This Day In Gay Utah History November 7th

November 7

Albert Carrington

1885 – LDS Quorum of Twelve excommunicates Apostle Albert Carrington "for crimes of lewd and lascivious conduct and adultery" with several women dating back to 1871. This is the first time since 1842 that a general authority is excommunicated for sexual misconduct, and its publication on 10 Nov. stuns the community.

1901 – LDS First Presidency decides and announces that there is "no rule in the church forbidding cousins to intermarry" and that first cousins can have temple marriages if they present civil license. General authorities such as Brigham Young, Williard Richards, Joseph F. Smith and Abraham H.Cannon married their first cousins as legal and plural wives

Bernard von Bulow

1907 Adolf Brand, founder of the first homosexual periodical, Der Eigene (The Unique), had printed a pamphlet which described how Germany's Chancillor Bernard von Bülow had been blackmailed for his sexuality and had kissed and embraced high ranking Germans at male gatherings  and thus was morally obliged to publicly oppose Paragraph 175 which criminalized homosexuality. Brand was found guilty of libel and charged with 18 months in prison.

1961 Legendary San Francisco drag queen Jose Sarria runs for city supervisor. The first openly gay person to run for public office in the US, Sarria receives almost 6,000 votes.

1978 California’s Proposition 6  was defeated.

It was an initiative on the California State ballot on November 7, 1978. More commonly known as The Briggs Initiative, sponsored by John Briggs a conservative state legislator from Orange County. The failed initiative would have banned Gays and Lesbians, and possibly anyone who supported Gay rights, from working in California’s public schools. The Briggs Initiative came on the heels of successful anti-gay campaign headed by Anita Bryant and her organization Save Our Children in Dade County, Florida, to repeal it’s local gay rights ordinance. The initiative provided that a public school teacher, teacher’s aide, administrator, or counselor could be fired if the employee was found to have engaged in either (1) “public homosexual activity,” which the initiative defined as an act of homosexual sex which was “not discreet and not practiced in private, whether or not such act, at the time of its commission, constituted a crime,” or (2) “public homosexual conduct,” which the initiative defined as “the advocating, soliciting, imposing, encouraging or promoting of private or public homosexual activity directed at, or likely to come to the attention of, schoolchildren and/or other employees.”

1981- Hattie Raddon opened Puss & Boots as a woman’s bar at 996 South Redwood Road  at the former location of the Rusty Bell.

Marlene Lovebird
aka Curtis Jensen

1987 The Desert and Mountain States Lesbian and Gay Conference delegates held a regional planning meeting at the U of U.  Curtis Jensen, a member of the Love Birds, took about 15 delegates from the Desert and Mountain States Conference planning committee on a tour of Temple Square.  They signed the visitor book as Dissident Homosexuals and were asked to leave. Upon leaving Temple-Square security began taking pictures of them for their ‘report’. 

• The Lovebirds held a benefit for the Desert and Mountain States Lesbian and Gay Conference called The Lovebirds A Go-Go. It was held at Backstreet Tavern.

Garth Chamberlain

1988 Lesbian and Gay Student Union of U of U elected Joe Dewey and Garth Chamberlain as co-Presidents replacing Chris Brown

Vito Russo

1989-ABC lost $1.5 million in pulled ads when the television show "Thirtysomething" showed two men in bed together.

1990-At age 44, Gay film historian and AIDS activist Vito Russo died of complications from AIDS.

Magic Johnson

1991 NBA Superstar Magic Johnson announced that he is HIV positive. Stocks of leading U.S. condom makers and companies researching AIDS treatments skyrocketed reacting to the professional basketball star's announcement.  Ben Barr the executive director of the Utah AIDS Foundation hoped Utahns will ``wake up'' after the announcement that basketball superstar Earvin ``Magic'' Johnson has the virus that causes AIDS. He reported that In Utah, the total number of deaths from the disease currently stands at 267.  . away.” State School Board Member ,Senator Orrin Hatch’s sister, Frances Hatch Merrill, responding to whether school should have sex education said, `The best way not to get AIDS is not to have sex,'' said. ``We are just teaching the damages.'' `We need to teach them values, not safe sex,'' said Frances Hatch Merrill. ``We need to get morals back in our society and things like this will go away.” Mrs. Merrill added that if teens learn to respect themselves, ``they'd keep their pants up.'' AIDS victim Barb Barnhart, who conducts education programs for the Utah  AIDS Foundation was irritated by Mrs. Merrill's statements.   ``Education doesn't make it [AIDS] happen. It keeps it from happening,''

