This Day In Gay Utah History May 21st

21 May

1922 Rudolph Valentino was charged with bigamy and is jailed, His divorced from Lesbian Hollywood actress Jean Acker had not been finalized when he married bisexual Natacha Ramboa . He is fined $10,000 and bond was posted by lesbian screen writer June Mathis, and Gay actor George Melford,

1945- After Mormon President Heber J. Grant died, Mormon Apostle George Albert Smith became president of the Mormon Church. President Smith gained international prominence as a scout. When scouting came to the United States in 1910, he recommended its incorporation into the YMMIA program, where it came under his leadership. Beginning in 1931, he served on the advisory board of the National Council of Boy Scouts of America. At this time Utah and the Church came to lead the world in the percentage of boys registered as scouts and explorers. In 1932 he was awarded the Silver Beaver, and in 1934, the Silver Buffalo, two of scouting's highest awards. He taught that "men cannot approach the likeness of God except by the practice of love to their fellow men.”

David McKay

1959 Executive committee of Church Board of Education discusses "the growing problem in our society of homosexuality." Spencer W. Kimball reports that David O. McKay had said "that in his view homosexuality was worse than heterosexual immorality; that it is a filthy and unnatural habit." Shortly after the meeting with the Church Board of Education, BYU began “aversion therapy” to cure the same sex desires of Mormon males. Young men referred to this program by BYU’s mental health counselors, by Mormon bishops and stake presidents, and by BYU’s standard’s office enforcers of university standards, were punished for getting an erection at the sight of a male body by a 1,600-volt impulse to the arm for eight seconds.

1966-A Gay motorcade organized by Mattachine Society founder Harry Hay traveled through Los Angeles to protest the US military's anti-Gay policies. The motorcade consisted of thirteen cars. In San Francisco 400 people attended a rally organized by the Committee to Fight Exclusion of Homosexuals in the Armed Forces.

Bella Abzug

1970-Bella Abzug (D-NY) [1921-1998] met with members of the Gay Activists Alliance while running for a congressional seat.  Abzug was always a strong supporter on gay rights. In 1973 and early 1974, Abzug lobbied for passage of a gay civil rights bill pending in the New York City Council. She became one of the first members of Congress to appear at gay community events and made regular appearances at New York City's annual Gay Pride parade and rally. In 1974, she introduced the nation's first federal gay civil rights bill. Abzug served as chief House co-sponsor the gay civil rights bill each year until she left the House in 1977. In 1975, Abzug and then Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) became the first two members of Congress to hire openly Gay people on their congressional staffs.

Jimmy Carter

1976-Jimmy Carter announced that if he were elected he would support a federal Gay rights law.

Ted Cannon

1977 Because Gerald Pirtle of LA, California died about a month ago, special anti-pornography Prosecutor Theodore L. Cannon asked the city to shut The Studio Theater down. Pirtle’s name appears on the business license of the Adult theater located at 228 South State. (05/21/77 SLTribune page D4)

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1979-Dan White, who was on trial for the murder of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and Gay City Supervisor Harvey Milk was found guilty of manslaughter, rather than first-degree murder. He would be sentenced to seven years, eight months. That evening Gays and lesbians gathered outside city hall, where their anger boiled over into the White Night Riots. Twelve police cars were destroyed and the damage was estimated at over $1 million. The only serious injuries occurred in the Castro neighborhood, where police burst into The Elephant Walk bar, trashing it and putting several patrons in the hospital. Several police officers who were not on duty held a celebration at a downtown hotel.

Babs DeLay

1984  KUTV Channel  2 during sports segment of 10 p.m. news reported that Pam Parson and Tina Buck stated under oath in a Federal Court that they were not Lesbians and denied any relationship.  Times Inc. received several phone calls from women in Salt Lake including Babs DeLay offering information concerning Parson and Buck and their stay in Salt Lake last Summer.  Babs DeLay was contacted by the Time Attorneys to testify and she agreed to obtain the membership book from Puss ‘N Boots. She stated she was given permission by a bar employee but not necessarily from bar owner Hattie Raddon. Her testimony was deciding factor in the suit in favor of Sports Illustrated but divided the Salt Lake City

lesbian community over DeLay’s actions. In February 1982 Sports Illustrated published an article entitled "Stormy Weather at South Carolina," in which the women's basketball coach at the University of South Carolina was accused of having a lesbian relationship with one of her players. She accused Time, Inc., which owned Sports Illustrated, of libel and and sued the company for $75 million. The case was brought in United States Federal District Court in South Carolina. Time defended on the grounds that its story was true and, therefore, not libelous. Parsons admitted having an intimate relationship with one of her athletes, Tina Buck, that began with Buck's recruitment to the team. After Sports Illustrated chronicled the story of Parsons and Buck in a February 1982 issue, homosexuality in women's athletics -- particularly basketball -- became visible and came to be used more as a recruiting tool against lesbians in the game. Coaches, recruits and recruits' parents began speaking more freely of their concerns about homosexuality in certain programs. During the course of the trial, a 17-year-old player on Miss Parsons'

