This Day In Gay Utah History July 15th

15 July 15-

1882 Ogden Standard Examiner page 3 A filthy brute In the justices court this morning a brute in the shape of a man named Chas. Goldon, was charged with committing an assault on the person of a boy about ten years of age with intent to commit an unnatural and infamous crime on the person of the child.  P J Barratt Esq. prosecuted the case. The prisoner had no counsel. It appears from the evidence that the villain inveigled the child into an outhouse in this city and gave him five cents with a promise of more money if the boy would submit to the lust of the brute.  The boy refused to accede and commenced to cry.  A woman hearing the conversation went near and listening at the door suspected what was going on.  She called another woman who went and demanded that the child be given up to her. Goldon then opened the door and the boy came out. Goldon also came out with his habiliments disarranged and went away. A complaint was soon after made to the police officers when the fellow was arrested on the above named charge. When arraigned this morning he waived an examination and was bound over in $1000 bonds to appear for trial before the first district court in default he was locked up in the county jail

1905-Matt Johnson Case No. 1404 & 1426 Third District Judicial Court Matt Johnson of Bingham Canyon was charged with two accounts of “Crime Against Nature” for having attempted to rape 27-year-old Charles Kelley and not succeeding attempted to have sex with a sow. Charles Kelley who filed charged against Matt Johnson was age 32 in the 1910 Census of Utah and lived in Bingham Canyon. Complaint On the Seventeenth day of July A.D. 1905 before me, Geo. E. Lee, Justice of the Peace within and for the Tenth Precinct, Salt Lake County, State of Utah, personally appeared Charles Kelley who on being duly sworn by me, on his oath did say that Matt Johnson on the Fifteenth day of July A.D. 1905 at the county of Salt Lake, State of Utah, did commit Sodomy and as follows to wit: That the said Matt Johnson at Bingham Canyon, Salt Lake County, Utah did go to the slaughter grounds owned by Jerome Bowgard and did then and there attack one Chas. Kelley and did by force try to have sexual intercourse with the said Chas Kelley. (The following Struck Out) “and did forcible try by force to get sexual intercourse with one certain Sow pigs.” Proceedings Files affidavit of Chas Kelley, July 17th 1905, charging the defendant with the sexual “Crime Against Nature”, on the 15th day of July 1905. Issued warrant of arrest July 17th 1905 to John L. Forbes deputy Sheriff, filed warrant on return July 19th 1905 with the defendant in custody, defendant arraigned and entered a plea of not guilty, case set for hearing July Thursday the 20th 1905 at 2, O’clock  P.M. Case called at the time set Job P. Lyon Co Atty, present. Chas Kelley sworn for the state. After hearing the evidence of the witness for the state the Court deemed the evidence of sufficient importance to justify the Court in binding the defendant over to the District Court and he the defendant is hereby bound over to the said District court of Salt Lake County in the sum of Five Hundred Dollars. ($500.00) to appear before said district Court at such time and at such place as the said District Court may direct.  The defendant being unable to procure the necessary bonds, he the defendant is hereby committed to the Sheriff of Salt Lake County, Utah subject to the orders of the said District Court. Given under my hand this 20th day of July 1905 Information for Case 1404; Matt Johnson having been heretofore duly committed to this court by George E. Lee, a committing Magistrate of said county, to answer to this charge, is accused by Frederick C. Loofbourow, District Attorney for the Third Judicial District of the State of Utah, Salt Lake County, by this information, of assault with the intent to commit the infamous “Crime Against Nature”, committed as follows, to wit: That the said Matt Johnson at the county of Salt Lake, State of Utah on the 18th day of July, A.D. 1905, unlawfully and feloniously in and upon the body of Charles Kelly forcibly and violently did make an assault by then and there with his hands taking hold of the body of said Charles Kelly and by force then and there and thereby attempting to restrain the said Charles Kelly of his liberty, with intent him the said Charles Kelly then and there contrary to the order of nature carnally to know and then and there unlawfully and feloniously to commit with said Charles Kelly the “Crime Against Nature”. Contrary to the form of the statute of the State aforesaid, in such cases made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the State of Utah.” Information Case 1426; Matt Johnson having been heretofore duly committed to this court by Dana T. Smith, a committing Magistrate of said county, to answer to this charge, is accused by Frederick C. Loofbourow, District Attorney for the Third Judicial District of the State of Utah, Salt Lake County, by this information, of the crime of an attempt to commit the infamous “Crime Against Nature”, committed as follows, to wit: That the said Matt Johnson at the county of Salt Lake, State of Utah on the 18th day of July, A.D. 1905, unlawfully and feloniously and with intent then and there to commit the infamous “Crime Against Nature” with a certain sow pig, did then and there expose the private parts of his person and lie down upon said pig, and attempt to have a venereal affair with the said sow pig: Contrary to the form of the statute of the State aforesaid, in such cases made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the State of Utah.”

