This Day In Gay Utah History May 10th

10 May

Ron Hunt

1977- Gay Service Coalition board meeting was held- Board Members  were Virgil Hyder, Bill H., Ray Henke, Ron Hunt, Bill G., Billy H., and Mike Reid.  Chairperson- Steve M.

1979 Groups Protest Power of BYU Police Action by Utah’s state legislature last year (1979)  gave BYU’s 24 member private security force investigation and arrest powers rivaling those of the Utah State Police. Prior to May 10, when the new law took effect, BYU officers had to be appointed deputy county sheriffs to function off campus. City police and county sheriff’s departments throughout the state still have assigned jurisdictions; the independent status of the BYU police is, therefore, unique. Criticism and uneasiness about the university’s independent status are mounting (AP articles in SL Tribune September 8, and October 23, 1979). Provo Police Chief Swen Nielsen and Utah County Sheriff Mack Holley, who share their jurisdictions with BYU, say they are on good terms with BYU Security Chief

Robert Kelshaw

Robert Kelshaw. They appreciate BYU’s security force, containing experienced officers and often utilizing sophisticated surveillance and other equipment ahead of city and county units, but admit some uneasiness. "There’s never been a problem with the present people involved," says Holley, "but there could be at some time, under this new law." Shirley Pedler, director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Utah, says the ACLU plans to test the law in court. "The law is blatantly unconstitutional for allowing police power to be used to enforce views, if not exclusively limited to, at least included in church doctrine," she said. Other groups fear the potential power of a police force responsible to Church officials. Attention was recently

David Chipman

focused on the situation when David Chipman, not a BYU student, was arrested by BYU’s security force off campus and charged with forcible sexual abuse of a BYU student acting as an undercover agent. Chipman’s attorney Ron Stanger, a Mormon lawyer who defended Gary Gilmore in 1977, says that he will ask that the case be dismissed on the grounds of entrapment. He maintains that his client may have been set up for arrest when he responded to a letter, written by a BYU detective and published in a gay Salt Lake newspaper, the Open Door, asking for the names of students interested in forming a "BYU gay underground." Kelshaw says the letter was unauthorized, and BYU President Dallin Oaks says he ordered a halt to such tactics as soon as found out about them. But Utah’s homosexual community remains unconvinced. Rev. Robert Waldrop, an ex-Mormon who ministers to Salt Lake’s gays, and Joe Redburn, owner of Salt Lake’s gay

bar the Sun, suspect that BYU security officers have staked out the bar. BYU’s President Dallin Oaks has denied that the school is harassing homosexuals but says that the campus security force will continue to enforce all laws forbidding illicit sexual activities. He denies that university police "have a mission to enforce the university Code of Honor except for violations of the law." Kelshaw adds that BYU has no intention of using its statewide police authority and that officers are confining their activities to the BYU campus.  1980 Sunstone Magazine pg 74

1984- KRCL sponsored Lesbian singer Ferron who performed at the Ladies Literary Guild. Her album Shadows on a Dime received a rating of four stars (out of five) from Rolling Stone magazine, which called Ferron "a culture hero" and the album "cowgirl meets Yeats...a thing of beauty." Shadows earned a place on renowned music critic Robert Christgau's "Dean's List" for 1984. 

Ferron

She was promoting Ferron's fourth album entitled “Shadows On A Dime” released on Lucy Records in 1984.

