This Day In Gay Utah History December 12th

December 12

1967 A new prostitution control ordinance containing a “serviceability section” designed to protect the measure in court was adopted by Salt Lake City Commissioners. The ordinance also states: Any person who shall solicit any person upon the streets, sidewalks, or any other public place within the corporate limits of Salt Lake City for sexual intercourse for hire or other lewd, lascivious, or obscene purpose or purposes shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.” The adoption of the new measure marks the 3rd time this year the commission has approved an anti-solicitation law. The city’s previous ordinances have been struck down by the courts as invalid or unconstitutional. (12/13/67 SLTribune page B2)

1986- The Salt Lake Men's Choir presented their traditional Christmas Concert at Bryant School in Salt Lake City

1986  Boy on Video Says He Was Forced to Have Sex (SLTribune B-1)

1988 -At tonight’s Beyond Stonewall 89 meeting, Dave Malmstrom resigned from the directorship. He said he was burned out and needed a break from community involvement and wanted to concentrate on his relationship with Chuck Thomas.

1988 DAVIS' ATTORNEY TO ASSIST MILLARD'S IN PROSECUTING 2 MURDER SUSPECTS  A Davis County attorney, who has experience with forensic evidence, will assist the Millard County attorney's office in prosecuting two defendants who are charged with the first degree murder of a Southern Utah State College student. Carvel Harward, Davis County chief deputy attorney, has been asked to help with the prosecution of Michael Anthony Archuleta, 26, and Lance Conway Wood, 20, according to Millard County Attorney Warren Peterson. Harward has expertise in the use of forensic evidence to determine the roles of multiple participants in crime and in deriving intent from forensics evidence. Peterson said Millard County will lead in the prosecution. Harward is in charge of the criminal division in the Davis County attorney's office. Archuleta and Wood are accused of the death of Gordon Ray Church, 28, Cedar City. His body was found near Kanosh, Millard County, Nov. 23. It appeared he had been beaten to death with a tire iron and a car jack. The defendants had both been paroled after serving prison sentences. The two men are being held in the Millard County jail in Fillmore. A gag order was placed on the case by Fillmore Justice of the Peace Ron Hare, informing officials not to discuss it in public

1989 -Mike Pipkim and I went to Unconditional Support (US) tonight to be with Bobbie Smith who is leading the group now.  He led a meeting on dating and it was a pretty good meeting but small.  Mike, Bobbie, and I agreed to let US tonight be our Sacred Faerie gathering for where ever two or more Faeries gather together the Gay Spirit is there also. (memoirs of Ben Williams)

1989 DID ARCHULETA ALTER STORY ON MURDER ROLE?  Prosecutors hope to rest their case Tuesday in the murder trial of Michael Anthony Archuleta, who, according to witnesses Monday, both denied and admitted to participating in the murder of Gordon Ray Church. Witnesses said Archuleta, 27, made several self-incriminating statements following his arrest a day after the bludgeoning murder of Church, who was killed during the early morning hours of Nov. 22, 1988. The victim's badly beaten body, gagged and draped in chains, was found under dirt and tree limbs north of Cove Fort in an area known as Dog Valley. Paula Sue Jones, Archuleta's live-in girlfriend at the time of the murder, said the defendant gave her conflicting accounts of how Church was murdered. She said Archuleta called her repeatedly from the Millard County Jail following his arrest and that he at first blamed the murder on co-defendant Lance Conway Wood, 21, who will be tried in February. According to testimony from Jones and officers to whom Archuleta spoke following his arrest, the defendant, in separate conversations, said he and Wood met the victim late Nov. 21 in Cedar City and paid him to take them driving. After being denied entrance to a Cedar City bar, the men drove east up Cedar Canyon where their talk turned to homosexuality. Sgt. Charles E. Stewart, Millard County Sheriff's deputy, testified that Archuleta told him that Wood pulled a knife on Church.

