15 March
1922-Magnus
Hirschfeld, who led the fight in Germany
to repeal laws criminalizing
consensual sexual contact between men, gave a
speech proposing the repeal of Proposition 179 at a public hall inside the
Reichstag. Fifty members of the Reichstad attended.
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| Magnus Hirschfeld |
 |
| Jay Brennan and Bert Savoy |
1922 Greenwich Village Follies, Thursday-The
players who interpret the gay and fantastic scheme include Bert Savoy and Jay
Breenan. It comes to Salt Lake with the original cast intact, direct from its
sensational ten weeks run at the Garlick Theater in Chicago Deseret News. [Bert
Savoy was a celebrated female impersonator who played off his “straight man”
Jay Brennan.]
1969 Leo Laurence
and his lover Gale Whittington were featured on the front page photo of the
Berkeley Barb as Gay Lovers in California. Leo Laurence employed at ABC-TV
station KGO was fired and Whittington would be fired two weeks later.
1976-“I have had to start wearing turtle neck sweaters to
cover the hickeys on my neck from Larry. Mike, my roommate is getting
suspicious about why I am gone all the time.
I have stopped going to church or going to Family Home Evening. I just
want to be with Larry all the time.” [Journal of BYU Student ]
1984- The Salt City Source published first issue
for the Gay and Lesbian Community. The Editor was “Shar”, and publisher and
owner was Laura L. Ferreira.
1985- Explosion at Alta Ski Resort had Beau
Chaine and “Jeff, Paul and Joyce”, members of the Gay and Lesbian Community
helping with the rescue.
1985-A study in
the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that AIDS is not
spread by casual contact.
1988 Tuesday-While getting ready for Unconditional Support, Steve Breckenbury called to say he was sorry
for not following through on the show for Backstreet. Well it’s forgotten. At Unconditional
Support it was a smaller group tonight probably due to the snow blizzard we
had this morning. Jim Hunsaker led
the meeting and discussed the topic of Male Couples. After the meeting we all went to the Regency
Theater to see Hair Spray., Devine’s
last movie. About 15 people from the community were there to see the movie. [Journal of Ben Williams]
1989 QUILT REFLECTS COMPASSION, DIGNITY DUE AIDS VICTIMS
Some of the names Rock Hudson, Liberace, Roy Cohn, Michael Bennett - are easily
recognizable. others aren't. But each of the names prominently displayed on the
nearly 9,000 panels of the Names Project Quilt, which arrived in Salt Lake City Wednesday,
represents someone whose life was cut short by the deadly AIDS virus. Each
panel in the ornate quilt represents about 18 percent of the deaths from AIDS
in the United States .
For each panel in the quilt, 4.5 other people have died. But local sponsors of
the display - the Utah AIDS Foundation and the People with AIDS Coalition of
Utah - say that the purpose of the quilt is "to bypass the statistics
surrounding AIDS and to emphasize the compassion and dignity due those directly
impacted, their families and friends."
The giant quilt, a tribute to those who have died of AIDS, is beginning
its 1989 U.S./Canadian tour in the Salt
Palace San Francisco after a candlelight memorial
service in 1985 prompted participants to attach to a government building
cardboard pieces with names of friends or loved ones who had died of AIDS.
Cleve Jones, now executive director of the Names Project, conceived the idea of
a giant quilt consisting of panels bearing names of those who have died of
AIDS. It was to be a vehicle to spread a message of compassionate awareness
around the world. In 1987 when Jones teamed up with Mike Smith to organize the
Names Project Foundation, the response from around the world was immediate.
Sewing workshops were set up and people contributed the 3-foot by 6-foot cloth
memorials of their husbands, wives, sons, daughters, lovers and children who
had died of AIDS. The panels, as varied as the lives they commemorate, are made
of everything from clear vinyl, leather, shirts, shower curtains, afghans,
cremation ashes, stuffed animals, photographs, incense, mink, merit badges,
fishnet hose, Mardi Gras masks, pearls and lots of sequins. There's a
100-year-old quilt panel, and another panel is fashioned from a Buddhist's
saffron robe. A Barbie doll is displayed on another of the panels, which
collectively contain 28,184 feet (5.34 miles) of fabric. The quilt will be
displayed in the Salt Palace through March 19 at 9 p.m. when several Utah panels will be
added. The quilt weighs 16 tons and represents all 50 states and 13 foreign
countries. The Names Project does not allow admission to be charged to view the
quilt. But Geoffrey Baer, media coordinator, Utah AIDS Foundation, said
donations that are made will stay in Salt
Lake City to provide help (food, shelter, medical
services) to people with AIDS. The goal is to raise $5,000 for these services.
