This Day in Gay Utah History AUGUST 19th

August 19th

Karl Ulrich

1867-The homosexual emancipation movement in Germany began when Karl Heinrich Ulrichs spoke before the Congress of German Jurists to ask for humane treatment for homosexual men and women and an end to sodomy laws. He spoke as an openly homosexual man, and was shouted down by the audience.

Walt Whitman

1890-In response to a letter received from John Addington Symonds, poet Walt Whitman denied that "Calmus" from Leaves of Grass was homoerotic.

1969-Benning Wentworth, a 35-year-old US Department of Defense employee, appealed a decision to revoke his security clearance because of his suspected sexual orientation.

Ronald Reagan

1984-President Ronald Reagan issued a statement saying his administration would fight government endorsement of homosexuality.

1986 Tuesday Around ten p.m. Russ Lane called to ask if he could come down because there was something he wanted to tell me in person. He said that the head of the Washington Chapter of Affirmation is moving to Salt Lake City and that he's a close friend of my friend Elbert Peck, an editor of the Sunstone Magazine. [Journal of Ben Williams]

Freddie Mercury

1992- Fox Broadcasting Company gave the Utah AIDS Foundation a check for $1,200 as a share of the money raised from the two-hour A Concert For Life which aired on KSTU last April. The concert, which originated in London was held to heighten AIDS awareness in a tribute to Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the rock group Queen, who died of the disease last November. (SLTRIBUNE 8/19/92- MISCELLANY)

1995 18-year-old Tam Nguyen was on trial for the murder of Chet Harris. With his head on the defense table, crying audibly, defense attorney Paul Gotay said to the jury, "Stand up, Tam. Go ahead, stand up. Look at him . . . he's a bean, he's a twig. He doesn't have one violent bone in his body and you will find that out." The dramatic

Paul Gotay

moment kept 15 jurors riveted on every word of Gotay's 25-minute opening statement. Nguyen, he said, was only fending off the sexual advances of Chet O. Harris when he "impulsively" fired a shot into the man's neck. Gotay argued that Nguyan's friend, Taun In Ly, fired the bullet that killed Harris. "Tam is a patsy. We're not going to make the same mistake as the prosecutors have made – they know there's a killer out there on the streets." Ly was arrested with Nguyen in La Grande, Ore., after the two wrecked Harris' car. Ly has not been charged because of insufficient evidence. Nguyen, Gotay said, was charged only because he told investigators that he shot Harris. The boy said Harris, 30, drove up to him and Ly as they stood on a downtown street at midnight and offered Nguyen a ride home. Harris reportedly would not give Ly a ride but only Nguyen, who agreed, telling his friend he would return to pick him up with his mother. But Harris instead took Nguyen to an apartment and grabbed his crotch, Gotay charged. Nguyen refused the advance and Harris

drove him back downtown to pickup Ly. The two boys then discussed Harris' advance in Vietnamese and Ly said they would have to kill Harris, said prosecutor Paul Parker. After Nguyen fired one shot, the two boys jumped behind the wheel of Harris' Suburu turbo and drove away. But Ly returned to see if the man was dead, Nguyen told police. Investigators believe but can't prove Harris was dragging himself along the alley when Ly fired into his head, then kicked his body into the grass.

• Attorney says defendant is a `twig' and that his friend is the real killer. WHO FIRED THE FATAL GUNSHOT? By Chip Parkinson, Staff Writer Is Tam Nguyen just a "patsy" for the real killer of a man slain two years ago, or did the slight immigrant fire the fatal shot? Fifteen jurors must decide that question in the capital murder trial this week of the 18-year-old man. Nguyen, who could be executed if convicted, spent a good share of opening statements Thursday with his head on the defense table, crying audibly. "Stand up, Tam. Go ahead, stand up. Look at him . . . he's a bean, he's a twig. He doesn't have one violent bone in his body and you will find that out," defense attorney Paul Gotay told the jury. Nguyen reluctantly stood at the table for two minutes, sniffling, until Gotay let him sit down. The dramatic moment kept jurors riveted on every word of Gotay's 25-minute opening statement. Nguyen, he said, was only fending off the sexual advances of Chet O. Harris when he "impulsively" fired a shot into the man's neck. Passersby found Harris' body in a west Salt Lake alley on Aug. 22, 1993. He died from a gunshot wound to the head and suffered a non-fatal shot to his throat. Gotay argued that Nguyan's friend, Taun In Ly, fired the bullet that killed Harris. "Tam is a patsy. We're not going to make the same mistake as the prosecutors have made – they know there's a killer out there on the streets. "Ly was arrested with Nguyen in La Grande, Ore., after the two wrecked Harris' car. Ly has not been charged because of insufficient evidence. Nguyen, Gotay said, was charged only because he told investigators that he shot Harris. The boy said Harris, 30, drove up to him and Ly as they stood on a downtown street at midnight and offered Nguyen a ride home. Harris reportedly would not give Ly a ride but only Nguyen, who agreed, telling his friend he would return to pick him up with his mother. But Harris instead took Nguyen to an apartment and grabbed his crotch, Gotay charged. Nguyen refused the advance and Harris drove him back downtown to pickup Ly. The two boys then discussed Harris' advance in Vietnamese and Ly said they would have to kill Harris, said prosecutor Paul Parker. After Nguyen fired one shot, the two boys jumped behind the wheel of Harris' Suburu turbo and drove away. But Ly returned to see if the man was dead, Nguyen told police. Investigators believe but can't prove Harris was dragging himself along the alley when Ly fired into his head, then kicked his body into the grass. The trial is expected to last through next Wednesday. © 1998 Deseret News Publishing Co.