Pam Parsons

basketball team was identified as having had a sexual relationship with her. Miss Parsons and the player denied, under oath, that they had been lovers. In other words, they swore in a civil case that they had not had sex with each other. Unfortunately for them, late in the civil trial Babette "Babs" DeLay, a bartender at an establishment called the "Puss n' Boots" in Salt Lake City, learned about Miss Parsons' libel suit from the television news. She contacted Sports Illustrated. Miss DeLay then testified during the trial that she witnessed Miss Parsons and her young player dancing intimately and openly proclaiming that they were lovers. Needless to say, the jury returned a verdict for Time, Inc. Importantly, when the civil case ended, the presiding federal judge, Clyde Hamilton, referred the matter to the United States Attorney's office and the FBI to investigate possible criminal perjury by Miss Parsons and her lover - both of whom denied ever frequenting "Puss n' Boots." The judge said that the witnesses had blatantly lied under oath. Again, the perjury involved these two individuals lying under oath in a civil case for the purpose of covering up their sexual relationship. Soon thereafter, then-United States Attorney Henry McMaster filed perjury charges against the coach and her player. In November 1984, both women pleaded guilty to one count of perjury each. In February 1985, Judge Hamilton sentenced them to three years in prison -- four months of which they actually served in a Lexington, Kentucky penitentiary.

• One of the items in your May 21st Gay History account struck a nerve. It was the accounting of Babs DeLay when she provided the membership list from the Puss & Boots bar to the Times attorneys. As your account mentioned, her actions divided the local lesbian community. t the time, I was much more active socially in the gay community than I've been in the past years. Back then, I felt more comfortable around lesbians than I did gay men. I eventually wanted to find a life-companion, but didn't appreciate the promiscuous one-night-stand aggressive social situations of the men's bars. That changed in the late 80s when I became active in the UGRA. But before then, I frequented Chars, Perky's and Puss & Boots in those early years. I made many lasting friendships. And I'm still in contact with those fine women even now. I vividly recall the animosity and hatred that Babs DeLay generated by her actions. The fact that she would "out" all the members of Puss & Boots by providing their names to a public organization was met with intense anger. I'm sure you're aware that during the 1980s, most gay people were very much in the closet, especially in ultra-conservative Utah. To have one of their own decide to "out" them for their own financial profit made it even worse. One of my closest lesbian friends worked for the State of Utah (Tax Commission) and worried right up until her retirement that she might be terminated by Babs' actions. Even though Babs DeLay has done some good things within the gay community since that unfortunate incident at Puss & Boots to long ago, many of the now-aging lesbians remember her actions and are hesitant to forgive. Just thought I'd add my 2-cents to the report of that incident. Ron Johnson

Ragnar McCall

1987 the LGSU at SLCC elected Richard “Ragnar” McCall as a new club president to replace Alma Smith who graduated but had served a full term. After McCall leadership became sparse and the LGSU  folded about 1989 from a lack of support and interest, and students moving on with their lives.

Ken Francis

1987- “Ken Francis said something to me in his innocent way that I think is profound. He said that Jesus Christ lives by the same teachings he taught us so he turns the other check when we offend him and is quick to forgive us.  Ken is truly a man without guile and I love that quality about him-“. [died of AIDS] (journal of ben Williams)

Molly Yard

1988- Utah Chapter of the National Organization For Women Conference was held at the Marriott Hotel in Salt Lake. Keynote address was given by Molly Yard president of the national Now organization.  Luci Malin Utah Chapter Director