In conjunction with the quilt's arrival, an interfaith candlelight healing
service will be held March 15 at 7 p.m. in St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, 231
E. First South. The service at St. Mark's is for people with AIDS and for
people who care about people with AIDS," said the Very Rev. William
Maxwell, dean of the cathedral. "Healing comes in many forms and not
always as an immediate physical healing, but a healing of the spirit of the
individual. "Likewise, all of us who have been touched by AIDS in any way
need healing; healing from fear, grief, anger, guilt, loneliness, all of the
emotions which enter our lives when someone we know - and especially someone we
love - is diagnosed or dies from AIDS." Following the service a
candlelight procession will go from the cathedral, down South Temple to the Arts Center
1990 CRIMINAL CODDLING': SYSTEM FOCUSES MORE ON
LOOPHOLES, EXCUSES
THAN ON JUSTICE, VICTIM'S FATHER SAYS. Without a major overhaul of the U.S. judicial
system, criminals will continue to be coddled while their victims suffer, said
David G. Church, whose son Gordon was brutally murdered Nov. 22, 1988. Church
had nothing but praise for Millard
County Gordon Church
1990 3 hours: Jury's decision called result of
Wood's young age, Archuleta's dominating influence. WOOD IS SENTENCED TO LIFE
IN PRISON By Michael Morris and Lane Williams, Staff Writers Convicted murderer
Lance Conway Wood received a life sentence for his part in the torture slaying
of Southern Utah State College student Gordon Ray Church. The jury deliberated
only three hours and was unable to reach a unanimous decision that Wood should
be sentenced to death, thereby resulting in a life sentence. Fourth District
Judge Boyd L. Park read the decision a little after 9 p.m. Wednesday. In
December, co-defendant Michael Anthony Archuleta received a death sentence for
his part in the killing. "The system protected Lance Wood's rights a lot
better than he protected Gordon Church's (rights)," said Millard County
Attorney Warren Peterson, and Wood's crimes deserved the death penalty. After
the decision was read, Wood and defense attorney Marcus Taylor put their arms
around each other. Both Taylor and Peterson agreed that an important reason for
the jury's decision and the difference between Archuleta's sentence and Wood's
is the defendant's youth. Wood was 20 when Church was murdered. Archuleta was
26. Taylor said
another reason is "Archuleta was the dominating partner." Wood, described during the sentencing hearing
Wednesday as a hyperactive high school dropout who suffered from a learning
disability, wept as his father recounted stories from the defendant's childhood
and participation in Boy Scout activities. He nearly completed the requirements
for Eagle Scout. Under questioning from Taylor ,
Edward Wood told jurors that he believes his adopted son can be rehabilitated
and "make something of his life." The defendant has matured since his
arrest, Edward Wood said, and hopes to finish high school, marry and become an
asset to society. In light of Wood's life sentence, however, his contributions
to society likely will have to be made from within prison walls. Taylor said he expects
Wood to spend at least 10 years in prison for the conviction before he might be
paroled. Peterson expressed the wish that legislators had provided jurors the
option of life without parole. Wood also cried while his mother, Margie,
tearfully recounted the joy of Wood's adoption and the family's patience in
trying to deal with Wood's learning problems. Margie Wood said the family tried
counseling, medication and special education to help their only son. For
example, she said, one counselor suggested that Wood had not crawled as an
infant and needed to do so. The defendant's mother said she, Edward and Lance
spent many hours crawling together around the house. But the treatments had
little effect, she said. Some jurors cried when she shared an affectionate
letter Wood wrote on Mother's Day as a teenager. Peterson's co-counsel, Carvel
Harward, called only three witnesses during the sentencing hearing. He said
prosecutors were relying chiefly on testimony from the trial's guilt phase to
show that aggravating circumstances in Church's murder outweighed mitigating
circumstances. Edward Wood said his son did "fairly well" in
elementary school despite speech and learning disabilities that surfaced when
he was 3. His son's academic performance dropped, however, in junior high
school when he started associating with the wrong crowd. The defendant was
easily influenced by others, Edward Wood said. Shortly after he turned 18, he
was convicted of felony theft after he and others stole and wrecked a
motorcycle in the Bountiful area. The
defendant originally was placed on probation, but his probation was revoked in
October 1987 after he failed to comply with probationary terms. June Hinckley,
prison records and identification officer, said the defendant was paroled a
year later on Oct. 25, 1988 - less than a month before the murder. Taylor told jurors the
defendant was an unwanted child until being adopted by the Wood family when he
was 6 months old.
