This Day In Gay Utah History AUGUST 26th

August 26th

Judith Ellen Foster

1894 - "First time a woman has spoken in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on the Sabbath at the regular service- the people don't know what to make of it-it must bode good for women." Mrs. Judith Ellen Foster, the noted temperance lecturer spoke on a subject of her own choosing. "She is sure of a large audience".Obituary Judith Ellen (Horton) Foster (1840–1910) was an American lecturer, born in Lowell, Massachusetts. She moved to Clinton, Iowa in 1869 with her small son and second husband, studied law, and was admitted to the State bar in 1872. She was the first woman to practice law in Iowa, and was one of the first women to be admitted to practice in the Iowa Supreme Court. She also became superintendent of the Legislative Department of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and when that organization was affiliated with the Prohibition Party, identified herself with the Non-Partisan Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of which she became president. She was a popular lecturer on various topics and published a Constitutional Amendment Manual (1882). In 1907 she was appointed a special agent of the Federal Department of Justice.

Moses Thatcher

1896 - LDS  Apostle Moses Thatcher begins treatment with Keeley Institute for his addiction to opium and morphine. LDS First Presidency and apostles tolerated Thatcher as a "morphine fiend" and "opium eater", but on 26 July his family and friends considered involuntary commitment to treatment. His is most prominent drug addict in Mormon history. Twelve drop Thatcher from quorum membership on 19 Nov because of four year conflict over his insubordination in political matters, but Thatcher's drug addiction aggravates that conflict. At the April 1896 General Conference of the church, Thatcher was dropped from the Quorum of the Twelve in consequence of his not being "in harmony" with the other leaders of the church in regards to a proposed policy called "The Political Rule of the Church" and commonly referred to as "the political Manifesto." This policy would have required LDS Church officials to obtain approval from their priesthood superiors in the church prior to taking on "any position, political or otherwise." This statement was signed by all the apostles at the time except Thatcher, who refused on grounds of conscience, citing the church's long-standing position on neutrality in political matters. He was a supporter of the Socialist Party.

Celebrating the 19th Amendment

1920 - The 19th Amendment, GUARANTEEING AMERICAN WOMEN THE RIGHT TO VOTE, was declared in effect.

1954-William Burroughs wrote to beat poet Allen Ginsberg that he had fallen in love with his boyfriend, Kiki. (Their relationship would last three years, until a jealous former lover murdered Kiki.)

1954-The composition of the Wolfenden Committee, which was assigned the task of studying the effect of laws against homosexuality in England, was officially announced.

1970 Wednesday Betty Friedan President

Betty Friedan

of National Organization for Women called for a national women’s liberation strike. The Women’s Strike for Equality was a strike which took place on August 26, 1970. It celebrated the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, which effectively gave women the right to vote. The rally was sponsored by the National Organization for Women (NOW). Over twenty thousand women gathered for the protest in New York City and throughout the country. At this time in history, the gathering was the largest on behalf of women in the United States.

Women's Strike for Equality

The strike primarily focused on equal opportunity in the workforce, political rights for women, and social equality in relationships such as marriage. It also addressed the right to have an abortion and free childcare, but these were more controversial positions which more conservative women, including pro-life feminists, generally did not agree with. The news anchor, Eric Sevareid, compared the movement to an infectious disease and ended his report claiming that the women of the movement were nothing more than “a band of braless bubbleheads”.

1973-In New York the "Lesbian Feminist Liberation" demonstrated at the American Museum of Natural History to demand the inclusion of matriarchies and women's culture. The carried a 20 foot long papier-mache lavender female dinosaur.

1976 “1. Some people suggest the Equal Rights Amendment is a purely political issue and the Church should not take a stand either for or against it. Do you agree? “No. We believe ERA is a moral issue with many disturbing ramifications for women and for the family as individual members and as a whole.