Deseret News  FEMINISTS WINNING, LEADER TELLS UTAH GROUP  By JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells, Staff Writer Women have been "pushed back" during the Reagan years, but feminists in the United States nevertheless keep winning, the president of National Organization for Women said Saturday. Keynoting the annual Utah State NOW conference in the Marriott Hotel, Molly Yard said the rumors that the women's movement is passe - that women are no longer feminists and are staying home and again having children - is false. "No one ever said we couldn't have children and still be feminists," said Yard, who expounded on the progress and success of the movement over the past few years. It was during Yard's term as president that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Rotary International and similar men's clubs could no longer bar women from becoming members. She said that just in the past few years the Episcopal Church named its first female dean; San Francisco got its first female city/county attorney; Baltimore hired its first woman firefighter in the 128-year history of the force; and for the first time during its 110-year history, the New York State Bar elected a woman president.   The American Society of Newspaper Editors also selected its first woman president, as did the Vietnam Veterans of America. And many women entered politics, with several being elected mayors of large cities. "Some of it is a result of work that some of us did 10 years ago, and it's finally coming to fruition and we are seeing the results of what the women's movement has accomplished," said Yard, who's had a half-century of leadership experience as a feminist and civil rights, trade union and political activist.  But the national president told the small Utah gathering that NOW members still have a lot of work to accomplish, including achieving for women equal pay for work of comparable worth. "There is no shortage of nurses in the United States," she stressed. "There's a shortage of nurses willing to work for the kind of pay and treatment they receive." Yard, a Pennsylvania resident, reported that funding for a federal fair pay equity study has passed the House of Representatives twice, "but it gets nowhere in the Senate because some of our friends like (Utah GOP Sen. Orrin) Hatch and company." "Because the federal government is the largest employer of women in the country, it's very important for us to get this bill through," she told the group. "Maybe if you put the pressure on Hatch, he may be persuaded to support it." NOW members throughout the country this year will also be concentrating their efforts on getting a federally funded child care bill, increasing the national minimum wage and launching an aggressive campaign to re-introduce the Equal Rights Amendment, without any deadline attached to its passage, she said. Those issues, plus lesbian rights, surrogate mothering and AIDS were also discussed by members of the Utah NOW chapter during their daylong meeting. New officers were also elected. They are Chris Burdick, a Salt Lake attorney, president; Char Roth, a special education teacher, action coordinator; Jane Leen, past Utah NOW coordinator, treasurer

Dr. Kristen Ries 

; and Mary Eatchel, a banker, secretary. Awards for "Women of Courageous Action" were presented to Dr. Kristen M. Ries, the leading physician in Utah working with AIDS patients, and Elizabeth Wright, a local writer who has fought for the rights of the Downwinders, people suffering from the impacts of radiation caused by government nuclear testing in the Nevada desert. (DN)

1988 Saturday, UTAH STUDENTS ARE STEP CLOSER TO LEARNING ABOUT AIDS  By Twila Van Leer, Education Editor Utah school children will begin learning about AIDS next school year, based on curricula outlines accepted Friday by the State Board of Education. The board gave preliminary approval to two levels of AIDS curricula - one that will be used in kindergarten through 12th grade as part of the state's healthy lifestyles program and a second one, with more detail, for students at risk. The board approval followed months of painstaking effort to develop classroom material that would meet community norms and also alert students to the devastating nature of the disease. The foundation for all aspects of the curricula is emphasis on abstinence from sexual activity before marriage and fidelity afterward in a monogamous relationship. "Schools as a community agency must help students learn to make rational decisions that will result in responsible behavior benefiting themselves and the groups in which they live," a preliminary to the draft curricula says. The curricula emphasize refusal skills for children faced with temptations that would put them at risk and require that children already in the high-risk

group be helped to stop dangerous practices. Board member Darlene Hutchison, who heads the board subcommittee dealing with curriculum, said she is pleased that the arduous task of trying to deal with AIDS instruction appears headed for resolution. "We have provided a way for a good healthy discussion of AIDS and for teaching our kids to act responsibly and take control of their lives. After years of pussyfooting around, we will be telling our children to abstain from premarital sex. We haven't had that strong direction before."Conservative citizen groups who have followed the evolution of the AIDS curriculum were not entirely satisfied. Joy Beech of Families Alert said the curricula adopted Friday are "still fuzzy in some areas." During the meeting, committee members criticized premature publicity about the AIDS curricula that was on television Thursday night. An early draft of the curricula was used by Families Alert to blow aspects of the AIDS instruction out of proportion, Hutchison said. That early draft, which was given to the family advocate group by state office personnel, was subsequently revised, Hutchison said. Beech conceded that many of the group's concerns were dealt with in subsequent curricula drafts. But her organization particularly takes exception to a provision that would allow teachers to respond to student questions about contraceptives with or without direct parental permission. However, the whole process provides for parental involvement both in planning how the AIDS curricula will be implemented in the schools and whether their own children will participate. No child will be given AIDS information without prior consent. Board member John M.R. Covey was sympathetic to the concerns raised by Beech. He suggested that teachers not answer questions about contraceptives, but refer the children to their parents or other reliable

sources. Covey also was hesitant about the at-risk curriculum, which is much more explicit than that intended for other students. Bruce Griffin of the state Office of Education said the second curriculum was developed to meet the needs of education programs the state administers in prison, juvenile custody centers and for students known to already be engaging in high-risk behavior. Board members were concerned as to how such students would be identified. They feared that students attending more specific classes could be labeled by classmates. The committee did not specify how high-risk students would ultimately be referred, but suggested that referrals could come from parents, teachers or counselors. The issues in question will be reworked before the final vote on the curricula next month. The high-risk course of AIDS prevention instruction would not be taught by regular school teachers, but by district teachers especially trained and working with a educator assigned by the state Health Department.