1999 Women's Book Club and Inklings present a
discussion of Rita Will (Rita Mae Brown
Autobiography) 7pm upper level at the Center
2000 Police crack down on parkway sex By
Brady Snyder Deseret News staff writer Published: Wednesday, March 15, 2000 A
number of men, many in business suits and ties, have been arrested this week
for engaging in public, homosexual acts along a specific stretch of the
Jordan
River Parkway in South Salt Lake and West Valley City. "The traffic is
pretty heavy at lunch times and after work around 6 or 7," South Salt Lake
police officer Darin Sweeten said.The "traffic" in the area of Oxbow
Park, 1115 W. 3300 South, consists of men who walk along the parkway seeking
other interested parties willing to move into the brush a few feet off the
paved path. Tuesday police made nine arrests in the area. The day before they
had seven busts. All of the men arrested were cited with misdemeanor lewdness
or gross lewdness. Prior to appearing in court, all of those cited will be
required to report to the county health department to undergo AIDS tests,
Sweeten said. Police have also discovered hazardous material like discarded
contraceptives and used needles in nearby shrubbery. One arrested man told
police he had an advanced-stage case of AIDS. "A lot of these men have
wives and kids at home," Sweeten said. "Who knows what they could be
bringing home to their families." Police were alerted to the problem about
three weeks ago when neighborhood business owners wondered why their parking
lots became flooded with cars during lunchtime or after normal business hours. As
investigators examined the situation, they discovered two Web sites that
indicated the parkway was a place for public sex. South Salt Lake officers
enlisted the help of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah. Paula Wolfe,
executive director of the center, said it has been difficult for the gay
community to help because most of the offenders don't consider themselves
homosexual. "They are not openly gay but view themselves as straight men
who happen to have sex with other men," Wolfe said. "They (have
homosexual relations) now and again and tend to go to venues where they will be
less visible." Wolfe said the community center has been working with
police to get the word out about the potential for disease in these types of
public encounters. Sweeten agreed that the health risk is the main concern and
noted that the hazardous material and activity occurs just a few feet from
where children ride bikes and jogging mothers push strollers up and down the
parkway. Police will continue to patrol the area heavily in the coming weeks,
but Sweeten and Wolfe hope the warning of serious health risk will be heeded
and result in a more permanent solution to the problem.
2003-On Saturday, March 15 the GLBT COMMUNITY
LEADERSHIP FORUM will hold its first Leadership Summit at the Metropolitan
Community Church located at 823 S 600 East, Salt Lake
City, UT. To RSVP: Call Toni at 801-484-2205 by Wednesday, March 12, 2003 All
GLBT Organizations and groups are welcome to have up to 5 people in
attendance. These people can include
board members, donors, staff, volunteers, etc.
Cost of the event is $20.00 per person.
Lunch will be provided and each person in attendance will receive a
leadership resource book.
Residual money from the event will be equally donated between
the organizations in attendance. This should be an exciting event to attend and
too participate in. The day has been planned with many sessions to help build
UNITY, SUPPORT, AND STRENGTHEN each and every organization within our GLBT
community. Please bring the
following: contact information Dates for your organizations major events
Brochures, Newsletters and Program Descriptions All of these items will be
included in the leadership resource book
8:00 – 9:00 Registration &
Continental Breakfast 9:00 – 9:15 Opening Remarks Todd Dailey, Publisher of the
Pillar 9:15 – 9:30 Small Discussion Groups
9:30 – 10:30 Enlightened Leadership: Creating Unity in the Community Becky Moss
& Ben Williams We Are Family? Randy Laub Who Me? Stressed?John Cottrell & Randy Laub Why a Forum? Reviewing the past and looking to the future closing Remarks
Michael Mitchell, Executive Director of Unity Utah We hope to see you
there!
15 March 2003 Jury selection to begin in transgender woman's killing NEWARK
2004 Subject: Pride Parade 2004 from Donald Steward “Muffins, I know June
13th seems a long way away...but the Pride Parade Application forms are
available now at the GLCCU, and we have made a few changes that you need to be
aware of. The Parade will assemble at 9am on Third South (between Main &
State) and will step off at 10 am. The route is the same as last year with only
a slight change on the last block for the unloading and storage of floats.
Entries that have multiple vehicles will preassemble on the West end of the
block before moving into the line up area for step
off. The registration fees
are : Through May 15th $50 May 16th - June 6th $75 PLEASE NOTE: Due to spacing
and coordination constraints, no entries will be accepted after June 6th. There
is a 10% reduction in fees for Floats. The Cyber Sluts will be donating a $25
subsidy available for 1st time Parade participants (non-commercial) who
register prior to May 15th. This is to encourage more people to get involved,
create parade entries and make the Parade bulkier (....who says we don't
recruit!) So get the word out to friends, colleagues, businesses, churches,
drum circles, marching bands, theater company's, dancers, artists, and
community groups, and anyone else who is a friend of our community and get them
involved in Pride Parade 2004. This years theme is "Come Out, Come Out,
Wherever You Are!" which opens up all sorts of visually disturbing ideas
for floats and entries. Let those creative juices flow people! Fergie
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| Donald Steward |
- Volunteer with Utah Pride 2004!!! Its that time of year again. If you have volunteered with Pride before, we appreciate all your support. Utah Pride seeks volunteers that can contribute as little time as an hour, or up to all day long. We need YOU on June 11, 12, and 13. You can help with any of the following areas: Parade, Festival Set-up, Festival Tear-down, Beer Garden, Children Center, Stores, Beverage Stations, Entertainment, "5K Run, Walk, Roll," Grounds or wherever we need you!!!! In gratitude for your volunteer. We would like to provide you wih a volunteer appreciation packet. This packet includes a t-shirt, a ticket to the volunteer appreciation party, and other goodies yet to come.