Aveda King

 1997-At a rally in Sacramento California, Alveda Celeste King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr. said "To equate homosexuality with race is to give a death sentence to civil rights. No one is enslaving homosexuals or making them sit at the back of the bus."

Jeff Freedman

1998- Jeff Freedman co-host of Concerning Gays and Lesbians on KRCL interviewed Utah ACLU director Carol Gnade regarding the Gay/Straight Alliance and Wendy Weaver Lawsuits.

1998- David Nelson and Kevin Nollenberg  two Utah hate crime advisors met with a legislative analyst for US Sen. Orrin Hatch to encourage the senator to oppose amendments on the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act which would

Kevin Knollenberg

increase federal  law enforcement investigative powers of hate crimes against Gay and Lesbian Americans among others.

2000 The Salt Lake Tribune Democrats Say Utah Is in Play Gore ticket seen as asset to state party's chances By Dan Harrie LOS ANGELES -- Utah Democrats returned home Friday  from their party's 2000 national convention pumped up for an election  season they predict will end their long electoral drought in one of the most Republican states in the nation. It isn't that they are expecting victory for the presidential ticket of Al Gore and Joe Lieberman. In fact, most Utah delegates here conceded that Gore is unlikely to break the Republican presidential lock on voters in the Beehive State dating back to the 1968 victory of Richard Nixon. Rather, activist Democrats say, Gore and Lieberman are acceptable enough to Utah's conservative-leaning mainstream that they won't lose in a landslide that also swamps down-the-ticket races. "George W. Bush probably will win the state," says Utah Democratic Chairwoman Meghan Holbrook. "But the Gore-Lieberman ticket -- especially the Lieberman part -- helps us. I feel a lot of energy." The "us" she refers to is Democratic candidates for Congress and state offices, from gubernatorial

David Nelson Al Gore

candidate Bill Orton to legislative hopefuls. All week in Los Angeles, Utah's 29 delegates raved about the choice of Lieberman for the vice presidential nomination. A Jew who has frequently spoken out against the surfeit of sex and violence coming out of Hollywood, Lieberman can lay strong claim to the "family values" label that seems such an important political mantra in Utah. He was one of President Clinton's earliest and harshest critics in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and he even had a dust-cover blurb on Mormon church President Gordon B. Hinckley's book, Standing for Something. At the same time, Utahns came to the convention with reservations, if not misgivings, about Gore. "Al Gore is a hard sale in Utah," delegate and state Rep. Trisha Beck said midweek. "People are judging him because of Clinton." But that anxiety changed to relief after Gore's "I'm my own man" nomination acceptance speech Thursday, capping the convention. "It was wonderful," gushed Beck, as thousands of red, white and blue balloons and rivers of confetti showered delegates from the ceiling of the Staples Center. "I actually think now he's electable in Utah. His values are so much like ours." While delegates universally raved about Gore's speech, few went as far as Beck in suggesting that he actually could win Utah's five electoral college votes. But the nominee's performance injected new optimism into those who began the week fearing Gore could drag down home-grown Democrats. "My biggest hope is that it gives a boost to Utah candidates," said Russell Kennedy, a delegate working on the Salt Lake County mayor's race of Democrat Karen Crompton. "The speech was tailor-made for Utah. And I don't think I've seen a speech with that much passion in my life." "You can't find fault

David Thometz

with Al Gore and Joe Lieberman,"  said delegate Dave Thometz. "We have a Democratic ticket that is unquestionably good even for the more conservative-minded in Utah." "This completes the picture for Utah Democrats," said delegate David Nelson. "It rounds things out and stands to help Scott Howell [running for the U.S. Senate against Orrin Hatch] and Bill Orton and [2nd District congressional candidate] Jim Matheson." Matheson generally is viewed as the Democrats' best chance for a political comeback in Utah this year. He is running in an open seat after two-term incumbent Republican Rep. Merrill Cook was defeated in the primary by newcomer Derek Smith. Democrats also are not writing off Donald Dunn in the 3rd Congressional District. Although running for his first public office, Dunn has campaigned hard for months and has raised impressive amounts of money in his quest to upset Republican Rep. Chris Cannon. One strategy of Dunn's has been to campaign with Orton, who formerly held the 3rd District seat and remains well-liked by many voters. Another focus of Democrats in the upcoming election is the state Legislature. The minority party is just four seats away from capturing control of the Senate for the first time since the 1970s. Party leaders have concentrated on recruiting strong candidates for statehouse races, even in Utah County contests forfeited to Republicans in the past. Democrats say they have one other source of  optimism this election year: growing voter discontent with the ruling Republicans. "This is going to be a good year for Democrats," says Utah AFL-CIO President Ed Mayne, also a state senator and convention delegate. "There are a lot of things out there that people are upset about." At the top of his list of voter anger is the still-churning Olympic bribery scandal. "Except for [former Salt Lake City Mayor] Deedee Corradini, all the major players were Republicans," says Mayne. "Let the trial  begin -- the sooner, the better."