Robert Smith

1991 I went to Unconditional Support tonight because Michael Bryant is still hospitalized. Todd Bennett took me and there was only a small turn out tonight, Bob Manchertz, Todd Bennett, Dave Ball, Frank Loymeyer, Ron Trujillo, and myself.  We talked about the Salt Lake’s Men Choir again and its non supportive attitude to the Gay community.  Bobbie Smith said that the Utah Stonewall Center won’t fund any of the library’s needs or projects or put Bobbie on a payroll even though Melissa Sillitoe and Lisa Romano are drawing a salary.  (Memoirs of Ben Williams)

1992  Michael R. Ercanbrack of Ogden age 35, died at his home, from complications due to AIDS. He was born in Coalville He was raised in Ogden and moved to Denver, Colorado, where he worked for 13 years with the U.S. West Co.BRI. He returned to Ogden October 1991. Attended Ogden School for the deaf and Central Junior High School and graduated from Ben Lomand High School.

1993 THE SALT LAKE Men's Choir, under its new artistic director, Douglas Kinney, will perform this evening at 7 at Wasatch Presbyterian Church, 1626 S. 1700 East. With the theme "Christmas Comes Anew," the choir will offer music ranging from Beethoven and Vaughan Williams to Jule Style and Irving Berlin. Accompaniment will be by piano, organ, percussion and flute. Tickets are $10 from choir members or $12 at the door. For information call 485-2989

1995 PASSIONATE ABOUT HER CAUSE  The Salt Lake Tribune Page: B3 Caption:    Lynn

Renee Rinaldi

R. Johnson/The Salt Lake Tribune Renee Rinaldi left a corporate job to reorganize the Stonewall Center, Salt Lake's gay and lesbian community center. Utah Stonewall Center Gets a New Director Byline: By Lili Wright   As a member of Queer Nation in San Francisco, Renee Rinaldi hung posters, kissed women in public and got arrested in the line of duty. Not that Rinaldi can't meld into the mainstream. She was a librarian for Salt Lake County and worked in customer service for AT&T. But corporate America lacked the passion of a good cause. Now the 32-year-old Brigham Young University graduate directs the Utah Stonewall Center, Salt Lake City's gay and lesbian community center. ``I don't think I have to label this as a job in or out of the system,'' she says. ``The most important part of our role here is to work for the community. They are my boss.''    Named three weeks ago, Rinaldi replaces John Bennett, who stepped down in July. ``She was an excellent choice,'' says Hank Hannah, a Stonewall trustee. ``She is very dedicated, trustworthy and has a limitless amount of energy.''    Rinaldi was chosen from more than a dozen applicants for the $22,000-a-year post, according to Nikki Boyer, chairwoman of Stonewall's board of trustees.    ``She left a corporate job to take on an almost overwhelming job of reorganizing the Stonewall Center,'' says Boyer. ``She has been longtime community activist and [is] known as a hard worker. Besides, she writes a great [fund-raising] letter.''    Rinaldi's office is cluttered with the trappings of a gay activist -- rainbow pencils, a pink file cabinet, old T-shirts from a weekend craft sale. Since coming to Utah four years ago, she has joined many community activities, including the Lesbian and Gay Chorus, the Gay and Lesbian Community Council and the Anti-Violence Project. She is blunt about her goals as executive director. First, she wants to move. The Stonewall Center has already relocated once since its founding in 1991, but Rinaldi thinks the present location at 770 S. 300 West is too removed from the community it serves. The lease expires in June. ``I would like some place less like a warehouse and more like a community center,'' says Rinaldi, who envisions the new center as having a coffeehouse atmosphere with literary readings, chess and social hours. ``I would like a place in Sugar House or downtown.''  Which leads to her next problem. ``We need money,'' she says. ``We need huge amounts of money. We need it now.''  The center's 1995 budget was $47,000, virtually all of it raised through private donations and fund raising. Through an internal shuffling, Rinaldi's position was made full-time instead of part-time. While rumors circulated last summer that Stonewall would close, Rinaldi says it won't happen. She is currently sending out grant proposals to the private and public sector. ``We are always teetering on the financial edge, but close? No, no, no,'' she says. ``If it comes down to me walking the streets and begging, I would do that. There are too many people committed to us.'' After funding, Rinaldi sees dealing with controversy as her greatest challenge. Because her social and work circles are predominantly gay, Rinaldi says she often forgets about lingering prejudice, not only in Utah but across the country. Just this week, a ``Roseanne'' episode about two gay men marrying was aired by ABC 90 minutes later than usual because of its ``adult'' content.  ``I live in my little gay world,'' she says. ``I am always shocked when I step out and find there are people who hate us and would rather see us dead than give us any rights in this world. ``I would venture to say that no one in America doesn't know a gay person, although they might not know they are gay. We are everywhere. It's trite but it's true.''