Randy  Wicker

1962 Early in 1962 WBAI, New York’s listener-supported progressive radio station, aired an hour-long special, “The Homosexual In America.” It featured a panel of psychiatrists who described gay people as sick and in need of a cure — a cure that they could provide with just a few hours of therapy. Gay Activist and founder of the “Homosexual League of New York” Randy Wicker was livid, not only at the ignorance of these so-called “experts,” but also because, once again, there was a panel of straight people talking about gay people they didn’t even know. Wicker went to the WBAI studios and confronted Dick Elman, the station’s public affairs director. “Why do you have these people on that don’t know a damn thing about homosexuality? They don’t live it and breathe it the way I do. … I spend my whole life in gay society.”  Wicker demanded equal time and Elman agreed, provided Wicker found other gay people willing to go on the air as part of a panel.  When plans for the program were announced, the New York Journal-American went ballistic. Jack O’Brian, the paper’s radio-TV columnist, wrote that the station should change its callsign to WSICK for agreeing to air an “arrogant card-carrying swish.” The broadcast titled “Live and Let Live,” featured Wicker and seven other gay men talking for ninety minutes about what it was like to be gay.  They talked about their difficulties in maintaining careers, the problems of police harassment, and the social responsibility of gays and straights alike. The program’s host guided the programs with questions to the panel. “Is there harassment?” he asked. One panelist described some of the police harassment he had experienced, when one officer “roared up, jumped out of the car, grabbed me, and started giving me this big thing about ‘What are you doing here, you know there are a lot of queers around this neighborhood.’ He said, ‘You know, there’s only one thing worse than a queer, and that’s a nigger’.” (Remember this was 1962.) The New York Times’s  called the program “the most extensive consideration of the subject to be heard on American radio” —  Newsweek called the program “96 minutes of intriguing, if intellectually inconclusive listening.” At least one group of listeners launched a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission to challenge the station’s broadcast license. After a lengthy investigation, the FCC unanimously agreed to renew the stations’ licenses. In doing so, the FCC issued a statement which said, in part: We recognize that as shown by the complaints here, such provocative programming may offend some listeners. But this does not mean that those offended have the right, through the Commission’s licensing power, to rule such programs off the airways. Where this the case, only the wholly inoffensive, the bland, could gain access to the radio microphone or TV camera. Commissioner Robert E. Lee addressed the specific complaints made about the WBAI broadcast. While he felt that a panel discussion featuring physicians and sociologists might be informative, “a panel discussion of eight homosexuals discussing their experiences and past history does not approach the treatment of a delicate subject one could expect from a responsible broadcaster.” While the FCC stressed that the ruling did not mean that the commission endorsed the broadcasts, it nevertheless was regarded as a landmark decision upholding the broadcaster’s right to determine the kinds of programs that it wishes to air.
*Source: Box Turtle Bulletin

1975-Santa Cruz County California became the first county in the nation to enact a law prohibiting discrimination against Gay's in employment.

Rock Hudson

1985-An obviously ill Rock Hudson appeared on television to promote his new cable series with Doris Day. His publicist explained his appearance by saying he was just getting over the flu.

1986 Tuesday- Alan Jense Lovell died at the age of 36 of AIDS. He was born 16 April 1950 in American Fork. Buried in Pleasant Grove

1990   After lunch we gathered around the flag pole, and I thanked everyone for coming to Beyond Stonew '90. Rod Shepfner had Ben Barr and I each say something.  I said that I wanted to mention how that without, John Reeves who can't be here this year but is here in spirit, there would never have been a Beyond

Stonewall. I said that he truly is the father of Beyond Stonewall but while we must not discount the past, we must not live in it and must celebrate the here and now. Rod has done a wonderful thing this year and while last year's Beyond Stonewall may not have been as successful, in my opinion, as the first one or this one, without it there would not have been this third one. Ben Barr remarked on the heroes he has met here at the camp, those people who are willing to take a chance and come out side of the city to learn new ideals. Then we sang "Song Of The Soul" by Chris Williamson, hugged each other, and cheered. As one last unexpected gesture, Robert Austin held my hand and said some kind things about me and my love of community and with having said all that Ben Barr and others snuck up behind me and sprayed me with whipped cream! What a mess! I guess I am loved! ha! [Journal of Ben Williams]

Margarethe Cammermeyer

1991-Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer was informed by a military board that she was a great American, a great asset, a superb leader, that her many outstanding accomplishments have been admirable, that her 27 years of service had been of great value, and that she would be discharged for being a lesbian. She was the highest ranking person to be discharged for homosexuality.

1993--Cindy Kidd of the People With AIDS Coalition sued the state of Utah for invalidating her marriage to her husband because she has AIDS. A law passed by the 1987 State Legislature prohibited and invalidated such marriages. “Two months after her marriage, Cynthia Kidd learned she was infected with AIDS. She also learned that under state law the disease annuls her marriage.” On Wednesday, Ms. Kidd filed a federal lawsuit challenging the 1987 law that bans marriage with an infected partner. She argues the statute violates her rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Some 6,500 Utahns are infected with HIV, according to Robert Austin, the  Utah Aids Foundation’s. director of administrative services ``This law was passed out of fear,'' said Austin. ``We're seeing more and more married people who are living with HIV. Lawmakers know now that those who suffe rfrom this epidemic need their compassion, not rules that restrict their quality of life.'' (07/15/93  Page: A1 SLTribune)

1994-Friday- Bryant Scot Park, age 36 died after living many years with AIDS. Bryant's wish is that people will become aware and learn about HIV and AIDS because too many people are dying from this disease. Buried in Peoa Utah

1995- John Bennett executive Director of the Utah Stonewall

John Bennett

Center resigns due to salary conflicts with the Board of Directors. Moves to San Francisco California [Journal of Ben Williams]

1996-Utah Stonewall Center’s Board agreed to let Alan Seegmiller’s Men’s Group meet at the center. Board member Ben Williams objected because of Seegmiller’s Evergreen background which made his being at the center controversial. Williams removed his rejection after hearing Seegmiller renounce reparation therapy. Stan Penfold resigned from the board of directors. [Journal of Ben Williams]

1999-A 1897 letter written by Oscar Wilde to novelist Henrietta Stannard fetched 11,500 pounds (about $18,745) at a Sotheby's auction.