John Lorenzini

1986- Saturday-AIDS in Utah was the subject of a roundtable broadcast on KSL featuring, Dr. Harry Gibbons of the state health department, John Lorenzini from AIDS Project Utah, Physician Kristen Ries and Immunologist Jay Jacobson. (63)

1988 Tuesday, PANEL PROBES CHARGES OF AIDS BIAS AT 7-ELEVEN Utah's Industrial Commission has launched an investigation into charges that the Southland Corp., owner and operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores, demoted a local store manager because he carries the AIDS virus. A commission

investigator and the two parties met behind closed doors last week to discuss the case in hopes of either reaching a settlement or call an investigation. Dennis Farrell, 30, said he is a homosexual, tested positive for the fatal virus last year and told his employer about it. The decision to investigate was not what he wanted, he said. "I am disappointed that they (Southland) didn't offer some kind of a settlement. "Farrell says that he disclosed to Southland last December that he had tested positive for AIDS, and six weeks later was demoted to assistant manager. Rather than take a cut in pay and responsibility, he resigned in February. He alleges Southland demoted him because he carried the AIDS virus, and thus violated Utah laws prohibiting discrimination of handicapped or medically afflicted people, which would include AIDS carriers. Southland is also appealing Farrell's unemployment

Dennis Farrell 

benefits to the Utah Department of Employment Security. Southland said its dealings with employees are confidential, but local personnel manager Pete Wei did say that Farrell's situation dealt with his performance as a manager, not his handicap, and he wasn't discriminated against. Wei said the national convenience store chain has had other cases of AIDS among employees, but "as long as they are performing" they have not been dismissed or demoted. Wei declined to disclose where those other cases are located or any other details about them. Farrell has been open about his case, although the commission's proceedings and files on discrimination matters are confidential and closed to the public. He said he is talking about his case to publicize the problem of AIDS sufferers being intimidated by employers and forced to quit." There are several cases like mine, but people don't want to come forward about it because they are afraid of making it known that they are gay or intravenous drug users," said Farrell, who is a volunteer for the Utah AIDS Project. But Farrell said he only knows of one other case that was brought to the Industrial Commission and has yet to be settled. Commissioner John Florez said he believes that case had been settled, but he didn't have details available to discuss it. Farrell acknowledges that his public stance could jeopardize his chances of finding another job while he still has his health, but he said he feels obligated to get the word out. Before publicizing his case, his job search yielded nothing, but he doesn't believe his AIDS virus is the reason. "I don't tell employers I have tested positive because it doesn't affect my work in anyway. I am not sick and I am doing well health wise." Asked what he was seeking by way of a settlement, Farrell said he didn't know, but he does need money to defray his $100 a month health insurance costs and other expenses. "I also want them (Southland) to know they are doing something wrong," he said. Deseret News Publishing

• Dennis William Farrell, 47, passed away September 8, 2004. He was born June 4, 1957 in Salt Lake to William L. and Judith Farrell. He is survived by his partner, Randy Horsley., Dennis worked at US West and a number of years the Salt Lake Community College where he made friends, offered encouragement, was always kind and showed the utmost respect to others. What a great person he was to work with and friend to have had.

Joe Pitti

1991- Joe Pitti, returned to The Broadway Stage, 272 S. Main, to present his second annual mime benefit concert for the Utah AIDS Foundation.

1992 Harold Brown, Commissioner of LDS Social Services

May 10 1992, transcript of "Take Two" television program, with Rod Decker, Salt Lake City; transcript and tape recording of show in Connell O'Donovan's possession  Rod Decker: What causes homosexuality? Harold Brown: There're a lot of theories and there's no generally accepted reason for the cause of homosexuality.  There're a lot of different theories.

1996 The Salt Lake Tribune Letter: Words and Deeds It's hard to know which Kelly Atkinson

Kelly Atkinson

is the real thing. Congressional candidate Kelly Atkinson said that, as a state representative, he supported Senate Bill 246 during the general legislative session which was aimed at restricting gay and lesbian student groups (Tribune, April 27) even though he doesn't have a "discriminative bone" in his body. But state Rep. Kelly Atkinson has a history of public hostility toward gay and lesbian groups and issues. He joined Democratic leaders in February who asked the Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats to stop using the word "Democrats" and change its name, and said last year that gay and lesbian issues were "fringe issues." When his words don't match his action, I wonder which Atkinson would represent me in Washington. DAVID NELSON Salt Lake City

