This Day In Gay Utah History AUGUST 28th

August 28th

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430- St Augustine of Hippo died. Some of his writings in "Confessions" reveal his attraction to the same-sex. Some scholars believe that St. Augustine was gay. This assertion is based in part on a passage from Confessions about a man he knew as youth. "I felt that his soul and mine were one soul in two bodies and therefore life without him was horrible. I hated to live as half of a life." After the man's death Augustine said he contemplated suicide but “I feared to die, lest he should die wholly whom I had loved so greatly.’"

Caravaggio 1574-1610

1603-During a trial in which Italian painter Caravaggio was charged with libel, a witness testified that he had a male lover. Influential Roman patron Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte commissioned Caravaggio's works The Musicians, The Lute Player, Bacchus, and Boy Bitten by a Lizard- all of which featured young male models. These works are often used to examine Caravaggio's sexuality, much in the same way Da Vinci's depiction of males is used to allege his sexuality. He however was never charged with sodomy as Da Vinci had been.

Karl Ulrichs
1825-1895

1825- Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, German jurist and homosexual activist, was born in Aurich Germany. He would become one of the earliest activists in Germany to attempt to abolish the German sodomy law.  He called those who had same-sex sexual feelings Uranians or Urnings after Plato’s highest form of love. "The class Urnings is perhaps strong enough now to assert its right to equality and equal treatment.... "Fortified with the shield of the justice of their cause, they must bravely dare to come out of the previous reserve and isolation. Herewith, let the ice be broken."

Bishop Thomas Taylor

1886 Salt Lake Bishop Thomas Taylor was reported as excommunicated from the Mormon Church by Salt Lake City news papers when he had only been disfellowshipped and release from all church callings. In October Taylor was actually excommunicated for sexual misconduct [Masturbation] with Mormon youths Richard Williams of Parowan  and brothers Simeon and William Simkins of Cedar City by . However in December a grand jury dropped the charges of indecent assault against the Bishop for lack of evidence.  Taylor had been involved in a lengthy financial battle with LDS Church President John Taylor over iron ore production in Iron County. Taylor had refused to hand over his investment to the Mormon Church. LDS historian Michael Quinn has a copy of the full record of Taylor's excommunication trial in which Taylor admitted to a homosexual experience as an adolescent. Taylor was not "gay" in the modern sense, because "gay" and "homosexual" are largely twentieth-century conceptualizations with which Taylor would have been unfamiliar. Taylor was a polygamist with many children who probably engaged in sex with men on occasion. The documented homosexual encounters took place at isolated mining and railroading sites in Southern Utah where his wives would have been unavailable to him.

President John Taylor

• "My Father's Business": Thomas Taylor and Mormon Frontier Economic Enterprise by Brent ZD. Corcoran- pp 125-129 A little over a year after the iron company dissolved, Angus Cannon, president of the Salt Lake Stake and Bishop Thomas Taylor's ecclesiastical superior, received via church president John Taylor the report of a special investigation undertaken by President Thomas Jones of the Parowan Stake where Thomas's iron properties were located. The investigation reportedly uncovered evidence that Thomas "had been found guilty of lascivious conduct with certain young men." Without conducting their own hearing, the high council of the Salt Lake Stake suspended Taylor as bishop of the Fourteenth Ward and returned the matter to Jones for church trial under whose jurisdiction the alleged infractions had occurred.The order of the church required that a person be tried by his or her local ecclesiastical superior(s) (in this case Angus Cannon). Salt Lake Stake leaders (and possibly John Taylor) probably wanted to avoid the publicity of a local church trial on such a sensational matter and concluded to relegate the business to Parowan. This was done "providing the president of the church approved." The action of the high council was relayed to President Taylor the next day. Despite the decision to move the scandal away from Salt Lake City, the local rumor mill began to grind out details of the story in a matter of weeks.  The antagonistic Salt Lake Tribune broke the news less than a month later on 22 August 1886 with the snide query, no doubt hoping to embarrass the church, "The [Deseret] News in its list of officials in the Mormon Church, gives the name of Thomas Taylor as Bishop of the Fourteenth Ward. Is it a fact that he is? Is the church organ sure that Taylor is even a member of the Mormon church at this date? And if not, why?"  Less than a week later the Tribune followed up the story by noting that Taylor's name had now been dropped from the list of authorities published weekly in the Deseret News. The next day, 28 August, the News carried an editorial notice—prematurely it would turn out—of the excommunication of Bishop Taylor for "unchristianlike and immoral conduct, and the contempt of the High Council," with the added observation that "the law of God, which demands the Saints shall preserve themselves in purity must be enforced no matter who the guilty parties may be."

