This Day In Gay Utah History November 27th

November 27

William Penn 

1700-A new law concerning sodomy was passed by the Pennsylvania assembly. If committed by a white man, sodomy was punishable by life in prison and, at the discretion of the judge, a whipping every three months for the first year. If married, the man was castrated and his wife was granted a divorced. If committed by a black man, the punishment for sodomy was death. Quaker founded Pennsylvania and their ideals were considered left-wing, egalitarian, and anti-authoritarian for the times. They were viewed as social reformers, and it becomes obvious that equality of roles in the Church was one of their objectives. During the 20th century, they have been advocates for homosexual rights, and more recently have formally approved gay marriage in the UK. Many Quakers have continued to have far-left leanings, and adhere to Socialists ideology.

1850- A bathhouse was first completed on Nov. 27, 1850 by Mormon pioneers at the Beck Warm Springs also known as Wasatch Warm Springs three miles north of the city, and was used for many years. The City constructed an 15 x 30 feet adobe building over the springs and planted a grove of locust trees at about the present intersection of 300 West and Reed Avenue. Jesse C. Little built a hotel there in the 1850's  at the south end of Warm Springs Park. This circa 1865 structure stood on the banks of a small lake fed by the springs, and was leased to private operators. By the summer of 1866 Dr. J King Robinson, a former Union Soldier and physician stationed at Camp Douglas came across some sulfurous warm springs about a mile north of the city near the Mormon Bath House on  property he felt perfectly suited for building Utah’s first hospital. He laid claim to the property at this location believing the thermos springs would add therapeutic value to his proposed site. The land Dr. Robinson wanted for his hospital was unoccupied so after taking possessing of the land he had workmen erect a building on the property so as to prove a homestead title to the property.

J King Robison's Grave

Almost immediately things began to go wrong for the Physician. The Mormon Salt Lake City council claimed that the land which Dr. Robinson desired for his hospital belonged to the city under the federal Homestead and Preemptive Act of 1862. Although the proposed site was outside of the city’s occupied area they claimed it was still within city limits. The city referred to fact that the federal act exempted lands within municipalities from homestead claims.  Dr. Robinson found a loophole in the measures when he discovered that Salt Lake City’s incorporation papers had never been approved by Congress. The federal organic act governing territories stated that all laws passed by the territorial legislators and governor had to be submitted to Congress, ”and if disapproved shall be null and of no effect.”   Daniel H. Wells, General of the Nauvoo Legion and second counselor to Brigham Young, had  become mayor of Great Salt Lake City in early 1866. Wells ordered the city police to destroy the doctor’s improvements at the Warm Springs. After learning that the city police tore down his shed, Dr. Robinson challenged the validity of the city charter in the Third District court of Utah throwing open the question of the validity of all Mormon land claims in the territory. On October 22, 1866 Dr. Robinson was “mysteriously” murdered on Main Street and Third South in Salt Lake City, axed to death. Several members of teh Salt Lake Police force were arrested for the murder but none convicted. The lawsuit was dismissed with the death of the of Dr. Robinson who is buried in the cemetery at Fort Douglas. Find A Grave Later a Mormon named James Townsend leased the Warm Springs bathhouse and hotel until his death in 1886. Problems with the leaseholders and a seedy reputation led the city to take full control of the springs in 1916. In 1932  the warm Springs bathhouse was bought by Nelson Knight and renamed  Wasatch Springs Plunge located at 840 N. 300 W. The Summer 2008 issue of Utah Historical Quarterly contains an article by Darrell E. Jones and W. Randall Dixon titled, “’It Was Very Warm and Smelt Very Bad’: Warm Springs and the First Bath House in Salt Lake City.” 

1903 Davis County Clipper Utah State News page 2 Plans are being made for establishment of a Bohemian Club in Salt Lake.  Many of the doctors, lawyers, artists and others are interested in the idea.