1999 UTAH   UTAHNS FOR FAIRNESS TO MEET ON THURSDAY JULY 15 The next meeting of Utahns for Fairness is scheduled for Thursday July 15 at 7 p.m. at the ACLU building (355 N 300 W) in Salt Lake.  Anyone interested is invited and urged to attend the meeting and to get involved in this new organization formed to combat the anti-gay efforts of the LDS (Mormon) church. WHAT IS UTAHNS FOR FAIRNESS? On Thursday July 8 a meeting was held in Salt Lake City to discuss ways that people in Utah can act to respond to the anti-gay efforts of the LDS (Mormon Church) in California.  A California ballot measure aimed at prohibiting same-sex marriage will be voted on March 7, 2000 and the church has been urging and pressuring members of the church in California to support the initiative.  Reports have come in indicating that bishops and stake residents are directly contacting members to pressure them to donate money to the initiative effort.  Those same reports indicated that leaders of California wards, branches and stakes have even been given quota amounts they are expected to raise for the anti-gay side of the ballot measure fight. At the July 8 meeting in Salt Lake, it was decided to form a new organization called Utahns for Fairness, a name that imitates 'Californians for Fairness', the organization that is fighting the California measure.  Jared Wood was elected the new organization's chairperson and then five committees were formed: a letter-writing committee, a 'message' committee, a general organizing committee and a media committee. One of the key goals is to draw media attention to what the church is doing in California.  A lot of people who would disapprove of what the church is doing are very likely unaware of what is going on and the media can help get the word out. Among ways that were discussed to let the church know how many of us disapprove of their actions and how angry we are: writing letters to the editor; holding public demonstrations or actions about the issue;  and writing letters to the church. DEMONSTRATIONS BEING PLANNED Demonstrations are being planned for Pioneer Day (July 24), at the Days of 47 Parade, and for the October General Conference of the church in Salt Lake. More details on those actions will be sent out via email as they become available. PHONE TREE Utahns for Fairness will also be using a phone tree to get the word out about things that are happening in California and about actions and efforts in Utah.  If you would like to be on the phone tree (you may not check your email in time to hear about something), send your name and phone number to Kathy at KathyWUT@aol.com or call it in to her at 801-963-7922 or call THE CENTER with it at 539-8800.   Be sure to give your name and number and say you want to be on the Utahns for Fairness phone tree. 'RESIGN FROM THE CHURCH' CAMPAIGN One of the campaigns to send the church a message had begun even before the July 8 meeting.  People who are members of the church but who want to have their names removed from church records are urged to do that now, especially as part of a campaign to send a message to church headquarters. (the easiest way to get your name removed from the church is with a notarized letter) Kathy Worthington of Salt Lake is coordinating a letter writing campaign, collecting letters or copies of letters from people who are asking to have their names removed from church records. As of July 13, THIRTY NINE people had pledged to write those letters, and Worthington says she's hoping to get 60 to 100 letters before she goes public with them. Sometime in late July Worthington and other activists will go public with the letters, to let the media and public know how many people are so unhappy with the church that they no longer want to be connected to the church in any way.  Most of the people writing letters to have their names removed from church membership rolls live in Utah, but there are also people from California - San Jose, Richmond, San Francisco and Oakland - and from other areas: Boise, Tulsa, and Possom Trot, Kentucky!

1999  Police seek rapist in attack on a man  By Amy Joi Bryson Deseret News staff writer  You are outside in front of your home in the afternoon on a hot July day. You'd think you'd be safe.  One homeowner wasn't last week. A man walked by around 1:30, struck up a conversation and walked into the home. He demanded money, assaulted the resident with a beer bottle, inflicted as many as four stab wounds, then raped his victim. Most people assume this sort of crime happens only to women. Only this time, it was a man who was victimized. Last year, as best Salt Lake police can tell, 12 men came forward in the city to make a complaint of sexual assault. In all cases, the suspect was a man. Many were homosexual encounters gone awry or date-rape situations that escalated. In a scattered few, the victim was preyed upon because of a mental handicap.  The attack Friday, near 200 South and 800 East, has police puzzled at the brutality and anxious to catch the culprit. "We're not sure if the intent was a home-invasion robbery that happened to include a rape or if the sexual assault was the intent and it happened to turn into a robbery," said Salt Lake police detective Dave Timmerman. Fortunately, the attacker had made a purchase at a nearby convenience store and he was caught on video tape. Timmerman has a pretty good idea of what the man looks like but no definitive information linking him to a name. "This was a very opportunistic criminal who was able to take advantage of the situation," Timmerman said. The attack with the beer bottle made reconstructive surgery on the victim's eye necessary. The repeated stab wounds also nearly killed the man. Timmerman said a neighbor heard the attack and called for help. "The guy is very lucky he wasn't killed. If the neighbor hadn't called, it would have been a homicide." The man left "very close" to the time officers arrived, Timmerman said. To have a rape in conjunction with a robbery is rare, the detective said. It is even more rare for that crime to be committed against a male victim. As reluctant as female victims have been to come forward after they've been sexually assaulted, rape specialists estimate that hesitancy more than doubles when the victim is a man. "It is underreported by a tremendous percentage," said Dave Debner.  Although the assault is forced sex, it is more than anything else an issue of power and control for the attacker, Debner said. That doesn't change regardless of the gender of the victim, he said.  Timmerman said the victim recovered from Friday's attack enough to be discharged from the hospital Wednesday for in-home recuperation. Police hope anyone with information on the attacker will either call Timmerman during daytime hours at 799-3749, or dispatch at 799-3000.  The man is described as dark-skinned, about 25, 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with a muscular build, shaved head, goatee beard, brown hair, wearing a black sleeveless shirt and baggy black shorts.  © 1999 Deseret News Publishing Co.

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2003 Tuesday Subject: Utah Male Naturists naked events -Hey guys, thought those of you not on the group may want to know about some of our outings: Last weekend's events were well attended and VERY fun. Let's keep the summer ball rolling!!! Friday, July 18, noon - 1:30pm NAKED _ LUNCH Backyard deck of JeepNekkid *** I put up the awning so we have more shade *** Bring: Lunch if you want it, suntan lotion if you need it, something to drink Expect: About a dozen guys lounging about, eating lunch, hot tubbing (the temp is turned down), sun tanning, BBQing, hammocking, and general BS-ing. Address sent under separate email on Thursday morning. Sunday, July 20 - Noon - 4:00pm BURMESTER _ BEACH _ OUTING Meet at Saltair parking lot if you haven't been and want to follow us on in. If you know where it is, look for the white Jeep and rainbow-colored kite surrounded by a bunch of naked guys. Bring: WATER, suntan lotion, something to eat if you want, a towel,  anyone have a volleyball net and balls? WATER, a kite? Expect: a few dozen guys lounging, playing, tanning, BS-ing, eating, laughing, tooling around in the back of JeepNekkid's Jeep terrorizing the natives, etc. Thursday, July 24 - Noon - 1:30pm P I O N E E R _ D A Y _ NAKED _ L U N C H For those who have to work on Pioneer day, or those who have it off and want to lounge naked in Jeep's back yard, we're having a Thursday Naked Lunch. See Fri. July 18 for details. Address sent under separate email Wednesday morning. Saturday, July 26 - Sunday July 27 BEACH OVERNIGHTER Let's camp out at the beach. We have fireworks, a twister board, torches, music, and a campfire. If you can't stay over Saturday, you are more than welcome to meet up with us on Sunday. You may want to come earlier than normal, since we'll have been there all night. Bring: WATER, a sleeping bag, a tent if you want (suggested), food, games, light-naking devices.Expect: the unexpected. Acutally, this is the first overnight. We have no idea how many will come, who they will be, etc. As it gets closer, we'll try to gauge better. We'll have a bbq, shade structures, fireworks, some munchies. More details as it gets closer. See you in the Nudes! –JeepNekkid