- SUGLBTCC, LET’S GO TO PRIDE! This year’s theme for Utah Pride is: COME OUT! COME OUT! Wherever You Are! Let’s come out and make our first appearance at Utah Pride, Sunday June 13th. We need 15 people to commit, by May 12th to show up and march with the Southern Utah GLBT Community Center. Anyone willing to support the center can join us. If you are willing to commit to marching you can call the center @ 635-0628 or 313-0624 or sign one of the sign up sheets at any of the upcoming center activities. Can’t attend, but want to support? why not donate a scholarship for someone who can go but can’t afford it. We will need to rent hotel rooms and car pool, pay registration fees, etc. Let’s show our support for the SUGLBTCC by wearing t-shirts that show where we’re from. All we need is a great design! DESIGN A SHIRT FOR PRIDE CONTEST! Artists show us your stuff! Design a T-shirt incorporating the Pride theme or a GLBT theme and let’s everyone know we are from SUGLBTCC. Deadline for entries is May 13th (if we don’t get the 15 people commitment by the 12th the contest will be cancelled.) Bring your entries on Wed nights @ Bajio’s or Sun. mornings @Kayenta, bring them to another center sponsored activity, or call the center @ 635-4528 or 313-0624. Judging will be done @ an upcoming fundraising event (location to be announced) on May 16th (the night before legal same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.) Winner will receive a scholarship to Pride and a free t-shirt.
2005 The GLBT Public Safety Liaison Committee, the Utah
Nonprofits Association, and the GLBT Center
will be hosting a free workshop on "Fiscal Controls for GLBT Community
Groups and Nonprofits" on Tuesday March 15th at the Centers Black Box
Theater (300 West 350 North, SLC)from 7-9 PM. And while the workshops title may
not be the sexiest, the topics covered are critically important to anyone on a
board, serving as an elected officer, or handling the cash and assets of GLBT
community groups, from large to small. Facilitated by Diane Hartz Warsoff,
Executive Director of the Utah Nonprofits Association, the workshop will cover
State and Federal Tax Exemption,
Financial Reporting and Accountability; Creating checks and balances; Board oversight,
responsibilities, rotation, and separation of powers; Reporting fraud and
theft; Annual license and charitable solicitation permits. There will time
allocated for an open Question and Answer period to address other legal
concerns. Questions? E-mail me or call
Valerie at the Center 539-8800. Fergie.
- 2005 Financial Controls for GLBT Community Groups The GLBT Public Safety Liaison Committee, the Utah Nonprofits Association, and the GLBT Center will be hosting a free workshop on "Fiscal Controls for GLBT Community Groups and Nonprofits" on Tuesday March 15th at the Centers Black Box Theater (300 West 350 North, SLC)from 7-9 PM. And while the workshops title may not be the sexiest, the topics covered are critically important to anyone on a board, serving as an elected officer, or handling the cash and assets of GLBT community groups, from large to small. Facilitated by Diane Hartz Warsoff, Executive Director of the Utah Nonprofits Association, the workshop will cover State and Federal Tax Exemption, Financial Reporting and Accountability; Creating checks and balances; Board oversight, responsibilities, rotation, and separation of powers; Reporting fraud and theft; Annual license and charitable solicitation permits. There will time allocated for an open Question and Answer period to address other legal concerns.
2005 Subject: Gay
Murder in Ogden Over Drugs Dear Ben, In
the unlikely event you missed this, here, for your archive of gay-related Utah
news events, is a piece from today's Ogden Standard Examiner. Trial begins in 2002 murder case Tuesday, March 15, 2005 By Tim Gurrister
Standard-Examiner staff Victim found bound, gagged in his apartment OGDEN –
Opening arguments in the murder trial of Franklin Eugene Woodrick painted a
picture Monday of a gay underworld sparked to violence by drugs and jealousy.
Woodrick, 49, is accused in the Nov. 6, 2002, killing of 62-year-old Vincent
Donato after party plans with Woodrick and Rodney Boyle turned fatal. Boyle,
34, pleaded guilty to murder in October 2003 and is serving a five-years-to-life
sentence at the Utah State Prison. He will testify in the weeklong trial -- in
Woodrick's defense. The case is one of only a handful of homicides above
Harrison Boulevard in 20 years, say longtime courthouse observers. Prosecutor
Bill Daines described Donato as tiny, 100 pounds. "He is also a gay man,
and the reason I tell you that is it plays into the facts of the case."