1998- The Family Research Council of Colorado stated “if marriage is radically redefined, or

domestic partnerships instituted, the entire moral code will unravel. Polls show that the American people overwhelmingly expect public officials to defend marriage unequivocally. This effort can advance the cause of judicial reform, halt the judicial assault on traditional morality and stall the homosexual activist agenda, which has gone far beyond mere "tolerance”

Jan Graham

1998 The Salt Lake Tribune Gays Policy A No-Win For Graham Stand on same-sex marriage case angers left and right Graham Under Fire for Gays Case Stand By Judy Fahys Atty. Gen Jan Graham thinks she may have committed political suicide. She refused Gov. Mike Leavitt's request to allow Utah to join a Vermont court fight, and now Utahns assume she accepts homosexual marriage. They believe it even though she says she opposes gay marriages on moral and religious grounds. They believe it despite her insistence that outside activists have no place meddling in her office's legal decisions. They believe it despite her judgment the Vermont case is not the right one to defend Utah's ban on same-sex marriage. That's the way  folks in church see it. Neighbors, too. "Regardless of all the complicated legal things we know about this case," she says, "...it's `Leavitt up, Graham down.' " She realizes now she was in a fix from the start: She could nod

Mike Leavitt

to Utah's conservative character by going along with the case, or she could appeal to the state's independent streak by arguing her office won't play politics. While the GOP governor has delivered a clear message he abhors gay marriage, Graham has landed on the defensive, failing to convince meat-and-potato Utahns she shares his view and theirs on the subject. In the same stroke, Graham, the only Democrat holding statewide office in Utah, has offended many liberals who form the traditional base of her party. In the end, a policy decision has  transformed into a political one. All this over a question that has little to do with Utah. State law prohibits the legal marriage of gay couples. Moral conservatives here are pleased with that. Civil libertarians grumble about it. And each side accuses the other of threatening society's most cherished values about family and community. Leavitt aligned himself from the outset with Utahns who regard same-sex marriage as immoral. He urged Graham to get Utah involved with a test of Vermont's ban on gay marriages, which is before that state's Supreme Court. Utah could weigh in by signing an amicus brief, a position paper filed as a "friend of the court" and intended to sway the justices. This amicus had a Utah tie,