“2. Specifically, why are you opposed to the Equal Rights Amendment? “Preliminary to answering that question, it should be pointed out that we recognize men and women as equally important before the Lord and the law. We are opposed to the so-called ‘Equal Rights’ Amendment, but we are not opposed to such things as equal pay for equal work. “From its beginnings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has championed the rights of women in our society. We recognize that there have been injustices to women before the law and in society in general. “There are additional rights to which women are entitled. We would prefer to see specific injustices resolved individually under appropriate, specific laws. We firmly believe that the Equal Rights Amendment is not the proper means for achieving those rights because: “a. Its deceptively simple language deals with practically every aspect of American life, without considering the possible train of unnatural consequences which could result because of its very vagueness—encouragement of those who seek a unisex society, an increase in the practice of homosexual and lesbian activities, and other concepts which could alter the natural, God-given relationship of men and women. “b. It would strike at the family, the basic institution of society. ERA would bring ambiguity to the family structure which could encourage legal conflict in the relationship of husbands and wives. “c. ERA would invite legal action on every conceivable point of conflict between men and women. Its sweeping generalizations could challenge almost every legally accepted social custom, as well as every morally accepted behavior pattern in America. “d. Men and women have differences biologically, emotionally, and in other ways. The proposed Equal Rights Amendment does not recognize these differences. For example, present laws protecting the rights of pregnant women in the working force could be challenged if ERA becomes law. “e. Passage of ERA, with its simplistic approach to complex and vitally important problems, could nullify many accumulated benefits to women in present statutes, such as those protecting mothers and children from fathers who do not accept their legal responsibilities to their families.”

“3. Does your Church encourage women to develop other abilities in addition to being good wives and mothers? “Yes. In 1842, when women’s organizations were little known, the Prophet Joseph Smith established the women’s organization of the Church, the Relief Society, as a companion body of the Priesthood. At the third meeting of the Society he said, “… I now turn the key in your behalf in the name of the Lord, and this Society shall rejoice, and knowledge and intelligence shall flow down from this time henceforth. …” “Latter-day Saint women, from the beginning of the Church and continuing today, know how deeply the Church encourages them to exercise their free agency. They also know that in the Church, or in any organization or activity for that matter, free agency must be coupled with responsibility. Individual freedom without such responsibility leads to chaos. “Latter-day Saint women are strongly encouraged to develop their individual talents, to broaden their learning and to expand their contributions to activities such as religious, governmental, cultural, educational and community pursuits …” (Church News, 26 Aug. 1978, p. 2). 12 October 1978

Ryan White

1985-Ryan White, an Indiana boy with hemophilia and AIDS, was barred from attending public school. When a court decision allowed him to return, he was forced to use a separate restroom and eat with disposable utensils. His family was forced to move because of threats and violent acts directed toward them.

Joe Redburn

1988 Liberal Gay activist, Joe Redburn, a Salt Lake talk show host on KTKK from 1965-77, returned to Utah to host the station's morning program. He previously was a talk show host on Denver's KMDK radio.

1989 Alan Peterson resigned as director of Unconditional Support. Bobby Smith was elected to replace him with Steve Oldroyd and Dean Shute serving as assistant officers.

1991  In a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Royal Court of The Golden Spike Empire, a discussion took place as to the reason why Salt Lake City separates men and  women in the community by using the word Lesbian; “that if in fact we are attempting to promote UNITY perhaps we could classify members of our Gay community as Gay Men and Women”

1993- Murder Charges: Two men were charged Wednesday in the murder of Douglas C. Koehler. Dave Nelson Thacker, 26, of Nevada, was charged with murder, a first-degree felony. Clint Marcus Crane, 21, of Idaho, was charged with obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, said Summit County authorities. Police allege Mr. Thacker shot the victim in the head with a small-caliber handgun at ParkWest Friday night or Saturday morning. The suspects took care of a ranch in Summit County and lived in a condominium provided by the ranch owner, said Det. Joe Off ret.. (08/26/93 Page: D3 SLTribune) David Thacker and Clint Crane were released on bail five days after Koehler was shot creating a protest from the Gay Community.

1993-Federal district court judge Aldon Anderson of Utah announced that he would strike

down a state law that prohibited people with AIDS from marrying. A federal judge will strike down a Utah law banning marriages with AIDS-infected partners. ``This statute is clearly in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act,'' said U.S. District Judge Aldon Anderson. ``It is probably unconstitutional, too.

Les Aspin

1993-Defense secretary Les Aspin released a study saying the ban on lesbians and gays should be lifted. The study was conducted by the Rand Corp. and cost $1.3 million. It concluded that the ban could be dropped without damaging order and discipline. Several previous Pentagon studies had reached similar conclusions.