2003 RCGSE GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING held at City Library  Board of Directors Candidates: Ryan Allen (Ashlee Vaughn) Alfredo Boscan Emperor 27 Bob Childers, Brad Earl, Mike Sperry

2003 Tuesday Page: D1 Photo Credit: Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune Photo Caption: Hmmm, not bad. Reporter Brandon Griggs, Salt Sub's reluctant metrosexual, contemplates a future as a hand model while admiring his freshly manicured hand. Meanwhile, Cara Hardy gets to work on Griggs' feet.; The Associated Press David Beckham, soccer star/metrosexual demigod.;  Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune The result of some "Queer Eye" shopping.; Joshua Brown/The Salt Lake Tribune Metrosexuality requires more strain and grooming than Brandon Griggs expected. In the top photo, Rafi Schwartz attempts to touch his painted toenails during a yoga class at Metro Sports Club. Below, our man Griggs finally relaxes as Urban Barber cosmetologist Cara Hardy massages his hands after a manicure.; Jump Page D4:  Joshua Brown/The Salt Lake Tribune Brett Jeppson contorts his body during an Ashtanga Yoga class at Metro Sports Club in the ZCMI Center.;   Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune Brandon Griggs hopes his nails aren't too shiny as Cara Hardy of the Urban Barber works her magic on Griggs' other hand. It was Griggs' first manicure. The modern man Male renaissance: macho image gives way to 'metrosexuality' By Brandon Griggs    The Salt Lake Tribune  metrosexual: A dandyish narcissist in love with not only himself, but also his urban lifestyle; a straight man who is in touch with his feminine side.  --  The Word Spy If you live in Salt Lake City or another urban area, chances are you know one: A man so in touch with his feminine side that he enjoys clothes shopping, manicures, body waxing and other things traditionally associated with the fairer sex. There's a word for this new kind of man, but it's not what you think. These well-groomed males aren't all openly gay or deeply closeted. Many are straight guys who, through exposure to their wives, girlfriends, gay friends or Men's Health, have embraced aspects of "feminine" culture. They're called "metrosexuals," and more and more of them are frequenting salons, yoga classes and other places that macho knuckle-draggers have longed feared to tread. A British journalist coined the term "metrosexual" in 1994, but only in the past year has it entered the pop-culture lexicon, thanks to articles in The New York Times, Salon.com and other media outlets. Trend-spotters point to the boom in men's skin-care products, the new emphasis on grooming tips in men's magazines, the hairless male models on display at Abercrombie & Fitch. As sexual boundaries become increasingly blurred in the 21st century, this new breed of fence-straddling straight male has emerged everywhere. Modern-day metrosexuals include rap-fashion mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, most of male Hollywood and international soccer star David Beckham, who wears nail polish, sarongs and

David Beckham

braids in his hair without a trace of embarrassment.  "Men are more vain than they used to be a few years ago," says Darrell McCurtain, a Park City esthetician  --  apparently, they don't call them beauticians anymore  --  who specializes in body waxes and eyebrow plucking. "Lots of men don't want the 'uni-brow' look anymore." We don't? I confess to being clueless about much of this male-grooming stuff. On the Metrosexual Scale, with 1 being Homer Simpson and 10 being Jude Law, I'm about a 6. I know the difference between Oscar de la Renta and Oscar de la Hoya, between Tommy Hilfiger and Tommy Chong. I watch "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." I even had my first (and only) facial on my wedding day in June.   But I don't read fashion magazines. I'm happy to go days without shaving. I'll sleep in a ratty T-shirt, then wear it out to the grocery store in the morning. And the closest I've come to body waxing is spilling a hot candle. To better understand this bold new metrosexual lifestyle, I needed to explore the phenomenon firsthand. I needed a makeover. I needed to get in touch with my metrosexuality. Stage 1: Manicure & Pedicure" Don't worry. You guys get so wussy sometimes." Like most straight guys, my long-neglected hands and feet look like something from "Pirates of the Caribbean." So I scheduled the first manicure and pedicure of my life at Urban Barber, a sleek but not-too-girly salon on Main Street in downtown Salt Lake. My stylist was Cara Hardy, a beauty-school grad with wavy brown hair and a cheerful attitude. About half of Cara's mani/pedi clients are men -- many of them married businessmen who stop in on their lunch hour. "A lot of men are kind of timid [about manicures] at first. They have to get used to it," Cara said. With that in mind, Cara led me to a private room where I could avoid scornful looks from manlier customers at the adjoining coffee bar.  Cara eyed my wimpy, desk-job hands and went to work. She pushed back my cuticles, snipped off excess skin, clipped and sanded my stubby nails. She massaged my hands. I was starting to enjoy this. Then she started brushing my newly buffed nails with some clear liquid.  "This isn't going to stay shiny like nail polish, is it?" I asked suspiciously. "Don't worry," she said. "You guys get so wussy sometimes." Next Wussy Man rolled up his pants and dunked his bare feet in the pedicure tub. One at a time, Cara took my gnarly feet from the warm, soapy water and pampered them. She scrubbed my toenails with a little brush and I giggled like a schoolgirl. "Men are so ticklish," she said. After the toenail clip, the mint scrub, the foot massage and the skin lotion, I was ready to show my handsome new feet to the world. Or maybe for a nap. Instead, I put my shoes and socks back on and trudged back to The Tribune. Although I felt like a sissy, my manicure and pedicure weren't so bad. Cara says this male-grooming thing is all about guys expanding their comfort zones, and I think she's right. "Most guys won't ask, 'Hey, can you trim my ear hair?' "she said. "But if you do, they appreciate it." Stage 2: Shopping My wardrobe, while not utterly hopeless, needed a Queer Eye. So I recruited Tommy Hamby, a 21-year-old, openly gay grad student who spent a year at 