2003 Tuesday USHS Membership Ben Williams to Toni Johnson Dear Toni, We are now requiring membership dues for membership in the historical society. However the board decided that members of PWAC coalition should be reduced to either $10 or less (free) considering the circumstances of each individual. Since it is none of our business what a person's HIV status is, it was proposed that you be our intermediary with members of PWAC. Chuck Whyte is our treasurer and his ability to keep a confidence is beyond question. If any of your members wish to join or remain a member just contact Chuck and he will inform me who has become a member. I am the moderator of the Yahoo group site so I monitor the membership list on that site only. I won't know who is a paid member of who is free. Only Chuck will. Would you be willing to support this decision of the board and act as an intermediary with Chuck and inform your members? Sincerely Ben Williams

• "Toni Johnson" Re: USHS Membership Ben, I would be more than happy to be an intermediary with PWA's.  I can put a blurb in our Positive Press and in our September Pillar article. Have a great day! Toni

2003 Tuesday, Subject: Gay Freedom Day Ben Williams to USHS Board=- Per board instruction I have checked out the Salt Lake City Park web site. Attached is their list of city parks and reservation requirements. It appears that one cannot reserve a park until March. However I will go to the city county building tomorrow and find out what business license or permits would be required to hold a  picnic/festival in the park for the last weekend in June to commemorate Stonewall Rebellion and June 26th 2003 Freedom Day. I know, way premature, but Mike [Romero] and I were thinking: Local performers only ie RCGSE, CyberSluts, SLC Men Choir, Saliva Sisters etc. Only Craft and art booths (no corporate booths) of local Utah artists Gay and Gay friendly. Simple Picnic Fare ie hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salads, BBQ Beans, pies, ice cream, snow cones etc. Key note Speakers: Historical figures from the community,  organization and information booths limited to Lambda nonprofit organizations only: ie-Affirmation, Reconcilliation, Quac, Swerve, etc. Sound system playing tunes from Disco Era. Soft ball and Volley Ball games. Keeping it simple and fun

• Subject: Gay Freedom Day Chad Keller to Ben Williams This is a perfect concept. The first Gay Freedom days were a celebration of us, no commercialism.  I would ask that we consider some gay artisians in an small area or games hosted by other organizations. CK
• Subject: Gay Freedom Day Mark Swonson to Ben Williams and Mike Romero- Ben and Mike-I think this is great idea! Let’s bring back Pride Day or Gay Freedom Day how it was many, many, years ago. Small, simple, and without commercialism! I will be on board for this......
• Subject: Downtown Alliance Chad Keller to Ben Williams and Bob Childers- Ben Hey Brad Baird is going to send an email regarding the review of the City Ordinance regarding events, and park reservations to the USHS group site. Farmers Market is laying in ruins because of The Mayor, and other events are going to be definitely effected, including Freedom Day.  If anything just forward it to me Bob, This would be a great chance to take the lead and get many groups gay wise teamed up to with the Arts Festival, Living Traditions, And others throught the CLF CK

2005 The Utah Bear Alliance has formulated a list of Friday-night bar crawls. It can be found on the Bear Alliance website (www.utahbears.com) by clicking on Fridays on the Calendar. Informally, the bears will be visiting the Friday bar on Saturday nights as well. For example, this coming Friday the 15th (and Saturday the 16th) the bears will be giving Try-Angles a visit, meeting at the bar around 9:30. For more details, check the Bear Alliance website.

2005 Center Clean Up: Friday, July 15th from 10am – 2pm followed by a BBQ lunch.  Come help us clean and organize the Center and stay for lunch and cold drinks to enjoy together after we are through!  We will get in crews and jam through it, leaving our community Center looking fabulous! 

