November 23
 |
| John W. Taylor |
1902 LDS Apostle John W. Taylor tells stake
priesthood meeting that "those who have sexual intercourse with their
wives or touch any dead body are unclean until the evening, and therefore
during that day should not enter the temple or officiate in any ordinances of
the gospel."
1907 Edward Burke Case No. 1871 Third District Judicial
Court: Edward Burke was charged with a “Crime Against Nature” for having sex
with a 15-year-old youth Leon Young. Burke lived at 37 West 600 South SLC
according to a 1908 city directory. Leon Young who lived at 248 South 9th East
and Walter Dunn of 235 South State were called as witnesses. EDWARD BURKE IS
PLACED UNDER ARREST Edward Burke, contractor, who says he is employed by the
Bell Telephone Company was arrested by Policeman Ilson at 235 South State,
Saturday night charged with an unspeakable crime upon Leon Young of Eureka, a
youth who he said ran away from home Thursday because of mistreatment by his
stepfather A.P. Olsen. Burke, who is a fine specimen of physical manhood,
resisted arrest and the policeman had to force his door. Young said he met
Burke on Commercial Street, Saturday afternoon, and after being invited to
lunch with him was taken to his room to wait until the shows to begin. At the
rooming house it is said that Burke did not live in the room but used it to
entice young boys to it. (24 Nov 1907 Salt Lake Tribune page 20) Information
Edward Burke having heretofore been duly committed to this court by C.D. Diehl,
a Committing Magistrate of said County, to answer to this charge, is accused by
Frederick C. Loofbourow, District Attorney of the Third Judicial District of
the State of Utah, Salt Lake County, by this information, of the infamous
“Crime Against Nature” committed as follows, to-wit: That the said Edward Burke at the County of Salt
Lake City, State of Utah, on the 23rd day of November A.D. 1907, in and upon
Leon Young, a youth of fifteen years of age, unlawfully and feloniously an
assault did make and then and there unlawfully, feloniously, wickedly,
diabolically and against the order of nature did have a venereal affair with
and did carnally know the said Leon Young, and then and there unlawfully,
feloniously, wickedly, diabolically and against the order of nature with the
said Leon Young did commit and perpetrate the detestable and abominable crime
of Sodomy; Contrary to the provisions of the statute of the State aforesaid, in
such cases made and provided and against the peace and dignity of the State of
Utah.” Signed Frederick C. Loofbourow. The bond for Edward Burke was fixed at $1000
but he managed to get it reduced to $500 and secured by Utah's Savings and
Trust Company. However he failed to appear before Judge Armstrong in June and
was thought to have fled the state and his bond was forfeited. A bench warrant
was issued for his arrest.
1920 The Boheman Club of the University of Utah will entertain at the
second of a series at the Emery Dormitory Hall Saturday night. The
Melton Burn’s Jazz Orchestra will furnish the music. The committee in
charge of arrangements include Sam Dorey, Guy Kidder, and Norman Priese. Booths
to imitate the famous cafes of Washington Square will form the decorations.
1933-The New York tabloid Broadway Brevities, under the headline
"FAGS TICKLE NUDES," published an article warning that "Pansy
men of the nation" were invading steam baths and turning them into
replicas of the orgy houses in Rome at the time of Nero. "Poshy Steam Rooms Pander to Pansies" "Joyboys on Make for Lurid Lushes" Gin-soaked Punks Debauch Madly"
1979 Seven signatures were required to create a new club at Utah Technical College which the Gay Service Club managed to do. The first meeting was held Nov. 23, 1979, about two years after the first Gay Student Union was formed at the University of Utah. The GSU never really got off the ground. It had already disbanded by spring of 1980 when an article dated March 3 reported; “Only two members showed up, a young male cosmetology student and a female mechanic who wore a tattoo that read ‘Support your local Roller-derby Team.’”
1987- Beau Chaine
left as a co-host of Concerning Gays and Lesbians due to health problems.