1994 Wednesday- AIDS WORKER DISPENSES COMFORT, COMMITMENT HE HOUNDS THOSE WHO COMMIT INJUSTICES TO ILL By Mary K. Arnold (Page: D14 SLTribune)   Dick Dotson has raised and shown basset hounds for almost 30 years, and it shows. At 59, the cherubic-looking Dotson is energetic and charming, but he can also be as stubborn as the bassets he adores. And he won't hesitate to howl loudly when he senses something has gone awry.  In the two-legged world, Dotson's personality has made him an important, if controversial figure in the Salt Lake City AIDS community. ``When you're really, really wrong, and you've done an injustice to the people around you, especially people with AIDS, you're going to hear about it from me,'' he says.  A glance at Dotson's Magna home makes it evident that his commitment is more than talk. His living room is stacked with donated cups, coolers, and sleeping bags left over from the mid-August retreat at Camp Pine Cliff he co-founded to provide support for people with  AIDS and their loved ones. The house also abounds with boxes of pamphlets on topics ranging from the National AIDS Ministry he coordinates in Utah, to dog obedience lessons sponsored by the Kennel Inn or the Dog Show Groomers -- his two dog shops. He has a desk full of awards and honors he has received for volunteer work, for animal shelters and for Utah and Los Angeles AIDS networks. ``He has always been willing to help us however he can. . . . He truly cares about the two legged and the four legged,'' says Virginia Anderson, a County Animal Services worker. Adds Bill Emerson, a volunteer at the People With AIDS Coalition of Utah: ``Dick has been very active and enthusiastic for the three years I've known him.'' Dotson, who has tested negative for the virus that causes AIDS, began volunteering in Los Angeles 12 years ago, when the disease was still called Gay Related Immune Deficiency. The isolation and fear surrounding a friend infected with AIDS haunted Dotson. He had no choice but to do something, he says. So he stood outside grocery stores, collecting food for the AIDS Project Los Angeles food bank, and he became a trained hospital buddy, regularly visiting and supporting AIDS patients in Los Angeles County Hospital. When he felt discouraged, he listened to Roger Williams hymns in his van outside the hospital; for everyone that died, he planted a cactus in his Desert Hot Springs, Calif., cabin.  In 1988, the American Fork native who had left Utah as a teen-ager returned for a family emergency, planning on staying a few months.  `I never left. . . . A lot of it was God telling me to stay because there was something I needed to do here, and I think there was,'' says Dotson. Within weeks of deciding to stay in Utah, he was active in the Salt Lake City AIDS community. ``I've always been blessed with being healthy,'' he says. ``When I got involved, I made a commitment to God. I said, `You keep me healthy, and I'll keep up my work.' ''  He agreed to begin a food bank at the Salt Lake AIDS Foundation -- now called the Utah AIDS Foundation. Dotson succeeded in creating a well-stocked, successful food bank. By early 1989, however, Dotson left the Foundation -- as did the founder of the People With AIDS

David Sharpton

Coalition, the late David Sharpton and the Coalition's program director, Donald Steward -- and

Donald Steward

has not had a stable relationship with it since then. The men claimed the Foundation spent money inappropriately, hired too large a staff, and did not make adequate efforts to use the many trained volunteers. Ladonna Moore, who had directed the AIDS Foundation since 1991, says she respects and values Dotson's work, ``but he has very clear ideas of what he expects, so whatever we do may never suit him.'' Dotson, Sharpton, and Steward formed an all volunteer AIDS organization called the Horizon House Project. The project relies on less than $2,000 worth of donations to cover all of its expenses. Once it was in a donated building near East High School, but since 1992 it has not been available. The project offers people with AIDS the services which Dotson and Steward can organize and run from their home – Christmas tree delivery, clothing banks, pet grooming, Camp Pine Cliff, and sort of odd jobs that don't fit into the realm of any organization. In the last few months, Dotson has been heavily concentrating on the spiritual side of his work to help those with AIDS. He goes to conferences at Robert Schuler's Crystal Cathedral in California because he believes the positive messages -- like ``God uses life's bruises,'' and ``For every door that closes, another one opens.'' -- can help AIDS patients. ``These guys are afraid to die because society has told them . . . that they aren't OK. That guilt should be all gone,'' Dotson explains. Thus, this year, Dotson organized and coordinates a Shared AIDS Ministry in Salt Lake City. It is a branch of a national project which incorporates the efforts of several Community and Protestant churches to address the special spiritual needs of people with AIDS Aside from the Shared AIDS Ministry work, Dotson is active in the First Baptist Church. ``He's determined,'' says First Baptist minister Stan Peterson, ``But sometimes I wonder how he keeps everything going.''    Dotson admits he gets tired, but he has a trunk full of war stories that help keep him going. None of which say more about him than the teddy story.  In 1986 Dotson, then an AIDS Project Los Angeles volunteer, bought all the teddy bears he could with the $100 he won from a grocery store lottery. He remembered the comfort his childhood teddy bears brought him when he was lonely, and thought they might help ease the isolation and loneliness of the AIDS patients in the Los Angeles County Hospital. A week and 27 teddy bears later, Dotson pushed a shopping cart full of teddys through the empty infectious disease wards at the hospital. It was Christmas Eve. He walked into the room of a burly looking AIDS patient. Dotson held the man's hand, and he gave him a teddy bear.  Two days later, the volunteer returned to visit the man. The nurses said he had died Christmas Day, clutching his only possession, his teddy bear; that Dotson had been the man's first and only visitor. ``I had never visited this particular man before  But I always thought that somehow, that teddy bear let him know I really cared about him, and loved him . . . and that God loved him,'' Dotson says today, fighting back tears.   ``It might have been the only peace he had, but I think he was able to die knowing God did love him.''

