This Day In Gay Utah History November 25th

November 25

1953-The Montana Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a 72-year-old man who had been sentenced to 18 years for consensual sodomy.

Zang Tavern

1954- -Zang Tavern located at 145 East Broadway was raided by the Salt Lake Police Morals Squad. 23 people were booked into jail for a variety of offenses primarily disorderly conduct and frequenting a disorderly house. The police raided the dimly lit basement where bottles of whiskey were confiscated at 4 p.m. and all the people in the basement placed in a paddy wagon. The owners of Zang Tavern were charged with “keeping a disorderly house” and the people as “resorting to a disorderly house.” (SLTribune 11/25/54 B1 Col. 6)

1985 The Salt Lake Tribune carries an article AIDS Information Service (B7-1)

Belvedere Hotel 1920's

1988 -Ben Williams interviewed Charles Van Dam at the Belvedere Apartments on State Street for the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society. Charles Van Dam was dying of AIDS and had made allegations against LDS Apostle Gordon B. Hinckley as being a former sex partner. Van Dam claimed that Hinckley was not his lover but rather had attended sex parties with him in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s before he becoming a prominent figure in the Mormon Church. Van Dam was a second cousin to LDS President George Albert Smith.

1990 Sunday Auntie De’s 12^th Annual  Salute To The Cowboy held at Club 108 at 108 South 500 West in Salt Lake City

David Sharpton

1991- The Deseret News featured an article on David Sharpton called; UTAH AIDS PATIENT RECOUNTS 6 YEARS OF SURVIVAL.  David Sharpton said "According to my doctor, I'm the longest-living AIDS patient in Utah right now. I'm very proud of that" .

1995- Saturday-Liza Christina Montoya Gonzales of South Weber age 33, at her home of AIDS. She had been employed as a case manager for Valley Mental Health in Salt Lake City. She gave presentations in the community on AIDS awareness.

Bruce Jenkins

1998-US District Judge Bruce Jenkins issued a 17-page opinion denying a request that the Salt Lake City Utah School District be forced to grant the East High School Gay-Straight Alliance status as an official school-sponsored club until the case was brought to trial. At the same time Federal judge Bruce Jenkins ruled that Spanish Fork High School in Salt Lake City Utah violated the rights of teacher Wendy Weaver, who was dismissed from her position as volleyball coach and ordered not to discuss her sexual

Wendy Weaver

orientation, even out of school. The judge ordered the school to offer her the coaching position, lift the gag order, and pay her $1,500 in damages.  Lesbian School teacher, Wendy Weaver, won her  suit against Nebo  School District. Weaver, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, sued the Nebo School District a year ago after she was ordered not to talk about her lesbian orientation in school settings. 

1999 Affirmation Thanksgivings Dinner Pot Luck. Thursday, 2:00 pm--Meet at Rick, John-Charles, John, and Hugo's place. This is for all those who can't (or don't choose to) be with their families for Thanksgiving.. Please contact Rick (R.S.V.P.) by  email or by phone to let him know you're coming, and what you plan to bring. (We don't want to assign  dishes, but we also don't want all salads, or 10 turkeys, or anything like  that.) Feel free to bring a fun game to play. Also the video "Home for the Holidays” will be shown. See you then!

2005 Prince Royale 23, Kim Russo, Chuck Whyte, Grand Duke XXX Along With the Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire Present "GRATITUDE" A benefit for the People's Concern Fund (Door Proceeds) and Proceeds from the Raffle and "Bail a Friend Out of Jail". To Help out a community friend ...BROOK HEART-SONG. We  are trying to get her a portable oxygen machine. At the Paper Moon 

Jacob Whipple

2009 Don't Force Your Morality on Us By City Weekly Readers Since the LDS Church involved itself in Proposition 8, there has been a clash between the church and the LGBT community. Words, rallies, press releases and conference talks have been thrown about, but I really don’t think that the Mormons understand what the GLBT community is fighting for. First of all, Mormons don’t understand that most of the gays and lesbians in Utah grew up as they did: Mormon. We lived it and believed it. Many of us, especially those my age and older, have gone on missions, spending two years promoting and defending the church. We believed that if we did God’s will, he would make us straight. Upon returning, we found we were still gay and had to make the painful journey toward accepting our sexual orientation. The church and its members don’t—and can’t ever—fully realize how difficult a process that is. Ever. We are forced to reconcile our religious beliefs with the reality of ourselves. It is incomparable to anything else, and yet we go through it alone—without the support of our family, friends and religion— because they could never understand what we were dealing with. What also dumbfounds the church is that the turning point for our coming-out process is sometimes a spiritual experience in which we get an answer from God letting us know that it’s OK to be gay and that he still loves us. We finally accept who we are and, knowing the church is not able to accept us, we leave the church. Living as a gay man, a lesbian, a bisexual or especially as a transgender person is not easy. We did not grow up with positive media images; it wasn’t the cool thing to do. Nor is it easy. We deal with persecution and discrimination all the time. The church has complained about a few broken windows and blames the LGBT community for them. I’ve had my car keyed more times than I can remember. People yell, “Faggot!” at us as they drive away. We’re mugged, beaten and left for dead. We’re fired from our jobs and evicted from our apartments. We lose friends. Our families turn away. Sorry, Elder Oaks, but the post-Prop-8-Mormon-backlash has nothing on what we’ve been dealing with our whole lives. The church and its members don’t realize we’re not out to get revenge for what the church has put us through emotionally, spiritually and mentally. We’re not out to change the church’s position. We don’t care to silence the church from preaching against homosexuality within its congregations. We left the church, and we’re fine with that. What we’re not fine with is that the church still tries to influence our lives. We allowed the church to guide us while we were still members, but we’re not anymore, and we shouldn’t be forced to hold to the church’s moral beliefs. Hate-crimes legislation, which President Obama signed into law on Oct. 28, is not about creating a special class— it’s about preventing violence based on hate. A group of gay men who attack a straight man would be tried just as harshly as a group of straight men who attack a gay man. Employment nondiscrimination does not limit employers’ rights—it will prevent discrimination. Being hired or fired should based upon performance, not on a person’s love life. Repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would let everyone serve his or her country with honor. These bills have nothing to do with infringing on religious rights; they’re about protecting the rights of those being discriminated against. Even marriage equality has nothing to do with religion. The LDS Church will never have to perform gay marriages if it doesn’t have a revelation ordaining it. You cannot be incarcerated for preaching that homosexuality is immoral. However, it’s one thing to preach morality but it’s quite another thing to demand and enforce it, especially when not everyone embraces your concepts of morality. Religious principles and teachings should not be enacted by law, especially since not all religions agree. JACOB WHIPPLE  Salt Lake City

