This Day In Gay Utah History February 23rd

February 23-

1887 The People of United States in the Territory of Utah To the U.S. Marshall for the Territory Greeting: An indictment having been found on the 23rd day of February A.D. eighteen hundred and eighty-seven in the District Court for the Third Judicial District in and for the Territory of Utah charging William Paddock, Richard Bubbles, Arthur Curtis, Dan Henry, and John Ledford with the crime of “The Crime Against Nature”. You are therefore to forthwith arrest above named William Paddock and bring him before that court to answer said indictment or if the Court has adjourned for the term, that you keep, or cause him to be safely kept in custody until the further order of this Court; or if he required it, that you take him before 21st July 1887 J.M. Zane On July 22 Paddock was in custody but on 1 August 1887 his grandmother and mother, Julia A. Cole and Cornelia Paddock, secured a bond of $500 for William Paddock’s bail and on the 5 August 1887 he released from Jail. In 1888, William Paddock, Arthur Curtis, Dan Henry, and Luzon (Lucon) Adams all were indicted for burglary in case file 448 in the Third District Court. Bubbles is not mentioned again in criminal court records which does not necessarily mean that he left his life of juvenile crimes behind. I suspect that Bubbles is simply an alias for a preteen who loved to chew gum.

1933-Less than a month after Hitler became chancellor of Germany all homosexual rights organizations and clubs were outlawed.

1977-Anita Bryant complained to the press because she had lost a television job due to her crusade against Gay rights. Activists pointed out the hypocrisy that someone who wants to ensure that others have no recourse when they lose a job would complain when she loses one herself.

1980- Women Aware sponsored a Valentine's Dance at the Unitarian Church on 1300 East SLC UT. Women Aware organized a Skills Directory for women to share skills, sports and hobbies with each other. They also organized a Policticalesbian Group for women interested in politics and Lesbianism.

1988  I led the meeting of Unconditional Support tonight and we discussed Gay Social Behavior or what to say when you run into someone you know while out tricking.  I broke the group into five smaller groups and then had them discuss different scenarios I had given them. I think it was a good meeting.  I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies for the meeting [1988 Journal of Ben Williams] After work Becky Moss called me to see if I’d help pull a show together for tomorrow’s Concerning Gays and Lesbians. I said sure. What a trooper. I read the Parable of the Eye Glasses and played some music from the March of the Falsettos.  It was a good show and we were done by 11:30 p.m. [1988 Journal of Ben Williams]

1989  I went to Gay Fathers where there was a  small turn out. Only about six of us.  I was telling John Bush about what  Derek Streeter said to me last Tuesday and Mike Conners jumped all over my case saying that I had no right to withhold information from Derek and I said I most certainly do. [1989 Journal of Ben Williams]

1991-The Montana State House of Representatives rejected a bill which would have repealed the state's sodomy laws.

1991-John Martin was assaulted by two men Troy Perry and Scott Angus while their friend an off duty SLC, UT police officer Roger Williams watched and did nothing.

1996-In an editorial in the Los Angeles Times, Jimmy Carter said, "We must make it clear that a platform of 'I hate Gay men and women' is not a way to become President of the United States."