George Q Cannon

Angus Cannon

The Tribune applauded the substantiation of the rumors, but went on to press the News: The next part of the subject is, why was he cut off? Mere generalities are no answers ext part of the subject is, why was he cut off? Mere generalities are no answer. It is claimed before cutting off was done a careful examination of the charges was made and their truth conclusively established. If so he must be guilty of something. What is it? And should he be prosecuted in the courts? Or is there no law against sodomy, either, in this most unlawful of territories? The Tribune report, characteristic in its enthusiasm to harass the Mormon brethren, by naming the crime revealed that the details of Taylor's disgrace had hit the streets. The Tribune twisted the knife deeper two days later: We trust that the children of the Fourteenth Ward who have, once a week ever since they were born, heard Bishop Taylor bear testimony to the perfect truth of his religion, will reflect over what a liar and hypocrite he is and always has been, and from the present showing will learn the needed lesson, that no one should take another man's word concerning the human soul. What Saint knows whether there are not other human beasts bearing the same testimony? On 15 September the Tribune carried more rumors, inconsistent with the last, about the case: that John Taylor and George Cannon had "swindled" Taylor out of $100,000 in mining properties and that President Taylor was himself responsible for spreading the "dirty stories," planning to replace Thomas Taylor with his son as bishop of the Fourteenth Ward. [Angus Cannon recorded Joseph E. Taylor's ordination as Fourteenth Ward bishop in his diary on 11 October 1886.] The report concluded sarcastically, "If anyone thinks we can't hire faithful young saints to swear to anything we wish, I would like to know what Deacons are good for anyhow." The "deacons" in question were eighteen-year-old Simeon Simkins [1868-1903] Obituary who had been summoned to appear on 9 October 1886 before the Parowan Stake high council as a witness against Taylor. Simkins reported his relationship with  Taylor thus: "Two years ago last Spring I worked for Thomas Taylor [in April 1884]. I went with Thomas Taylor to Iron City, that night we slept together he took my hand and put it on his Pienus [sic] he took a hold of my hand and rubed it up and down for about one minute, that was the only time I ever slept with him, (Ques) Did he accomplish his object (Ans) I do not know." Simkins, a Cedar City resident, would have been about sixteen years old when the alleged impropriety occurred. The other witness was deacon Richard Williams. His testimony was as follows: I started to Work for Thomas Taylor about two years ago last winter. I first went to Iron City from Cedar with him, when we went to bed he took my right hand and put it on his privates and rubed it with my hand, he let go of my hand and I took it off. Did not bother me any more that night, this took place about 24 Dec. 1883 [1884?], at this night when we went out to the place where we stoped Mrs. Roberts fixed him up a drink of wine which Taylor says he thinks made him act so, 

Simeon Simkins
1868-1903

he bothered me a little for a night or two after for the same purpose but I refused. I told him I wanted him to quit it, he said yes that it is right Richard, he asked me to forgive him and I did so, he said he wouldn't do it anymore,(Question) did he accomplish his object for which he put your hand their, (Answer) I do not know. (Ques) about how long did he use it (Ans) about one minute." The Deseret News did not take the Tribune's attacks lying down. It editorialized on the way "foundationless and cruel reports" about the scandal were blowing events out of proportion and accused the Tribune of scandal-mongery. On 8 September a News editorial about the "cleansing of the church" carried this admonition: "If the Lord holds in his hand a sore scourge for application upon the wicked of this world, Justice, upon his throne is seated, requires that He shall not pass by with impunity those who bear His name who perpetuate similar evils for which he will condemn the nations." If church leaders hoped to avoid embarrassment by moving the trial to Parowan, they did not succeed. The editors of the Tribune were not going to let rumors of a scandal involving leaders of the Mormon church lie. But when the paper first printed the rumors, the matter was technically a non-story. Official disciplinary proceedings for Taylor resulting in his excommunication did not take place in Parowan until 9 October, and word was not received in Salt Lake until six days later. The only official action taken by the Salt Lake Stake high council was suspension of Taylor's bishopric, not excommunication. Church leaders clearly jumped the gun when they ordained Joseph E. Taylor to the 14th Ward bishopric on 11 October. Even the News was premature in its announcement that Taylor had been cut off from the church.

• Simeon Simkins died from empyema (a disease of the chest cavity) due to his years working as a miner. He was the father of 4 children.

Magnus Hirschfeld

1920-The first post-WWI general membership meeting of the Scientific Humanitarian Committee passed a motion to establish connections with homosexual organizations in other countries. Magnus Hirschfeld (1868 – 1935), a German physician and sexologist, founded the Scientific Humanitarian Committee, which Dustin Goltz called "the first advocacy for homosexual and transgender rights."