2006 Salt Lake Metro Feature Lost Boys by Ben Williams Lost Boys, Homosexuality, and Polygamy "The people grew so evil, the men started to marry the men and the women married the women. This is the worst evil act you can do, next to murder. It is like murder. Whenever people commit that sin, then the Lord destroys them." Prophet Warren S. Jeffs Last summer in Las Vegas, I visited an unsavory adult video bookstore. So much for Las Vegas’ motto: “What happens here, stays here”.  It was 3 in the morning, when getting back into my truck; I was approached by a young hustler. He was very scruffy, about 18 I suppose, and awfully young to be looking like a street person. When I told him I was not interested he asked me if I was Mormon because of my Utah plates. I said no and he sounded disappointed.  I asked him if he was from Utah and he said he was from Hildale. Because it was late and I really was not looking for company I didn’t want to spend much more time talking to him but now I wish I would have.  It would only dawn on me later that Hildale is the Utah half of Colorado City, the polygamous community of the Fundamentalist Mormon Church in Arizona. I have some experience with polygamists. In the mid 1970’s a man by the name of Musser ran a copy print shop in the basement of the Union Building at the University of Utah near the bowling alley. He was a polygamist with ties to Colorado City. In 1976 he had tried to convert a U of U co-ed into being one of his wives and she even went with him to visit Colorado City.  I married this co-ed in 1977 and learned a lot about this secret society from her. I was not really interested in polygamy, not really wanting to be married to one wife let alone two or more, but over the years I met many who were of that persuasion. I once met some sons of Alex Joseph, founder of Big Water’s polygamous enclave, while enjoying the luxury of the sauna in the U of U’s locker room.   They told me of their lives and beliefs while soaking in our own sweat. They were cute enough to make me want to convert but I didn’t. In the mid 1980’s after I came out of the closet I met many more polygamists through my flirtation with the Libertarian Party of Utah. I swear that at once time every delegate to the state convention was either Gay, a pot head, or polygamous. Talk about strange bed fellows.   A brief sojourn with the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ also had me knowing the first Lesbian Polygamists. While many predicted that it would be the men who would first form polygamist unions in the church it was actually the women! This arrangement of four women living together worked for about a year before they split and partnered off two by two. I am the first to admit that I don’t believe homosexuals need to parrot the actions of heteroes and march onto an Ark two by two. I think Gay people should be on the fore front of pioneering innovative relationships.  But then I am from a hippie generation that believed in communes, open relationships, free love, and Jonie Mitchell’s anthem, “we don’t need a piece of paper from the city hall keeping us tied and true.”  But I digress. There are many, many, many Restoration Churches based on the teachings of an early 19th century man who used his charisma to convince people that men could have as many sexual partners as they wished as long as he gave them the authority to do so. This man was Joseph Smith Junior and in December we will hear over and over again ad nauseum his virtues as people celebrate his 200th birthday.   No matter what one’s personal feelings are about Smith’s character, it can not be emphasized enough that he was a genius.  For good or bad. You decide.  Anyway many of the good citizens of Utah are here today because their grannies were convinced that God wanted their husbands to spread their seed from pillar to post so that they could become Gods and exalt their wives as baby making Goddesses. Okay. Eventually with the full weight of the Federal Government ready to confiscate all the Utah’s church property, the church leaders caved and said God really didn’t mean that every one had to be a polygamist to get into heaven after all.   Some Mormons objected to this line of thought and today Utah, well okay most of Western North America, contain splinter groups each with their own authentic prophet interpreting Joseph Smith’s revelation on Celestial Marriage.  I once knew one of these authentic prophets, from the LaBaron group, that lived in a trailer park.  A Gay friend of mine was completely convinced that this man had the true keys of the kingdom to seal and bind on earth in the name of God.  People were and often are killed for less. Think Rulon Allred. Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah were established by the largest fundamentalist Mormon group to avoid lawmen from each state jurisdiction.The Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) sect like most of its counterparts except for the Community of Friends (formerly the Reorganized LDS Church), and the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ, (formerly the Church of Jesus Christ of All Latter Day Saints)  frowns on homosexuality as an impediment to God’s desire to have humans procreate for all time and eternity. Strange then that homosexuality and male homosexual prostitution is often a common outcome for many of those ostracized from the FLDS faith. In 2002  Warren Steed Jeffs, no doubt name after the Southern Utah Judge Warren Steed who lately has found himself in hot water for having three wives too many, claimed to be the Prophet Seer and Revelator and holder of the keys to the kingdom of God, when he inherited the mantle from his father, Rulon Jeffs, after the old man's death. Jeffs immediately married many of his father’s young wives (his step mothers), began to purge the church of dissenters, and its excess male population.      Born in 1956, Jeffs has 56 known children by 40 wives, but court records reveal that his sexual appetite goes beyond celestial heterosexuality.  In July 2004 Jeff’s nephew Brent Jeffs filed a Battery Lawsuit, a Child Molestation Lawsuit, a Conspiracy Lawsuit, a Fraud Lawsuit, and Sodomy Lawsuit  against the prophet.  In another suit, filed in August 2004 in a Utah state court, more than a dozen young men allege that Warren Jeffs and FLDS leaders forced them to leave town to reduce competition for wives in that polygamist society. The suit alleges that Jeffs and FLDS leaders reduced the male population in the communities by "systematically expelling young males" from Colorado City and Hildale.  Estimates of how many young men have been forced out of the communities range between 400 and a 1000! Warren Jeffs, in order to avoid the lawsuits, ordered the transfer of valuable Church communal assets (the United Effort Plan) to FLDS insiders to shield the land and property from possible monetary judgments, according to pleadings filed by lawyers representing Brent Jeffs and the young men expelled from the enclave.    Brent Jeffs, now 21, maintains in his July 2004 suit in a Utah state court that his uncle Warren Jeffs began to sodomize him when he was 5 and 6 years old. He accuses Warren and two other uncles, Blaine Jeffs and Leslie Jeffs, of raping him repeatedly in the basement of Alta Academy, an FLDS school in Salt Lake City where Warren was then the principal. The suit alleges: "On repeated occasions the Jeffs Brothers would enter the basement room where the children were located, find [Brent Jeffs], and instruct him to come to a nearby lavatory. While in the lavatory, the Jeffs Brothers confronted [Brent] and instructed him to remove his clothes. After [Brent] undressed himself, one or more of the three defendants told him that it was God's will that he submit to them. The Jeffs Brothers would take turns forcing their erect penises into [Brent's] anus. Warren Jeffs told [Brent] that these sodomizing activities were a way for [Brent] to become 'a man.' Warren Jeffs admonished [Brent] that it was God's will that [Brent] not tell anyone -- particularly his parents -- about said activities." In fact, Warren Jeffs said Brent would be cast into hell if he revealed what was going on, the suit contends. Despite Warren's admonitions, complaints that Warren and his brothers were raping young boys did reach FLDS leaders, including Warren's late father, Rulon Jeffs, FLDS Prophet at the time. The suit says these complaints were ignored, thereby allowing Warren to portray himself to the community as a "chaste" and "honorable" religious leader. According to the suit Warren Jeffs had been committing assaults on young boys since he was 14 years old. Brent Jeffs, the suit states, decided to break his silence in the aftermath of the January 2002 suicide of his brother, Clayne, who also was sexually assaulted by the three Jeffses. Boys who grow up in Colorado City and Hildale are also victimized in other ways according lawsuits filed the following month. They have come to be known as the “Lost Boys”. Apparently, since the polygamists have trouble attracting new female recruits to their lifestyle, they have a demographic problem. There are not enough young women around to marry therefore the men who are richer, more powerful, or with more standing within their church are being placated by Jeff. To secure wives for these "better" FLDS polygamists, teenage boys are being forced out of the community for offenses such as watching movies, talking to girls, and celebrating national holidays. Lawyers for six of the Lost Boys accused Warren