Defense attorney John Caine told the jury, "We're going to take you down a
trail you've never been on ... reminiscent of Dante's Inferno. Drugs,
homosexual sex and violence all wrapped up in one." The case is made more
baroque in that the crime scene is St. Benedict's Manor, 3000 Polk Ave.,
converted from the original St. Benedict's Hospital (now Ogden Regional Medical
Center) built by Benedictine nuns in 1944. The night of Nov. 6, Woodrick and
Boyle, also gay, went to Donato's to use methamphetamine, Daines said. But an
altercation ensued for varying reasons with details conflicting in Woodrick's
and Boyle's statements to police. Either Donato was upset that Woodrick took
out a pocketknife to slice a filter off a cigarette or for breaking up his
live-in relationship with another man the day before. Donato either threatened
to or actually brandished a butcher knife at Woodrick, so Boyle punched Donato
out. Regardless, they bound and gagged Donato, then ransacked his apartment for
drugs and money, settling for two VCRs and Donato's 1985 Dodge Daytona. They
left the car at the residence of Donato's ex-lover to sidetrack police. Boyle
didn't check on Donato's condition, worried showing too much concern might
upset Woodrick because Boyle had been intimate with Donato a few days earlier.
Woodrick eventually admitted to police he knew Donato had no pulse, but didn't
tell Boyle because of his temper. Despite 13 broken ribs, a broken jaw and bruising
everywhere, Donato's official cause of death was the gag Woodrick admitted he
tied, Daines said. "The person who actually committed this crime, Rodney
Boyle, will be here to testify and take responsibility for it again,"
Caine countered.
 |
| Charles Milne |
2006 Lambda Lore Hate Crime
Bills by Ben Williams May
be its just me but I just can’t get too excited about the so called Hate Crime
Bill that was dubiously passed by our illustrious and broadminded Utah
state legislators. I am trying to figure out how it truly promotes safety
and security within the Gay communities of Utah . In 1986 a much younger Michael Aaron founded
the Anti-Violence Project to track hate crimes perpetrated in the Gay
community. The project was later handed off to the Gay and Lesbian Community
Council of Utah as one of the many functions of that organization. In
1990 the APU’s “hotline’, along with a circulation of a questionnaire among 234
Gays and Lesbians, documented that 74 percent who responded sated that they had
some type of verbal harassment, while 88 percent told of incidents
of physical violence, including 48 physical attacks, 22 cases of arson, and two
known homicides. In 1991 the Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats found a Utah
legislator who was willing to sponsor a bill modeled after federal legislation
passed in 1990 that requires the U.S. Justice Department to collect data on
attacks on religion and minorities including homosexuals . Since that bill was
co-sponsored by Utah
's Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, with Sen. Ted Kennedy, Gay leaders were very
hopeful that such a bill would be acceptable to state lawmakers. Rep. Frank R.
Pignanelli, D-Salt Lake City, minority leader, agreed to sponsor the Utah Hate
Crime Statistics Act, a bill that would have law-enforcement agencies submit
statistics to a central state office on crimes committed against
individuals based on their race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity and
would also have made it a third degree felony to destroy property, attack or
threaten a person because of his or her race, religion, ancestry, national
origin, ethic background or sexual orientation. Gay leaders soon realized that
the proposed Hate Crime bill was in serious jeopardy when during debate on the
bill, by the legislative interim judiciary committee, they indicated they
wanted "sexual orientation" dropped from the wording. Rep. Pignanelli
told the committee he had no intention of removing the disputed wording from
the bill. This Hate Crime bill became a hot button issue. A Deseret
News/KSL-TV poll in late 1991 showed that Utahns were evenly split over the
measure with 42 percent of Utahns for the proposed bill and 42 percent
against. Much of the debate over the bill surrounded Merrill Nelson,
R-Grantsville’s, argument that “homosexuals should not be given special
status under the new bill, considering that sodomy is against the law in Utah .” He claimed
that the bill would give “special legal protection to a group of criminals.” At
a January 1992 hearing a 14-page report documenting 377 threatening and violent
incidents in the state from 1991 against Gays and Lesbians was released
by the Anti-Violence Project of the Gay and Lesbian Community Council
of Utah. However as Pignanelli championed his bill the debate became
vicious. The Salt Lake Tribune rather then insult the legislators simply stated
that “bias” was shown by “lashing out” against homosexuality. Joy Beech of
Families Alert gave legislators statistics showing that a number of homosexuals
molest children and declared that since sodomy is a crime in Utah , "We