Lynn Wardle

because it was largely authored by Brigham Young University law Professor Lynn Wardle. Best known in Utah for his legal work for the Utah Pro-Life Coalition in conjunction with the ultra-conservative Eagle Forum, Wardle had months earlier enlisted a friend in the Nebraska Attorney General's Office to sponsor the brief. Ten other states had added their names to the amicus by the Vermont court's May 1 deadline. April 29, after the Utah attorney general refused to sign the brief, Wardle called Leavitt's general counsel, Gary Doxey, and suggested Graham be directed to reconsider. In the pubic flap that has emerged, Leavitt has criticized Graham for refusing to join the amicus. It would cost the state nothing and would put Utah on record as being opposed to same-sex marriage, he reasons. "The people of the state want the law defended," says Leavitt. Political translation: The governor opposes same-sex marriage. Looking back, Graham says it was "stupid of me" not to see how her decision might be misconstrued when she refused to let Utah join. "Once again, the governor was right," Graham says. "He's brilliant at knowing how political issues are going to go." In terms of policy and law, Graham is confident she made the right decision. Utah's law does not face a legal challenge currently, and there is no evidence Utah can assist Vermont in defending that state's law, Graham says. Graham also points out the Defense of Marriage Act, passed by Congress, protects states from being forced to recognize same-sex marriages made elsewhere. Finally, Graham insists the state should write its own briefs when necessary, rather than allow outside attorneys with special interests to write them. She says it was a mistake for her office to petition last year to join another Wardle brief opposing gay marriage. "The brief may have backfired," she says in a memo to her staff on the subject. Meanwhile, joining the Vermont case could undercut Utah's defense, if this state's same-sex marriage ban is challenged someday, she maintains. By asserting now that a Vermont judge's ruling could weaken Utah's law, Utah no longer would be free to argue its law stands on its own. Graham evidently has offended some of the very people she was trying to  persuade last week as she tried to defend her position. Leavitt stiffened after she accused him of kow-towing to his party's far-right wing. And Wardle dashed off a letter to newspapers, chastising Graham. It is important here to remember Wardle played a role in a previous quarrel between Graham and the governor: the dispute over whether the Utah attorney general's decision to fire Mary Ann Wood, a lawyer favored by the Eagle Forum, as defender of Utah's anti-abortion law. While Graham had said her office would mount a formidable defense at a lower cost to the state, Republicans disputed Graham's convictions to do so. Graham calls the same-sex marriage flap the "son of Mary Ann Wood" -- a connection Leavitt admits, too. Graham complains the gay marriage dispute has nothing to do with the smartest way to defend Utah's law. "This is a difference of opinion about involving political personalities in our work,"  she grouses. "It's about keeping a political constituency called the Eagle Forum and company happy." The attorney general also realizes she has alienated those in her own political party who see the right to gay marriage as an issue of protecting civil liberties. By saying she believes same-sex marriage is wrong, she made it clear she won't fight to change the law to suit their beliefs. David Nelson, of the Utah Democratic Party's Gay and Lesbian Caucus, criticizes the attorney general in a letter to the editor. "Her party has adopted gay- and lesbian-inclusive policies in its constitution, by-laws, delegate selection rules, campaign practices codes, platforms and resolutions, which are all proposed by Democrats who support equal rights for gay and lesbian people," he says. "She must certainly also remember asking caucus members in 1992 for their support of her first campaign." Back in Vermont, Atty. Gen. Bill Sorrell has read about the way his state's case is making headlines in Utah. He knew at the outset how politically sensitive same-sex marriage can be and recalls warning the three couples involved in the Vermont Supreme Court appeal that he intended to argue a legal case, not a political one. "I do not want this to be the issue that gets me on `Larry King Live,' " says Sorrell, a Democrat. He says his office did not solicit outside briefs and even turned away some because of the sort of thing that's happening in Utah. "It has more to do with Utah politics than the legal facts involved," he says. Kenneth Sherrill, a political science professor at Hunter College in New York, puzzles over the reasons same-sex marriage keeps bubbling up as a political issue. Fact is, Sherrill says, no civil body in the United States recognizes same-sex marriage. "This is perceived as a threat to traditional ways of understanding the world," he says. "It's like people afraid Columbus would fall off the side of the Earth. It's uncharted territory." He has concluded politicians don't avoid the issue because they can use it for "electoral profit." They transform the debate into cash, votes and campaign volunteer hours. "It's a nonissue that's being played for partisan purposes." Graham acknowledges she was out-maneuvered this time, and the result may be that she cannot change her mind about taking a crack at elective office sometime in the future. During her 1996 re-election campaign, she would say she had no plans to run for elective office again even though she was widely supported by Democrats and Republicans. Commenting on her political future now, she says it "is very likely ending in two years," when her current term as attorney general expires. Graham admits the gay-marriage question was "the very worst issue you could pick" for making a stand on -- even if the stand was about the independence of the state's in-house legal department. "What's really going on here is [political activists are saying] `Let's all be scared about this terrible thing that might happen some day, and let's terrorize and punish those who are not helping us ... fan the fires.' " She concludes: "That's just not going to happen."