1996- Richard (Raving) Myers Kiehl II, 36, shuffled of this mortal coil on December 12, 1996. One more casualty in the War on AIDS.  Preceded in death by his long time companion of nine years, Todd Phillips.  Survived by his family of friends, Eric Nielsen, Dennis Arbogast, Allen Rieger, Carolyn Wood, and Jack Droitcourt. Special thanks to Dr. Kristen Ries; Dr. Maggie Snyder; the University of Utah's Infectious Disease Clinic's staff; Rachel Krinsky, and the Utah AIDS Foundation; Cori Sutherland  and the People with AIDS Coalition of Utah. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Utah AIDS Foundation in Rick's name will be gratefully accepted.

1998 Page: B3 Cops Oppose Personnel-File Policy; Suit challenges access to sensitive data such as sexual orientation, dating habits Byline: BY RAY RIVERA THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE  In June, Salt Lake City made it easier to obtain internal affairs and personnel records of its police officers. Now, the department's rank-and-file members are calling the new policy just another attempt to embarrass and undermine the union. The 500-member Salt Lake Police Association has filed a lawsuit in 3rd District Court challenging the new, less restrictive access to what the union calls sensitive details of its officers' lives, such as sexual orientation, dating practices, home addresses and Social Security numbers. The policy has already been used to release sensitive information about union leaders who have been critical of Police Chief Ruben Ortega's administration, the lawsuit alleges. Ortega and the union have been at bitter odds through much of his six-year tenure. Prior to June, the city did not release confidential internal investigation and personnel records without a court order or a judicial review.  That changed shortly after the association informed the city it would be filing a federal lawsuit against the administration for anti-union activities. It was no coincidence, the lawsuit alleges.    The union also asserts the policy changed as a result of its support of a civilian review process opposed by Ortega and his administration. Under the new policy, a third party, ``including an incarcerated person,'' need only serve the city a subpoena. ``While the new policy potentially impacts all police officers equally, the reality is that the impact is felt by the rank-and-file officers'' because they -- not the administration -- make the arrests, the lawsuit claims.  But Chief Deputy City Attorney Steven Allred said the policy was changed out of practicality.  ``One of the things we were finding was that there was increased demand on our office's time to defend these [record request] matters, and more importantly the district court was beginning to rule that these matters were discoverable,'' Allred said. He also said police officers are subject to no different public information policies than any other city employee, and that his office continues to scrutinize requests to keep sensitive information such as Social Security numbers and home addresses private. ``The only difference is the police department is the only department with its own self-contained internal affairs unit,'' Allred said. That's the rub, contends the union. Under Ortega's administration, the union says the police department has granted the internal affairs unit broad authority to investigate complaints against police officers. That includes allegations involving drug and alcohol use, suicide attempts, bad debts, marital disharmony, dating, sexual orientation and activity, domestic-relations disputes and secondary employment. The internal affairs records are maintained regardless of whether the complaints are found to be frivolous or without merit, the union asserts.  Allred said he knew of no internal affairs files that had been released that included information such as sexual orientation or dating practices.  According to the lawsuit, the department released all internal affairs records of Officer David P. Greer, a past union president and current president-elect, in response to a subpoena from a defendant Greer had arrested. In another criminal case, the city allegedly agreed to release all the internal affairs and personnel records of Officer Jill Candland, the union's acting president. After the city refused to provide her with a lawyer in the matter, she represented herself and persuaded a judge that the records were irrelevant.   Candland also has a lawsuit pending in federal court against a police supervisor and the city, claiming she was demoted from her position as a homicide detective because of her union activities and gender. In that suit, she claims Ortega threatened reprisals against any union member who signed a ``no confidence'' vote against him. Tensions between Ortega and the rank-and-file members emerged as the most prominent issue in a 10-month-long audit of the administration earlier this year.