Jesse Fruhwirth

2009 Underlying Enmity By Jesse Fruhwirth Salt Lake City Weekly  It’s still a mystery why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chose to endorse two Salt Lake City nondiscrimination ordinances. The mystery lingers primarily because the church explains its actions only superficially to Utah’s facile news media, and—usually—declines to discuss issues with its critics. But just recently, the church held meetings with various gay rights activists (see “Secret Gay/LDS Meetings,” Nov. 18). The big question: Why now? The church declined to answer that question, but many local activists have their own theories, which we wrote about. Online commenter Loftin—no known relation to City Weekly managing editor Josh Loftin—was unimpressed with our attempt to fill the void. “The author’s quoting of several people, who all oppose the Mormon Church’s position on same sex marriage,” Loftin wrote, “does not generate much confidence that any of them have a clue concerning the church’s motives.” That’s valid, Loftin, but your litmus test is arbitrary. First, three of the people quoted in the article recently met with representatives of the church to discuss gay rights (and I interviewed three more who were not quoted). Second, several people in the article were raised LDS. Third, as the ancient author of The Art of War, Sun Tzu, might say, one can “know thy enemy” without mirroring the things that underlie the enmity.

2013 A new day at Utah Pride? Bob Henline QSLMuch has happened at Utah Pride over the last month. Two staff members were laid off, a number of others have resigned, including executive director Valerie Larabee. A new board president rose up as the result of a strange election held behind closed doors. All of this has left many of us shaking our heads and wondering what is really happening at our community center. Last week, at a meeting following Larabee’s sudden resignation, Utah Pride staff and board members proclaimed that it is a “new day at Utah Pride.” What, though, does that new day look like?

Let me begin by stating my fervent belief that the Pride Center is a vital part of this community. The services and programs offered at Utah Pride literally save lives, every

Jesse Nix

single day. That being said, it is also readily apparent that there have been severe problems at the center, problems with management, problems with finances, and problems with the board’s oversight of both. The biggest problem being faced at the Center, though, isn’t money and it isn’t management, it’s trust. The community at large has lost its faith in Utah Pride. The question now is what can the Center board do to restore that faith? First and foremost, they need to honor the promises that have been made over the past month, and so far, the track record isn’t stellar. Newly elected acting board president John Netto promised that there would be a transparency plan and that board meetings would be held in accordance with the bylaws and the principles of transparency. Part of that has happened. Board member Jesse Nix has drafted the beginnings of a transparency plan, part of which he unveiled in a public meeting Nov. 13. It still requires board input and approval before it becomes available for public comment. What also happened, though, was a “special meeting” of the board on November 11. This meeting was scheduled that same day, in violation of Pride Center bylaws which call for notice to directors at least one day before the meeting. No public notice of this meeting was given, no announcement made. QSaltLake learned of the meeting through a rumor just minutes beforehand. On the positive side, most of the remaining staff seem encouraged by the changes. There is a much more open and welcoming attitude prevailing at the center. QSaltLake publisher Michael Aaron and I sat down with John Netto last week for an interview and, much to our surprise, two Pride Center staffers were invited to participate. That is a dramatic change from the previous regime, where staff were actively discouraged from discussions with the press, and even with board members. This new attitude, however, is also counterpointed by the claim of another staff member, Alessandro Galvani, who recently resigned, sending QSaltLake a statement that he had essentially been bullied out by Netto. Galvani claims that Netto told him, and other staff and board members, that Galvani only had a job because of his friendship with one of the Pride Center’s major donors. This claim was confirmed by a board member speaking off the record. I believe that for a new day to dawn at Utah Pride, wholesale changes must be made at the top. Netto may very well have the financial knowledge and skills to clean up the “turd pile,” as he put it a few weeks ago, but is there some reason why he can’t do that as treasurer of the organization instead of as president? Utah Pride needs a leader who can reach out to the various parts of this community and restore faith and confidence in the Center.  There will be an election at the next board meeting, scheduled for December 2 at 6:00pm at the Pride Center. All officer positions (president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer) will be filled at this time. Board member Jesse Nix has been outspoken in his commitment to reforming the operations of the Pride Center in the past, according to several sources. He has been deeply involved in all of the public meetings since this situation escalated a month ago. He is well-known and well-respected both inside and outside of the LGBT community. I haven’t spoken with Nix about this, nor do I know if he intends to run. I’m not a board member, but I do believe myself to be a part of this community and I believe that he is the ideal person to help restore the public faith and trust in our community center as president of the board of directors.