1963-Wednesday-Six persons including three women arrested in a steam bath, pleaded innocent Tuesday in city court to trespassing and disorderly person charges. Judge J. Patton Neely set a hearing for December 6. Free on $350 bail (11/27/63 page 12 Col.2 SLTribune)

Arthur Evans

1970-Marty Robinson, Arthur Evans, both 28 years old, of the Gay

Activist Alliance and Dick Leitsch, age 35 years, of the New York Mattachine Society appeared on the Dick Cavett Show. They were among the first openly Gay activists to be prominently featured as guests on a national TV program. Cavett's late-night talk show that ran from December 29, 1969 to January 1, 1975 opposite NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Cavett took the time slot over from Joey Bishop. In addition to the usual monologue, Cavett opened each show reading selected questions written by audience members, to which he would respond with witty rejoinders. ("What makes New York so

Dick Leitsch

crummy these days?" "Tourists.") While Cavett and Carson shared many of the same guests, Cavett was receptive to rock and roll artists to a degree unusual at the time, as well as authors, politicians, and other personalities outside the entertainment field. The wide variety of guests

Dick Cavett

, combined with Cavett's literate and intelligent approach to comedy, appealed to a significant enough number of viewers to keep the show running for several years despite the competition from Carson's show. The late-night show's 45-minute midpoint would always be signaled by the musical piece "Glitter and Be Gay" from Leonard Bernstein's Candide. The Candide snippet became Cavett's theme song, being used as the introduction to his later PBS series, and was played by the house band on his various talk show appearances over the last 30 years. In an early version of his show on March 27, 1968, Christine Jorgensen walked off the show offended when Cavett asked her about the status of her romantic life with her "wife". Christine Jorgensen was the first widely known person to have a sex reassignment surgery (in this case male-to-female). Since she was the only scheduled guest, Cavett spent the rest of that show talking about how he had not meant to offend her.

1978- Harvey Milk creator of the Castro District of San Francisco is assassinated along with the Mayor of San Francisco by a angry homophobic fellow city councilman, Dan White.  After discovering that he would not be re-appointed to his seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, White took a gun and extra ammunition and goes to City Hall. He entered through a lower level window to avoid the metal detectors and went to the office of Mayor George Moscone, who was supportive of the gay community, and fires four shots, two to the head. Those who heard the gunshots did not realize what they were hearing, giving him time to reload his gun and go to the office of Supervisor Harvey Milk (the first openly gay man to be elected in a major American city) and fire five shots. Both men were pronounced dead. Milk had recorded an audiotape in the event of his assassination. In that tape, he said, "If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet shatter every closet door." Dan White would later be convicted of manslaughter and serve only about five years.

Bob Christensen

1991 Robert  “Bob” Karl Christensen, age 50, died Nov. 27, 1991 at his home in Salt Lake City of AIDS   He was born in Richfield, Utah He graduated with a BS from BYU, and went on to the University of Utah for three years to study, research and teach. He was employed as at technician at the VA Hospital in Salt Lake City, and was employed by LDS Hospital for 18 years as department head and director of grounds. He won many awards for his professional landscaping. He was an accomplished musician, and was involved in opera. He also traveled extensively throughout the world.

1993 Mood For A Day is a libertarian oriented Utah non-profit

Bob Waldrop

organization active in (1) educating libertarians about the hemp issue, (2) educating the public about the hemp issue, (3) educating the hemp community aboutboth hemp and libertarianism.  Sort of a "Jesus by the back door" approach to outreach We publish Regrowth on a quarterly basis.  Regrowth is a tabloid (10" X 16") newspaper, four pages.  Subscriptions are $5.00/four issues.  We have published four issues to date.  If you would like a free sample copy of the just-published Winter Solstice issue, please send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Mood For A Day POB 903 West Jordan, UT  84084 Bob Waldrop is the editor of Regrowth.

1994 Chad Jeffery Wellesley passed away November 27, 1994 with his family at his bedside. He died of Pneumocystic Pneumonia, a complication of his eight year struggle with AIDS. He was born May 17, 1954 in Provo, a son of George and Edna (Chub and Eddie)  Wellesley.   He will be deeply missed by his family. His brother, Craig, sister-in-law, Cynthia, and their children, Duncan, Durin, and Shasta of Pleasant Grove; his sister, Kris, brother-in-law, Brett Bunnell and their children, Nicholas, Cory, and Tanner, of Provo; his devoted companion, Rose Jansen, Salt Lake City (who stayed by his side until the end), and his loyal "Gifts from God," Thumper and Pandora. Chad was a strong and determined young man who seven years ago managed to conquer over 14 years of alcoholism. He was blessed with many gifts. Among them was his talents for decorating and interior design. He was the recipient of numerous awards for Christmas decorating in both Provo and Deer Valley.   A child of the Spring, Chad embraced life and saw the beauty in the world that so many of us miss. He had a capacity to love that knew no equal. We are so honored to have been a part of his life's song. Your love for us and our love for you will endure for all time. Funeral services will be held Thursday, at 12noon, in the Walker Sanderson Funeral Home, in Orem, 600 East 800 North, where friends may call on Wednesday evening from 6-8 p.m. and Thursday, one hour prior to services. Burial will be in the East lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo.  Obituary