1994 - -Friday Robert “Bobbie” Marshall Crowder III, 45, of Washington, D. C., died of complications associated with AIDS  at his sister's summer home in Cap Cod, Massachusetts. He grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. He graduated form Judge Memorial High School, attended the University of Notre Dame, and earned a BA in English Literature from the University of Utah in1972. He graduated magna cum laude. Bobby was a very ethical and caring person. He spent considerable time volunteering as a Gay men's peer counselor for the mental health service department at Whitman-Walker clinic, the Washington, D. C. area's largest AIDS service provider. Bobby faced his disease with great courage and determination. 

1995- -Thursday Kirk Ross Terry died from AIDS age 46, after an extended illness.

Survived by dear friend of many years, Chris S. Mason, of Salt Lake City.  Kirk was an accomplished pianist and organist..

1995 Saturday, Juror says Vietnamese youth felt threatened by victim's advances `and then he just reacted.' TEEN FOUND GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER By Chip Parkinson, Staff Writer Tam Nguyen, who once faced the death penalty for killing an Ogden man, now could get no more than 15 years in prison. A jury found the Vietnamese immigrant guilty of manslaughter Friday instead of capital murder in the death of Chet O. Harris two years ago. The slight 18-year-old smiled briefly after hearing the verdict.Harris was shot in the forehead Aug. 18, 1993, as he crawled on his hands in a Salt Lake alley. He was trying to escape Nguyen, who had already shot him once in the throat. The bullet grazed Harris' spine, paralyzing him from the chest down. Despite the execution-like slaying, jury members couldn't believe the boy was "in

his right mind" when he fired the first bullet, they said. Nguyen, who was 16 at the time, told police Harris made sexual advances toward him earlier in the evening that frightened him. Defense attorneys focused on that statement repeatedly throughout the five-day trial, referring to the advance as an "attack" and "molestation" of an unsuspecting juvenile. "This child was raped," attorney Paul Gotay told the jury during opening statements. The jury apparently believed the advance, which consisted of Harris grabbing the teenager's genitals, was in fact extraordinarily menacing to Nguyen. "He (Nguyen) felt threatened and then he just reacted . . . he didn't intend to murder anyone when he went out that night," said foreman Cindy Venz. The incident began about 1 a.m. after a friend of Nguyen dropped him and another friend, Taun Ly,near downtown. The pair eventually linked up with Harris at 300 S. Main, where Harris offered to take Nguyen home. Instead, Nguyen told police, Harris took him to the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex and touched him, saying, "I want your body." The boy said he refused Harris' advances and told him to return him to his friend Ly, who was still downtown. Harris obliged, picked up Ly, then drove to 320 S. Jeremy St. (840 West) and waited in the car while Nguyen went to his home near the alley, according to