Barb Barnhart

1992 The SL Tribune featured an article on Mormon women at risk from AIDS by their bisexual husbands. “For years, Mormon bisexuals were advised marriage would eliminate same-sex attractions. Now, the Mormon women who agreed to help their husbands ``get over homosexuality'' find themselves and their children at increased danger of HIV infection. “The way many women find out they are HIV positive is when they have a sick baby,'' says Barbara Barnhart, who leads the group People With AIDS and is herself HIV positive. Even though the Mormon Church now tells bishops that ``marriage should not be viewed as a way to resolve homosexual problems,'' the danger remains. Single males are regularly admonished in speeches by LDS general authorities to do their duty and get married. ``I have talked with a lot of people who have found themselves in marriages because they thought that is what they were supposed to do,'' says Ronald Schow, co-author of Peculiar People, a recent book about Mormon homosexuality.  Donald Steward who works at Horizon House, an AIDS support network, believes these men sometimes seek high-risk sexual behaviors including cruising, quick sex in the park and restrooms or with male prostitutes – because they are desperate. `Married bisexuals form the most secretive group in America”. ``They don't think they are worthy to have safe sex,'' he says. 

David Nelson

1993 The Salt Lake Tribune HIV-Test Law Might Have Averted Hostage Incident, Legislators Say By Samuel A. Autman If some Utah legislators had their way, Gloria Quinones and her then-fiance Jorge "Roque" Santiago would have been required to take an HIV test before they were married a year ago. That may have averted Thursday's confrontation, which left the 24-year-old woman hospitalized with gunshot wounds and her husband dead after a standoff with police. Sens. Delpha Baird and Winn Richards say they would whole-heartedly favor a law mandating an HIV test for couples seeking a marriage license. HIV is the virus that leads to AIDS and is transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse. The AIDS virus also can be transmitted by sharing an intravenous needle with an infected person and through contaminated blood. Other legislators have mentioned the possibility of legislation requiring notification of spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends, family and health-care personnel. But lawmakers say such measures would face fierce opposition. "There would be such an arousal of rights," says Mr. Winn, an ophthalmologist who has urged legislators to spend more to fight AIDS. "We have to look at this as a disease rather than as a social or religious problem. It would be extremely difficult to get this through." Years ago, couples were required to undergo blood tests for syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases. Ms. Baird, a member of the Senate's Human Services Committee, would like a similar test for HIV, but favors seeing every person take the test as health officers did years ago with tuberculosis. "It would get into a huge can of worms, but we would know all the people who have HIV," says Ms. Baird. Then, she says, people with HIV or AIDS could be isolated and receive treatment. As it stands, confidentiality laws in Utah are strict. When the Utah Health Department determines someone is infected, they are encouraged to tell partners, according to George Usher, surveillance program manager for the Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control. David Nelson, founder of Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats, says that in addition to encroaching on privacy matters, passage of such a law would not be effective, he says. "It's only going to be accurate for a period of six months," he says. "It takes a while for your body to respond to the infection."

1997 As of this date there has been 388,327 deaths in America from AIDS and in Utah 838 deaths   Utah AIDS cases and deaths in past five years: 1993-103 deaths; 1994- 97 deaths; 1995-130   deaths; 1996- 80 deaths;1997- 33 deaths.  

2002 Three panelists gathered to tackle the subject of "curing" a

David Pruden

homosexual Monday in the Union Theatre. The discussion, hosted by the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center, was based on audience questions, which moderator Kay Packard gave to the panelists, and allowed three minutes of response from each participant.  The panel included viewpoints from David Pruden, director of Evergreen International—a group that uses LDS doctrine and beliefs to "cure" homosexuality, Lee Beckstead, research associate at the U

Jeb Brubaker

Counseling Center and Jed Brubaker, a gay U student. Both students have used Evergreen International's therapies, which worked for Beckstead, but not Brubaker. Pruden said Evergreen International did not provide therapy, but rather help and resources for the nearly 300 calls he receives every month from around the world. Beckstead implemented a treatment therapy at the Counseling Center as an intern about a year ago. It hasn't taken place this semester, but he wants to start it up again in January. Brubaker touched on the isolation he felt as a gay, LDS teenager. He said Evergreen helped him find someone to talk to, which helped him through the coming-out process. The audience's questions ranged from the U.S. patriarchal societal structure to the success rates of reparative therapy. Beckstead said therapeutic success is ambiguous because he says it's difficult to measure attraction and arousal, while Pruden said he has had hundreds of

Lee Beckstead

success stories. One of the questions focused on the suicide rates of gay teenagers, and the effects therapy has on those rates. All of the panelists agreed that correct information and having a strong support structure were vital for someone going through the realization of homosexual feelings. "When your pressures exceed your social support outlets, sometimes suicide looks like the ultimate way to get rid of all of your stressors," Brubaker said. All three panelists thanked the audience, which filled every seat in the Union Theatre, for the audience's behavior. "I appreciate the respectful way the dialogue has taken place. This issue has been kicked from pillar to post, and that's got to stop. It's this respectful attitude that has got to be involved in this ongoing discussion," Pruden said.