Randall Lake 1967

1994 AIDS AND THE ARTS ARTIST RANDALL LAKE Page: F1 Keywords: The John Pence Gallery In ``The Silent War,'' Salt Lake City artist Randall Lake wanted to ``create an angry work about loss and sorrow and death.'' AIDS AND THE ARTS AROUND THE WORLD, AND IN UTAH, AIDS LEAVES CREATIVE VOID Byline: By Helen Forsberg THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE In dance, theater, literature, the visual arts, music, television, film -- in all the arts -- the devastation from AIDS continues. Lives are irreplaceable, but the death of an artist goes beyond the circle of loved ones. There is the art work that never will be made. There are the lessons that cannot be passed on. Nationally, the toll AIDS has taken on the arts is well-documented. The list of those who have died is long: choreographer and director Michael Bennett, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, fashion designer Perry Ellis, actor Anthony Perkins, pianist Liberace, artist Keith Haring, songwriter Peter Allen, actor Rock Hudson, filmmaker Marlon Riggs, choreographer and dancer Arnie Zane, playwright Scott McPherson, lyricist Howard Ashman and director Tony Richardson, to name a few. While exact numbers are hard to come by, in the last year the list of casualties in the creative community has filled pages in magazines such as Newsweek and The New Yorker. The Utah arts community also has experienced the void left in the wake of AIDS. Dancers Tim Wengerd, Tomm Ruud, Dennis Wright, Robert Martinez and David Jackson had Utah connections, all dancing here at one time or another. Utah filmmaker C Larry Roberts lost his life to AIDS, as did actors Robert Proctor, Michael Buttars, Lawrence Lott, David McCullough, Michael Lueders and costumer Douglas Hansen. Immortal for Quite Some Time, a yet-to-be-

Scott Abbott

published book by Brigham Young University professor Scott Abbott, was written in response to Abbott's younger brother's AIDS death in 1991. Review The work recently won the Utah Arts Council's first prize for creative nonfiction in its 1994 Utah Original Writing Competition. Distant and Alone: Scott Abbott and his brother John attended BYU; when John dropped out, their lives took different paths. Scott received his doctorate in German literature from Princeton University. John had a series of jobs as a chef and, when he died, was a step away from being homeless, according to his brother. No one in the family knew he was ill until a Boise coroner called to ask the family if they knew John Herbert  Abbott. The book is Scott Abbott's response to the ``shock of not being there to help him, not having known, the sense of him being alone and me being distant. It didn't feel good, and I didn't want to live the rest of my life being distant.''   Abbott was confronted with the fact that ``deep down in my psyche I was prejudiced, pretty homophobic. I'm not that way rationally; I hate people who are that way. I hate that in myself. Writing this book was partially an attempt to exorcise that.''   Has he reached his objective?   ``My first answer would be, `Yes, of course.' Then my answer would be, `Not at all.' You never get over the death of a loved one. There's a German word, Trauerbeit, that means mourning work. That's what this is. ``For 17 years John and I lived together, shared a room, exchanged blows, hung our shirts in the same closet, did

Rudolf Nureyev

homework elbow to elbow,'' his brother writes. ``Since then we have been virtual strangers. Perhaps we were strangers then as well.'' There are countless others in the arts field, nationally and in Utah, who have died from or are infected with AIDS. But for personal reasons and the stigma attached to the disease, they have chosen not to reveal their HIV-positive status. Perhaps the most famous was ballet wunderkind Rudolf Nureyev. In 1993, two years after dancing in Salt Lake City, he was said to have died of ``a cardiac complication, following a grievous illness.'' A friend later said that Nureyev did not go public with his disease because ``he didn't want it to consume his art.''   Bu

Paul Monette

t award-winning novelist and AIDS activist Paul Monette told Newsweek magazine he was furious with Nureyev's deception. ``I don't consider him a great hero. I consider him a coward. I don't care how great a dancer he was.'' Monette, who also has AIDS, said it was Nureyev's duty to the gay community to use his fame in the war against ignorance. ``It takes tremendous courage for someone to come forward to friends and other people,'' said RDT's Linda C. Smith. ``I don't think any less of someone who doesn't come forward, but it is important that AIDS be dealt with as openly a spossible.'' A Day of Remembrance: The AIDS crisis has not struck just the world of art, of course. But its impact is more visible there and affects all whom culture touches. Not much is heard about the lawyers, the janitors, the schoolteachers, the store clerks who die in silence. Those who have died from AIDS will be remembered on Thursday -- World AIDS Day: The 6th International Day of Action and Mourning in Response to the AIDS Crisis. The commemoration also is known in the United States as Day Without Art. In other observances across the country, there will be ``Night