Nguyen's statement. Nguyen and Ly had discussed Harris' advances in Vietnamese as they traveled to Jeremy Street and agreed to shoot the man. Nguyen said he grabbed his gun from the roof of his home, returned to the car and then fired into Harris' chest. The two then grabbed Harris' car keys as they fell from his hand, jumped in his car and drove away, only to return a few moments later to find Harris inching along the alley. As they approached and saw that Harris was still alive, "Ly said, "Give me the gun.' And then he just went up to him and shot him in the head," Nguyen told police. The pair then took Harris' white Subaru and drove to La Grande, Ore., where they were arrested after wrecking the car. Prosecutors contended the duo planned to rob Harris all along and knew him before they met him down-town. Salt Lake Deputy District Attorney Paul Parker said Nguyen deserved the death penalty because he was as guilty under the law as was Ly. Prosecutors did not charge Ly because of lack of evidence and Nguyen's refusal to testify. "When the defendant handed Ly the gun, it was as though the gun was in the defendant's hand. Think of the whole vision of Chet crawling on his hands in that dark alley in Salt Lake City . . . he literally had to look up into the face of the person who killed him," Parker said in his closing argument. Nguyen was also found guilty of theft, a second-degree felony. He faces one to 15 years in prison on each count. Third District Judge Kenneth Rigtrup can decide whether to make the terms concurrent or consecutive. Sentencing is set for Tuesday. © 1998 Deseret News Publishing Co.

1996- During the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago, David Nelson sent out more than a dozen Gay Lesbian Utah Democrat news releases during the five-day event. (SL Tribune B4-6 Nov 1996)

1996 KTVX Television News 4 Utah Subject: DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVE GAY DELEGATE IN DEMOCRATIC NATIO Newscast: MON_TEN - Air Date: 08/26/96

-RANDALL: AND AMONG THOSE WATCHING CHRISTOPHER REEVE'S EMOTIONAL SPEECH, WAS UTAH DELEGATE, DAVID NELSON. HE'S THE ONLY OPENLY GAY DELEGATE IN OUR STATE'S CONTINGENT.

-KIMBERLY:BUT AS NEWS 4 UTAH'S POLITICAL REPORTER, CHRIS VANOCUR, IS STANDING BY LIVE TO TELL US, NELSON IS BY NO MEANS ALONE. CHRIS.

CHRIS: NO, HE'S NOT ALONE. THERE ARE ABOUT 150 GAY DELEGATES HERE FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. AND THAT IS THE LARGEST NUMBER EVER. BUT NELSON DOES STAND OUT BECAUSE HE'S COME OUT FROM UTAH. DAVID NELSON IS GAY AND HAPPY. HAPPY THAT HE'S A DEMOCRATIC DELEGATE, THAT HE'S A MEMBER OF UTAH'S DELEGATION AND THAT THE HOMOSEXUAL VOICE IS FINALLY BEING HEARD.

David Nelson, Gay Delegate,: "Gay and lesbian people are part of of American and Utah life ... and so its right for us to be a part of our national convention."

CHRIS: NELSON'S OWN HOME VIDEO SHOWS A WORLD MOST UTAH DELEGATES CAN'T SEE AND MAYBE DON'T WANT TO. BRIEFINGS FOR GAY POLITICAL STRATEGY AND A SPECIAL THANK YOU FROM A TOP WHITE HOUSE AIDE.

George Stephanopoulus', White House Staffer:, "How proud we are that they are 150 openly gay and lesbian delegates to the national convention."

AND NELSON SEES MORE THAN A LITTLE IRONY IN THE FACT THAT NATIONAL DEMOCRATS OPENLY EMRACE GAYS POLITICALLY ... BUT IN UTAH, THE MINORITY PARTY KEEPS HIS MINORITY AT ARM'S LENGTH.

David Nelson, "The democratic national party has done everything possible to make gay and lesbian democrats feel welcome...That's not always the case in Utah."

IN CHICAGO, HOWEVER, THINGS ARE DIFFERENT. OTHER GAY RIGHTS SUPPORTERS ARE AMAZED UTAH HAS A OPENLY HOMOSEXUAL DELEGATE ... AND, NOT ONLY THAT SAYS NELSON, THEY ARE ALSO IMPRESSED:

David Nelson, "It sparks a conversation. I'm able to tell them what's it like to be gay in Utah and that helps us ... It gets us further along because of the nature of it."

NOW, EVEN IN UTAH, GAYS ARE A GROWING POLITICAL FORCE. BOTH BECAUSE OF THEIR MONEY AND THEIR ABILITY TO ORGANIZE.

