech at the 2016 Equality Utah Allies Dinner:Thank you! We are humbled and overwhelmed by this recognition. Mama Dragons, and our sibling organization the Dragon Dads, are relatively new groups. Long before we were taking our first tentative breaths of fire there were other parents who stood up for their gay kids. We want to give a special shout out to the parents of PFLAG, and to Mormon parents like Bill and Marge Bradshaw, Millie and Gary Watts, and Marsha and Clair Nielsen who, long before there were support groups on the internet, chose to love their gay kids. We started about three years ago from a message thread created by Gina Crivello, who was searching for how she could support a LGBT student at her neighborhood high school. In the last year alone we have grown from 450 members to 1000, and while that growth is wonderful, we would ultimately like to not exist at all. We look forward to the day when a kid coming out to their parents is as ordinary as them announcing they have a date to prom. And while the Mama Dragons had great growth this year we have also had some tough losses. Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in Utah. LGBTQ young people are at particular risk, and so we call on our fellow citizens and our state government to get serious about this REAL public health crisis. Finally, we know we are not perfect parents. Fortunately, children don’t need perfect parents, they need good-enough parents. Thanks to our kids for being patient with us as we work to become good-enough parents, working to create a good-enough state, a good-enough nation, and a good-enough world, so our kids, and every kid, can shine.
2017 Salt Lake Trinbune She came out of retirement to lead ‘in crisis’ Utah Pride Center; 2 years later, Carol Gnade says it’s time to pass the torch. By Jennifer Dobner She came out of retirement to lead ‘in crisis’ Utah Pride Center; 2 years later, Carol Gnade says it’s time to pass the torch By Jennifer Dobner Two years after accepting an interim position as director of the Utah Pride Center, Carol Gnade has announced her plans to retire — again. Gnade, who ran the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union for 14 years, came out of her first retirement in 2015 to take over the center. It had experienced two years of instability, including the unexpected resignation of the previous director and allegations of financial mismanagement. Gnade’s job was supposed to last only three months. “It’s no secret that the center was kind of in crisis,” said Gnade, who is now 72. “They needed someone who could be vocal, had some experience in the community and who could give [the center] the opportunity to look at things and decide what needed to be done. That doesn’t happen in three months.” Gnade elected to stay for two years but now says the center is more stable and it feels like the right time to pass the torch. “I said to the board, it’s really time now,” said Gnade, who announced her plans to the LGBTQ community in a Facebook post on Friday. A national search for a new director is already underway, but it will be tough to fill Gnade’s shoes, board chair Sue Robbins said Saturday. Gnade’s leadership, caring nature and connections have improved the way the center provides services and support to the LGBTQ community by focusing its mission and programs, creating partnerships and helping to hire a solid new staff, Robbins said. “Carol is the center reason we are where we are,” she said. One major accomplishment of Gnade’s term has been to eliminate the center’s debt through the $1.6 million sale of its building at 255 E. 400 South in downtown Salt Lake City. Purchased in 2013, the 6,000-square-foot center was just too big and too expensive to renovate, Gnade said. It was sold in May and the proceeds were used to purchase a building at 1380 S. Main Street. The new location — once the office of the Mexican Consulate — will be better suited to the center’s programming and administrative needs, including offering meeting rooms for community groups and possibly business incubator space for LGBTQ entrepreneurs, Gnade said. Under her agreement with the board, Gnade will stay with the center through the hiring of a new director and the relocation to the new building. “I will be here until I’m no longer needed,” Gnade promised the LGBTQ community in her Facebook post. “You have my word.”
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| Mary Lassalle |
2017 Mary
Lassalle 1962
~ 2017 Mary
Ann Lassalle "Mother's Angel", born March 1, 1962 ended her struggle
in this world and took her own life October 21, 2017. Mary
was a proud "Army Brat" and attended many schools throughout her
childhood. Mary excelled in all sports, indoor and outdoor, with a very high
spirit of competing as well as dozens of marathons and triathlons. Mary was
instrumental in the formation of the Gay & Lesbian Softball League in SLC,
bringing her organization skills to the forefront. Mary
lived in San Francisco for 25 years as a legal secretary. Her work for the
Federal Government-US Forest Service included implementing the new data
processing programs and the teaching of the departments use of the "new
data processing system". Mary
had a natural ability to coach, inspire and teach. Mary
loved the outdoors, from the ocean beaches to mountain lakes, snowshoeing,
hikes. She recently enjoyed and loved the scenery and tranquility in Oregon
with family, and was very happy with her vacation. Mary
relocated to SLC in the mid '90's suffering culture shock, but was able to
acclimate to the "ways" of Utah after a few years. Her joke at the
time was" she spent several years one weekend in SLC." Mary
became a member of Local 99 "IATSE" working at the 2002 winter
Olympics, and continued working with the Union ever since. She always took the
time to teach, demonstrate and train new workers at the Union when no one else
would. Her smile and energy was contagious. She started work with enthusiasm
and passion that allowed the day to fly by and it was a pleasure to be on her
crew. Mary
helped others so much that ultimately she was unable to help herself. Mary's
family will be holding a service at Kramer Family Funeral Home at 2500 South
Decker Lake Blvd, WVC, Utah 84119 on Friday, October 27, 2017 at 2:45 p.m.
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