1988 Ben Barr, the director of Salt Lake AIDS
.jpg) |
| Ben Barr |
Foundation dropped
out of the state school board's AIDS education program in response to
objections by Families Alert, a conservative group. Families Alert objected to
the use of Ben Barr as a teacher trainer for the state's new AIDS education
program. They said that Barr, who they called "a practicing
homosexual," should not be involved in a school program. Families Alert
was founded by Joy Beech, Ogden. It has been vocal on issues related to
pornography, indecency and sex education, taking a conservative approach that
precludes such education in schools without parental consent. Barr said he
would not want his presence in the state school AIDS program to diminish the
effectiveness of the program. Romola Joy Beech founded Family Alert the precurser to Gayle Ruzicka's Eagle Forum Joy Beech dies
Wednesday, November 23, 1988 FAMILIES ALERT PROTEST
PROMPTS TRAINER FOR AIDSPROGRAM TO QUIT By Twila Van Leer, Education Editor The
director of Salt Lake AIDS Foundation has dropped out of the state school
board's AIDS education program in response to objections by Families Alert, a
conservative group. Families Alert wrote a letter to State School Board Member
John M.R. Covey, and sent copies to the other eight board members. The organization
objected to the use of Ben Barr as a teacher trainer for the state's new AIDS
education program. They said that Barr, who they called "a practicing
homosexual," should not be involved in a school program. Deeann J. Fisher,
legislative council president for Families Alert, signed the letter. Families
Alert was founded by Joy Beech, Ogden. It has been vocal on issues related to
pornography, indecency and sex education, taking a conservative approach
that precludes such education in schools without parental consent. Barr said he
would not want his presence in the state school AIDS program to diminish the
effectiveness of the program. Education has been identified as the only
protection against the disease, and Utah's state school board spent more than a
year developing a curriculum that meets community standards. In addition, he said
his responsibilities with the AIDS Foundation have increased and the training
program for school teachers would take more time as it moves out of the Wasatch
Front area. "This whole Families Alert thing has been blown out of
proportion, it was just the timing, my work there was not the most important
issue right now," Barr said. He said he has completed five of nine teacher
training sessions he had contracted with the district to conduct. Bruce
Griffin, associate state superintendent for operations and curriculum, also
said it would be detrimental to allow controversy to interfere with
implementing the AIDS curriculum. The curriculum was developed with considerable
community input, including that of Families Alert, and the goal of the state office is to get information to school children
within guidelines that are compatible with community standards and as quickly
as possible. Teachers are now being trained to implement two AIDS curricula into
the classroom - one for regular classroom use and a second for school youngsters considered to be at
greater risk or whose parents want them to have more explicit information about
AIDS.
.jpg) |
| Gordon Church |
1988 GORDON RAY
CHURCH by Ben Williams The murder of Gordon Church, a drama student at Cedar
City, Utah was no accident. It was truly a vicious hate crime even more
atrocious than the attack on Harold Hawker. In fact the murder of Gordon Church
was described by Salt Lake Tribune reporter, Chris Jorgensen, as the most appalling
murder he had ever covered and possibly the most depraved in Utah’s history.
However outside of the Gay community and the legal system, few people in the
state are aware of it. Gordon Church’s murder ranks in savagery with the Ogden
Hi-Fi Murders but because Church was a closet Gay man, whose family were
prominent Mormons in Delta Utah, the Judge of Millard County ordered a gag rule
on the case. Only after Salt Lake Tribune reporter Chris Jorgansen
threatened to file a law suit was the order lifted. I became aware of the
death of Gordon Church from Chris Brown, President of the
 |
| Cris Brown |
Lesbian and Gay
Student Union. I imagine he heard about it from what I call the Gay Grapevine.