Tommy Hamby

fashion-design school in Los Angeles. Take me shopping, I told him. "I'm incredibly picky about clothes," Tommy said. "But I'm not a fashion Nazi or anything. Nobody looks good in something they don't feel comfortable in." At Tommy's suggestion, we started at Express for Men in the Cottonwood Mall. No shopping novice, Tommy headed immediately for the sale racks. "This I don't like," he said, fingering a pair of long cargo pants. Tommy is over the cargo-pant trend. "It was fun for a while. But it's tired," he said. He then quickly rejected '70s-style retro T-shirts and something called "whiskered" jeans  --  jeans artificially styled with tiny stretch lines to make them look worn.    Tommy eventually picked out a straightforward-looking pair of boot-leg denim jeans and two shirts to match. I tried them on in the dressing room. The first shirt was a billowy, tea-green number with an embroidered collar that plunged halfway down my chest in a Fabio kind of way. I vetoed that one. The other was a white cotton button-down with a subtle floral pattern. I'm usually not crazy about flowers on my shirts, but Tommy was right  --  it looked and felt hip. Sold, for $49.50. A brief visit to Meier & Frank proved fruitless. We found row upon row of Dockers, which Tommy and I agreed are sort of the McDonald's of men's pants: ubiquitous and bland. Looking for something more distinctive, Tommy steered me to Thrift Town, a nearby second-hand store with a good selection of used clothes. "It's so exciting to find something that fits you perfectly and looks good and that's only two dollars," he said, like a kid on a treasure hunt. Tommy handed me a pair of charcoal gray wool slacks, a tan satine button-down and a burgundy V-neck sweater. Nice choices all. But I, surrendering to my slob tendencies, had my eye on a rumpled black velour pullover. It was a steal at $4. Tommy, his careful advice wasted, rolled his eyes. "That looks like something you might already own," he said. I wasn't sure how to take this. "It's fine for home. But I wouldn't wear that out [of the house]." I won't. Maybe.  Stage 3: Fitness How do metrosexuals keep in shape? Yoga. The time-honored Indian fitness art, once practiced almost exclusively by women or New Age hippies, is drawing more and more men of all sexual stripes. A recent survey found that men make up almost one-quarter of America's 15 million yoga enthusiasts. So I found a yoga class at Salt Lake City's Metro Sports Club and gave it a try. My instructor was Chris Higgins, a wiry man with a ponytail and a soothing manner. The class included five other people, four of them men.  Under dim lighting and to a soundtrack of Hindu chanting, Chris led us through a series of poses emphasizing strength, balance, flexibility and mental clarity.  At least I think those were everyone else's goals. I was just trying to keep from falling on my ass. Contorting his body like a Cirque du Soleil acrobat, Chris told us to focus on our "bone energy" and "heart centers." I grew most confused when he said to "breathe through your feet." Within 10 minutes, I was sweating. Within 30, I was exhausted. While the other guys breathed in deep, rhythmic, proper-yoga fashion, I gulped air like a beached trout. As I soon learned, yoga is no wussy sport. Chris sees lots of muscle-bound guys who quit his class in frustration because they lack the strength, flexibility or patience to master the poses.  "A lot of people have the impression that yoga is an easy, gentle way to work out," Chris said later. "And that's not true. "It uses every muscle in your body." Including many that  --  ouch  --  I didn't know I had. Stage 4: Hair Removal  The new metrosexual me was almost complete. But I still had one lingering problem: that pesky body hair. With some trepidation, I called Darrell McCurtain, the Park City esthetician, who advertises his men's full-body waxing services in the Salt Lake City Weekly under the headline, "BACK, CRACK & SAC WAX." "Er, how's business?" I asked. "I've had a tremendous response [to the ad]. Catchy, isn't it?" said Darrell, who estimates half his clients are straight. "I have a lot of straight male clients who don't like chest hair or even arm hair because they look in the magazines and see models with that smooth look." Darrell said he uses one kind of wax for the arms, legs or back and another for the more sensitive "genital area." He preps clients' skin with oil to make the wax peel off more easily. Still, making a man look like a plucked chicken can hurt a little. "It all depends on people's pain tolerance level," he said. That was enough for me. I thanked Darrell for his time and hung up. On the road to metrosexuality, there is only so far I will go. It's my body hair, and I'm keeping it.

2005 19^th Krystna Shaylee Empress 30, Heidi Ho West Waters Empress 28, Kim Russo Prince Royale 23, Kyra Prespentte Princess Royale 26 along with the RCGSE present "IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT" Friday August 19th at the Paper Moon SHOWTIME: 9:00 PM $5.00 suggested donation A BENEFIT FOR THE WADE "FELICIA" DEFORREST's  CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT FUND.  

2005 All Day This event repeats every day, until Sunday August 21, 2005. Event Location: Pocatello, Idaho Notes: The Pride and diversity festival for Southern Idaho takes place August 19-21 in Pocatello.