Ardean Watts

Without Light,'' a 15-minute blackout of city skylines.  Utah educator and musician Ardean Watts, who organized the music for  an ecumenical service Thursday, finds himself in a dual role:   -- As a person with a lifelong involvement in the creative arts, he said the AIDS epidemic has had ``a disproportionate effect on the arts community . . . and our ranks have been decimated by this disease.''   -- And as an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he ``[cares] a lot about the church's involvement in matters relating to societal problems.'' Citing ``the absence of official participation by the Mormon Church ''in Thursday's service, he said, ``I wanted to be counted as an unofficial representative -- because people know I'm a Latter-day Saint.   ``My presence and that of [University of Utah law professor] Ed Firmage adds up to Mormon participation, of

Ed Firmage

sorts,'' the retired U. music professor continued.   Kim Duffin, assistant director of the Salt Lake City Arts Council, has been involved with a Day Without Art since its inception.

Kim Duffin

Duffin, infected with AIDS, said of the event: ``We don't want to put across the idea that this is only an arts-industry issue, but by the nature of the industry people are willing to be more expressive and stick their noses out.''   Duffin, diagnosed seven years ago, initially was quiet about the disease. ``I found out on my birthday,'' he remembered .``And it was like getting hit over the head with a hammer. The fear of being discriminated against was certainly a big issue.''   With family support, Duffin went public earlier this year at a news conference about an antiviral-drug study in which he participated.   ``I'm not an activist,'' he said. ``I'm not one to beat people over the head with an issue. But awareness of the disease --education -- is important.''   Duffin considers himself lucky. ``Our staff and board have been remarkable in their support of my personal health situation and also in their desire to promote awareness of the disease.'' A New

Art: Joan Woodbury, co-artistic director of the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, wept when speaking of Dennis Wright and Robert Martinez, who danced with her troupe. ``I can't even tell you how many friends -- composers, dancers, designers -- that we've lost to AIDS,'' she said. ``And people are so damn homophobic, they attach this to something that isn't the crux of it.'' ``It's always on your mind,'' said  Smith, who knows a number of former RDT dancers who are HIV-positive. ``You always wonder who will be next.'' RDT next year will present Tim Wengerd's ``Chant'' in his memory during its 30th-anniversary season. Wengerd, a founding member of RDT before he joined the Martha Graham Company in 1972, choreographed the work for the Utah company in 1967. Tim Wengard's Obituary Dance/USA Journal dedicated its spring 1992 issue to dance and AIDS. ``This is a difficult issue,'' wrote Mike Steele.` `It deals with what our culture most avoids -- discussion of sexuality, death, class and race. It is a disease that has attacked the most marginalized and hated segment of our society. And for that reason, because it encompasses such extremes, because it's so absolute, because it bares so many painful cultural wounds, it becomes a great test for the arts.''  When one looks at death every day -- as many artists are forced to do -- it changes his or her perception of the world. From this perspective, a new art has emerged, and AIDS is often the subject. Major works have Utah connections. Tony Kushner's two-part epic ``Angels in America,'' which explores AIDS and homosexuality, is one of the most celebrated plays of recent times. The central characters include a liberal young Jew who abandons his lover dying of AIDS, an LDS Republican lawyer struggling to comes to terms with his homosexuality, his Valium-addicted wife, his strong-willed mother and the demonic lawyer Roy Cohn, who spent a lifetime denying his homosexuality and eventually died of AIDS. The numerous scenes criss-cross between New York, Salt Lake City, Washington, D.C., Antarctica and heaven.   Kushner began writing ``Angels'' in 1988. During the summer of '90, he was a participant at the Playwright's Lab at Sundance, where he worked on the second act. During his Utah stay, he toured Temple Square, visited with several Mormons and got his first look at the Wasatch Mountains. He told The Salt Lake Tribune, ``The visit confirmed most of what I had felt about the Mormon Church -- the things that trouble me and impress me. I started writing `Angels' with that feeling before me.''   Part I of ``Angels in America'' went on to receive the 1993 Pulitzer Prize in drama as well as the Tony Award for bestplay. Part II, ``Perestroika,'' received the 1994 Tony Award. Bill T. Jones, considered one