Craig Miller

2002 Craig Miller to Pride Committee: Well, we're chipping away at the deficit.  Geoff [Partian] and I sold water at the Blue Alley Fair this past weekend- The final tally was $160.40.  Seventy eight bottles sold at $1.00 each, and $38 in tee shirts and tank tops. In addition to that, Club Blue bought 5 cases of water at cost, $8.88 each, for another $44.40.  So I only have 3 and a half cases in the back of my truck.  The truth was, it was a lot of fun.  Negative publicity about the water generated a lot of very funny conversations over conspiracy theories and the irony of having community water battles during this time of climatic drought. Lots of people just stopped by to visit and chuckle over the tee shirts we sold, and to reminisce about surviving the most frigid Pride Day on record!  Only one person stumbled over to say, "It's about time you started selling this water. I had this idea a long time ago and nobody listened to me then, and no, I don't want to help now....." There you have it. Let me encourage you all to help sell water.  Since it has been such an animated topic of conversation, it's a good opportunity to sell it with a smile.  It is really fascinating how a few people seem to have gathered all their negative experiences from community service to somehow focus all that anger on our bottled water, of all things!  Most everyone else can see the humor, however. Thanks to Darin [Hobbs] for meeting us twice to supply keys to the Center and to the storage shed.  Thanks to the rest of you for your encouragement. Encouragement is good. I spoke to a couple of committee members who are anxious to have our evaluation meetings.  We probably should do that before everyone forgets what went on last June. Hope you're all well. Craig

Toni Johnson

2002  People With AIDS Coalition of Utah We are selling a car that has been donated to us. 1993 Toyota Corolla Wagon $3,500.00 or best offer Contact Mark for more information 801-466-8607 Toni Johnson, Director People With AIDS Coalition of Utah

2004 UGRA RODEO 2004 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS THURSDAY- AUGUST 26,2004 GRAND MARSHALL RECEPTION PAPERMOON-7:00 P.M.. 26^th The Utah Gay Rodeo Association kicks of its 2004 rodeo with a Grand Marshall reception Thursday evening at the Paper Moon beginning at 7 p.m. From a field of five nominees one person will be selected as Grand Marshall for the weekend, which runs through Sunday night. The rodeo kicks off Saturday morning at the Davis County Fairgrounds in Farmington. The reception will feature a light buffet as well as special drinks. A representative from the Mayor's office is expected to attend the reception. The rodeo association has been working for over a year now in  preparation for the 2004 show. Everyone is invited to attend the reception and make plans to attend the rodeo Saturday and Sunday.

2005 Southern Utah Pride@Zion August 26Th & 27Th Springdale, Utah It's time to celebrate pride again!!! Schedule Of Events  Friday night: Pride Launch party   otluck BBQ, Karaoke &  DJ Dragon Boi-Dance Drag Queen and King    Contest Registration Springdale Park

2005 Friday, Aug 26th - Open Mic - Center Space ( 7-9pm ) Open Mic night is back - bigger and better! We have a new PA system and increased attendance. Come strut your stuff - be it music, poetry or the spoken word! All of ya'all without any entertainment type talent come on out too - everyone needs an appreciative audience! 4 th Friday of every month.

2006 Saturday The Escape Opening Social BONFIRE & FOIL DINNER COOK-OFF 5:30pm For future invitations please join our YAHOO! group: Disclaimer: this is a non-alcohol, non-smoking, low-drama party. Feel free to leave your baggage at the door and come in and relax and enjoy. Where: Martin Day use picnic area off Hwy 144 in American Fork Canyon (about a 5 minutes drive northeast of Timp Cave up AF canyon) Carpool: There is a $3 fee to enter AF canyon. There is also VERY limited parking at this picnic site. For this reason we have decided to carpool. The carpool meeting spot with be at the Park & Ride parking lot just off I-15 and Highland Hwy 92. Who: Any gay or str8 guys or girls who would like to hang out and enjoy the company of fascinating people either CLOSETED or TOTALLY OUT. Please feel free to bring friends who are fun and open-minded. We want many new faces. It promises to be an enjoyable night. Please, no alcohol, tobacco or drugs. This is a safe and friendly environment. What: Foil dinner cook-off and Bonfire. If you were a boy-scout you probably remember cooking foil dinners (meet and vegies wrapped in foil and cooked over an open flame). But have you ever experienced a cheesy Italian pepperoni, sausage and peppers foil dinner? or a Mexican bean and beef enchilada foil dinner? Try to stand up to my specialty, chili verde pork & black bean foil dinner. Now is your chance to show off your culinary talents UNPLUGGED. Think up a wild and exotic foil dinner recipe to challenge against the rest and WIN. The foil, utensils and some generic spices will be provided. You must bring your own meats, veggies, sauces and other secret ingredients do dazzle our taste-buds. We will also be making out very own home-made root-beer. 5 GALLONS WORTH. Hope you're thirsty. We will have marshmallows to roast as well. Keep a few SCARY STORIES in mind to tell around the campfire. When: Saturday August 26th. The carpool will meet at 5:30 at the Alpine Park & Ride lot. We will be starting the fire at 6pm. The party ends at 10pm. Why: School is starting for many of our members. It's finally we are kicking off The Escape parties again after a short break. Lets celebrate life and goodness along with good company. Could be the place that you meet your future companion. WE LOVE it when friends meet new friends and dates blossom here. We just want to enjoy a lovely evening with really good company and to give everyone an opportunity to make new friends and plan some dates. Donations? Someone should bring a dessert foil dinner. We also need some side dishes and someone to bring the root beer extract and dry ice and 5 gallons of water. We need volunteers to bring a pile of wood. Bring any games you wish to play. Directions: Southbound/ Northbound to Orem using I-15: The park & Ride lot is on Highland Hwy 92 just barely east of I-15 in Alpine. If you are meeting us at the actual picnic site take I-15 to the Highland Hwy and head east to American Fork Canyon. Continue east thru the toll bothe ($3 per car), past the Timpanogos Cave trailhead and about 1 mile east up the hwy and turn left onto Hwy 144. (follow the signs leading to Tribble Fork Lake although we wont' quite make it that far) About 2 miles up hwy 144 on the right is Martin Day use Picnic area. That's us.