I remember him telling me that Church’s death was another reason for him to hate
straight people. Brown being a college student himself really took the murder
hard, especially as the gruesome details came to light, not from newspaper
accounts, but from leaks from the homicide division to Gay people in Southern
Utah who brought the news north. On 14 December 1988 I wrote about this
 |
| Becky Moss |
murder
in my journal stating that “Becky Moss called me this evening to tell me about
this reporter Chris Jorgenson of the Salt Lake Tribune who called her. He is
doing a news story on the Gordon Church murder and he wanted to talk to someone
in the Gay Community about how to handle Gay sensitive news stories. She wanted
me to call him back so I did. He said that his dilemma was how to treat
something as a Gay bashing with out “outing” the person who is a victim of Gay
violence. I told him that just because a person is attacked because someone
thinks he’s Gay does not mean the person is Gay. However if a person is
attacked because he is perceived to be Gay whether the person is Gay or not it
is still a Gay Bashing Crime. Jorgensen wanted some guidelines from the Gay
community on how to write Gay sensitive stories and I said that I would contact
the Gay and Lesbian Community Council of Utah and have someone from that
organization meet with him on the 23rd. He also confirmed what Chris
Brown told me last month. The judge has put a gag order on the case and this
reporter is going to court to get it lifted. He also said that the Millard
County Sheriff is treating this case as “If this guy wouldn’t have been a faggot
we wouldn’t be spending the holidays investigating this case.” Millard
County is also mad about how much this faggot murder case will cost the county.
I am glad that other decent people like Jorgansen are as incensed over this
senseless murder as I am. I did not know this boy but hope I can be
instrumental in helping his murder come out and not be covered up as a little
bit of nasty embarrassment to the “good people” of Delta, Utah. I first called
Chris Brown if he would go with me but he will be home in Portland for the
holidays. So I contacted Curtis Jensen and Val Mansfield and they agreed to go
with me.” After writing this I’ve always tried to keep my vow that the murder
of Gordon Church should be remembered. On 23 November 1988 Gordon Church was
brutally murdered in Millard County by Michael Anthony Archuleta and Lance
Conway Wood. It was one of the most sadistic murders in the history of this
state. However only a few people were aware of the torture killing because the
Millard County judge placed a gag order over the case to protect a prominent
Mormon family in Delta from the public knowledge and embarrassment that their
son was Gay. In 1981 Michael Archuleta at the age of 18 went to prison for
stealing a gun. He was paroled a year later but five years later was back in
prison for selling drugs. While doing time, Archuleta met fellow inmate,18 year
old Lance Conway Wood. Wood claimed that the older Archuleta began to
dominate the relationship while in prison physically and emotionally. Wood
claimed that he feared him. .Archuleta was paroled on Oct. 11, 1988 and moved
to Cedar City to be with Wood. They shared Wood’s live-in girlfriend, Brenda
Stapley’s, apartment. Archuleta quickly got himself a girlfriend also and moved
her into apartment. The two convicts proceeded to lived off their girlfriends.
This arrangement became increasingly unsatisfactory to Stapley who left Utah in
November for a weekend trip to Arizona. When she returned, on November 21 Wood
learned that Stapley had gone Arizona to see another guy. Wood began drinking
heavily with Archuleta and soon the two couples started brawling when
Archuleta’s girlfriend sided with Stapley. Kicked out of the apartment,
Archuleta and Wood left and walked to Main Street in Cedar City with Wood, according
to Archuleta, fuming over being jilted. Archuleta said Wood was “ wanting
blood," and "He didn't care whose blood it was. On main street
they encountered University of Southern Utah drama student, Gordon Church, who
was parked in his 1978 white Ford Thunderbird at a convenient store. Church had
gone out to cruise so when Wood walked over to Church, it was easy for Wood, a
tall, blond, good looking 19 year old Bountiful boy to talked him into giving
Archuleta and Wood a ride. Archuleta and Wood talked Church into cruising Main
Street in Cedar City where Angela Robins and Anna Luce testified that while
they were dragging Main Street in Cedar City they saw Archuleta and Wood riding
with Church about 10:15 p.m. The women said Archuleta and Wood tried to "pick
them up" and that Archuleta introduced Church to them after the men
followed Robins and Luce to a parking lot. The occupants of the two car stopped
to talk for about a half hour but the women after flirting, drove off.