should not give privilege to those who actually violate our laws and are
criminals." Pignanelli countered, stating that at least half of all
hate crimes committed in Utah
are committed against Gays and Lesbians, so it made little sense to have a hate
crime law that excluded them. Gayle Ruzicka of the Eagle Forum bawled,
"Acts of homosexuality are illegal. I can't believe that you would place a
higher penalty on a gang that raped a homosexual youth than on one that raped
my daughter. On February 25 1992 the great state of Utah passed its first Hate
Crime bill making it a third-degree felony to intimidate or terrorize a
person in violation of their civil rights. Missing from the bill was any
reference to sexual orientation. The fall out from the exclusion of sexual
orientation from Utah ’s hate crime caused many Gays to become political. The Gay
and Lesbian Utah Democrats managed to defeat Ted Lewis, a Democrat who opposed
the inclusion of sexual orientation in the bill’s language, at the state
primary and helped elect Pete Suazo. By 1994 Utah ’s Hate Crime Bill was deemed
by law officials and Utah ’s judiciary as worthless. The tracking of Hate
Crimes was meaningless because as the Salt lake Police Department's
intelligence unit stated in an article for the Salt Lake Tribune " Another
factor skewing the numbers of reported Hate Crimes was police officers
themselves.” Sgt Don Bell said the unit depended on officers to classify crimes
and suspicious incidents as hate crimes and if an officer didn’t indicate on
his report that the crime had hate-crime overtones, then intelligence never saw
it. After Pignanelli left office, Rep-Pete Suazo courageously and relentless
took up the crusade to pass a meaningful Hate Crime Bill one that was inclusive
of sexual orientation. He was met by the same ignorance, prejudice and
fear that Piganelli encountered, primarily by Gayle Ruzicka and her Eagle Forum
network. In 1999 Gayle Ruzicka ranted “Why are we even considering something
like this?" and demanded that the law should not protect
"illegal and immoral behavior". 2003 was the first time in a decade
that a Hate Crime bill, with sexual orientation included had a chance of
passing. This time it was promoted by Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake
City
2012 QSalt Lake Utah Gay Fathers Association expands services, plans fundraiser The Utah Gay Fathers Association is expanding: having added a second monthly meeting and launching a fundraising dinner on April 14, 4 p.m., at a member’s home in Salt Lake City. The funds raised will help offset organizational costs and pay for participation in the Utah Pride Festival, said Ben Visser, director of the UGFA. The Utah Gay Fathers Association is expanding: having added a second monthly meeting and launching a fundraising dinner on April 14, 4 p.m., at a member’s home in Salt Lake City. The funds raised will help offset organizational costs and pay for participation in the Utah Pride Festival, said Ben Visser, director of the UGFA. With more than 40 attendees at the last meeting, the organization is growing fast and outgrowing the current meeting space, Visser’s apartment. “It is so rewarding and we’re growing much faster than I anticipated,” Visser said. Since 2009, the group has been a valuable resource for gay fathers in Utah and is exploring the possibility of expanding to Northern Utah and expanding services and the location of the Salt Lake City meetings. The group meets on the first Sunday and third Tuesday of each month. There are also quarterly events for Spanish-speaking fathers and group members. The schedule is updated with extra activities, including the fundraiser on April 14, and details of all the activities are posted on utahgayfathers.com. The April fundraiser is titled Spring Fling 2012 and participants are invited to dress in their best cowboy and cowgirl attire. The western-themed dinner and event will include raffle prizes, western inspired tapas, cash bar, a disc jockey, awards recognition and a chance to mingle with the community. Tickets are $20 each or $35 for two. Proceeds will help the organization attend the Utah Pride Festival, where they won an award for being the best new parade entry in 2011. The group is also looking for a volunteer to help launch their Future Fathers program for expecting gay fathers and those who want to have children. The group is expanding into a future where gay adoption and acceptance of gay couples are increasing drastically. The group’s mission is “to celebrate fathers and all gay men through fellowship and support. Our focus is to embrace, affirm, and improve ourselves as gay fathers and men; to socialize and share the unique and universal joys, strengths, and challenges that we face as gay fathers in Utah… Future Fathers events such as adoption, surrogacy, and IVF information clinics, legal nights where we discuss issues pertaining to various aspects of gay fatherhood, and other social gatherings to uplift and support each other.” Whether looking to adopt or looking for a social outlet to find support with other gay fathers, the UGFA is the perfect outlet.