1988  I took time out to go to the Holiday Inn to vote for the candidates in the Royal Court. I voted for Larry White for Emperor and Bree for Empress.  I also voted for Lloyd Gamble and Bruce Harmon for board members. [Journal of Ben Williams]

1990 A Reminder: 7th annual observance focuses on growing problem and increasing indifference. UTAH AIDS ACTIVISTS HOLD CANDELIGHT VIGIL  By Joe Costanzo, Staff Writer Deseret News Utah AIDS activists held a candlelight vigil in Memory Grove Sunday night to commemorate those who have died of the disease and to remind the community that AIDS is still a critical problem. "We want dignity, support, compassion," said Marian Hanks, whose son, Jeff, died of AIDS in 1988. "We must remember that it is happening here in Salt Lake City." About 100 people participated in the seventh annual vigil, which was held in conjunction with similar events in 300 cities around the country. Participants carried small candles in memory of AIDS victims. Carolyn Spriggs, who has a child who contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion, said the disease has mobilized her family in the fight against both AIDS and society's attitudes toward it. "It has taught us compassion and understanding," she said. "My kids don't know what prejudice is." And she expressed gratitude to Ryan White, who died recently, saying his public battle for acceptance made it possible for children with AIDS to attend school and lead normal lives. Neighbors and friends have stood by her family, she said. "Those quiet, caring, giving people will forever be in our hearts," Spriggs said. Nationwide, thousands of people from San Francisco to the nation's capital marched or lit candles to remember those stricken with AIDS. Barbara Bush took part by putting lighted candles in 10 White House windows. Ben Barr, executive director of the Utah AIDS Foundation, said the theme

Ben Barr

of this year's vigil was "remembrance, hope and action." The number of AIDS cases in Utah is growing, he said, yet the public seems to be losing interest. "We're here to remind people that AIDS is still with us," he said. The Utah AIDS Foundation has been responding to three to five calls for help each week, with the total number of calls increasing from 35 during the first quarter of 1989 to 150 so far this year, Barr said. The

Barbara Hamilton-Holway

Rev. Barbara Hamilton-Holway said, "The number of AIDS cases measures the shame of our nation." She called for more resources to be mobilized in the fight against the disease and all that is associated with it. "There is a need for compassion and care, but we must also be willing to speak out to eliminate prejudice. These are our brothers and sisters dying," she said. "Pneumonia and cancer (which kill most AIDS patients) are diseases, not punishments."  Several speakers returned to the topic of prejudice against AIDS sufferers, and even as they spoke, young men in cars shouted epithets at the crowd and then sped away. Recalling the death of her son, Marian Hanks said, "I remember the pain, the agony, the indifference we ran into." Meanwhile, in Bethesda, Md., at least 60 AIDS activists were arrested Monday as hundreds of protesters besieged the National Institutes of Health to demand faster development of treatments for the deadly disease. About 900 protesters gathered at the NIH headquarters in the Washington suburb, and at least 60 were arrested for blocking police vehicles or trying to enter buildings.

Cindy Solomon

1994  SACRED LIGHT NAMES PASTOR  The Rev. Cindy Solomon has been named pastor of Sacred Light of Christ Metropolitan Community Church, 823 S. 600 East. The church has been without a pastor for the past 18 months, and following the Rev. Solomon's guest appearance at the church during Holy Week, members overwhelmingly voted to call her to the post. She has been serving on the pastoral staff at Family of Faith Metropolitan Community Church in Tulsa, Okla. and will assume her duties locally on Sunday, May 22. She will be formally installed on Sunday, June 5.