1996 Friday, GAY STUDENT CLUBS SENATE OKS LIMITS ON TEACHERS' ACTIVITIES With time running out in the 1996 Legislature, there's a $5.4 billion budget to be decided, a $100 million tax cut, massive state welfare reforms and a host of other weighty legislation affecting the lives of virtually every Utahn. But the dominating issue of the day - some might say the issue of the legislative session - had nothing to do with the mundane state government operations. Rather, it was the divisive issue of stopping gay and lesbian clubs from organizing at public schools. The Senate voted 18-8 Friday to approve SB246, which would prohibit schoolteachers from encouraging, condoning or supporting illegal activities, or doing anything that undermines the public confidence in school operations. "If it (the bill) discriminates against anything, it discriminates against a lawbreaker," said Senate President Lane Beattie. "It ought to be passed in every state of the nation." Although the bill mentions nothing about gay and lesbian clubs, the legislation effectively prohibits teachers from serving as faculty advisers to gay and lesbian clubs because homosexual activities, particularly sodomy, are prohibited under Utah law. The emotional and hotly debated issue deeply divided the Senate, with majority Republicans arguing on one side that school districts should be allowed wide latitude in determining the standards of conduct at schools, and minority Democrats on the other speaking passionately about the preservation of constitutional rights to speech and peaceable assembly. SB246 states that teachers and school volunteers may not, in their official capacities, "encourage, condone or support engaging in illegal conduct." More controversial, the bill goes further to regulate the private activities of teachers and volunteers if those activities "undermine the health, safety, welfare or morals of school-children, or the confidence of the public in the operation of schools." That activity must also result in "a material or substantial interference or disruption in the normal activities of the schools." Sen. Craig Taylor, R-Kaysville and sponsor of the bill, told lawmakers the courts have ruled that public schoolteachers, because of their positions as role models to children, are afforded less constitutional protection of free speech than other citizens. The state, he added, has a compelling interest in ensuring that teachers do not cause "material or substantial disruption" of school affairs. But one official in the Utah Attorney General's Office, who asked not to be identified, said the bill "probably will not pass constitutional muster. You cannot regulate what people say in their private lives." The attorney general's office, which must defend the law in an almost-certain court challenge by civil libertarians, has not been asked to review the legality of the proposed law. Most of the Senate debate, which began Thursday and concluded Friday, centered not on whether or not gays and lesbians should have school clubs, but on the issue of fundamental freedoms. "We have moved this issue to a higher elevation of constitutional rights of people," said Sen. Eddie Mayne, D-West Valley. Those opposed - all of them Democrats - cautioned that efforts to control speech could have serious unintended consequences. Sen. Joe Hull, D-Hooper, recounted an experience where a teacher lost his job because he drank coffee, something contrary to the morals of the local community. "We need to be showing those children how tolerance works . . . that different people have rights," said Sen. Blaze Wharton, D-Murray. "Homosexuality is not going to go away just because we ban these clubs." Democratic pleas aside, Senate Republicans defeated an amendment to include language that "teachers shall promote values of tolerance and understanding for differing points of view and for people of differing races, religions, ethnic backgrounds,sexual orientations and for people with disabilities. Teachers shall support the laws of this state and of the United States against discrimination." Sen. Robert Steiner, D-Salt Lake and sponsor of the amendment, argued that the language of SB246 is so broad that almost any innocent act could be punished. "SB246 is presumably aimed at intimidating public education teachers from freely advising students who might belong to the East High club and limiting their individual rights to express opinions and engage in political activities," he said. Ironically, moments after senators voted to limit the official and private activities of schoolteachers, students at area high schools walked out of class to protest the Salt Lake School Board's decision to ban all extracurricular clubs. That action violated Utah truancy laws, and any teacher who encouraged, condoned or supported that walkout could be fired under  provisions of SB246. "Did it cause a substantial interference or disruption? Probably so," Taylor said. "Teachers should not be advocating illegal activities." "If they (teachers) condoned and encouraged it, yes it would (come under the provisions of SB246)," Beattie agreed. "But I don't perceive that is what is happening here. Those students have every right to be frustrated. But those frustrations are being driven by the same misperceptions being propagated by the media." SB246 now goes to the House for its approval.  © 1998 Deseret News Publishing Co.