Robins and Luce later said they saw Archuleta standing on a Main Street
sidewalk and that Church's car had pulled into a nearby convenience store. That
was the last time any one remembered see Gordon Church alive. After
"cruising" for a while, Archuleta bought gas for Church’s white Ford
Thunderbird sometime after 11 p.m. at the Summit Truck Stop, some 10 miles
north of Cedar City. From there Church drove the men up Cedar Canyon and pulled
onto a dirt road. Church parked his car and there Archuleta asked Church if he
was gay and Church said he was". According to Archuleta, "That's when
everything started to happen." Archuleta admitted that he had oral and
anal sex with Gordon Church in Cedar Canyon but he said when Church made sexual
advances toward Wood, Wood initiated the violence by slashing Church's throat
with a knife. Church immediately jumped out of the car and began to run away
but Wood tackled Church as he fled, breaking Wood’s arm. Lance Wood then
grabbed Church by the hair and slashed his neck again with his hunting knife.
Supposedly Archuleta told Lance "We're in trouble,' Wood
maintained however that it was Archuleta who slashed Church’s throat in the car
as a show of machismo after having sex with him. After Church was subdued with
a broken arm and knife wound to the neck, the pair took tire chains, tied
Gordon up with them, and threw him in the trunk. Archuleta maintained that all
he really wanted to do was steal his car, so he and Wood drove about 70 miles
north of Cedar City and pulled off I-15 onto a frontage road. From there the
men drove with Church in the trunk of his car, confined, bleeding, and in pain
to a secluded location north of Cove Fort known as Dog Valley in Millard
County. Prosecutors maintained that they killed Church " because once
injured, they couldn't let him go. In assessing the risk, they elected to take
his life,". Archuleta knew that after helping Wood force the victim into
the car trunk, " Gordon Church wouldn't live to see the sun rise on Nov.
22." Archuleta admitted also that once he and Wood pulled Church from the
car trunk “evil had completely over taken him, and once they started he
couldn't stop." The men began torturing Church who was pants less.
They attached jumper cables, hooked to the car battery, to his testicles to
make him scream. Archuleta admitted to hooking the cables to the battery
but accused Wood of attaching the battery cables to Church’s genitals. He
then claimed that Wood twisted Church's neck, until Church fell to the ground.
Archuleta later told an fellow inmate that drugs couldn't compare to the
"high" of killing Church. This inmate. "He told me that it was
the ultimate rush. While helpless and defenseless as Gordon Church lying
on the ground, Lance Wood started kicking church in the head with his shoe.
Archuleta said "I heard like a smack, something hitting something
else,". "He (Wood) had his foot on Gordon's face and was swinging the
jack like a golf club . . . or like a mallet when you play croquet." After
being struck several times by the jack, Church appeared dead. Archuleta said
Lance Wood then stabbed Church in the rectum with a tire iron puncturing his
liver after the murder. Lance Wood maintained that it was Michael Archuleta who
sodomized Church with the tire iron. The murderers then dragged Church's badly
beaten and half-nude body off the dirt road and covered with it with dirt and
tree limbs, got back in Church’s car, and drove north to Salt Lake City. Robert
Moffitt, owner of Bob's Conoco in Spanish Fork, testified that Archuleta and
Wood bought gas from his station at about 5:45 a.m. on the morning of November
22, saying they looked like they had "worked all night," and
that were dirty and their clothes wrinkled and soiled. Actually Archuleta
pants were covered with Church’s dried blood. Lance Wood remorseful a day after
the slaying and fearful of Archuleta went to the police in Salt Lake City and
led investigators to the murder scene. The police found Church’s body, gagged,
wrapped in tire chains, nude from the waste down and buried in a shallow grave
south of Dog Valley near an I-15 frontage road. Michael Archuleta and Lance
Wood were tried separately for the murder of Gordon Church. Archuleta was found
guilty of 1st degree murder on 20 December 1989 All through the trial he down
played his involvement in the slaying implying that his co-defendant, Lance
Conway Wood, was the real perpetrator. However the prosecutor said Archuleta's
pants had more blood on them than Wood's pants, that Archuleta drove Church’s
car most of the way from Cedar Canyon to Dog Valley, he bought gasoline for the
car, and he controlled the relationship he had with Wood. The Prosecutor
maintained that "Both Wood and Archuleta were there," Both engaged in
the execution," which was committed in an "especially heinous, atrocious,
cruel and exceptionally depraved manner." "Who killed Gordon Church?