Barbara J Shaw

1998 The Deseret News featured an article on Barbara J. Shaw, Executive director, Utah AIDS. Executive focus: Barbara J. Shaw, Executive director, Utah AIDS Foundation Published: Sunday, May 10, 1998 VITAL STATISTICS Age: 53.Where born: Houston, Texas. Family: Married with a blended family of five daughters and three grandchildren. Education: B.A. and M.A. from Texas Christian University. Primary products: Foundation is dedicated to preventing the spread of HIV and ensuring compassionate service to those impacted by HIV and AIDS. Primary markets: Utah. Number of employees: 17. Annual sales: N/A. PERSONALITY PROFILE First "real" job: Collecting demographic data on incidence of poverty in Tarrant County, Texas. Management style: Prefer team approach. I believe managers should know how and be willing to do anything that their staff is asked to do. Strategy for success: Always believe deeply in what you do. Don't take a job for the money or prestige, but because you believe in the cause. Depend on your family and your faith to help you through the tough times. A memorable failure: I once tried to sell products door-to-door and found that wasn't my gift. I also learned that my gifts in the social service arena are in administration, not as a social worker. Heroes: Barbara Jordan, Bishop Tutu and Elie Wiesel. Leisure time and hobbies: A huge sports fan as a spectator and not a participant. I love all sports and attend whenever I can. Music is my other passion. I play the piano and organ. Favorite book and movie: Most nonfiction works, especially biographies. Any movie with Al Pacino.

Craig Miller

2003 BEN Williams TO Craig Miller _Craig, Several people have asked me what is the criteria for nominations for the award. I have not been involved with Pride since 1999 I am not sure myself anymore. It was my understanding and the understanding of the former recipients that we alone chose from the nominees who receives the award and not some committee. I have not been contacted in years and so have several others who feel they have been slighted. The following is a list of recipients 1988- 1999.  After that I'm not sure who was awarded anything. There is not much of a write up about it nor much of a to do about it at Pride either. I will forward your response about the criteria to those parties who have asked about it. Thanks for all you do.-Ben. Dr. Kristen Ries M.D. Rev. Bruce Barton  KUTV Channel Two  Chuck Whyte . Nikki Boyer   Becky Moss  Ben Williams  College of Monarchs of the Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire Craig Miller Ben Barr Val Mansfield Kathy Worthington  Kim Russo . Bruce Harmon Clariss Cartier (Doug Tollstrup) Charlene Orchard Barb Barnhart Rev. Kelly Byrnes Jeff Freedman Maggie Snyder PA-C.LaDonna Moore Dr. Patty Reagan Ph.D. (Could you send me the names of the past recipients for 2000-2003 so I can add them to my list?)

 2005 Tuesday, 7:30pm Middle Meeting Room Men’s Support Group This is a great group

Gary Horenkamp

for friendship & support for gay and bisexual men 18 and over.  Facilitated by Gary Horrenkamp, LPC.   Meets the 2nd & 4th Tuesdays of every month at 7:30 pm in the Middle Meeting Room. 

Logan Hunt & Jason Osmanski

2010 Letter to the Editor Two young heroes The recent events that have unfolded in conservative St. George allowing gay clubs at four Washington County high schools brought to mind a quote by The Stranger in the film “The Big Lebowski”: “Sometimes there’s a man... I won’t say a hero, ’cause what’s a hero? But sometimes, there’s a man — and I’m talkin’ about the Dude here – sometimes, there’s a man, well, he’s the man for his time and place.” What is a hero? Well, we need look no further than to Logan Hunt and Jason Osmanski, the two young men featured in “Four St. George high schools allow gay clubs” ( Tribune , April 27). Hunt and Osmanski show nothing less than undaunted mettle in the face of bigotry and hate. They are indeed warriors in the fight for civil and equal rights for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. I am proud to call them fellow Utahns and Americans. Gregg Wood Salt Lake City Gay Student Unions in Southern Utah