1998 Salt Lake Men's Choir held its 16th annual Christmas Concert; "To shorten the winter's sadness"

1999 Sunday The Salt Lake Men's Choir presented its 17th annual Holiday Concert at the First United Methodist Church.3:00 & 7:00 PM. tickets are around $10.00 and the CD to be $15.00. Note that Manuel is one of our accompanists, and is  playing on the CD. Sunday, December 12th - No Affirmation meeting in Ogden, because of the annual Christmas concert of the Salt Lake Men's Choir. Affirmation’s Ogden coordinator, Kim Saunders, is in the choir, The performances are at 2:00pm and 7:00pm, at First Methodist Church, 203 E 200 S in Salt Lake. Tickets are $10 ($8 for students and seniors), but if you mention you're with Affirmation you will get the group rate of $8.

2003 Ursel H. Allred A Class Act  Ursel took a final bow and the curtain closed on the life of

a fascinating human being and a remarkable teacher  Dec. 12th. Born July 23, 1925 at Leeton, Utah to Ines Meranda and James Heber Allred. Home was a farm in the Uintah Basin, he excelled in school and participated in extracurricular activities to stay away from the farm. Graduated from Alterra High, class of 43. To avoid the draft, he joined the Navy. The Navy shipped him to Saipan, Mariana Islands and later to Japan as part of the post war occupation force. Claims he grew up fast. Out of the navy, into BYU obtaining degree in theatre arts in 1949. As he wrote "I found a field of work I loved and now on to teaching." First stop was Uintah High School between 1949 to 1951 while attending graduate school at the U of U during the summers. He took a year off to attend grad school learning as much about "acting, directing and all facets of theatre" as possible. Signed on at South High in 1952 where he met "great students and did exciting plays. and theatre work." In 1957, he transferred to Highland High where he spent the next thirty years having the time of my life-working with outstanding students and colleagues, producing, directing and teaching theatre They produced "nearly all the big and exciting musicals during those years "for the school play. Ursel liked pushing the envelop, he selected interesting material, demanded a lot and gave a lot. Consequently, the students won many state drama awards for best play and individual acting during his tenure. He retired in 1987. Retirement did not diminish his love of theatre, it merely put him in the audience rather than directing. He embarked on theatre and opera tours to New York, London, San Francisco, and Santa Fe along with attending "local theatre productions, the symphony, the opera and having a pleasant life'" working in his yard, reading vociferously, and cultivating friendships. He managed to stay incredibly active in spite of a number of health problems over the past few of years. Preceded in death by parents, brother and his closest friend and lifelong collaborator, Jack Vigos.  Survived by nephews, colleagues, former students and friends along the road. A special thank you to the crew and patrons at Over the Counter cafe.  He appreciated the service, friendships and conversations. The flowers were a great tribute. As per his wishes, his remains were cremated to be interred at Wasatch Lawn. A memorial service will he held. at the First Unitarian Church at 569 South 1300 East, on Monday_ January 12 at 5:00 pm.  In lieu of flowers, he suggested a contribution to any theatre group, the symphony or the opera.  Urs, we'll miss you.

• Harold "Jack" Vigos, of Salt Lake City, 1914-1983

  

  was a talented painter and teacher who studied with Mabel Frazer(among others) at the University of Utah (Phi Beta Kappa, B.A.) before becoming an art instructor at several local high schools. he also studied in France and took private lessons later from the well-known muralist Florence Ware (q.v.). Vigos was a teacher at South High School from 1945 to 1956, and then initiated studio art courses at newly built Highland High School. This energetic man was also an instructor at the Pioneer Craft House (q.v.) for fifteen seasons; he spent a total of forty-five years as a teacher in the Salt Lake City schools. During his long and productive career, the painter was also very active in the Associated Utah Artists and is represented by his work in numerous area collections. The style of Vigos' paintings is essentially realistic; his Sea Gulls (1950), perhaps this artist's best-known work locally, is owned by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.