From the evidence, the answer is clear," "The same two people who put
Gordon Church in the trunk (of his car) ... are the same two people who killed
him at Dog Valley." Archuleta showed no emotion when the jury's guilty
decision was read, but as he was taken from the courtroom he glared at
prosecutor Carvel Harward, and yelled at him, "I'll see you in hell."
The judge chose lethal injection as the means of execution for Archuleta after
he was unable to decide between injection and the firing squad. Lance Wood was
found guilty on 11 March 1990 but he was given only life imprisonment for the
murder of Church. Church’s lawyers played the Mormon card so that while Latino
Archuleta received the death penalty Mormon Wood was given life in
prison. On that date I wrote in my journal Lance Wood was found guilty
today of the murder of Gordon Church. I had always thought that he wasn't
as guilty as Mike Archuleta but evidence in the trial purported that he had kicked
Gordon in the head several times with such force that his blood and hair had
intertwined in Lance's shoe laces. I think it is such irony that the stories
about the mention of Gays being excluded from the Anne Frank Nazi holocaust
Exhibit and that of Lance Wood were on the same newspaper page, juxtaposed
towards each other. Bigots trying to teach children not to be bigots.
Michael Archuleta has not been executed to date but suffers from tormented
hallucinations. After being arrested, Archuleta said he needed to talk to a
psychiatrist about his hallucinations. He said “I was seeing Gordon. He
was right there. I could see Gordon saying, "Why are you doing this to
me?' I could see Gordon laying on the ground. I could see the shallow grave
Gordon was in. I could see myself standing right next to Gordon, looking at
him. I still see him." His attorney asked Archuleta, "You wanted to
talk to someone so it would go away?" Replied Archuleta, "It'll never
go away."
 |
| Micaela Nelligan |
1991- The 2nd annual benefit for the Utah Stonewall
Center called Just For Laughs: A Gala
Evening of Fun and an Auction” featured comedian Micaela Nelligan. Benefit
held at the Art Barn. Actress died in 2006 age 47 Obituary
1991- A letter from the First
Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reaffirming its
position on sexual behavior, was read over every LDS pulpit in the world. ``The Lord's standard of moral conduct is
abstinence outside of lawful marriage and fidelity within marriage.`Any other
sexual contact, including fornication, adultery, and homosexual and Lesbian
behavior, is sinful. These sins, though
portrayed as acceptable and even normal by many in the world, are grievous in
the sight of God.'' The timing of
the letter coincides with the publication of a new book, Peculiar People: Mormons and Same-Sex Orientation. The book's
editors, Ron Schow, Wayne Schow and Marybeth Raynes, were guests on KUTV's
``Take Two'' with Rod Decker Sunday night.
1996-Elton John was honored as the founder of the Elton John
AIDS Foundation at a gala celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Los Angeles
Gay and Lesbian Center.