1970-Police in New York forced their way into The Haven, a private, unisex non-alcohol gay club. It was the third of four raids on the club which would take place in a two week period. Six were arrested, detained overnight, and released the next morning. Between these and other raids, over 300 homosexuals were arrested during the month of August, and there were also cases of threats and harassment. New York City was sued for false arrest and harassment in three of the cases, and a judge dismissed all other cases.

1970-The Gay Liberation Front, Radicalesbians, and other gay activists held a protest at NYU after the campus administration cancelled a series of dances at NYU's Weinstein Hall when they learned a gay organization was sponsoring them. After a discussion with the dean they were allowed to use the property. The dean had been called by campus police who had arrived to break up the demonstration.

Bob Waldrop

Bruce Barton

1977- Reverend Bob Waldrop was called to be pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Salt Lake and began the process of buying the Methodist Grace Church on 4^th South and 9^th West for $45,000 for a church and a community center/coffee house. Bruce Barton joined Metropolitan Community Church of Salt Lake in Salt Lake City about this time. Later becomes pastor of the church

1981-The Center for Disease Control announced that cases of Kaposi Sarcoma and Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia among Gay men were increasing in the US.

1982 Gay Games

1982-The first Gay Games opened at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. Lesbian author Rita Mae Brown hosted the opening ceremonies and Tina Turner performed at the opening ceremonies. The 1982 games took place from August 28 to September 2, 1982. Dr. Tom Waddell, the former Olympian who helped found the games, intended them to be called the "Gay Olympics", but a lawsuit filed less than three weeks before 1982's inaugural Gay Olympics forced the name change. Event organizers were sued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) under the U.S. Amateur Sports Act of 1978, which gave the USOC exclusive rights to the word Olympic in the United States. Defendants of the lawsuit

Tina Turner

contended that the law was capriciously applied and that if the

Rita Mae Brown

Nebraska Rat Olympics and the Police Olympics were not similarly prohibited, the Gay Olympics should not be either. Some, like Jeff Sheehy, coauthor of San Francisco's domestic-partner legislation and former president of the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club, believed homophobia to be a motivation behind the lawsuit. They cited the authorized use of the word "Olympics" by the Special Olympics and other organizations as evidence of this homophobia. Others, like Daniel Bell, cite the IOC's long history of protecting the Olympics brand as evidence that the lawsuit against the "Gay Olympics" was not motivated by discrimination against gays. Since 1910 the IOC has taken action, including l

Dr. Tom Waddell

awsuits and expulsion from the IOC, to stop certain organizations from using the word "Olympics."  Annual "California Police Olympics" were held for 22 years, from 1967 through 1989, after which, the word Olympics was no longer used for the event. The Supreme Court ruled for the USOC in San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee.

1988 Gay and Lesbian Community Council of Utah sponsored Gay Day at Lagoon.

Ben Barr

1988 Becky Moss and Ben Williams co-hosts of Concerning Gays and Lesbians KRCL interviewed Ben Barr, director of The Salt Lake AIDS Foundation, and performers in the play "Bent", a drama about homosexuals in the Nazi Holocaust.

1989 Andrew Sullivan published an article The Case for Gay Marriage in The New Republic

1993 INCIDENTS OF GANG RAPE STIR ALARM IN UTAH GAY COMMUNITY By Jason N. Swensen, Staff Writer Deseret News Saturday, Aug. 28, 1993 Members of Utah's gay community are alarmed over two separate gang rapes of homosexual men this month. Hate, they believe, is the motivation for both crimes. "Two incidents of kidnapping and subsequent rape originating outside Salt Lake gay establishments have us very disturbed," said Michael Aaron, co-director of the Utah Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, at a press conference Friday at the Utah Stonewall Center. "We are worried that if people are not made aware of these crimes, then they will continue - and might eventually turn into murder."Salt Lake police are concerned the two incidents may be related - and could possibly be repeated. The first incident occurred approximately two weeks ago when a man was forced into a van by four unidentified males moments after leaving a Salt Lake gay bar. After a struggle, the Salt Lake man, age unknown, was sexually assaulted for several hours before being shoved outside next to a trash bin close to the bar, according to SLPD spokesman Lt. Marty Vuyk. The second assault occurred Monday when an Ogden man was abducted as he walked out of a downtown Salt Lake bar and was repeatedly raped for two days by a group of men. The victim, 33, had just walked a couple of blocks away from a downtown bar when five males began chasing him around 11 p.m., according to a police report. When the man hurt his ankle after jumping a fence near 320 S. State, the group slapped handcuffs on him, gagged him and transported him by van to a nearby building. The man was taken to a basement