1996 THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE   In one of the 1996 Legislature's defining debates, Republicans and Democrats clashed mightily Thursday over a bill sparked by formation of a gay and lesbian club at a Salt Lake City high school.    Senators advanced Senate Bill 246 by an 18-8 vote after a 75-minute exchange that ranged from evocations of the U.S. Constitution and tales of teen suicide to quotations from the Nuremberg trials. Only one Democrat, Sen. Eldon Money, D-Spanish Fork, broke party ranks in the final roll call. SB246 is aimed at preventing teachers and public-school employees from promoting illegal activities, either in their professional capacity or, in some circumstances, their private lives. It requires another Senate vote before heading to the House. Supporters sought to portray the bill, sponsored by first-term Sen. Craig Taylor, R-Kaysville, as little more than a clarification of existing law and firmly rooted in established court rulings. Taylor said the controversial measure does not target homosexual activities exclusively, as SB246 critics have claimed. ``This bill does nothing of the sort,'' said Taylor, who stood largely silent Thursday, listening to the speeches of opponents. He noted that members of the proposed East High School Gay-Straight Student Alliance insist they do not promote homosexual acts -- which are banned under Utah law -- ``and all this does is take them at their word.''    But Sen. Bob Steiner, D-Salt Lake City, argued that SB246 was meant to ``crush'' the club and intimidate teachers from freely advising students and expressing their opinions. He and others singled out provisions in the law aimed at outlawing private actions by teachers or other employees when those actions disrupt school activities.  ``This bill is very broad, almost to have no meaning,'' Steiner warned, citing a post-World War II judge who criticized  Nazi laws ``of such ambiguity that they could be used to punish almost any innocent act.'' Sen. George Mantes, D-Tooele, called the bill ``a one-way ticket to court,'' while others said it violated at least five provisions of the Utah Constitution. Steiner led a failed attempt to add language to the bill calling on teachers to promote tolerance and understanding for those of different races, religions, ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientation. The move was killed swiftly on a voice vote. Though Taylor said he could support writing into law tolerance for all other groups, ``to include them [homosexuals] would be to elevate them to a protected status.'' Added Sen. Robert Montgomery, R-North Ogden: ``That's a leap the citizens of this state are not prepared to make.'' Echoing sentiments of many GOP colleagues, Sen. Alarik Myrin, R-Altamont, said he did not view the bill as a gay issue. Rather, he said, SB246 clarifies the treatment of a wide variety of behaviors, including, as another senator put it, ``heterosexual immorality.'' Still, Sen. Blaze Wharton, D-Salt Lake City, blasted senators for ``overreacting.'' He reeled off a litany of studies portraying gay teens as feeling isolated, being more prone to suicide and more apt to be rejected by their parents --conditions he said the treatment by Utah lawmakers would only make worse. ``Three children -- children! -- are driving this train,'' he shouted, referring to the original founders of the East High club.  ``We need to show these children how tolerance and understanding of other people works, with us not necessarily condoning what they do but working with them,'' he said. The gay-club turmoil stems from the legal implications of a 1983 federal law guaranteeing all student groups equal access to school facilities. The law, meant to aid Bible-study circles, was championed by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Adding to the controversy was a secret, illegal meeting held on Capitol Hill by senators of both parties in the legislative session's early days. Then on Tuesday, the Salt Lake City School Board voted 4-3 to ban all extracurricular clubs, rather than be required to give the East High gay club equal access. Much of Thursday's discussion centered on the potential effect on teachers, with SB246 detractors claiming the law might allow school employees to be fired for common actions in their private lives, such as protesting nuclear weapons, getting a divorce or even smoking or drinking coffee. ``You're striking at the heart of civil disobedience and the right to say that something is wrong,'' Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City, said. He said under portions of SB246, the adherence to their faith by Mormon pioneers or the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott begun by civil-rights leader Rosa Parks might have been illegal and punishable by dismissal. But Taylor argued that the legal standard was high before actions against teachers might be taken. As written, SB246 says that to be in violation, educators must know what they are doing is wrong and that their actions lead to ``a material or substantial interference or disruption '' in normal school activities.  ``One of the prices they pay in teaching our children is that we set the role model,'' said Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan. ``You give up some of your freedoms when you sign that contract and go to work. It's part of the job.''

1996 The Salt Lake Tribune wrote: With a $5.4 billion budget to be decided, a $100 million tax cut, massive state welfare reforms and a host of other weighty legislation affecting the lives of virtually every Utahn the dominating issue of the day - some might say the issue of the legislative session - had nothing to do with the mundane state government operations but rather, it was the divisive issue of stopping Gay and Lesbian clubs from organizing at public schools.

1998-Three Afghanistan men convicted of sodomy survived their attempted execution. A stone wall was pushed over on them, and they were left buried thirty minutes. When it was discovered they were still alive they were taken to a hospital.

1999 GALPAC (Gay and Lesbian Political Action Committee) showed a movie, "The Sum of Us", at Brewvies in SLC UT as a fundraiser for the municipal Mayoral races in Salt Lake City. 

Dr. Kristin Ries

1999 Dr. Kristen Ries was chosen Doctor of the Year by the Utah Medical Association.

1999-On CNN's "Talk Back Live" Martin Mawyer of Christian Action  Network proposed the HC rating for television shows with homosexual content.