1998-The Georgia Supreme Court voted 6-1 to overturn the state's sodomy law. In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Robert Benham wrote "We cannot think of any other activity that reasonable persons would rank as more private and more deserving of protection from governmental interference than consensual, private, adult sexual activity." Since the decision was based on the Georgia constitution rather than the US constitution, the decision could not be appealed.
 |
| Paul Ewald |
1999 Tuesday, Homosexuality Could Be a Brain Infection Mental ills may be caused by germs, scientist says By
Brady Snyder Deseret News staff writer It seems almost too much like an
"X-Files" episode to be true, but some scientists hypothesize that mental illnesses like
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and Alzheimer's are caused, not by trauma or chemical imbalances,
but by infectious agents like viruses and
bacteria. The broad scope of
infection took center stage at the University of Utah earlier this month as Dr. Paul Ewald explained how
infection could explain many mysteries of modern medicine. Even conditions of mind, like being
artistic or being homosexual, might eventually be attributed to infection, Ewald told the some
200 people who gathered at the U. biology
auditorium to hear the prestigious Amherst College graduate speak.
"Often there are numerous non-infection risk factors, which divert
attention from hypotheses of infectious causation. . . . Don't throw out a
hypothesis unless you have evidence (to
prove it wrong), " he said. Ewald and his colleagues have even entertained
the notion that homosexuality is caused
by some type of virus or bacteria. Because the so called "gay
gene" theory has been all but
dismissed in scientific circles, infection can now be considered a
possible answer, Ewald said. In the same
vein as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, homosexuality could be a brain
infection, not a genetic condition or a lifestyle choice, he said.
2004 Subject: Community Thanksgiving Dinners Can't Cook or Don't Want to but still want
queer energy? Sacred Light of Christ Metro Community Church is hosting a dinner
at 823 South and 600 East. Doors open at 11 a.m. for socializing and dinner
served at 2 pm. Bring a side dish and the church will provide the rest. Joe
Redburn is also hosting an annual Thanksgiving Dinner at the Trapp also at 3
pm. No excuse to be alone. If anyone knows of others please post.
 |
| Paul Mero |
2005 Institute urges cities to
map out family roles By Lori Buttars The Salt Lake Tribune NORTH SALT LAKE - A
Utah-based conservative group is asking cities and counties across the state to
put a "family filter" on their policymaking. In a letter mailed last
month, Paul T. Mero, president of the Sutherland Institute, urges mayors and
council members to pass a nonbinding resolution sanctioning the "natural
family as the fundamental unit of society." Mero even provides a sample
resolution for elected officials to use in their official proclamations. The
document calls for cities to "envision a local culture" that: l
"Upholds the marriage of a woman to a man, and a man to a woman, as
ordained of God." l "Celebrates the marital sexual union as the
unique source of new human life."l "See[s] our homes as open to a
full quiver of children."l "Envisions young women growing into wives,
homemakers and mothers; and . . . young men growing into husbands, home
builders and fathers." Nearly a dozen opponents attended Tuesday's North
Salt Lake City Council
meeting, where the resolution died for a lack of a
motion. "I don't care if the neighbors have no children or 10," said
70- year-old North Salt Lake resident Dale Elton. "The City Council should
stick to what it does best, plenty of water and good sewage." Councilman
Conrad Nelson said he had received several "not very nice" e-mails
regarding the resolution. "Please don't assume that just because we
receive something in the mail that it has been accepted," he said. Salt
Lake City and other several other cities say they haven't seen the letter.
South Jordan received it but decided against putting it on the council agenda.