2014 Utah filing: Gay-marriage ruling a ‘judicial wrecking ball’ Courts • Decision to end ban on same-sex unions undermines state sovereignty, attorneys argue. BY BROOKE ADAMS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The debate over same-sex marriage presents precisely a “political quandary” best left to individual states and their democratic processes to resolve — an authority enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and upheld in numerous U.S. Supreme Court decisions, attorneys for Utah argue in the state’s latest court filing. To allow the “difficult policy choice” about marriage rights to be made by “judicial fiat” would not be akin to the “narrow” decision that ended bans on interracial marriage, but instead would unleash “an unprincipled judicial wrecking ball hurtling toward an even more important arena of traditional state authority,” the state said. That wrecking ball would impose “novel” and “corrosive” principles about marriage and parenting and would undermine state sovereignty, according to the 120-page reply brief the state submitted to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals just minutes before its midnight deadline Friday. The state gets the last shot at responding to arguments made by the plaintiffs who challenged Utah’s ban because it brought the appeal. The court has set oral arguments in the case for April 10 in Denver. In their Feb. 25 filing, attorneys for the three couples said Utah’s laws prohibiting same-sex marriage have “cemented discrimination” against such couples and their children, denying them basic protections and access to a marriage culture that most Utahns take for granted. The plaintiffs said those bans tell them that “they are not, and never can be, true families,” the attorneys wrote. But in its new filing, the state said the plaintiffs and U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby, who made the Dec. 20 ruling that the state’s ban was unconstitutional, misapplied the U.S. Supreme Court’s reasoning in the Defense of Marriage Act and other cases. The state also said Utah’s law should be scrutinized at the lowest, rather than a heightened, legal standard. Letting Shelby’s decision stand would “bring active liberty to a screeching halt, replacing it with a homogenized, one-size-fits-all federal solution” on marriage, the state said. It also would create “second-class sovereigns — those with populations the federal judiciary deems too backward or ill-informed to fall in line behind national opinion leaders.” Utah said Amendment 3, approved by voters in 2004, is a rational way to promote interest in heterosexual marriage and foster responsible procreation that “valorizes” opposite-sex parenting and benefits “all the state’s children, present and future.” Same-sex relationships, it claims, are primarily about “personal individual interests” and an “adult-centric” lifestyle and allowing such couples to marry would have multiple repercussions. Those risks include: fewer and shorter heterosexual marriages; an increase in fatherless and motherless parenting; reduced birth rates and more out-of-wedlock births; less “self-sacrificing” by heterosexual fathers; and increased social strife, the state said. It also would communicate that adult interests are paramount, that neither gender nor biology matter and would delink procreation from marriage, according to the brief. The resulting message would be that there is no reason to get married to have children, the state said, and “may lead a busy or irresponsible biological parent (usually a father, but sometimes a mother), to assume that, so long as someone is taking care of the child, there is no need for him or her to be involved.” Allowing same-sex marriage would be a greater change to the institution than allowing polygamy or arranged marriages, the state said — though it also argued that polygamy may be inevitable if gay marriage is allowed. Attorneys for the state also argued that no one is depriving homosexual citizens of access to marriage; rather, such individuals could but “for good reason” choose not to exercise that right. “Utah law allows every person, regardless of sexual orientation or gender, to marry a person of the opposite sex,” the state said, adding in a footnote that Utah “is not trying to punish nor attempting to change anyone’s sexual orientation.” And same-sex couples have other ways to secure and protect their rights and interests outside of marriage, it said. “Utah is simply reserving the title and benefits of ‘marriage’ for those relationships that conform to the model Utah believes best promotes the welfare of all the state’s children, present and future,” it said. And that’s true even if heterosexual couples are unable to procreate, though “the vast majority of man-woman couples — even elderly couples — have at least one member who is capable of procreation.” “Each time a man-woman couple builds a marriage — regardless of their reproductive intentions or abilities — that subtly strengthen the husband-wife marriage institution and thereby enhances its power,” the state said. The state attributed Utah’s high fertility rate in part to its long-standing definition of marriage and said that by giving special recognition to “couples who are able to produce offspring without biological assistance from third parties the state sends a clear, if subtle, message to all of its citizens that natural reproduction is healthy, desirable and highly valued.” Same-sex couples, who cannot naturally (much less unintentionally) procreate, do not promote the state’s interests in channeling procreation, at least not in the same way or to the same degree,” the state’s attorneys said. The state said claims by the plaintiffs and groups supporting them — which include the American Sociological Association and the American Psychological Association — that there is no difference in parenting quality, are irrelevant or wrong. It also said that if same-sex marriages are allowed, religious groups might no long support state-sponsored informational campaigns extolling benefits of marriage or call on the state to get out of the marriage business altogether, leading to a privatization of marriage. There would likely be increased conflicts over the rights of businesses to refuse to serve same-sex couples. The central question is who chooses what the marriage institution will communicate in Utah, the state said. And the answer? “The state, through democratic processes.” “Because Utah has articulated legitimate interests that are advanced by its marriage definition, the inquiry ends,” the state said. What happens next The three-judge panel from the 10th Circuit Court that will hear appeals from the states of Utah and Oklahoma will be randomly selected around April 1. Oral arguments in the Utah appeal are set for April 10 in Denver. Oklahoma’s appeal will be heard a week later. It will likely be at least several months before the panel issues its decision; parties on the losing side may then request that the case be reviewed by all judges in the circuit or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court