2003 Bruce Taylor Kosho Waldrop born in Meridian, MS., July 29, 1948 to the late James Alton Waldrop and Willielu Franklin Waldrop, died Sunday February 23, 2003, of a heart attack, at the age of 54 years. Bruce attended schools in Hattiesburg, MS. He was a resident of Salt Lake City, UT for many years, and a member of the first Affirmation group formed in Salt Lake City in the 1970's. Bruce's spiritual quest lead him to Buddhism. As a Zen monk and a student of Genpo Roshi, Bruce remained committed to strengthening the spirituality of the GLBTI community in Salt Lake City. He was a man of great heart, a friend of so many, deeply loved and deeply respected. A memorial service was held on Thursday, February 27, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. at the Kanzeon Zen Center, 1274 East South Temple, Salt Lake City.

2003  Family Fellowship Building Bridges - Healing Relationships - Loving and Serving All

Dear Friend of Family Fellowship,  The quarterly Family Fellowship Forum will be held on Sunday, February 23rd at 5:00 p.m., in the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center's Northwest Plaza Auditorium on the corner of 1230 North (Bulldog Boulevard) and 500 West, Provo. Mark Burton, Ph.D., will present results of a qualitative study he completed for his dissertation on long-term gay-male relationships. The study highlights 10 core themes common to successful, long-term relationships.  These results provide a blueprint of what such relationships require and may be helpful to gay couples and their family members,  as well as counselors and therapists working with gay couples. One of the gay couples in the study has been invited to attend and participate in a question and answer session at the conclusion of the presentation.  Dr. Burton is a licensed psychologist and the former director of the Family Support Center.  He specializes in working with adolescents and adults, and treats trauma related disorders as well as relationship issues for couples and families.  For the past three years, Dr. Burton has led groups for at-risk teens at Granite High School.  He is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Utah in the Educational Psychology Department where he teaches Family Counseling.  As is our custom, the program will conclude at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by a light buffet.  The Family Fellowship strives to encourage all family members to love, strengthen, and support one another.  We are concerned and care about gay individuals and their family members.  We do not feel compelled to agree on how gay individuals should express their sexuality or on what the official response of the LDS Church to its gay members should be.  We ask that there be no "bashing" of any person, group, or church.  Please join with us in a spirit of love and understanding. Sincerely, Family Fellowship

 2004- Ladies and Gentlemen, Tomorrow, February 24, on the "hill", HJR 25 will be voted on in the Utah House. It is the second item on the agenda, so it should come up around 9:30 am. This is LaVar Christensen's constitutional amendment to lock the LGBT communities out of the legal and civil rights we are ALL granted by the US Constitution. Last week there was an incredible turn out to push HB 68 out of the Judiciary Committee. We MUST have the same amount of lobbying to STOP HJR 25 from getting out of the house. This cannot go on the ballot this November. We must stop it NOW!!!! PLEASE come up to the Capitol and talk with your representatives, or at least CALL them and tell them not to amend the Constitution to ban us from forever having the same rights as every other citizen.. Thank you for your help and support! Mike Picardi, Chair, Utah Stonewall Democrats  

 2005  Subject: Gay oral history of the Sun and Radio City  Seeking people who experienced the Sun (both old and new) and Radio City to participate in a group oral history of the what these places were like and share the experiences from these Utah Gay Community gathering places.  If you were there or have stories to share.  Please contact me Will also be collaborating to collect Gay individual oral history's in near future. A copy of the recording will go to the Utah State Historical Society and to the Utah Stonewall Historical Society.  Participants will also have copy made available to them.  Save Our History, participate in this great and important project! Thanks! Chad Keller

