January 8
 |
| Ziggy Stardust aka David Bowie |
1976 The Salt Lake Tribune’s Executive Editor
held an opinion that “Two women who had applied for a marriage license in Salt
Lake County probably should have been issued one, according to Utah law. Utah statue does not specifically prohibit
marriage between members of the same sex, a spokesman in the Salt Lake County
Attorney office said Wednesday. The women were referred to the county attorney
Tuesday when they attempted to obtain a license. However they didn’t go to that
office.
1977 Saturday
Utah Daily Chronicle pg. 4 The Flaming Feminist Susanne Millsap. There is a
distinct split starting to develop in the feminist movement in the Salt Lake
City and it is getting bigger by the day. It’s the same split that has been
pulling at the women’s movement in the rest of the country for several years
but as usual Salt Lake is still ten years behind the rest of the world. The
split I see happening is the division occurring between women who are Gay (or
those supporting Gay women), and straight women who for one reason or another,
cannot support Gays. It is still risky to admit to being Lesbian, in this
society, particularly in Utah.
1979-Diane Feinstein, acting mayor of San
Francisco, appointed Harry Britt, a gay man, to take Harvey Milk's seat on the
Board of Supervisors.
 |
| Michael Aaron |
1988- Clariss Cartier of the Royal Court presented
The Newly
Wed Game at Puss-N-Boots Club in SLC Utah
 |
| Clariss Cartier aka Doug Tollstrup |
.jpg) |
| Val Mansfield |
2003 Robert Waldrop- My goodness, nothing like a
blast from the past. I don't get back to SLC much anymore, the last time I was
there was a couple of years ago for the funeral of an old libertarian comrade,
Kaylin Robinson who sadly died in a trailer house fire. She was younger than I. sigh.
I was amazed at how much Salt Lake City had changed. Fortunately, Kostas on 11th east was still
there as was the Other Place, although it had moved and its new location wasn't
anywhere near as funky as the old Other place.
Prices were higher too. (OKC is
like SLC used to be, very
cheap cost of living) and then of course there were
the Greek Souvlaki restaurants, hehehe.
Oh well, "the one who trusts in the Lord shall be made fat."
Good to hear from you. I work for the Catholic Church these days, as director
of music at a large suburban parish (1500 families, I have 40 people in my
choir and a pipe organ originally built in 1865). I am also the founder of a small lay
community, the Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House. We deliver food to people in
need who don't have transportation to get to a regular food bank, we do upwards
of 100 deliveries every week, sigh, times are getting hard for many people. We
are also involved with food security, sustainable
living, energy conservation, and peace One thing I really miss about SLC is
KRCL radio, we have nothing like it here, I keep talking about it, but thus far
there hasn't been enough interest to pull together a group to get something on
the air. KRCL should send us some missionaries. Good to hear from you. Peace and all good to you and all you love.
Bob Waldrop OKC, 73106
 |
| Bob Waldrop |
2003 - BY GLEN WARCHOL THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Judge Upholds Lifting of Gay Bar's Liquor
License; Club's Lawyer Plans Appeal A 3rd District judge lifted a stay on the
revocation of a Salt Lake City gay bar's liquor license Tuesday, saying the
club is unlikely to win its appeal. The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage
Control pulled Club Blue's license for allowing lewd behavior on the premises
last October. DABC officials said the private club's violations, which included
allowing nude employees to serve alcohol and letting revelers expose and fondle
genitals, were the worst they had ever seen.
Judge Joseph Fratto had earlier stayed the license revocation until the
club could present its case in court.
Club Blue's lawyer, Marlin Criddle, said the club intends to proceed
with its appeal of the revocation even though Fratto's ruling will shut down
the club. Criddle argued the behavior in
question took place at a closed party when the club was not open for regular
business, therefore state restrictions on its liquor license should not apply.
"[The DABC's interpretation] limits the club owner from using his premises
for other legitimate purposes," he said. Mike Webb, Club Blue's owner, has
complained his club was targeted by the state and city because its members are
predominately gay. Assistant Attorney
General Thom Roberts, representing the DABC, argued before Fratto that liquor
regulations do not just apply at the license holder's "whim" in
deciding his premises are open. "There is nothing to limit when these
restrictions apply, therefore they apply all the time."
2006 Sunday Wear RED and join the Utah AIDS Foundation
and all of our friends to
watch…Brokeback Mountain From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ang Lee comes an
epic American love story, Brokeback Mountain. Set against the sweeping vistas
of Wyoming and Texas, the film tells the story of two young men -- a ranch-hand
and a rodeo cowboy -- who meet in the summer of 1963, and unexpectedly forge a
lifelong connection, one whose complications, joys, and tragedies provide a
testament to the endurance and power of love.