Jeff of conspiracy to purge surplus males from the community, Many of these "Lost Boys", some as young as 13, have simply been dumped on the side of the road in Arizona and Utah, by the leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), and told they will never see their families again or go to heaven. The L.A. Times featured a story of the Lost Boys, these teenagers who are ostracized on trumped up charges from the culturally isolated FLDS polygamist sect because they provide competition for wives of older sect members. The Phoenix Republic even ran a story back in 1999 of young boys from the FLDS community coming to Phoenix to work as male prostitutes, a few rundown blocks from downtown. In an area, known as ''Boys Town, around Margaret T. Hance Park, young men, 14 to 21 or so, mostly homeless, perform sexual acts in alleys and back seats for as little as $5.” It seems that a lot of male prostitutes in Las Vegas are former members of polygamist communities. This news has made media outlets in the Las Vegas area, because with few skills that are marketable in the 21st century, the Lost Boys gravitate towards Las Vegas (the closest metropolitan area) where many devolve into prostitution. Warren Jeff has freed although very traumatically at least 400 teenage boys, some say closer to 1,000, to create an artificial shortage of mates for the teenage girls that the older men resolve to have through multiple marriages:Named as a defendant in these 2004 suits, the Prophet Warren Jeffs did not respond to their allegations. His Salt Lake City attorney, Rodney Parker, withdrew from the cases last December. Jeffs' failure to defend himself led to his removal as president of the United Effort Plan trust last June. That is when the Utah state court appointed Bruce Wisan as special fiduciary of the trust. In June 2005, the Mohave County Attorney's Office of Arizona obtained indictments against Warren Jeffs and seven Colorado City men on charges of sexual misconduct for marrying underage women to much older men spiritual but non-legal marriages.  Warren Jeff's was stripped from the board that controls more than $100 million of property in Colorado City and neighboring Hildale, Utah, and has been kept on the run by FBI agents. He has gone underground, last seen in Texas at his reclusive ranch. Warren Jeff is a slippery fellow because of the physical similarities among the many men in the Jeffs family. FBI agents in Salt Lake City thought they had Jeffs cornered at the city's airport but it turned out to be one of his nephews. Later  a surveillance photo shot at a Lehi, Utah, sporting-goods store appeared to be a dead ringer for Warren Jeffs. But it turned out to be his brother. However the arrest of Seth Jeffs, brother of Warren in October marks the biggest break for law enforcement since the FBI placed fundamentalist Mormon Prophet Warren Jeffs on its most-wanted list in August. Three O’clock in the morning on October 28, a Colorado citizen telephoned the Pueblo sheriff's office to report a suspected drunken driver traveling in a car straddling two lanes. A deputy responding to the tip spotted the late-model Ford Excursion going slowly through a stop sign and coming almost to a stop on U.S. 50, and Interstate 25. The deputy thought the driver might be lost and pulled the car over.  The two men in the car, Seth Jeffs in the passenger seat and Nathaniel Steed Allred driving, told the deputy conflicting stories about where they were going. Now here comes the weird part. After questioning the occupants, Jeffs and Allred were cited for solicitation of prostitution and prostitution and were arrested!  While no account confirms that Jeffs and Allred were having sex while driving the inferences are clear that they were! While the pair was initially stopped on suspicion of intoxication, Allred quickly told the deputy that his uncle Jeffs was the vehicle owner and had paid him $5,000 to provide Jeffs with "sexual services."  The deputy had probably caught them in the act which probably explains why the car was weaving but why Allred admitted to accepting money for sex is mystifying.  However Ben Bistline, Colorado City historian referring to Jeffs and Allred, stated, "It's not like we're talking the brightest bulbs here.” Both Jeffs and his nephew Allred were 31 and 27 years old respectively. An anonymous FLDS member after hearing that Nathaniel Allred was accused of prostitution wrote on an email site,  “I knew Nathaniel Allred to be a fine young lad– one to be decent and responsible. It’s hard to imagine that he would wind up in something like that.” After the pair was taken to jail, the Ford Excursion was impounded in Pueblo, Colorado where a dog trained to smell narcotics indicated the presence of drugs in the car. The Sheriff office released the pair with a summons and no drugs were found. What was found, excited the sheriff even more. Inside the vehicle, police found $142,000 in cash, seven cellphones and several envelopes containing thousands of dollars of prepaid credit cards and phone cards, and a cash-filled donation jar bearing Warren Jeff’s picture with a label that read, "Pennies for the Prophet." It was the same photo used on wanted posters circulated by the FBI. (Duh!) When the sheriff realized they had just let go the brother of a wanted fugitive from jail they contacted the FBI to assist in the investigation and obtained a warrant to open Prophet Warren Jeffs' personal records. Several hundred letters addressed to Warren from church members "relating to a variety of personal and FLDS matters," were recovered.  Several hours after his release, Seth Jeffs telephoned the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office regarding the vehicle and its contents. He agreed to return to Pueblo from Castle Rock, Colorado, to discuss the status of the investigation When Seth Jeffs arrived at the sheriff's department to talk about retrieving his car, Jeffs consented to a voluntary interview with the FBI and was subsequently arrested on the federal charge, according to an affidavit filed by Special Agent J. Andrew Stearns. Jeffs admitted to the FBI that he is Warren Steed Jeffs' younger brother and that he is well aware that his brother is a federal fugitive. He claimed, however, to have no knowledge of Warren Jeffs' whereabouts. Seth also told officers he did not know where his brother was and that neither he nor other church members would assist the search because, "It would be stupid to tell anyone where he is because he would get caught." Seth Steed Jeffs was arraigned October 31 in U.S. District Court in Denver and charged with concealing his older brother, the prophet of the fundamentalist Mormon Church, from arrest. The charge could bring a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The local prostitution-related charges still stands. Seth Jeffs' lawyer says his client was just taking the items in the car to a bishop of the FLDS church his brother heads. Seth later told officers that he was taking the materials from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints headquarters in Colorado City and Hildale to the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, Texas, where members of the church are building a huge, four-story temple. As for the Lost Boys, legislation billed as a way to help youths evicted from polygamous homes died in a Utah Senate logjam last year. However on November 9, 2005 Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff told Utah  lawmakers that a bill, which would allow a judge to emancipate a minor at age 16, is among his top priorities. Shurtleff told of hundreds of young men needing help after being cast out by their polygamous families in the towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. "I've had kids in my office who have been kicked out of the community on trumped-up charges," Shurtleff told Utah lawmakers.  Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake City, stated that these youths have no way to finish school, get medical care, or live and work independently without permission from parents, who often refuse it.  While archconservative Madam Medusa Gayle Ruzicka said her conservative Eagle Forum group is concerned the bill to emancipate teenagers might allow youths across the state to sever ties with their parents at times when they need parental guidance, the bill passed out of the committee anyway. Sources:  John Dougherty- Prophet's Kin Arrested: The younger brother of fundamentalist Mormon Prophet Warren Jeffs is charged with concealing Jeffs' whereabouts Thursday, October 27, 2005 Phoenix New Times John Dougherty-Under Siege Polygamists are barricading their homes in the midst of mounting legal assaults by authorities 22 September 2005 Phoenix New Times Patrice St. Germain-FBI Arrests Warren Jeffs' Brother St. George Spectrum 1 Nov 2005 .com  Mark Shaffer- Republic Flagstaff Bureau Nov. 7, 2005 “FLDS' JEFFS LIVING WELL ON THE RUN Karen Abbott Rocky Mountain News: Fugitive's brother held Feds accuse sibling of hiding polygamist Warren Steed Jeffs JORDAN SMITH FLDS- First Family Update The Arizona Republic "Gathering Puts Focus on Polygamy's Lost Boys". The Arizona Republic LOST IN 'BOYS TOWN' MOSTLY HOMELESS YOUTHS SUBSIST IN POCKET OF DRUGS, PROSTITUTION November 30, 1999 June 01, 2004 at 02:22 PM in Current Affairs, Polygamy – FLDS Polygamy and Male Prostitution SL Tribune  Jeffs is reportedly spotted in Lehi 10/26/2005 “Cops get tip, pull over vans, but fugitive Jeffs isn't inside” 11/14/2005 Was Jeffs' brother hiding him?  11/01/2005