2006 Student-club bill progresses Senate gives preliminary approval for measure By Jennifer Toomer-Cook Deseret Morning News Sen. Chris Buttars' bill regulating student clubs, but intended to prevent gay-straight alliances, in Utah public high schools received preliminary Senate approval Wednesday despite an impassioned challenge by Utah's only openly gay senator.SB97, sponsored by Buttars, R-West Jordan, includes some of the language in a similar House bill, HB393, sponsored by Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville. It also includes some changes Buttars said were suggested by the Utah Attorney General's Office. "So it's a blend.""I'm tickled with the way it is now," Buttars said.The bill, which was substituted with the changes before it passed, seeks to allow school boards to approve or deny clubs without fear of lawsuits, Buttars said.It basically directs school boards to deny clubs that promote bigotry, involve human sexuality or those where the school determines it necessary to "protect the physical, emotional, psychological or moral well-being of students and faculty," "protect the rights of parent or guardians and students" and other provisions. School boards would decide which club applications meet those criteria. The bill doesn't mention gay-straight alliances, noted Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan. But Senate testimony, including Buttars', focused on those student clubs, which reportedly exist in 14 Utah public schools, and on homosexuality in general. A man who testified before a House committee earlier this week told the Senate that his niece had been "recruited" and "indoctrinated" by an alliance to speak in defense of homosexuals to her parents' dismay. "We allow the homosexual community to frame the argument . . . that these are nice friendly support groups. This is not true. You just heard that," Buttars said. "To get the homosexual community's agenda to pass, they have to get us to redefine our traditional morality completely. If you're going to say homosexual behavior is OK, you've declared there is no morality." The statements offended Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City. "I have never recruited a single person into the homosexual lifestyle because it's not a chosen lifestyle. I didn't wake up one day and choose to be gay, and I don't believe . . . any of you woke up one day and chose to be heterosexual. It's what you are," McCoy said. "It isn't recruiting to say we recognize there are different kinds of people in the world and there are different ideas in the world and we should give respect and dignity to those people even though they're different from us . . . and I take exception to the notion that being gay or lesbian is the antithesis of being moral. We are absolutely moral people," McCoy said. He added that the real moral issue of the session is to fund services for the poor, people with disabilities and education. The Senate voted 18-11 to hear the bill one last time — a vote that typically ends up solidifying positions taken. Meanwhile, Tilton's bill awaits action by the House Rules Committee, which will decide whether to bring it out for House debate. If not, Buttars believes his bill is in position to move forward in the House, which will discuss Senate bills next week. "Mine will probably be the one we carry," he said.

2006 Thursday Kellie Foreman wrote: Good Day Past Recipient's of the Kristen Ries Awards! My name is Kellie Anne Foreman and I am one of the coordinators for the Grand Marshal Event, and I am also pleased to coordinating the awards nomination for the Dr. Kristen Ries Award with Craig Miller. Once again it's that time of year, time to come together and nominate the next recipient of the Dr. Kristen Ries Award for this years Grand Marshal/Utah PRIDE celebration. Craig and I are hoping that we can gather all of you together at his house at once, and together he and I have selected three days for you to choose from.  They are: March 26th at 3pm April 2nd at 3pm  and April 9th at 3pm Please get back to me as soon as you can. This year Craig and I want to get this taken care of swiftly, so the event goes off without a hitch. Once we have all picked a common date, I will send out confirmations and Craig's address.  If we cannot all agree on one date, do not worry... we can inform the others of the nominations via email and phone calls. Thank you for your cooperation in advance, and I look forward to working with you. Kellie Anne Foreman

2006 School clubs: Debate boils up Gay senator tangles with morals enforcer By Matt Canham The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Tribune A Senate debate over a bill restricting school clubs spiraled into an argument over the morality of homosexuals and if such people were born gay or choose that orientation. West Jordan Republican Rep. Chris Buttars is clear about the intent behind SB97. He wants to give school districts the ability to ban Gay-Straight Alliances without fearing a lawsuit. His bill would require the state to fight any such court challenge. Buttars considers such alliances “conditioning clubs” that attempt to recruit students to a gay lifestyle in violation of America’s traditional moral code. Scott McCoy, the Senate’s lone openly gay member, took offense and angrily said so. “I have never recruited a single person into the homosexual lifestyle because it is not a chosen lifestyle,” said the Salt Lake City Democrat. “I didn’t wake up one day and choose to be gay, and I don’t believe anyone wakes up one day and chooses to be gay. I don’t think any of you woke up one day and chose to be heterosexual. It is who you are.” The bill preliminarily passed on an 18-11 vote with only three Republicans voting against the bill: Senate Majority Leader Pete Knudson and Sens. Bill Hickman and Beverly Evans. Senators will take their final vote on SB97 today, but they are expected to pass it. After the debate, Senate President John Valentine said he has some concerns about the bill. He worries it intrudes on local control. Valentine also believes the bill could be costly if groups sue because school districts feel empowered to block unpopular clubs. Still, Valentine expects SB97 to pass today. Gay-Straight Alliance members said their clubs are social clubs to discuss issues and protect members from bullies. Buttars asked Scott Soulier, a resident in his Senate district, to combat that view. Soulier told the Senate that his niece was “recruited” to join a gay support club recently. He discovered this after she challenged her family’s stand that homosexuality is not an acceptable life choice during a family gathering, going against her Mormon teachings, Soulier said. He said she wouldn’t have done so without the attempt to “indoctrinate her.” McCoy said Buttars’ bill would not stop a girl from questioning her faith and that Soulier could not link the episode to a Gay-Straight Alliance. He said the clubs don’t recruit and are not trying to shatter religious ideals. The clubs support diversity and protect what he calls the “most targeted group out there.” “The most common epithets thrown about in our high schools are words like ‘faggot’ and ‘dike,’ “ McCoy said. “What these clubs exist to do is not to recruit people to change the way they live their lives or change their sexual orientation, it is to recognize that those kind of words and that kind of treatment hurts.” Buttars said the “gay agenda” is targeting schools, saying “this is the place where young people learn their values.” And he is worried that such an agenda would harm the country – another point that McCoy challenged. “This debate is not about a grand homosexual agenda,” McCoy said. “We are not trying to take over the world. We are not trying to tear down the pillars of morality.” McCoy called the gay community the “whipping boy” of Utah government. “Whether or not this passes, gay and lesbian people are going to be in the state of Utah. We are going to be in the high schools, and we are going to raise our families. All that we ask is that you allow us the chance to do that and leave us alone.” mcanham@sltrib.com