In conservative Utah County, Mapleton's City Council discussed the measure last
week but shot it down. Mapleton Councilman Jim Brady said Tuesday that his city
had "several reservations" about the definition of the natural family
and the roles spelled out for women and men. "We were also concerned that
it specified we make protecting the natural family our first priority,"
Brady said. "We have lots of concerns as a city but decided defining this
was not our highest priority." Contacted on Tuesday afternoon, Mero said
he had not checked with any cities to see if they were adopting his proposal,
but he was pleased that some considered it. "They [the cities] are sending
a message throughout Utah and the world that there are places where family
values are safe and in place," he said. "Utah, where 68 percent of
the mothers with children under age 6 work outside the home, is often dishonest
in saying this is a family place because when you look at the statistics, we
look a lot like the rest of the country." Mero calls the resolution a
"vision statement" for local government to use, and not a list of
do's and don'ts. "By using family as a filter, things begin to look
different to people considering a tax policy, an environmental policy or whatever,"
he said. The resolution troubles, among others, advocates of rights for women
and gays. "It violates so many of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution
and the Bill of Rights, I don't know where to begin," said Amber Moore-Emmett,
president of the Utah chapter of the National Organization for Women.
"This definition of the natural family is unrealistic and disrespectful to
the many people who are raising thriving families as single or adoptive parents
and in same-sex relationships." Moore-Emmett also emphasizes that the
reference to marriage between a man and a woman as "ordained of God"
crosses the line separating church and state - if a city were to officially
adopt it. Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City and an openly gay member of the Utah
Legislature, wrote North Salt Lake officials Tuesday and urged them not to
embrace the resolution, saying it was nothing short of strapping "on the
blinders and see[ing] only a particular segment of the population." North
Salt Lake Mayor Kay Briggs says he sees "some benefit" to the city
making a statement on families, but he concedes Sutherland's proposal might
rankle residents. ''People might read that [resolution] and say, 'Kay Briggs
thinks all women should stay home and make strawberry jam' or that I'm totally
against people raising a family in whatever situation gives them the most
comfort and solace,'' he said. ''I didn't read that into it, and I'm not
opposed to discussing it.'' Salt Lake City Council Chairman Dale Lambert doubts
the resolution would gain any traction in the capital, where officials are
trying to extend health benefits to domestic partners. Such resolutions,
Lambert said, "tend to be divisive and distract us from our fundamental
work." Tribune reporters Heather May and Jacob Santini contributed to this
story.
- Subject: North Salt Lake Action Result Thank you for responding to yesterday's
Action Alert The North Salt Lake City Council received your calls and emails opposing the proposed "Natural
Family" Resolution and voted it down at last night's Council meeting. The full story can be
found in today's Deseret Morning News: North
S.L. shrugs at family resolution. According to today's Salt Lake Tribune, the
Sutherland Institute is "asking cities and counties across the state to put
a 'family filter' on their policymaking." This same Resolution has been
sent to city councils across the state. More information can be found in
today's Tribune article: Institute urges cities to map out family roles A copy
of the
 |
| Paul Thompson |
Resolution will be available later this morning on the "Current
Issues" page of the Equality Utah website. I encourage you to take the
time to send an email to your city council representative to express your
thoughts on this Resolution. I wish we could provide you with a complete
list of all council members' email addresses for each municipality statewide;
however, we do not have such a list. Please visit your city's website to obtain
that information. If you choose to write your councilperson, please remember
that a positive, respectful tone adds to the credibility of your message. Happy
Thanksgiving - we appreciate your efforts & support. Regards, Mike Thompson
Executive Director
2009 QSalt Lake The
Queer-Affirmative Therapists are In by Joselle Vandergriff When Foundation for
Reconciliation, a group of straight Mormons and their friends of all sexual
orientations, delivered a petition to LDS Church headquarters earlier this
month that asked the church to seek forgiveness and dialogue with gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender people, they were joined by a group of mental health
practitioners. Known as the LGBTQ-Affirmative Therapist Guild of Utah, these
individuals read a statement criticizing Elder Bruce C. Hafen for
 |
| Bruce Hafen |
statements he
made during this year’s Evergreen International conference — a conference where
gay Mormons are encouraged to attempt to change their sexual orientation. In
his remarks, Hafen criticized professional psychological associations for
stating that sexual orientation is unchangeable and told attendees to “[f]ind a
therapist who can help you identify the unmet emotional needs that you are
tempted to satisfy in false sexual ways.” “We regularly work with clients who
struggle with suicidal feelings, many times because of an inability to resolve
their distress about the conflicts between sexual orientation and religious
beliefs,” read the guild’s statement in response. “They state they have
attempted to change using the interventions and strategies offered by their LDS
sources. They blame themselves for failing to change their sexual orientation.