Bill T. Jones

of dance's most daring choreographers, first came to Utah in 1985 with his collaborator and companion Arnie Zane to create a work for RDT. In 1986, Jones was diagnosed HIV-positive; in 1988, Zane died of complications from AIDS.   In late 1988, Jones was a guest performer with RDT and danced his tribute to Zane, ``Untitled Solo.'' After that, he retired the piece. Linda C. Smith said people still talk of the power and poignancy of Jones' performance. Since, Jones has choreographed two works inspired by his personal experiences with AIDS, ``D-Man in the Water,'' in memory of company member Demian Acquavella, and ``Absence,'' a

Jones & Arnie Zane

work dedicated to Zane's parents.   Currently, Jones and company are on a nationwide tour with his new evening-length work, ``Still/ Here.'' Its theme seizing life in the face of death.   ``I wanted to understand and come to terms with my own grief,'' he told The Washington Post. ``I didn't want to feel the isolation I felt after Arnie's death. I felt that all this tragedy must have some meaning, and I kept asking myself, `What now?' '' `Shrill Tantrums': Not all AIDS-related art has been critically successful. One dance critic summed up his frustration: ``Shrill tantrums, pathetic diaries, lengthy litanies and uncertain points of view can turn well-meaning efforts into ill-conceived visual theater.'' Nor are AIDS-theme works necessarily in demand by audiences. Pioneer Theatre Company artistic director Charles Morey said, ``How many 1,000-seat

Charles Morey

theaters do you know of that are producing plays about AIDS? If we had a second space, a more intimate theater, I would consider them, not because they are about AIDS, but because they are good plays.'' In Hollywood, AIDS was ignored for years. Recently, the entertainment industry has been catching up -- with the Academy Award-winning movie ``Philadelphia,'' the story of a lawyer fired from his firm because he has AIDS, and with HBO's ``And the Band Played On,'' a movie from Randy Shilts' history of the epidemic.   In the more avant-garde world of film making, there are a number of AIDS-related movies, many screened at the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City. Among them: ``Edward II,'' ``The Living End,'' ``Silverlake Life: The View From Here,'' ``Fast Trip, Long Drop,'' ``Heart of the Matter'' and ``Grief.''   ``Longtime Companion,'' a 1990 drama chronicling how AIDS tore through a group of friends in New York, was one of the first films about AIDS to draw national attention, in part due to its acclaim at Sundance.   The canvas also has been used as an emotional release. A painting by Utah artist Randall Lake has a symbolic place in a gallery in San Francisco, a city ravaged by the disease.   When Lake began painting ``The Silent

The Silent War

War,'' the model was a friend, a Utah artist with AIDS. ``I'm known for beautiful paintings of flowers,'' Lake said in 1990 in The Salt Lake Tribune.  ``When we thought of doing it, the idea was to create an angry work about loss and sorrow and death.''   But his friend ``died fast, before we could do the painting.'' Ultimately, the model was someone who had recently undergone stomach surgery.  Props were essential to ``The Silent War.'' The family of Lake's friend and original collaborator contributed a sack full of medications, which the artist arranged on a night stand. The artist borrowed an IV from a hospital, insisting that for the painting it must be half-empty. John Pence, owner of The John Pence Gallery in San Francisco where ``The Silent War'' hangs, said of the realistic work: ``It's difficult to look at right now, but down through time it will help tell a story.'' Tribune writers Lance S. Gudmundsen, Nancy Melich and Sean P. Means contributed to this report.

1995 The Salt Lake Tribune Can the Number of Gays, Lesbians Ever Be Known? Gays: Could Number Ever Be Known? By Lili Wright What is your sexual orientation? It is a question with powerful political and social implications. Yet the U.S. Census does not ask, and many Americans would not respond honestly if it did. For decades, the size of the American gay and lesbian population has been bitterly debated. The right wing paints homosexuals as an aberrant few. Gay activists claim they represent 10% of America. The truth is that no one knows for sure. Nailing down an accurate head count could give lesbians and gays a new tool to lobby for gay marriages, AIDS research, sex education, gay adoption and the tens of billions of state and federal dollars allotted annually based on Census data. "It would certainly be an incredibly enlightening tool," says Kathryn Kendell, formerly an attorney for the American Civil Liberties