2009 Noir: A Black and White Ball Saturday, Dec. 12 By Jacob Stringer Salt Lake City Weekly Founded in 1976, the Salt Lake City chapter of the Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire is the longest-standing gay and lesbian nonprofit fundraising organization in Utah. This unique community group raises funds for cancer and AIDS awareness, and its annual Black and White Ball specifically celebrates its PWA Christmas Fund. The fund’s aim is to gift $100 or more to as many people as possible to make a brighter season for those living with HIV/AIDS. Although the first image that may pop into your mind when you initially hear about the R.C.G.S.E. is one of a group of drag queens throwing a perennial party—and believe it, they do know how to party—remember that it is also an organization with a remarkable record of taking care of Utahns in need. Noir: A Black and White Ball @ Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Saturday, Dec. 12, 6-10 p.m., 801- 355-ARTS, RCGSE.org

2012 LDS and gays Speaking of being gay, LDS apostle Dallin H. Oaks said: "It's no sin to have inclinations that if yielded to would produce behavior that would be a transgression. … The sin is in yielding to temptation. Temptation is not unique. Even the Savior was tempted." Re "New Mormon church website has softer tone on gays" (Tribune, Dec. 6). So, now Mormons view being gay the way they do alcohol: The desire to drink is not a sin, but drinking is. On its new website, www.mormonsandgays.org, LDS officials say that same-sex attraction is "not an illness or a disease," yet it seems that Oaks is saying exactly that. That being gay is a disability the same way being an alcoholic is. Granted, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has come a long way from saying that even the attraction to one's own sex is a sin that one must repent of by changing one's nature. Now, it's OK to be a same-sex-attracted eunuch, to shut down one's emotional and love life. And that's being championed as spiritual progress? Steve Howard

2014 Ha resigns as executive director of Utah Pride Center; board elects new officers QSL 

The Utah Pride Center announced today that its executive director, Steven Ha, has resigned, effective immediately. Also, John Netto is also no longer the president of the

John Netto

board of directors as the board elected new leaders at their December board meeting. Elected as president of the board was Kent Frogley, who had been the vice president. Christopher Wharton was elected as vice president, Kathleen Boyd as treasurer and Jason Suker as secretary. “The Utah Pride Center today accepted the resignation of executive director Steven Ha and would like to thank him for his service,” Frogley said in a statement. “Mr. Ha was recently diagnosed with a recurrence of lymphoma and is stepping down.” “The mental health programs that Steven helped put in place are serving many members of our community and we look forward to building on the foundation Steven created during his tenure at the Utah Pride Center,” Frogley continued. “Day-to-day operations will continue under the direction of Sheila Raboy in the position of interim operations director. She has resigned from the UPC Board of Directors in order to fill this important role and ensure continuity of programs. The highly capable Utah Pride Center staff, along with Sheila, will collaboratively work to maintain and improve the programs, services and events offered through UPC.” The Center will announce plans for a search for a new executive director after the first of the year. In the interim, the UPC Board will oversee the ongoing growth and expansion of programs, events, and partnerships. Ha became the executive director in February with an expectation to serve for one year after the Center was on a search to replace Valerie Larabee, who resigned in October, 2013. Ha joined the board of directors of the Center after the family of David Phan, the 14-year-old who committed suicide at Bennion Jr. high in Taylorsville in December of 2012, asked him to introduce them to gay community leaders in the hope of assembling a group to address issues faced by gay-ethnic youth. He was elected treasurer of the organization in December, 2013. Ha focused on positioning the Center as a mental health provider in part as a way to increase revenue. He has also been focusing on grant writing and other efforts to progress the Center to the next level.

Kent Frogley

At the December board meeting, John Netto announced that his year term as president of the board was an appropriate time to “walk away” as he moved his focus to financing the building, managing a CDFA grant and writing other grants to move the construction of the building forward. At that meeting, the board also voted to set up a new non-profit organization to own and manage the building, with a small lease agreement to the Center. Separating the building from the organization itself will allow that group to seek funds otherwise not available to the Center. Frogley joined the Center’s board of directors in 2012. He is currently the assistant vice president of institutional marketing and communications for Salt Lake Community College. He has also lead global marketing at FranklinCovey, was partner at Taylor Fife Kent and has been at O.C. Tanner, Saatchi & Saatchi DFS and Bates Worldwide.