Clark Monk

2005 Utah Gay Rodeo Association The UGRA will be hosting a wild west roundup and all are invited to attend.  There will be many outdoor activities including horseback riding, hiking and a host of other activities.  This will be held August 19 – 21, 2005.  For more information please visit www.UGRA.net. UGRA EVENTS The Utah Gay Rodeo Association would like to invite any members and/or non-members to Join us for the 1st Annual UGRA Wild West Roundup. This event will be held Payson Canyons in Payson, UT. These facilities are part of the scenic Nebo Loop. There is a paved road right up to the campsites; all campsites are wheelchair accessible, with running water and restrooms. The whole site has been reserved for the weekend so we hope to have a rip-roaring good time. So invite everyone you know and reserve your spot today before all the spots are gone. Activites to be held include Day hike directed by the Lambda Hiking Club of Utah  Horsemanship Clinic - "How to saddle a horse" Poker Ride / Hike Mini Rodeo University Campiest Camp Contest Horse Shoe Contest Dutch oven cook off contest (Saturday Night) There will also be a Wild

Wild West Show on Saturday night, Not to mention campfires and campfire stories both nights. Costs for the campout will be $50 for the individual campsites with a concrete pad to park your RV or House Trailer on. These will hold up to 10 people each. Or you may purchase a tent space for $25 within our group site the will hold up to 5 people each. There will be a Dutch oven dinner on Friday night $8 an adult and $5 for children under 12, rsvpby July 25th. We will be taking applications for your campground reservations now through July 25th so don't let your spot slip away. You can mail your Reservations and checks or money orders to the address on the form or Fax it to 801.912.0731 please note that you may want to include your e-mail address if possible to confirm your reservation. To download a copy of the application for reservation please print a copy of the attached application visit http://www.ugra.net/roudnup/application.pdf All reservation applications must be completed and sent in by July 25, 2005. The roundup will be held on the 19th, 20th, and 21st of August 2005. Any Questions regarding this may be sent to President@ugra.net,Vice.President@ugra.net,  treasurer@ugra.net  Also, this month there will be a general membership meeting on Monday

June 06, 2005 at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah. The address is 361 N. 300 W. in Salt Lake City. The meeting will start at 7:00pm. If you can't make it please let use know by either replying to this email or by calling Treasurer Casey Richins at 801.520.7985. All are invited to attend regardless of member status. Keep in mind that non-members will not have voting rights but are encouraged and invited to attend. This meeting we will be talking more about the Wild West Roundup. If you have any ideas or can offer your support then please come and join us. We are still also needing volunteers for several different things involved with the roundup. Also if you would like to be in the Utah Pride Parade on June 12, please email someone using the emails provided. UGRA Board of Directors Travis Nowers – President, Jan Sylvester - Vice President, Casey Richins - Treasurer

2006 Saturday Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Summit! Saturday, August 19th at 10:00 am  The GLBT Community Center of Utah Youth Activity Center (YAC) is having a free Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) summit Saturday, August 19, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Come learn from past GSA leaders: Jesse, BJ, Cameo, and Daniel. They will teach us how to start a GSA, how to run a GSA, and how to pass on a GSA. Also, Missy Larsen from Equality Utah is going to teach us how to be politically active with our GSA’s. Everyone who is affiliated with a GSA, or would like to be affiliated with a GSA is invited, including school advisors, counselors, faculty, and parents. Breakfast will be served @ 10:00 AM, and we will also be serving lunch. Then join us that Saturday night for a special YAC event! This event is for people ages 13-20. If you would like to participate, RSVP to Rachel McNeil

Northern Utah Coalition

2006 • Annual HIV/AIDS Walk A Thon Description: Who: Northern Utah Coalition, HIV/AIDS Project What: 6th Annual "Steppin' For Life" Walk/Run Where: Lorin Farr Park, 1691 Gramercy Ave., Ogden, UT When: August 19, 2006, 8:00 a.m. Donation: $15.00 in advance $20.00 day of event Contact: Sarah McClellan or Mary Saenz 801-393-4153 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday thru Friday E-Mail: smcclel621@... Agency Address:536 24th St., Suite 2B, Ogden, UT 84401 Time: 08:00 AM Date: Aug 19 Location: Lorin Farr Park Org: Northern Utah Coalition Category: Charity & Fundraising Address: 1691 Gramercy Ave. 84401 Ogden (Forecast) Area: Ogden/Morgan/Davis Area

Gene Robinson

2009 Allies Dinner Statewide gay rights group Equality Utah’s annual Allies Dinner will be held in August. This year’s guest speaker will be Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire’s Episcopal Diocese and the first openly gay man ordained as a bishop in a major Christian denomination. The recipients of Equality Utah’s 2009 Allies for Equality Award will be Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson, the South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society’s Rev. Sean Dennison, former ACLU director and Red Rock Women’s Music Festival organizer Carol Gnade and Cactus & Tropicals founder and owner Lorraine Miller. Proceeds go to helping Equality Utah support fair-minded candidates for state and local office. Sponsorships are available. When: Aug. 19 Where: Salt Palace Grand Ballroom Cost: $100 per ticket; tables are also available.

Radio City Lounge 

2009 Salt Lake City weekly Radio City: A Requiem Posted By: Brandon Burt Reports on the reluctance of Brandon's Big Gay Blog to weigh in on the Radio City situation have been greatly exaggerated. Actually, when Bill Frost, out of the blue on a busy production day, transfixed me in his hypnotic gaze and challenged me with: "If you could say one thing about Radio City, what would it be?" I believe my reaction was not "sketchy," but "unsanitary." That may be a good spur-of-the-moment description, considering what the bar has become in recent years. But perhaps a better reaction would have been, "Ye gods and little fishes, Bill, how can I distill a dozen memories into a single word?" - The Oldest Gay Bar West of The Missouri- The R.C. was the first bar I ever sneaked into as a teenager in the mid-'80s. A few minutes later, it also became the first bar I ever got kicked out of for being underage. Weldon Young, the manager, made a big impression on me--as did his bootprint on my ass on the way out. Local lore had Radio City as