2006 Gay activist blazed a trail in fight for equal benefits By Lori Buttars The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Tribune Sara Hamblin didn’t count on a public battle with breast cancer. But friends and family of the gay-rights activist, who died Tuesday in her Taylorsville home, say it couldn’t be helped. Hamblin was 52. “It was harder for her to come out as a person with cancer than it was for her to come out as a gay person,” says her long-time partner Kathy Worthington. “She didn’t want people to look at her with sad eyes.” The duo’s relationship made headlines in 1997, when Worthington risked her U.S. Postal Service job to secure family leave time to care for Hamblin, who was about to undergo chemotherapy treatments. Both women worked at the service’s Remote Encoding Center in Salt Lake City, where officials eventually approved of the extended leave to “care for a family member who may be dying,” officials said at that time. It was also a victory for Utah’s gay community, says Jennifer Nuttall, program director at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center of Utah. “They were navigating their way through health care and hospitals, and all the while protecting their partnership, making sure their relationship was treated with the dignity and respect anyone in that difficult situation would deserve,” Nuttall says. Hamblin was born in Kanab. She moved to the Salt Lake City area in 1977. She first worked in the insurance industry, and then for the U.S. Postal Service until her cancer diagnosis. Most recently, she worked as a bus driver for the Utah Transit Authority, a job she held until last month. “She was quiet, yet courageous,” Worthington says, recalling an incident in which Hamblin kicked several teens off her bus for yelling a derogatory name for homosexuals out the window. There are no public services scheduled in Hamblin’s honor. Worthington says several informal candle-lighting gatherings are planned.  Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:07 am

2009 Buttars' remarks on gays draw more fire The fallout from the anti-gay comments of Sen. Chris Buttars continues as Senate Republicans met behind closed doors for more than two hours Monday to air their concerns and views about the remarks.  "Just about everyone in the caucus expressed his or her feelings relating to the issue and I think it was a venting process," said Sen. Peter Knudson. Buttars has been under fire for a week, after he told a documentary filmmaker that gays pose the greatest threat to America. Author:    Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune

2009 Gay-rights supporters stage 'Buttarsapalooza' It's not a rally or a protest. It's a party. Or so says the tag line for "Buttarsapalooza," a festival planned for Saturday in response to Sen. Chris Buttars' recent headline-grabbing anti-gay rant. "It's a celebration of the fact that we are all Utahns," said co-organizer Michael Mueller. "It's a celebration of our diversity.

2009 Senate GOP meets for 2 hours to talk about Buttars' comments The fallout from the anti-gay comments of Sen. Chris Buttars continues as Senate Republicans met behind closed doors for more than two hours Monday morning to air their concerns and share their feelings about the comments.  "Just about everyone in the caucus expressed his or her feelings relating to the issue, and I think it was a venting process," said Sen. Peter Knudson of Brigham City. "I think everyone came away feeling their position had been heard... Author:    Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune

2012 On Feb. 23, Utah Rep. Brian Doughty proposes and sponsors a bill to amend the state Code by prohibiting, in certain circumstances, the Utah Legislature from adopting legislation which would amend or repeal a municipal or county ordinance. State legislators don't vote on the bill, and it isn't adopted.