Todd Bennett & Ron Hunt

2006 Daddy Todd [Todd Bennett] (Mr Utah Bear 2006,) Jake (Mr Utah Cub 2005,) Rusty and Mike  Present LEMON AID A weekend of fundraising in support of Cancer Research and Bears with Cancer. August 26 & 27, 2006 Saturday Show August 26th at 8:00 pm at Mo Diggity's The hilarious Bear Comedy of BOBALOO (www.bobaloorox.com) $10 cover Sunday BBQ August 27th at 3:00 pm on the patio at Try-Angles Burgers and all the fixings $5 Join us for fun, food and laughter in support of a good cause. All funds raised will go to the Lemon Aid fund to support Cancer Research and bears with Cancer.

2006 Lesbian vet leery of joining Legion She's sad group's policy on families excludes gays By

Valerie Larabee

Stephen Speckman Deseret Morning News A lesbian who served 10 years in the Air Force is having second thoughts about joining the American Legion after learning this week that the group doesn't include same-sex relationships in its definition of a "natural family." Valerie Larabee  "To think that my family wouldn't be embraced by the American Legion saddens me," said Valerie Larabee, 45, who served during the first Gulf War and reached the rank of captain. Larabee now lives in Salt Lake City with her partner and is executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Utah.  The Legion's 2004 policy statement on family is expected to be reaffirmed Aug. 30 during the general session of its 88th national convention at the Salt Palace.       The vote to renew the Legion's Resolution 401 is considered an expression of American values, according to William Pease, deputy director of Americanism and Children and Youth for the American Legion. "The American Legion believes that marriage is an institution," Pease said. "And it's based on a union between a man and a woman." When it comes to raising children, the Legion believes a child's biological connection to a married father and mother "reduces the likelihood that either parent would abuse the child." The Legion goes on to claim how children of a married mother and father experience lower rates of premarital childbearing, illicit drug use, poor health, school failure, behavioral and emotional problems, poverty and arrest. Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, one of two gay Utah legislators,

Scott McCoy

said the resolution comes off as exclusionary, insulting and "holier than thou." "I'm always disappointed to see groups take a narrow and shortsighted view of what the American family is," McCoy said. For Utahns, the Legion's resolution probably sounds familiar. In 2004, the Utah Legislature passed a bill that defines marriage in Utah as being between one man and one woman. Earlier this year, the Kanab City Council passed a resolution that describes the "natural family" as a marriage, "ordained of God," between a man and a woman who are "open to a full quiver of children." The Kanab resolution was written in Salt Lake City by Paul Mero, president of the Sutherland Institute, a conservative think tank. Mero's group sent out a press release Friday praising the Legion for its stance on defining family and marriage. But the language of the Legion's resolution makes Larabee want to do more research before deciding whether to become a member.  "It's kind of discouraging when you look at the fabric of America and understand that it's built from many different origins of what people call family," she said. "Youth are successful in life for a number of reasons. It has to do with a loving environment. It's not a product of a man and a woman living together, necessarily."