Weldon Young

"the oldest continually operating gay bar west of the [fill-in-the-blank] River." First I heard, it was the Missouri. Then, the Mississippi. Over the years, who knows? As the vicissitudes of old gay bars pushed the line of demarcation steadily eastward, it may have got well past the Ohio and reached as far as the Hudson. Even so, I never heard that the R.C. ever became the oldest gay bar in the country--even if nobody I asked was ever sure exactly which venerable East Coast institution could rightfully claim that distinction. No doubt there's some Ye Olde Pub for Fancye Fellowes in New England dating back to the Revolution. Still, from what I gather, Radio City predates even the hallowed Stonewall Inn by quite a stretch. Now, it was during the Clinton administration, while working on a history of Salt Lake City's gay bars, that I managed to interview Francine (aka Frank)--who, by that time, had become quite a venerable institution herself. In fact, so revered was Francine that a humble scribe such as I could not presume abruptly to enter her presence, but had to approach incrementally through a tentative series of requests via various assistants and factotums, each of whom made it clear that I would be lucky if she chose to speak to me at all. So it was with A Terrible Sense of Awe and TrepidationTM that I was finally admitted into the sanctum sanctorum--and found Francine to be a remarkably candid and descriptive (if at times irritable) subject. She vividly described the bad old days of pre-Stonewall gay life here in the 1950s and '60s.-

Frank aka Francine

Francine's Story-For decades, Radio City was the center of Salt Lake City gay life. Through some law, policy or tacit arrangement with the authorities, it was an evening-hours-only establishment for the gays, who were not allowed to enter until respectable 9-to-5 folks had vacated the downtown area. And no wonder! These girls did not dress down. They weren't trying to "pass" at all. Now, for an R.C. queen in those days, going out to the bar took a little bit of prep time. It was not a "come as you are" situation. Very fashionable types wore silk jackets over flowing ascots (Francine remembered a particular favorite in a bold shade of apricot). Those who arrived early would line up on the sidewalk outside the bar waiting for the magic hour--raising both eyebrows and hackles among State Street commuters. The doors would finally open, however, admitting the faithful into a world of unimaginable glam: The walls were draped in red velvet and gold lame, groups of patrons were seated in plush, high-backed, red vinyl booths, and a sunken ballroom floor filled up with couples dancing to the latest Latin crazes: the rumba, the cha-cha. (No, the sleek bossa nova was not to arrive until several years later.) And everybody kept a wary eye on the door. Police raids were regular occurrences. A squad of uniformed officers could burst in at any moment. Sometimes, their arrival was announced with a shout and a few seconds' warning. But most times, the music would simply come to an abrupt halt as the bright lights were switched on. There was one light in particular which, Francine said, had had been installed at the city's insistence: The raid light ran the entire length of the bar, under the counter on the patrons' side--during raids, it allowed the police to make sure no male couples were holding hands.  Any violators--hand-holders; male couples caught dancing; men wearing makeup; men wearing ascots that were too apricot; guys who jeered, fought back, or got a little too sassy about the Constitution; or dudes who were just not right in that vague, you-know-it-when-you-see-it kind of way--were rounded up into a police van, fingerprinted and booked into the city lockup. On a good night, Francine said--especially if it had been an early raid--they got lucky and were released before last call ... after which, everybody returned happily to the bar.-They were fabulous. -Ch-ch-ch-changes- Thirty years later, by the time I--as a 15-year-old post-Stonewall gay-libber sporting a mullet, a Members Only jacket and impossibly romantic ideas--managed to sneak into Radio City for a few minutes, the red velvet and gold lame drapes had been removed, as had the raid light. The Latin ballroom tunes had been replaced by '80s disco, and any police raids mostly targeted underage drinking, public intox, and the litany of standard liquor violations. The red vinyl, high-backed booths were still there, though. They didn't get taken out until the awful day management decided, a few years too late, to jump on the '80s bandwagon. The wooden bar was replaced by a laminate countertop in some generic, Reagan-era color (was it powder blue or 25-percent gray? And wasn't there even--gasp!--a shell pink accent tone?). The walls were painted industrial Safety Gray, and posters, lit by the

obligatory track lighting, were installed depicting Nagel-esque prints and cheesy black-and-white shirtless Marines. It managed to remain a fun place for some time after that--but, I think, the removal of that wonderful old wooden bar was the amputation of the establishment's soul. For decades, that bar's planks had preserved, under layers of thick lacquer, a set of antique broadsheets from The Salt Lake Tribune. Like the pages of most old newspapers, they were fascinating and sometimes bewildering. One featured a series of really long, multi-panel Sunday comic strips with weirdly humorless punch lines like, "A home permanent! Imagine!" Another page had polite yet impassioned letters to the editor regarding long-forgotten zoning issues. You could always while away a slow night reading the paper, and it was like playing around in the Marriott Library's microfiche archive, except you also got to order

beer.-Gone But Not Forgotten- Those who know Radio City only from its final incarnation as a sullen, uninviting State Street dive are excused for failing to mourn its demise. But there was a time in living memory when that place was packed every weekend, full of chatter and flirtation and fun. There were A-gays there, and college students, and bikers, and drag queens, and Castro clones, and longhaired hippies, and political junkies, and drywall contractors, and intellectuals, and one overly cerebral mullet-head in a Members Only jacket. We had many good nights there--nights full of camaraderie, cruising, commiseration. Now it even seems there was a pervasive awareness that, while we were partying with our friends, we were also occupying the Oldest Gay Bar West of the Missouri (or the Mississippi, or whatever). We never broke the chain. We kept the party going. Didn't this awareness carry with it some queer sense of continuity, a subtle connection with the past? It was the spark of a feeling of being part of something halfway between a band of outlaws and a family. Whatever that feeling was, it has now blossomed into a firmly established community