Michael Aaron

room that was empty except for a full-size bed in the middle of it. There, he was tied and raped and sodomized repeatedly throughout Tuesday and into Wednesday by five men, including one who wore a black leather hood and was referred to as "master," the report states. After he was released, the man contacted police. No arrests have been made in either incident. When asked what could be a motive behind the two crimes, Aaron said, "I believe these are hate crimes . . . possibly committed by skinheads or a Nazi group. Rape is a common form of gay bashing." Aaron admonished people in the gay community to exercise common sense to prevent additional crimes. "Rape is a violent crime. People need to find ways to prevent this from happening again," he said. "Don't stand alone, carry an attention-getting device like a whistle, use your gut feelings to avoid a dangerous situation and work with the local police if you are a victim of a crime." Police echoed his counsel. "We are urging people in the gay community to use caution," Vuyk said. "Men and women can protect themselves by associating with people they know and can trust." Deseret News staff writer Scott Iwasaki contributed to this report.

1993 Sgt. Don Bell who works for the Police Department's intelligence unit, said 21 incidents of hate crimes were reported last year and nine so far this year. The statistics are reported quarterly to the state Department of Public Safety, which passes them on to the U.S. Justice Department.  Some victims fear calling the police will jeopardize them further. "People are afraid to come forward, and that's really sad," said Officer Shane Jones, the department's liaison with the Gay community.  Other victims don't trust the police to do anything, while some don't consider the incidents worthy of police attention. A recent example of that problem occurred in the early morning hours of Aug. 14, when a group of Gay men meeting at Memory Grove, near Eighth Avenue and A Street, were startled by the sounds of two shotgun blasts fired by a man who emerged from the shadows. The shots hit a car. Although a police field commander felt the crime may have been motivated by the gunman's hatred for homosexuals, Bell said there's no direct evidence to prove that theory. Consequently, the shooting has not been classified a hate crime. So for Bell, the shooting was just as much a vehicle vandalism as it was a hate crime. [Salt Lake Tribune]

Stephen Holbrook

1993 Some 300 Utahns of all ages and colors gathered at Salt Lake City's Liberty Park to pray for justice and equality. They were commemorating the 30th anniversary of the March on Washington, where civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his ``I have a dream'' speech. Stephen Holbrook, then a 21-year-old assistant for former Utah Congressman Sherman P. Lloyd, the march was ``the beginning of a lifetime experience.'' Holbrook had been assigned by the congressman to assist the Utah delegation during their visit. As a native of Bountiful, Holbrook remembers it as the first time he met any African-Americans from Utah. The 1963 demonstration and the day's speeches energized him and made him interested enough in the movement to go to Mississippi with Lloyd to see protesters demonstrate after the murder of Medgar Evers. He decided he should be in the crowd rather than watching.  ``That was the turning point. It led to an intensive involvement in the civil-rights movement in Utah and Mississippi,''   Holbrook said.  Holbrok got involved in the voting rights project in the summer of 1964, and spent several days in a Mississippi jail after driving a black woman to register to vote. His experiences during the mid-'60s led to anti-war demonstrations and political office in Utah's Legislature. Now he is executive director of the Coalition for Utah's Future/Project 2000,a job in which he still  uses the non-violence and consensus-building skills he learned from King.  Holbrook said he often uses techniques he learned during the civil-rights movement. King, he said, ``was a spiritual leader for the way I've led my life.''

1993- -Saturday-Sunday -The publishers of the  Salt Lake Under Ground (SLUG) Magazine sponsored a marathon 2 day concert for the Utah AIDS Foundation to raise funds and consciousness of the “Hard-core, punk  an I-don't-give-damn” young people of Utah. The sixth

Robert Austin

Sabbathon, an alternative-music festival and AIDS fund-raiser was held at Salt Lake City's Bar & Grill, 60 E. 800 South. Last year the event poured $2,000 into the foundation's coffers. But according to the foundation's Robert Austin, what's most important is the festival's drive to increase a concern about AIDS and the HIV virus. ``We're reaching a lot of young adults and kids,'' Austin said. ``It shows the different ways the AIDS Foundation can reach out.''  The event began six years ago at an all-ages music and poetry venue known as The Word. In 1990, Sabbathon moved to the Speedway Cafe. The next year, it played at The Pompadour; the money was given to the San Francisco Anti-Defamation League. It has been an AIDS benefit all other years.  The Bar & Grill was chosen as the venue in 1992, because owner Kris Johnson was willing to give all proceed to the Utah AIDS Foundation. The event was not an instant success. The Utah AIDS Foundation was reluctant to link its name to the fund-raiser. ``It took a few years to get a good relationship [with the foundation],'' said J.R. Ruppel of Slug. ``Part of it was surprise,'' Austin said. ``You don't expect `underground punks' to be civic-minded. It reminded me and others here that there are others concerned. They're aware of AIDS.'' Austin said AIDS is the No. 1 killer of men ages 25 to 44 in Salt Lake City. (08/27/93  Page: F1 SLTribune)