2010 Daily Chronicle U students supportive, unlike BYU By Alex Noshirvan Thursday, August 26, 2010 BYU was named the number one “Stone-Cold Sober” school by The Princeton Review for the 13th straight year. In addition to that top honor, it also finished first in the “Got Milk,” “Scotch and Soda, Hold the Scotch,” and “Most Religious” categories. BYU is ranked sixth in the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender-unfriendly category, a fact of which it is proud. BYU spokesman Todd Hollingshead said on Fox 13 News that the school is happy with the

Todd Hollingshed

ranking and hopes to defend the top spot next year. To each his own, I guess. But if I was a prospective college student, I definitely know where I wouldn’t want to go. In addition to those aforementioned rankings, BYU is also ranked third nationally for “Most Conservative” and ranked second in both the “Don’t Inhale” and the hilariously named “Future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution” categories. I understand why BYU is the reigning champ of boringness. It’s basically their mission statement. To be proud of the fact that the school is ranked dead last in almost every social scene ranking is a type of unawareness typically only seen on the train wreck show “Jersey Shore.” Up here on The Hill, we are ranked as one of the top 50 schools in the nation for the “2010 Best Value College—Public,” which takes into account how good our academics are, how affordable the school is, and how generous the school is in student loans. In addition to that, we are nowhere to be found on the LGBT-unfriendly category. In contrast to the Gestapo-likeways of the BYU campus, the U  has a plethora of options and info for students of all sexual orientations. Our LGBT Resource Center’s mission is to maintain an open and supportive environment for the entire campus. The Safe Zone is a program that strives to create an atmosphere of inclusion and understanding for all students and staff. We also have the Queer Peers program, which helps both gay and straight students better understand homosexuality by answering questions they might have in an anonymous fashion. These are just a few offerings by the U for the LGBT community. But more importantly, people aren’t ostracized for being who they are. The same cannot be said about the school down south. College is about enlightening yourself, not closing your mind to the world around you. Learning new ideas and theories, meeting goal-oriented people and discussing opposing points of view, all while finding free time to party and have a good time, have been time-honored traditions for decades. Every college student should have a thirst for knowledge, whether it is academic, religious or a lifestyle. College students should be skeptical and question things that they might not know about fully. It seems like BYU students are just sheep following the herd, no questions allowed. So I hope they enjoy their “top” billing as the stone cold soberest. It’s the only bragging right they’ve got.

2010 Layton group to reach out to parents of gay children By Rosemary Winters The Salt Lake Tribune A new chapter of Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) is opening in Layton. The group offers support to parents, family members and friends who have learned that someone they love is gay or transgender. PFLAG is also an advocacy and education group that supports equal rights for LGBT people. The first meeting of the Layton PFLAG chapter is Sept. 9, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Weber State University's Layton campus, Room 306, 2750 N. University Park Blvd. In Utah, PFLAG has chapters in Salt Lake City, Ogden and St. George.

2017

Come out and see Imagine Dragons, Neon Trees, Krewella, Nicholas Petricca of Walk the Moon, Joshua James and AJA Volkman rounding out the performances August 26th at the Brent Brown Ballpark. LOVELOUD creates events which foster conversation and deeper understanding in communities about what it means to truly love and accept our LGBTQ+ friends and family. "I want LOVELOUD to engage a passionate and supportive audience in the fight against teen suicide and to bring communities together to start a conversation that focuses on recognizing individuality." - Dan Reynolds. The Loveloud Festival is a concert promoting "what it means to unconditionally love, understand, accept and support LGBTQ+ youth in an effort to keep families together" and to prevent teen suicide. Proceeds will go to the LOVELOUD Foundation which supports The Trevor Project, Encircle, GLAAD and STAND4KIND. After receiving media inquiries, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has provided the following statement about the LoveLoud Festival in Orem, Utah, which takes place August 26, 2017: We applaud the LoveLoud Festival for LGBT youth's aim to bring people together to address teen safety and to express respect and love for all of God’s children. We join our voice with all who come together to foster a community of inclusion in which no one is mistreated because of who they are or what they believe. We share common beliefs, among them the pricelessness of our youth and the value of families. We earnestly hope this festival and other related efforts can build respectful communication, better understanding and civility as we all learn from each other. After the examples of the “divide between my religion and the LGBTQ community” had grown too personal for him, Dan Reynolds realized he could no longer shrug it off as not his problem.  So he created LoveLoud Fest, which doubled Saturday as a fundraising event for LGBTQ organizations and an opportunity to spark dialogue and “take people out of their comfort zones.”