Deb Burrington

1996 CIVIL LIBERTARIANS IN UTAH APPLAUD TOP COURT'S RULING  By Jerry Spangler, Staff Writer  For Utah civil libertarians, the U.S. Supreme Court gave them good reason for a giant group hug. "Liberty and justice prevailed for all of our people," cheered Debra Burrington, Utah Human Rights Coalition, of a ruling Monday that states cannot deny basic civil rights to gays and lesbians. "The Constitution neither knows nor recognizes classes among citizens. Today gays and lesbians became citizens, finally." The high court ruling was hailed Monday afternoon during a rally on the Capitol steps in which about two dozen gay and civil rights activists cheered the news the court had struck down a Colorado constitutional amendment that forbids laws protecting homosexuals from discrimination. The ruling states equal protection clauses in the Constitution mandate that government not pass laws That deny gays and lesbians a political right enjoyed by everyone else - the chance to seek protection from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. And there is a message in that for Utah lawmakers that "laws based on hostility toward gays and lesbians will not be tolerated," said

Jensie Anderson

Jensie Anderson, legal counsel for Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU is preparing to file a lawsuit against the state over a law passed during last month's special session that effectively bans gay and lesbian student clubs on public school campuses. The law, which was prompted by a group of students at East High School who wanted to form a gay-straight alliance, requires school districts to deny access to clubs encouraging criminal or delinquent conduct, promoting bigotry or involving human sexuality. Rally participants said the Supreme Court ruling should give lawmakers reason to reconsider their actions, but they really don't expect them to repeal the bill. The ACLU has made no decision on when it will file its lawsuit. "We will not be bullied into filing inthe same sloppy manner the law was passed," Anderson said. Until then, civil rights advocates are cheering a "great step forward" toward equal rights for gays and Lesbians. "See my smile," said Rose Dominguez, Utah Citizens Alliance for Hate Free Schools. "We don't want special rights, we want equal rights, and the U.S. Supreme Court has said we deserve it." Deseret News Publishing Co

Sara Hamblin and
Kathy Worthington

1997- Kathy Worthington was granted the right to use FAMILY LEAVE  (FMLA) to care for her partner Sara HAMBLIN who is undergoing Chemotherapy treatment for Breast cancer. Worthington wanted her requests to be considered under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires firms with more than 50 employees to grant up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for spouses, children, parents or themselves. But her first two requests were denied. In an emotional, third appeal, she said, "You guys are expecting me to choose between Sara, the person I love most, and my job."  After that appeal, the Post Office granted her request to take as much leave as she needed, when she needed it, to look after Hamblin. Worthington and others think the decision may have been precedent-setting, even though the Postal Service emphasized that the leave was not granted under any workplace policy or the Family Leave Act.

1998- Guest speaker Jackie Farnsworth co-facilitator of a Gay-Lesbian-straight support group with the Utah Stonewall Center spoke at a meeting of PFLAG at the Sandy Library on Gay and Lesbian Teen Support.

Paul Dogan

1999 Friday  "Una Voce" (one Voice) the Gay and Lesbian Utah Opera Club hosted a free reception and social hour  including  a lecture on the opera by Paul Dorgan at for "The Mariage of Figaro" by Mozart

21 May 2000 Meeting at the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Utah, 361 N 300 W in Salt Lake. Open discussion until 6:15, when we'll leave for Provo and the 17th Annual International AIDS Candlelight Memorial.

2003  Utah stonewall Historical Society’s May monthly meeting is tonight Wednesday May 21  7:00-8:30 Conference Room D- Level 1 Salt Lake City Library  Agenda; Pride Day Kiosks, Eric Marcus October Gay History Month Speaker, Coronation, History of the Kristen Ries Awards

2003 Ben Williams to Bruce Harmon Bruce can you send me your and Bianca's official Court titles and name of your reign for my records.  Thanks Ben

• Bruce Harmon Hi Ben: The name of the Court was, "The Dawn of the New Age, The Truth and the Light" I was the Emerald Excalibur Emperor, Bianca was the Eternal Empress. If we were introduced it would read like this: His Most Imperial Majestythe Promise of the Spike the Emerald Excalibur Emperor Emperor 15 Mr. Bruce Harmon Her Most Imperial Majesty the Soul of the Spike The Eternal Empress Empress 15 Bianca Hope that helps. Bruce Harmon P.S. The RCGSE has a wonderful website with all this information on it. 

2003  May 21, 2003 Subject: IN TOWN SHOW & AWARDS - RCGSE 27th Reign Coronation XXVIII Weekend events begin tomorrow - THURSDAY, MAY 22  Please join Emperor XXVII, Empress XXVII, Prince XXVII and Princess  XXVII Bob Childers, Agness Malloy Cheesecake, Austyn West Riley, Syren Vaughn as they proudly present...IN TOWN SHOW & AWARDS Thursday, May 22 - 7:00 PM    Paper Moon - NO COVER Come out and help the 27th elected reign kick-off Coronation 28 weekend!   Don't miss this one... how often does the RCGSE present a free event?