2005 Monday Subject: Message from UVSU On Provo High's GSA Hello Everyone, As we have discussed over the last couple of meetings, the Provo High School has recently approved the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance. As could be expected the school district is emphatically against this club. And equally as expected the grand majority of the reasoning and protests against the club are unfounded poppycock, a joke really. But unfortunately, they do have the power to affect change in some things against the kids in this club. The district has proposed changes in the policies for high school club attendance and membership. Some of these changes include mandatory parental written permission to attend ANY club, as well as more involvement by faculty advisors, AND the fact that they are pushing for prohibition of any discussion of sex or sexuality in a school sponsored activity or on school grounds that does not fall under the category of hetero-married sex. In any event it is completely obvious that these changes in policy are of course directed EXCLUSIVILY at the GSA club, as an effort to either rein in the club and the students who would want to attend it, or if possible to halt its formation totally. According to federal law, the school cannot stop any club from forming. However, I guess there are some things that they CAN do like this to hinder it. Therefore basically, we have decided that we need to support this fledgling GSA in any way we can especially since it is likely that they will have VERY few people willing to support them. We have started to write some letters of support and have determined that one thing we CAN do is go to the Provo School District policy meeting where they are going to be discussing the changes in policy for the student clubs. We are not wanting to make a commotion, nor do anything untoward, but a supportive presence in the room for the GSA club may be at least something that we could do. Therefore, we are planning on getting together the day after tomorrow, Tuesday the 8th of Nov, at the administrative building at 6:45 to attend the meeting together. We am not sure about the format of the meeting, other than the fact that there WILL be some open discussion towards the beginning of the meeting. It is therefore important that we are there as close to on time as possible and that we bring as many people as we can from our group. Once again the meeting is: 6:45 pm Tuesday Nov 8th Professional Development Center 280 West 940 north Provo UT We will meet in the parking lot at 6:45 and go into the building together. We are not recommending any sort of dress code or whatever, please just wear what you feel is appropriate. And please come and invite friends or interested parties. Thanks so much, and contact Mike (787-8352) or Cammie (636-3639) if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks! Mike, Cammie, Kent and Lisa

2006 Tuesday evenings, November 7, 14, 21 and 28th at 7:00p.m. Screenings of "Transgeneration" A documentary style year-in-the-life of four college aged students at various stages of transition. An eight part series, we will be showing two parts on each scheduled night. Popcorn will be provided. Screenings will be held in the Center Space at the Utah Pride Center located at 361 North 300 West.

Kim Duffin

 2012 As associate director of the Salt Lake City Arts Council for 25 years, Kim Duffin was all about supporting artists. "He always had good advice and showed them great patience," said Karen Krieger, the council's executive director and Duffin's boss. "He was known for patiently guiding them toward their goals, whether it was how to be a better candidate for a grant or a better candidate for a show." Duffin died Sunday at age 57. In his job at the Arts Council, Duffin coordinated the visual arts exhibits at the Finch Lane Galleries and the council's Guest Writers Series. Among his claims to fame was arranging the first Utah reading by then up-and-coming poet Katharine Coles, who later went on to serve as Utah's poet laureate from 2006 to 2011. Krieger said Duffin was "very, very kind, considerate, thoughtful, respectful." He also had a "very playful and dry wit," she said. She recalled visiting Duffin in the hospital earlier this year after a stroke, and the longtime smoker told her, "Well, I guess I just quit smoking." Duffin was born April 22, 1955, in Salt Lake City. He graduated from Skyline High School in 1973 and received bachelor's degrees in business administration and environmental science from Westminster College in 1977 and a master's degree in arts administration from the University of Utah in 1983. Before his long stint at the Salt Lake City Arts Council, Duffin worked as a program manager of the Utah Arts Council. He was on the board of the Utah AIDS Coalition, the Utah Wilderness Alliance and other nonprofit groups. He is survived by three brothers and two nephews. A celebration of Duffin's life is set for Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Art Barn, 54 Finch Lane, Salt Lake City. A brief remembrance will begin at 5 p.m. In lieu of flowers, friends are encouraged to contribute to the Arts Council for a commission to be dedicated in his honor.   "Obituary"

Patty Willis and Mary Lou Prince

2014 Peggy Fletcher Stack of the Salt Lake Tribune reports in her article BYU Grads Found Love in Paris and New Faith Later on how Patty Willis and Mary Lou Prince, two lesbian Mormons, fell madly, deeply for each other in the City of Love – Paris – and how they are now building interfaith connections within the heartland of Mormonism.   “I spent my first 30 years in Mormonism and my second 30 years outside of it,” Prince says. “Now I want to build bridges. More than half of our singers used to be Mormon. It’s our tribe.”  The article shares their love story and how they are ministering through faith and music, including leading an interfaith choir that will sing a cantata written by Mary Lou at the LDS Assembly Hall on Temple Square on November 7, 2014.  The story has been covered by various news outlets nationwide. Prince’s brother, Greg Prince, is on the Affirmation Board of Directors and is referenced in the article as wondering if his sister had come out as lesbian in today’s world, whether she would have had to choose between her piety and her partner.  An excellent article about a beautiful couple.