that spans generations, with roots that reach deep into Salt Lake City history, and with polished, well-spoken professionals at the helm, none of whom have been to the R.C. in years, and many of whom have never been there. Don't get me wrong--this is a good thing. It's the kind of progress that Francine and her Eisenhower-era cohort might have dreamed about. Or not. But I've always thought R.C. management missed the boat by refusing to cash in on the bar's claim to fame. They should have retrofitted it back to the original vinyl and velvet. On weekends, there could be a twice-nightly floorshow--sexy, uniformed thugs would burst in and "apprehend" members of the clientele, locking them for 10 minutes in comfortably apportioned cells. (The late show would be rumored to get a bit naughty.) With that kind of action, management could have started charging $8 a drink! We have come a long way--and these are still trying times for gays in the Beehive State's Capital City. What else is new? Like 1950s Mattachines, a lot of us still can't help but slap neckties and conservative haircuts on our public image with our white-picket-fence campaigns for marriage and civil unions. But, whatever strides we make and whatever blows we take, I hope we never forget the simple joys of knotting on a fabulous apricot ascot and flouncing down State Street like nobody's business. Goodbye, Radio City. You have meant a lot to us.

John Bennett

2010 Employment Non-Discrimination Act long overdue By John W. Bennett Salt Lake Tribune John Bennett works for Salt Lake County and is a volunteer for the Human Rights Campaign. He is a nephew of Sen. Robert F. Bennett. My name is John Wells Bennett, and I was born and raised in Salt Lake City. My grandfather Wallace F. Bennett and my uncle Robert F. Bennett are both U.S. senators from Utah, past and present. My great-grandfather was Mormon Church President Heber J. Grant, and my great-great-grandfathers Jedediah Morgan Grant and Daniel H. Wells were the first and third mayors of Salt Lake City, respectively. The purpose of divulging this family pedigree is to underscore that it doesn’t matter what your family name is or whom you’re related to, you can still be fired from your job simply for being gay, as I was in 1986 while working for the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development. Now nearly 25 years later it is still legal in 29 states to fire someone based solely on their sexual orientation, and it is still legal in 38 states to fire someone based solely on their gender identity. Furthermore, if I were still working for the state of Utah, I could still be fired for being gay, as the Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County LGBT employment ordinances do not extend to state employees. But speaking of Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, add to that list Park City, Logan, West Valley City and Summit County and we have no fewer than six local governments that have enacted employment and housing protections for Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender people this year, thanks to Equality Utah’s Campaign for 10 in 10 (10 municipal ordinances in 2010). The LDS Church has taken a courageous stand in support of an employment ordinance in Salt Lake City that closely mirrors the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act or “ENDA,” which has been introduced in Congress. The church should consider making a similar endorsement of ENDA in light of the controversy surrounding the movie “8, The Mormon Proposition.” Like the Salt Lake City ordinance, ENDA makes no mention of, and has nothing to do with marriage, so the church’s clearly articulated stand on same-sex marriage would remain uncompromised. Unfortunately, our federal government has a tendency to follow rather than to lead on social issues. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act has been languishing in Congress since 1994. Distracted by mid-term elections, Congress is tempted to stall on ENDA again this year.  As a gay man, I find it painful to realize that something as seemingly basic as employment non-discrimination is still controversial. But I, for one, am not willing to see this year and this session of Congress pass into history without a vote on ENDA. My grandfather, Sen. Wallace F. Bennett, back in 1964 and 1968, broke ranks with his party and voted for both major civil rights laws of that decade. I call upon all the members of the current Utah delegation to become co-sponsors of ENDA and to help move this important bill forward for a vote this session. John Bennett works for Salt Lake County and is a volunteer for the Human Rights Campaign. He is a nephew of Sen. Robert F. Bennett.