• Sabbathon, was a benefit concert featuring local bands, held annually from 1989-2001 by SLUG Magazine before being replaced by Localized,
• 
  

1993 Sharon Ernst of Provo wrote to the Salt Tribune, “On July 9, Utah lost a valiant friend

, Joy Beech. Many will remember Joy as a tireless leader and defender of family values. One of her greatest contributions was leading the successful effort to give Utah's school children factual, medically correct and moral AIDS curriculum. We were vindicated and proud when former U.S. Surgeon General Everett Koop visited Utah and said, "Utah has the finest AIDS curriculum in the country" because it was devoid of the filthy and specious language of the first draft and because it taught abstinence as the first line of defense against AIDS.

Neil Giuliano

1996-In response to threats to out him after the city of Tempe Arizona granted $1,500 in fee waivers to the annual gay pride festival, Mayor Neil Giuliano came out in an interview with the Tempe Daily News Tribune.

1999 The Wasatch Bears hosted a Trip on the Heber Creeper

2004 Saturday 8:00 AM * Rodeo Ticket Office opens Grand entry at 1 pm SALOON NIGHT AT THE TRAPP AND TRAPP DOOR Rodeo will be held at Legacy Center arena at 151 South 1100 West in Farmington. Across from the highway from

Lagoon Amusement Park. Cost $10.00 a day. Competition will start at 8am and Festival will start at 10am. There will be shuttle service at the Sheraton Center on 500 South and those times will be posted later on and the cost is $5.00 for roundtrip. For further questions go to the URGA website at www.urga.net

2004 Salt Lake Metro Lagoon Day & Gay Wendover Weekend Sunday, August 28th Lagoon Day- Pick up tickets at The Center, Brass Rail*, MoDiggity's*, Trapp*, Try-Angles* and Salt Lake Metro offices at 352 South Denver Street (440 East). 

2019 The August Public Oratory of the Utah Queer Historical Society featured Longtime trans-activist Princess Kennedy who is a true Salt Lake City original!  Come share in the adventure of her life, times, and philanthropy that has spanned a globe as big as her heart. The Oratory is free but donations are accepted to help advance the work of the Utah Queer Historical Society.A Perspective by Owen D. Edwards On August 28th a group of people gathered at the Utah Pride Center to hear the Oratory of the one and only Princess Kennedy. I have to gush a little here. I was really excited to go this month. Since I lived in San Francisco in the late ’90s, I had seen Princess Kennedy perform as part of Tranny Shack. I was looking forward to hearing her story, all I knew prior to this was that she was from Salt Lake City, and she was an extraordinary performance artist. And by the way, the Utah Queer Historical Society does this kind of event every month, the speaker is always someone with something interesting to talk about. Anyway, PK Kennedy invited us into her life. She gave us a descriptive overview of her growing up inside the ZCMI and Fashion Place Mall. In her narrative, we hear the tale of taking naps in the Sleepaway store, hiding inside the racks of mink coats in her mothers’ shop. But then you could see her true mischievous joy was impersonating a wayward teen who would soon become a mother. Now is it safe to judge a pregnant teen? But let’s be blunt, in the early 80’s all y’all would have given her the stink eye, and that makes it all the funnier. We got down and serious when Kennedy started to share the various times that as a teen, she was arrested for not doing gender performative space wearing women’s clothing. This kind of discussion illustrates one of the most important aspects of the Oratory; showing us the truism of discrimination and degradation that was something you just had to accept. And while our lives today are far from perfect, we have come a long way from the days when if you were taken downtown for cross-dressing, it was a horrid and degrading process. And it is so important that we as a community never forget that it wasn’t that long ago that we were treated as being less than worthy of common decency. And while Kennedy did not gloss over the pain, she made a point of celebration around the joy of being herself. And what joy that is. In talking about time spent performing and the places it took her, you could see her joy coming through that conversation. It was so amazing to just be present with such an abundance of unfiltered Joy. The event was supported by some great cookies from RubySnap, and a good time was had by all. Join us next month for another great event. Note: there is no cost to attend any Oratory event, but donations to the Utah Queer Historical Society are accepted but not required.