2017
UTAH STATE PRISON — In 2007, 3rd District
Judge Judith Atherton said she was "frankly shocked" by Trey
Holloway-Brown's responses when he was questioned prior to being sentenced to
prison. On Tuesday, Angelga Miklos, chairwoman of the Utah Board of Pardons and
Parole, also seemed confused at times by some of Holloway-Brown's responses
when asked about his crime. During one exchange, Holloway-Brown claimed he
grabbed the knife that was eventually used to kill his estranged wife's lesbian
lover, so he could give it to his wife. "That doesn’t even make
sense," Miklos said in a recording of Tuesday's hearing. On June 10, 2005,
Holloway-Brown, after driving from Wyoming to his estranged wife's apartment in
West Valley City, got into a heated argument with her. As the fight progressed
from inside the apartment to the parking lot, Holloway-Brown stabbed, hit and
stomped on 29-year-old Norma Espinoza Hernandez, killing her. Although Atherton
said the crime ranked "very high on the level of brutality" that she
has seen during her career, Holloway-Brown was able to obtain a plea deal that
allowed him to admit to a reduced charge of manslaughter, a second-degree
felony. He had faced a charge of murder, a first-degree felony. He was
sentenced to one to 15 years in prison. Tuesday was Holloway-Brown's first
parole hearing. He took long pauses as Miklos asked him to recount what
happened that night, a standard question at all parole hearings. "What
happened that night was me being reckless and careless. And the resulting incident
led to Norma’s death,” he said. Holloway-Brown said after arguing with his
wife, he chased after Hernandez, who had run out of the apartment. He then
described stabbing her two or three times as he struggled with his wife over
the knife, followed by a second incident in which he claimed Hernandez jumped
on his back and he stabbed her again. "During that struggle was the last
strike, and that was the strike to her neck,” he said. "At this point and
time, I go into a rage. My adrenaline kicked in and I couldn’t control it. I do
believe I kicked her a couple of times."
But when he was done recounting what had happened, Miklos pointed out:
"You realize what you just told me is vastly different than what’s in the
official report." "It sounds pretty much consistent with me. But
every time you tell a story it’s going to be a little bit different, ma’am,”
Holloway-Brown replied. Miklos then reminded the inmate that when he was
interviewed by police on the night of the murder, he told investigators that
Hernandez never attacked him or had the chance to defend herself, and he said
he had "snapped" and chased after her to "finish the job."
The autopsy showed Hernandez was stabbed six times. "I don’t know where
you see the discrepancy. It all sounds the same to me. You’re picking out minor
things. Let me be clear, I said I did all those things and you repeated them
back to me. So I don’t really don’t understand what you’re saying to me,”
Holloway-Brown said. "There’s nothing in what I read in the official
reports that shows you being assaulted by anybody,” Miklos responded. "Oh.
Sorry, ma’am. Let’s just go with what the police report says. I can’t memorize
everything in the report in my head. I’m sorry," Holloway-Brown said. "I
don’t want you to memorize it. I just want you to tell me the truth,” Miklos
replied. Miklos later told the inmate that she believed his actions were more
than just "reckless" and "careless" as he described them. At
one point during questioning, Holloway-Brown seemed to attribute his "very
extreme" rage, as he called it, to sleep deprivation. "I was
extremely tired from being up for over 24 hours. And that led me not to be able
to handle anything. Any amount of any stress was too much at that time,” he
said. Miklos responded by asking how the board could be assured he could keep
his emotions in check the next time he got tired. "Now I know that I need
to take care of myself," he said. "Taking someone’s life is not
fun." "I’m sure it’s not," Miklos interjected. "You have no
idea. The nightmares it brings. The conflict of your own personality. You have
to deal with this. I live with this every day. Every day I have to look in the
mirror I have to deal with this. And I don’t ever want this to happen again
because I don’t like it." Before he was sentenced to prison,
Holloway-Brown and his estranged wife reconciled. She was present at his parole
hearing, along with Holloway-Brown's parents and other family members to show
support. During sentencing, Holloway-Brown's defense lawyer noted to the court
that his client has brain difficulties. There were indications he may have had
some genetic neurological problems and was also hurt in a bad crash years
earlier. The hearing took a different tone at the end when Miklos noted that
Holloway-Brown had taken several life skills classes, was making good use of his
time while in prison and had been working hard. The full five-member board is
expected to make a decision soon on whether to grant parole. If he serves his
full sentence, Holloway-Brown will be released in 2022.
2018 Podcast Changing Our Stories and Utah Public Radio finished a four-part series, LGBTQ Off the Grid, with a feature on Heidi and Phil Berry and their son Abram, who created what they call Rainbow Mutual, a play on the Mormon Church program for teens. “I am quite proud of the wordplay,” Abram says in the interview. “It’s the bringing together of very contrasting ideas. It’s a fun juxtaposition of my two worlds.”
Interviewer and executive producer Andrea Smardon talks to the Berrys and Dave Jensen, who has one transgender son and one son coming out. Other episodes featured Brigham City transgender woman MacKenzie Quinn Jetton, two-spirit Navajo Moroni Benally, and formerly homeless Randy Thomson who started Youth Advocates of Southern Utah.
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