Kate Kendall

Union in Salt Lake City and now with the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights. "Such numbers would be tremendously helpful in educating the public and courts about our existence in hard numbers." Since the first Census in 1790, the government forms have evolved to reflect societal priorities. Before writing the 1990 Census, 400 public hearings were held and more than 2,000 suggestions recorded, from asking religious affiliation to pet ownership. "We have to choose things that result in the most good for the largest number of people," says Maury Cagle, a spokesperson at the Census Bureau's national headquarters in Maryland. "If we took every suggestion, the thing would look like a telephone book." For the first time, the 1990 Census offered one glimpse into gay households. Respondents could check an "unmarried partner" box to describe the person they lived with, and then note "same sex" or "different sex." Nationally, 4.6% of the 3,187,772 unmarried partner households polled identified themselves  as same sex. Among Utah's 11,466 unmarried-partner households, 244 were both male, 157 both female -- representing 3.5%. Of course, homosexual couples could bend the truth by checking "roommate" instead of "partner." And the survey had no measure of lesbians or gays in other living arrangements.While many gay activists wish the Census would forgo its military-style, "don't ask, don't tell" policy, they admit that many homosexuals would not self-identify for fear of repercussions. "We would love to know how many people there are," says Kerry Lobel of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Washington, D.C. "But without protection from discrimination, I don't think we can ask

David Nelson

anyone to take that risk on a government form." Utah activist David Nelson acknowledges a vast undercount could undermine the clout gays and lesbians want to secure. And then there's the problem of how homosexuality should be defined: someone who currently has a homosexual partner, has ever had a homosexual experience, has homosexual desires but lives in a heterosexual relationship? "Self-identification is not always an accurate tool in defining gay and lesbian America," says Nelson. So while Nelson supports the Census concept, "I also recognize that it would be statistically inaccurate." Kendell goes one step further, characterizing the debate as a Catch-22."It's ironic," she says. "By the time we achieve enough for people to answer that question honestly, the answer will be irrelevant. It won't matter."  One Chicago company is not waiting for the government. Overlooked Opinions, a gay market research firm, has launched a GAYCENSUS '96. Respondents dial 1-800-Gay-Voice and answer 10 minutes of questions that cover discrimination, educational attainment and consumer behavior. There is an optional section for people with HIV and AIDS. The yearlong project will be promoted through direct mail, ads in national gay publications and regional coordinators. "This is a really good for people still in the closet," says Marc Stern, who works with Overlooked. "You don't have to identify yourself to participate."

1997 Page: C2 AIDS DAY SERVICE TODAY   Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City will

commemorate World AIDS Day at a special service today at 10 a.m.   World AIDS Day is Monday. ``But we like to acknowledge it by combining it with our Thanksgiving service,'' said Terrlynn Crenshaw, coordinator of the Utah African American Faith Initiative. The initiative is a partnership between the church and the federal Centers for Disease Control. Its primary objective is to educate clergy and young people about AIDS.  ``Since African Americans have been impacted with AIDS as a community the hardest, the church is raising awareness,'' Crenshaw said. The congregation has made a commemorative   AIDS quilt it will present during the service at the church, 532 E. 700 South.

2002 Greetings from the Crossroad of the West- As a native Texan now living in Salt Lake City

Becky Moss

I thought you might like to know about a radio program that has been on the air (as queer as it might sound)since 1979 in Utah. KRCL is a public radio station that was founded by Stephen Holbrook a Gay man and social activist. As part of the radio's programming he insured that there would be a community forum for sexual minorities in Salt Lake much to the consternation of the Mormon city fathers. The program originally was called "Gayjavu" but later changed to "Concerning Gays". When Becky Moss joined the program in November 1983 the name was changed to "Concerning Gays and Lesbians". The show is loyally produced out of Salt Lake City and Moss is currently the producer; and still co-host- probably making her one of the longest on air Lesbian personalities in the country. I was a co host on the program from 1987-1991.  Ben Williams Director of Utah Stonewall Historical Society and Archives

2005  Subject: SPECIAL EVENT TO SEE RENT  Wear RED and join the Utah AIDS Foundation and all of our friends to watch…Rent A film based on the fabulous Broadway hit by Jonathan Larson, Rent tells the story of a group of young East Villagers in New York City striving for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness, and the AIDS epidemic. Sunday, November 27, 2005 4 p.m. @ The Gateway $5.25/per person Help The Utah AIDS Foundation kick off a week of events celebrating World AIDS Day December 1, 2005. World AIDS Day is dedicated to increasing awareness, education and fighting prejudice for HIV/AIDS. Please WEAR RED to show your support. We hope to see you there