2006 “ As an avid dog lover I hope, unlike Pride Day, Gay Freedom

Day will allow dogs (on leashes and with plastic bags on hand of course) to attend. Pride Day has become so bio-family focused that it would be nice to be with my canine family and my Gay family on a special day. But since Pride has gotten so big its out of the question to bring your animal companions and family there. I hope Gay Freedom Day is more like the days when Pride was more of a picnic instead of a commercial money making PR corporate sponsored gathering. I certainly know more Gays and Lesbians who have dogs then I know those who have kids and I know that we love our animals every bit as much as "breeders" love their kids. Our "unnatural families" are crucial to our well being and happiness in a hetero messed up world. It would be nice to have a place to spend time with our furry friends and their Gay parents, so our non judgmental animals can socialize with each other as well as us. “ Ben Williams and his full quiver of hounds-Priscilla, Smokey, Daisy Mae, and Buddy PS Any other Schnauzer lovers out there?

                                                                                                                                                                    

Chris McArdle

2011 Bringing pride to Southern Utah Equality Celebration Dinner fund raiser for southern Utah held. Q Salt Lake 28 Apr 2011 From the gay meccas of Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Springs and New York, Chris McArdle found his way to St. George. It was the beauty of the red rock and the weather that first attracted him, he said. “It was kind of like Sedona, but times 10, and I loved Sedona,” McArdle said. After landing in Utah in 2004, MacArdle started being involved in the community and he hit the ground running. “I was helping with a Pride festival in one of the most conservative places in the nation,” McArdle said. “But we all knew going in that if we helped even just one kid not feel alone. If we helped even just one person know they weren’t the only gay people in St. George, then it was a success.” McArdle was the president and in charge of planning the Pride festival in Southern Utah in 2007 and 2008; the festivals were huge successes attracting more than 1,000 people to each event. During this time he also started the Southern Utah Pride Association. But the parades and festivals were also forl the people that didn’t make it to the event, he said. “Kids in St. George used to be able to think they were the only ones in the area that were gay,” McArdle said. “But after the festivals and the GSAs, that’s just not possible. There’s still a lot of progress, but we’ve come so far.” McArdle, along with PFLAG St. George founder, Claudia Bradshaw, will be receiving honors

Claudia Bradshaw 

at the First Annual Southern Utah Equality Celebration. “It’s because of people like Chris that we’ve come so far,” Bradshaw said. “He worked so hard and helped start the movement is St. George.” While working with McArdle it was easy to see his passion for what he was doing and his passion for helping the community grow, Bradshaw said. McArdle said that despite all the progress, there’s a still area for improvement and that people still don’t feel comfortable coming out in Southern Utah. “When I first moved to St. George it was like I was moving into the dark ages,” McArdle said. “The mindset of the community was struggling too; there was no self esteem, no faith in themselves, and there was a lot of self-destructive images and behavior.” Through different programs in Southern Utah such as the GSAs and other progress in the state and in the nation, the environment is changing, he said. “Full equality is inevitable,” McArdle said. “The ball is rolling. I don’t know if I’ll see it, but it’s coming, there’s no doubt about it.” The Equality Celebration Dinner will be held on May 21. For more information, go to EqualityUtah.org. Tickets are sold out, but there is a wait list option available. The dinner will honor a different youth and adult leaders as well as raise money for a campaign to help raise awareness in Southern Utah.

2012 Newsweek Magazine carried a photo of President Obama with a rainbow halo and the caption "The First Gay President."

Stacia Ireland and JoNell Evans

2014 Utah same-sex couples celebrate ruling that honors marriages BY MARISSA LANG

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Days before a federal judge ordered Utah to honor all same-sex marriages performed in the state, a room was reserved as refuge. JoNell Evans, the plaintiff for whom the Evans v. Utah lawsuit was named, had orchestrated a night this coming weekend when the four couples challenging the state’s refusal to honor their marriages could congregate and commiserate. It would be something to look forward to after another week of pins and needles in a case that seemed more and more like a nail-biter. Then, on Monday, 118 days after the lawsuit was filed, a federal judge’s ruling turned the support group into a celebration. “We’re floating on a cloud at this point,” said Evans. “We’re used to people denigrating our family and our relationship. It felt so good to have the respect of the