2015 An interview with Utah Pride Center’s new executive director

Marian Edmonds-Allen

Marian Edmonds-Allen says she was a little surprised at what she found during her first week on the job as the Utah Pride Center’s new executive director. Edmonds-Allen took up the reins at the Center on Aug. 3. By Aug. 13, when she took a few moments to speak with QSaltLake, she said, “I thought I had a pretty good clue of what the Pride Center is about. Some things I did know about.” She knew, for instance, about the center’s mental-health services and about the programs for youth — not surprising, since she has herself been a strong advocate for various youth programs in the past. “But,” Edmonds-Allen said, “I was surprised to talk to the [Pride Center’s] program manager, and I was surprised to see, wow! There is a lot that happens here.” She had said basically the same thing in an emailed newsletter sent out to Center supporters and subscribers. Perhaps it was just a bit of hyperbole — or perhaps not — but Edmonds-Allen said she realized she knew “maybe 10 percent” of what the Center did. “Check out the Pride Center calendar — you will be as amazed as I am,” Edmonds-Allen wrote. Speaking to her, she seems eager and enthusiastic to let people know more about the Center. The newsletter is just one evidence of that: she intends to send out weekly newsletters and updates to keep people informed with what the Center is doing. It’s all part of Edmonds-Allen’s vision for the Center that can perhaps best be summed up with one word: Extension. She wants to extend people’s knowledge about the Center; she wants to extend the hand of cooperation and collaboration to other LGBT-centered partners and others in the broader community; she wants to extend the Center’s role; and she wants to extend both the effectiveness and the geographic reach of the Center’s impact. Several times during her conversation with QSaltLake, she issued an invitation to come down to the Center and see personally what it’s all about. “I’ll give you a tour,” she said, and the impression can’t be missed that she almost bursts with the desire to really let people see what it’s is all about. “It’s wonderful, the breadth of things that happen here,” she said. She wants to be accessible, she says. Even though she has an office, she says she’s created a little work station for herself up near the front of the building so she can see and interact with folks who come in. And in her newsletter, she says people can expect from her “not only a willingness to listen, but I will be asking for your thoughts, ideas and feedback.” “I am now and will continue to welcome to talk to everyone, because it’s important for me to get everyone’s feedback.” Her goal is that “everyone can feel really positive that, yes, this is their community center.” Part of that, she admits, will involve building bridges that, if not completely burned in the past, may have been a bit scorched around the edges. Due to various factors in the past she says, “There are people who have felt unheard. So that’s part of what I’m trying to do is listen to everyone and get their perspective.” She wants to work through miscommunications and misunderstandings that preceded her. “Let’s talk together and figure this out and move forward,” she says, adding that her initial outreach in this vein has been quite successful, and the response has been good. “I have high hopes, very high hopes,” she said. That’s all in her effort to “strengthen our wonderful existing relationships with our fellow LGBT organizations,” she says. But partnering and collaboration don’t end there for Edmonds-Allen. She says it’s important to partner with social-service, governmental, educational, religious, and business institutions. “There are wonderful community partners everywhere,” she said. One of those that cannot now be ignored after its first-ever donation to the Pride Center is the LDS church. Despite the church’s stance in other areas of LGBT-related issues, is there perhaps a new era of relations beginning to emerge between the church and the LGBT community? “The short answer to that is yes,” Edmonds-Allen says. “I was invited to chat with some folks there and it was just kind of a get-to-know-you. They’re very open to being helpful. Obviously they have constraints. But I was really impressed with how open they were, and how they wanted to be helpful.” Speaking of new eras, how do recent advancements in what the LGBT community has wanted for so long (i.e., nondiscrimination laws, marriage equality, etc.) impact the role, purpose or even need for the Center? There are those that may see a reduced necessity for the Center in light of such progress — but Edmonds-Allen isn’t one of them. “It’s the opposite,” she flatly says. The emphasis might be different and changing, but the need is as great as ever, and perhaps greater, she says. “With all these wonderful changes there are also new needs that emerge. There are couples I know who are in their 70s or 80s. They’re coming out and getting married, and outing themselves to families and communities, and they need support. There are couples who are able to adopt children, and they need support. There are more and more trans youth who are coming out, and our schools have not caught up to this reality.” There are, she says, “A lot more requests in different areas. There’s more need in a lot of ways.” She mentions training in the workplace so that employers know better how to deal with the particular needs or issues of LGBT employees, or how to eliminate possible discrimination in the workplace. She says there are requests from families who realize having an LGBT child is a reality and want help to know how to navigate through it. Answering all those questions, all those needs, is one reason why Edmonds-Allen feels so strongly about establishing partnerships and collaboration. “I’m a collaborator. It’s all about community,” she said. “One of the things the Pride Center needs to be a part of is empowering our community. It’s about strengthening our community. It’s about strengthening and creating more community partnerships, so that we can strengthen each other and improve our impacts.” But making sure all the right questions get asked, so they can then be answered, is something else she knows is important. That’s why one of her first efforts, which goes hand-in-hand with the massive outreach she’s doing, is a “needs assessment.” “We’re assessing our programs here at the Center,” she says. “We do a lot of things well, but how can we make it better? What are we missing?” One such thing, she says, is the amount of resources to LGBT people outside the Salt Lake or Wasatch Front areas. She wants to fix that. Edmonds-Allen would like to see support services and programs available “within an hour of every queer person in the state of Utah,” she said, and she sees the Center as an obvious and integral part of the solution to that problem. “A part of that is for me to travel around the state,” she said. She wants to hold town hall meetings or other info-gathering and info-disseminating meetings. “It’s not just about Salt Lake,” she said. “How can we share those resources with each other for the benefit of everyone?” And that’s why Marian Edmonds-Allen says she’ll continue to extend herself to talk, and talk, and talk with people in order to get things done. She said as much in the first of her weekly newsletters: “If you have ideas had feedback on what you think your community center should focus on, please email me! I want to hear your thoughts, and so I am meeting with as many people as I can, as fast as I can. If you haven’t heard from me yet and would like to, drop me a line!”

2017 HRC-Utah invites LGBTQ+ families, allies, and kids of all ages to enjoy an afternoon

of picnic food, games, kids fun, and more! This event is free, open to the public, and kid-friendly and pet-friendly. Join us for fun afternoon in a beautiful setting! This event is co-sponsored by the Utah Pride Center, Equality Utah, and the Utah AIDS Foundation. Fairmont Park is located in Sugarhouse at 1040 E Sugarmont Dr,, Salt Lake City, UT 84106. Please call (801) 972-7860 for questions about the park. The event is free but donations are welcomed.

2018 Try-angles is holding its annual Harvey Milk BLVD Summer Fest on Sunday August 19th. We would like to see a Leather sales booth. If you sell Leather and Gear products and are interested in having a booth there, please message me on Messenger or send a message through our Club Try-Angles page. Thank you.