Jeffs kin will be allowed to post bail 11/04/2005 Shurtleff helps revive 'lost boys' bill 11/11/2005

2006 Saturday Improve your quality of life through positive thinking.  Date:  Saturday, Time: 1:00 thru 3:00 p.m. Location:    People With AIDS Coalition of Utah 175 W. 200 S., Suite 2010 SLC, UT 84101  Presenter: Kim Sayer of 6 Advisors  Lunch will be served.

2006 EMPEROR XXXI KIM RUSSO EMPEROR XXIX OF ANCHORAGE, ALASKA ELDON KIRBY EMPEROR XXII MICHAEL NORVELL OF PORTLAND, OREGON AND PRINCESS ROYALE XXIX PARIS BRUNNER MONTIEL CHILDERS ALONG WITH… THE ROYAL COURT OF THE GOLDEN SPIKE EMPIRE PRESENT “XMAS IN JULY” A BENEFIT FOR THE PEOPLE WITH AIDS XMAS FUND JULY 15TH AT THE TRAPP DOOR* Showtime STARTS AT 8:30 pm $5.00 SUGGESTED DONATION SALT LAKE’S MOST TALENTED PERFORMERS ON STAGE FOR THIS WORTHY AND CARING BENEFIT

2010 LGBT panel discusses need for improved safety By Rosemary Winters The Salt Lake Tribune Law enforcement is there to help, but members of Utah’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community also need to work together to improve safety for one another. That was the theme of a LGBT panel discussion Tuesday night hosted by the Utah Pride Center and other community groups at the Salt Lake City Main Library. “I can’t help you, if you don’t call me,” said speaker Sgt. Julie Jorgensen, a member of the West Valley City Police Department and the inter-agency LGBT Public Safety Liaison Committee. “Some people are reluctant to call the police because they’re afraid ... [but] officers are required to be objective in their investigations.” Jorgensen encouraged people who do feel they were treated poorly by a police officer to lodge a complaint with the agency. Panelists also included Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder, Salt Lake City Chief Prosecutor Sim Gill and Paul Parker, chief criminal deputy in the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office. A recent survey conducted by the Pride Center and the Liaison Committee, which offers LGBT sensitivity training to law enforcement agencies along the Wasatch Front, found many people who are LGBT often don’t feel safe being themselves in public. “As a gay man, I feel safer in some areas of [Salt Lake] County than others,” said actor Charles Lynn Frost, an attendee.

Charles Frost

Only one-third of the survey’s respondents said they thought they would be protected from discrimination if they called police to report an incident of domestic violence. Jorgensen assured attendees that officers have a responsibility to treat gay and lesbian couples the same as straight ones. Her committee includes representatives from Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, West Valley City, Weber County, South Salt Lake, Draper, Bountiful, West Bountiful and Cottonwood Heights. But one attendee questioned whether the panelists’ commitment to safety for the LGBT community was being backed up by the actions of law enforcement. “What you do speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you say,” said Dominique Storni, a transgender

Dominique Storni

woman who lives in South Salt Lake. Storni said she called police when she was a victim of a hate crime several years ago and was “basically ignored.” She also complained about the handling of two recent assault cases against gay men in South Salt Lake and Salt Lake City. “Whatever training is going on, it’s not sticking,” she said. Still, she thanked the speakers for participating in the discussion. “Hear my anger, but also hear that I’m really glad you’re here,” Storni told them. Eric Ethington, a member of the panel who represented the LGBT

Eric Ethington

community, said it’s important for people to look out for their friends when they go out and also not to engage in a fight if someone tries to pick one. It’s become more common, he noted, for LGBT people to go out to mainstream bars and restaurants — not just LGBT-specific ones. “Especially at bars and clubs where liquor is involved,” Ethington said, “if you hear someone shouting hate speech ... the worst possible thing [you] can do is walk up to them and start shouting.” Instead, he advised, notify the bar tender, bouncer or restaurant manager. The Utah Pride Center plans to reach out to bars and restaurants around Utah to provide training on how to make LGBT patrons safer. Businesses that complete the training would be certified as LGBT-friendly. “These owners are starting to recognize we are there,” Ethington said. “They love us — or more specifically, our money. They do not want to lose us as patrons.” Attendees also were encouraged to participate in a neighborhood watch program and to lobby their city or county law enforcement agencies to join the LGBT Public Safety Liaison Committee if not members already.