Wendy Matis & son Sean Smith

2014 Mother’s Day ad promotes same-sex marriage in Utah Online video featuring Millcreek mom was made with national gay-rights group. BY MARISSA LANG THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE It was the urgency that got her attention. Even from hundreds of miles away, Wendy Matis said, a mother knows when something is wrong. It was Presidents Day weekend 2011 when her son called unexpectedly on a Sunday evening and told her, “I need to come home.”  The call came late in the day. It was the Sunday of a three-day weekend. Matis suggested they postpone, so he could enjoy a full weekend back at the family’s Millcreek home. “No,” Sean Smith told her. “I need to come home tonight.” That was all she needed to hear. “If your child tells you they need to come home, that’s it,” Matis said. “You get them home.” As Smith boarded a plane from Los Angeles, his parents began to worry. What could be so wrong that he needed to return home so urgently, they wondered. They didn’t yet know those tense moments would be their last feeling like a family equally recognized under Utah law. Smith stumbled his way through three hours of small talk as questions raced through his parents’ minds: Was it a girl? Was it school? Were his grades plummeting? Finally, like water escaping through cracks of cupped hands, the truth came spilling out: “I think I might be gay,” the 19-year-old said. “Honestly, we were so relieved,” Matis told The Tribune. “It was something we didn’t think was a problem. We could tell he was struggling, but for us, we told him, ‘Look, we’re good with this. We’re totally good with this.’ ” Three years later, Matis will spend her Mother’s Day with her husband, Dale Smith, their son and his boyfriend in southern Utah. Meanwhile, her family will become the focal point of Utah Unites for Marriage’s newest online ad campaign that hopes to reach out to mothers on Mother’s Day with the message: “My family is just like your family,”said Matis, a Salt Lake City dermatologist. “We want to see our children work and contribute to society and find someone they love and have a long happy marriage and a family. And we want them to stay here, in Utah, because Utah is our home.” The half-minute video spot — scheduled to launch online Saturday — is the third of its kind, created in conjunction with national gay-rights group Freedom to Marry, and focuses on the Smiths family’s feeling of equality. “The three weeks when marriage was legal here,” Matis tells the camera, her voice breaking, tears welling with tears. “We felt just as good as everyone else.” On Dec. 20,

Robert Shelby

2013, U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby made history when he declared Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, prompting hundreds of gay and lesbian couples to crowd county clerks offices in pursuit of a marriage license. The ban remained null and void for 17 days, until the U.S. Supreme Court granted the state a stay, halting the weddings. In that time, Matis said, she felt like her son was finally equal to his straight counterparts, like her family was the same as any others in the state. “I look at my son, who is wonderful, and I just know that the state government doesn’t think his relationship is as good, that it isn’t worthy of recognition,” she said. “During those three weeks when marriage equality was legal, people were asking us when Sean was going to get married. As a parent, you never want to pressure your kid that way, like, ‘When are you going to get married?’ But it felt good. It felt good to be asked, to feel like it wasn’t a question of if but when.” The state has contended before federal judges that states should each have the ability to define marriage as they see fit. The state has also argued that children benefit from being raised by opposite-sex parents. In the video, Smith and his boyfriend, Jonathan, walk hand-in-hand behind Smith’s parents, who have been married for 25 years. It’s a literal demonstration of what Matis said she hopes her son will one day be able to do: follow in their footsteps. The Kitchen v. Herbert lawsuit that toppled the state’s voter-approved same-sex marriage ban is awaiting a ruling from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which will either uphold or overturn Shelby’s ruling. Regardless of that outcome, the case is widely expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court, meaning it could take months before the question of same-sex marriage in Utah has been settled.

Gene Robinson

2014 The Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson, retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, is keynote speaker at Equality Utah's Equality Celebration on May 10. The Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson, retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, was the first openly gay bishop of a major Christian denomination. His story was the subject of an award-winning documentary at Sundance. He offered the invocation at the opening inaugural ceremonies for President Barack Obama in 2009. “I’m really looking forward to my visit,” Robinson told The Spectrum & Daily News in a telephone interview. “I love going to parts of the country that are still debating the issue of the full inclusion of LGBT people.”