Dale A Kimball

law at last.”  U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball ruled Monday that Utah must recognize and imbue all same-sex marriages performed in the state with the same rights and privileges afforded to married opposite-sex couples.  Gov. Gary Herbert and Attorney General Sean Reyes have said little since Monday’s ruling about whether they will let Kimball’s decision stand or take it up with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Herbert, who in the immediate aftermath of a historic Dec. 20 ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby ordered all county clerks to abide by the federal court’s order, blamed the judge for creating “chaos and confusion” in the state by allowing same-sex couples to marry for a short window of time and then leaving the state to figure out whether or not they could honor those marriages. In the time since, married same-sex couples have gotten nothing but mixed messages: the state put the granting of marriage benefits to those couples on hold, though they were allowed to file joint federal and state tax returns and some judges began granting adoptions — a right reserved for married couples, according to Utah law. “Judge Shelby’s failure to issue a stay within the Amendment 3 case created chaos and confusion,” said gubernatorial spokesman Marty Carpenter. “As a result, various related legal issues continue to work their way through the judicial system. The governor is focused on defending Utah’s right to define marriage and is working closely with the attorney general to determine how to proceed in light of the U.S. District Court’s ruling.”  If the state doesn’t appeal, Kimball’s order will be as good as law in 21 days. For the couples who joined with the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah to force the state’s hand in recognizing their unions — Evans and Stacia Ireland; Matthew Barraza and Tony Milner; Marina Gomberg and Elenor Heyborne; Donald Johnson and Karl Fritz Shultz — that would be a welcome end to a months-long roller coaster of joy and fear.  “It feels like maybe, for the first time since all this started, I can catch my breath,” Gomberg told the Tribune. “It’s such a relief.”  — Married • On Dec. 20, 2013, hundreds of gay and lesbian couples rushed the Salt Lake County Clerk’s office. Marriage licenses were being issued even before county officials were able to read every word of Shelby’s 53-page decision. They saw what mattered: his order. “The court hereby declares that Amendment 3 is unconstitutional because it denies the Plaintiffs their rights to due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.” 

Evans and Ireland, her partner of 13 years, were among the crush of couples who exchanged vows that day. So, too, were Heyborne and Gomberg, who have been together for nearly a decade. For every couple in the clerk’s office, marriage meant something

 Elenor Heyborne and Marina Gomberg 

different: commitment, protection, family, health care, children, love. But for all of them, it meant something they were never allowed before. “I had to keep pinching myself and reminding myself that it was really happening,” said Heyborne, who sobbed through her nuptials. “We always hoped that this would happen, that this would happen here. And then it did.” Evans, 61, and Ireland, 60, had gone to pains in previous years to ensure their assets were secure and power of attorney was securely given to the other, in case of an emergency. Even then, Evans said, they felt vulnerable. When Ireland suffered a heart attack four years ago, the couple carried with them a folder of legal documents, proving Evans had the right to stay with Ireland through her treatment, as they rushed to the hospital. “We knew people who had been excluded from being by their partner’s side in those situations,” Evans said. “Even though I was allowed to stay with her, they didn’t ask me to give permission for treatment or sign documents. Luckily, she stayed conscious. Had she gone unconscious. Who knows what could have happened?” In the days after their wedding, Ireland again fell ill. Her chest pains sent the couple to the hospital once more. This time, they forgot their folder of legal documents and powers of attorney at home. When Evans told the doctor they had been married, she said, no one batted an eye. “They treated me as her legal spouse, came to me with questions, had me sign forms,” she said. “The difference was striking.” Waiting • On Jan. 6, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay that halted all same-sex marriages in Utah and reverted the state to its previous “status quo,” as Attorney General Sean Reyes appealed Shelby’s decision to the 10th Circuit. Gov. Herbert announced the state would put all rights and benefits associated with marriage “on hold” for same-sex couples, until government officials could more clearly determine what the law allowed. In that moment, Judge Kimball said, the government effectively put the nearly 1,300 married same-sex couples in Utah into a “legal

Matthew Barraza and Tony Milner

limbo.”  The months stretched on with few answers. Evans said it was “terrifying,” being left to wonder what might happen if she or Ireland — or any of the other thousands of same-sex couples who had been married —got hurt or sick or died before a judge could intervene. It’s part of what inspired her to join the ACLU’s lawsuit, which was filed on Jan 21. “We have been filled with a lot of anxiety as it took long and longer for the judgment to come out,” she said. “Not just for ourselves but for all the couples. What if the judgment came too late?”  For Heyborne, 28, and Gomberg, 30, having rights given, then, just as quickly, taken away, made them feel “less than human,” they said. The couple, who has for years talked about having children and raising a family, felt it possible for the first time when they were pronounced wife and wife. That changed with Herbert’s hold on their rights. “I had never felt we were perceived as so far less than human than at that moment,” Gomberg said. “This isn’t a hypothetical situation, this is my life.” “It made me feel like I didn’t matter,” Heyborne added. “What other group of people get granted rights and then have their government tell them 17 days later, ‘Just kidding, we’re taking those back.’ ” Recognized • Since Monday’s ruling, the couples have again dared to hope. Though they would prefer the state not appeal Kimball’s ruling, they said, they feel confident that, ultimately, they will come out victorious.  They pointed to the direction of cases across the country — with 18 courts declaring bans on same-sex marriages unconstitutional in less than a year. “The tide is changing,” Heyborne said. “And changing quickly.”  It’s something Evans said she never thought she’d live to see. So when she raises a glass this weekend, surrounded by those who helped make her marriage possible, Evans won’t just be thinking of the past — a life shared with the woman she loves — or the present victory. She’ll be thinking of their future. Meet the plaintiffs