… They are sincere in their desires to comply with teachings from their
authorities and please God and thus try to change and experience heterosexual
attractions. Given the binds they are in, they describe lying to others, and
even themselves, about the realities of their situation.” While this statement
was among the guild’s most public appearances to date, this is not the first
time members have spoken out against reparative therapy. In fact, the impetus
for its founding in
 |
| Jim Struve |
2004, said therapist Jim Struve, one of the guild’s
creators, was widespread concern about how Utah mental health professionals
were responding to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. Reparative
therapy is controversial issue in the gay and transgender community, in part
because many members — particularly those from Christian backgrounds that
believe homosexuality and transgenderism can be cured — have suffered from it.
Currently, all reputable psychiatric and psychological organizations in the
United States reject the practice as harmful because it frequently causes
depression and leads to suicide attempts when they find their orientation is
not changing. To counteract reparative therapy and other biases against gay and
transgender mental health consumers, the guild put up a Web site with a mission
statement saying that they were available for referrals and supportive of gay,
lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning clients. To date, the
group has over 100 members of all sexual orientations and gender identities who
work as therapists, social workers, psychiatrists and other professionals and
students working in the area of mental health. Members also hail from all parts
of the state, though a majority work in the Salt Lake Valley. Along with an
active mailing list, members can also take part in monthly meetings (held
September through May) for networking opportunities and presentations by other
group members on a number of subjects relevant to gay and transgender issues in
mental health services. In October, for example, Struve said the presentation
focused on bisexuality and adolescence. Frequently, the topics are not only
interdisciplinary, but also sensitive to intersectional issues, such as an
upcoming seminars about queer parents and about working with gay, lesbian,
bisexual, transgender queer and questioning clients who also have physical
disabilities. Sometimes, presentations are also run in collaboration with
organizations that are not involved in mental health services but which work
with gay and transgender people regularly, such as the ACLU of Utah. In the
future, Struve said the guild hopes to collaborate with groups like PFFLAG and
further with the Foundation for Reconciliation. “We meet together partly so we
can do networking with other groups and partly so we can address an issue that
crosses multiple lines,” Struve explained. “What we try to do is foster
collaborative relationships with colleagues so we begin to realize that clients
have more issues in their lives than just [issues relating to sexuality and
gender identity].” “But we still don’t have as much as we’d like to be doing
around transgender issues,” he added. Despite its youth, the group has been
getting a lot of notice from the media, including Utah’s daily newspapers and
news stations. Struve noted this interest was helped along by therapist and
guild member Lee Beckstead’s
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| Lee Beckstead |
involvement in drafting the American Psychiatric
Association’s statement in July that reparative therapy was not “clinically sound.”
The papers called the guild immediately, said Struve, and have called on them
since. “They have identified us and called several times wanting our statement
or input,” said Struve. It is input the group is happy to provide: “As
therapists, we have a certain responsibility to address certain issues coming
up in the community.” And it seems the community the guild is trying to serve
is paying attention. In years past, the guild has participated in the Utah
Pride Parade and Festival only to get “amazing feedback from people saying
thank you for being around,” said Struve. “In Utah we’re finding so many people
are afraid of therapy because their assumption is they’re not going to be
accepted and that the therapist is going to try and convert them,” he said. “When
people learn that’s not the case, it’s hard to measure what that leads to,
[but] I assume it means some people event find their way into therapy.” For more information, or to find an
affirmative therapist, visit lgbtqtherapists.com.
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