Turner Bitten

2010 Turner Bitten wrote: Thursday, 15 July 2010 at 04:22 “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country”, these immortalized words of Harvey Milk are quoted within our community with a sense of reverence. Having been born after the days of the infamous police raids, high profile beatings, and HIV/AIDS epidemic’s zenith, I scarcely know the horrors that the older vanguard of our community has been through. I never underwent corrective therapy at a “Mormon gulag” and thus I do not know the pain inflicted on those who have. In fact, the year that Harvey Milk died was the year that my father became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. No amount of reading can ever instill within me the passions and experiences that the generation before me has experienced and in many ways, my arrogance has led me to believe that previous generations are unproductive and serve as merely an antagonist to society. Although I was not present during the opening stages of the battle for our rights when the bullets started flying and did in fact enter the brain of Harvey Milk, I was born into the second phase of the war. I entered the world when the energy of the 70’s and 80’s was dying and I have come of age in a time of complacency. The battleground has been covered with new grass and the scars of battles past are hidden underneath the new façade of decent and complacent democracy. Rather than gathering in the streets and town halls, we hide in our night clubs, cowering and waiting for a new catalyst to send our community into action. I am as guilty as any of hiding, I’ve been cautious and attempted to cast an quiet activist persona about me, working behind the scenes to ‘bring about equality and provide a voice for marginalized voices’, I have hidden behind the guise of a consensus builder when in reality the only consensus I was building was that we are inferior and must beg for hand outs from an outside source. I’ve been shy to protest and reserved to express all that I am and as I have done so, bullets continue to fly. Being naïve as I am, I have believed that they battleground changed when in reality, the only thing that has changed is the weaponry. Now, more than ever, the battle is raging, going to the ballot box is not enough in its own right. Marching in anger and confused passion answer not the call of destiny but the call of the first voice brave enough to speak. Without cohesion and unity our community is destined to fail, all the while we continue to suffer irreparable damage. Within the last week, I have seen firsthand as the bullets of this war have entered the brain of two of our community’s leaders. Although they will not be memorialized on the news or in a national magazine, these two beautiful individuals have paved the way for a transformation of our broken community. The assassination of these beautiful souls was not carried out by one man but at their own hand. With one final act of self expression these two individuals charged forward with dignity and gave their life for the cause that they so nobly fought for. Every day, stories such as that of James Dunkley, a 19 year old boy from North Ogden whose life ended in June of 2009 due not to complications with faulty health, but an inability to carve out a small piece of his destiny. In a final act of desperation, James did what many of us wish we could do, he raised his voice and cried out against the failings of a fundamentally sick society. Raising a voice that you fundamentally do not understand is a near impossible task, one in which a dramatic transformation of character can take place. I have not risen to this task, and thus I remain a coward. With this article I hope to finally leave behind any question of the person that lies behind the mask. I no longer hide who I am but embrace it fully, in the utmost of sincerity I raise my voice in honor of those who felt that theirs were not heard. Individuals such as my friends David Standley and Tim Tilley whose lives ended this week in the battle against fear mongering and restricted self expression. I seek not to capitalize on the loss of two incredible individuals, but rather to honor them by expressing my sincerest of gratitude for although you are no longer with us, the lessons you taught us were lifelong. As I think about the sacrifice that David, James, Tim, and the countless other causalities of our battle for tolerance have made, I cannot help but feel a sense of purpose. In the truest of senses, the role we play in changing our world is as simple as living our lives on a daily basis. For although the closet door for David was opened, the world he stepped into was not one in which he felt he could live to his potential and individual choosing. In his death, the words signed with blood by countless individuals ring true, “When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him." In David standing up for himself and being willing to stand for who he was, his message was one of the utmost urgency. If we do not begin to raise our voices again, we will forever be lost. David raised his voice and unfortunately, he felt so alone in doing so that he could not bear the weight of the world. Let Tim Tilley’s voice rouse you to action, for although he was a soft spoken and timid boy, the message of his life will forever speak volumes of truth. If you hear this message, wherever you stand, answer Tim’s call, show David that we’re the generation, and we can’t afford to wait. The cause is noble and the power of our collective voices can drown out the voices that silenced David and Tim. Honor the memory of those who have died as a result of an uncaring and unwelcoming society by raising your voice. Whether you are 15 or 97, the power to change your world is in your hands. By acknowledging who you are and sharing that with your loved ones, you will reinforce the entire front we currently fight on. The most important lesson to take away from suicide is that you are never alone. You are never powerless and together we will survive. The needs of our community are ever growing and before our movement will ever have success we must first become a community. In many cases, we are all we’ve got, even with the most liberal of statistics, 10% of the population; we are a very small island. We are spread across all ethnic barriers, our lives are spent in all socioeconomic classes, and we are in every religion worldwide yet we must choose to speak and not to silence ourselves. We will never be represented until we make our voices heard and in order to do that we must work in all aspects of our society’s bounds. There are leaders out there that can and aided our communities in ways we can never full know. Thank God for those like Richard Matthews and the great Nova Starr who seek to prevent the spread of illnesses that have wreaked havoc on our community. Thank God for those like Michael Aaron and Salty Gossip for their commitment to save our community from the perils of being uneducated and bored. Thank God for those like Colton Lejeune, Trent Garner, and Berlin Schlegel who show an unwavering desire to help the younger members of our community become comfortable within the bounds of their own skins. Thank God for Allison Black and those committed to aiding our friends and families. Thank God for Brandie Balken and Isaac Higham for their unwavering commitment to working within our democratic institutions to change our legal status. Finally, thank God for those who work every day to bring about equality, thank God for you and I. Remember, you are never alone, and the promise you hold, the promise of your voice can only be achieved when you decide to raise it! It is my hope that the next time you hear of a protest, you will go and raise your voice in solidarity with others, in honor of those who can no longer speak, like David and Tim. The next time there is an election, you get involved and raise you ballot to symbolize you commitment to changing legal statuses. The next time you are asked whether you are LGBTQ+, raise your voice loudly by stating that you are who you are and that “I AM EQUAL”. Only through a mindset of true equality can we ever be equal. Never withdraw from society in fear but proudly participate because the beauty of a cultural war is that we all carry within us a piece of the flag of victory that will be raised when the war has been won. "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."- Ralph Waldo Emerson