•  JoNell Evans and Stacia Ireland • Married Dec. 20 after having been together for 13 years. They celebrated a religious marriage ceremony at the Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City in 2007. 
• Matthew Barraza and Tony Milner • Married Dec. 20 after having been in a committed relationship for 11 years. The two are raising — and attempting to legally adopt — Barraza’s 4-year-old son. 
• Marina Gomberg and Elenor Heyborne • Married Dec. 20 after having been together for nearly 10 years. The couple celebrated their relationship in a commitment ceremony almost five years ago. 
• Donald Johnson and Karl Fritz Shultz • Married Dec. 23 after having been together for more than 21 years. Johnson first proposed to Shultz on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in 1992 — a day they still consider their anniversary.

Candy Dale

Stay holds in Idaho Boise, Idaho • No same-sex marriages will be allowed or recognized in Idaho until an appeal is decided, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted request for a stay from Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden. The court also said it would put the appeal on a fast track, hearing arguments from all sides in September. The decision means that despite a recent ruling overturning Idaho’s gay marriage ban, same-sex couples can’t get married or have their marriages recognized until the 9th Circuit or U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to let the ruling stand. U.S. District Magistrate Judge Candy Dale overturned Idaho’s gay marriage ban May 13, saying the law unconstitutionally denied gay and lesbian residents their fundamental right to marry. Otter and Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden both immediately announced plans to challenge Dale’s decision, asking the appellate court to put the ruling on hold while their appeals move forward. Though the three-judge appellate court panel unanimously agreed to put that ruling on hold, Circuit Judge Hurwitz wrote in the order that he was only doing so because a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in another case virtually instructed courts of appeals to grant such stays. 

 

Robert Shelby 

2014 Salt Lake Tribune Editorial: Stop gay marriage fight, Utah leaders Accept gay marriage, Utah leaders. It is only getting harder to deny the conclusion of last summer’s Windsor decision defining marriage as a due-process right of any couple. In the last two days, federal judges in Oregon and Pennsylvania came to the same inevitable conclusion as Judge Robert Shelby did in Utah last December. In recent months 14 federal judges have ruled against state same-sex marriage bans, and in some cases the states didn’t even bother to defend their laws in the wake of Windsor. And now yet another Utah judge has gotten into the act. U.S. District Court Judge Dale Kimball, a former BYU law professor, ruled Monday that the state cannot deny marital rights to the same-sex couples who married in Utah during that two-week period at the end of 2013. Kimball’s decision has no bearing on the Amendment 3 case Judge Shelby decided, but his

Edith Windsor

ruling rests squarely on the precedent of the Windsor case: “As in Windsor, the State’s decision to put same-sex marriages on hold ‘deprive(s) some couples married under the laws of their State, but not other couples, of both rights and responsibilities’,” Kimball wrote. Attorneys arguing for Utah continue to cling to other language in Windsor that reserves the right of states to define marriage. States still can define marriage, as long as it is applied equally to all people. The state can say marriage requires classes on managing relationships. The state can say no one gets a marriage license on the weekend. But it can’t say marriage is for some couples and not for others. This is the reality of Windsor no reasonable federal jurist will deny. It’s worth remembering that this applies only to the legal act of marriage and rights therein. It has nothing to do with how churches define marriage, and there has been enough history inside and outside this country to know that religion and same-sex marriage can co-exist. It’s also worth recalling that this has been an evolution, and it didn’t begin last summer. It was more than 40 years ago that psychiatrists stopped considering homosexuality a mental disorder, and it was more than 10 years ago that the U.S. Supreme Court took the police out of the nation’s bedrooms by striking down sodomy laws. Even Utah’s reliance on the 2004 vote on Amendment 3 is questionable when polling has shown how people have pivoted. In the meantime, the state is hurting its own citizens by denying their rights to adoption, health insurance and other benefits they deserve.The coming days will see the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rule on the Utah’s appeal of Judge Shelby’s ruling, and it’s difficult to see how that court could reconcile the state’s position with the Windsor precedent. Then will come the Supreme Court, which would have to twist like a pretzel to resolve its Windsor due-process right with a state’s right to deny that right. No, this is over, and persisting just reinforces the perception that Utah is behind the times and out of sync with the nation. Come up with a graceful exit, Gov. Herbert and Attorney General Reyes.