Brokeback Mountain Sunday, January 8th 2006 3:30 p.m. @ The Broadway
5.25/per person You may have seen this once, some twice, and I have heard of
people seeing it thrice; however you haven’t seen it with your UAF
Friends. Watch the movie and step over
to the Salt Lake Roasting Company afterwards to chat about your thoughts and
impressions of the film with friends.
Salt Lake Roasting Company Sunday, January 8th 2006 6:00p.m. @ 320 E 400
S Please WEAR RED so we know who's who.
We hope to see you there!!!
2006 Please join the Human Rights Campaign and
Showtime for The L Word Season Three Premiere!
Sunday, January 8, 2006 Doors
Open: 4:00 p.m. Show Begins: 5:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m., 11:00 p.m. Mo Diggity's - A Private Club for
Members 3424 S State Salt Lake City, UT
84115 Admission to screening is free
and open to the public. For More Info: Email TheLWord@...
2014 Utah’s action on gay marriages ‘puts my kids in jeopardy’ ‘On hold’ • Couples who are in the processes of applying for marriage licenses or benefits must wait for court rulings to proceed.BY BROOKE ADAMS AND MATTHEW PIPER THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Michael Ferguson leans into his husband Seth Anderson after they were married at the Salt Lake County offices, Friday December 20, 2013. With them are friends Blake Ferguson, left, and Danielle Morgan. Michael Ferguson and Seth Anderson, (holding their marriage certificate) were the first couple to be married under the now legal same sex marriage decision handed down by a federal judge just minutes before their ceremony. The state will not recognize the validity of marriages that occurred before the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a district court judge’s decision overturning a ban on gay marriage, the governor’s office announced Wednesday. In a letter to state agencies, Derek Miller, chief of staff to Gov. Gary Herbert, said those marriages will be “on hold” while it appeals the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby. “Please understand this position is not intended to comment on the legal status of those same-sex marriages,” the letter said. “That is for the courts to decide.” With a stay in place, the original laws governing marriage in Utah are again in effect. In his letter, Miller told state agency directors that the state’s existing law prohibits not only performing same-sex marriages, but also recognizing them. Clerks in Utah’s 29 counties estimate they issued more than 1,300 marriage licenses in the 17 days before the stay was granted. “Wherever individuals are in the process of availing themselves of state services related to same-sex marital status, that process is on hold and will stay exactly in that position until a final court decision is issued,” the letter said. If couples had already received, for example, new driver licenses reflecting new names, those licenses will not be revoked, the letter said. But couples may not now seek new licenses. “If someone was four steps along in the process, they stop at step four and they remain at step four until we get further direction from the court,” Miller said. Likewise, if a couple had completed a process — whether that was filing for health insurance coverage or preparing joint taxes — they are now frozen at that point, he said. “Wherever anyone was at, that is now frozen in time until we receive further direction from the courts,” Miller said. “We recognize it is the courts that will decide the validity and legality of those same-sex marriages. But we do need to follow the law, and the law tells us we are prohibited from recognizing those marriages.” Miller also said licenses, valid for 30 days, issued to couples who had not yet married would be frozen, too, until there is a final court decision. The state’s decision has attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice, which confirmed Wednesday that it is reviewing the governor’s decision. Amy Fowler, 35, who married partner of three years Pidge Winburn, 37, at the Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office on Dec. 30, said it was “heart-wrenching” to have those rights — at least in the interim — taken away. “Before we were able to get married, we sort of knew … we knew the line of ‘Here are the things that we don’t get. We live in Utah and we choose to live here and so whatever, we’ll put up with this. One day it will change,’” she said. “And then in a blink of an eye, all of that changes. And lo and behold, the earth did not open up and swallow Salt Lake City.” Fowler said same-sex couples were in the process of evaluating their insurance, taxes and even adoptions, and now, “We’re back to Square One, but with the most devastating feeling.” Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes informed the governor that his office had been unable to reach a legal conclusion on the “ultimate validity” of same-sex marriages performed between Dec. 20, when Shelby ruled, and Jan. 6, when the Supreme Court granted the state’s request for a stay. “That question remains unanswered, and the answer will depend on the result of the appeal process,” Reyes said Wednesday. He said a review team has been set up to advise state agencies on a case-by-case basis about what to do now. “We acknowledge that this is a very difficult situation for many,” Reyes said in a statement. “It was the reason our office sought the stay of the district court’s decision immediately. We wanted to avoid the untenable situation in which many of our citizens find themselves. We are diligently seeking certainty for all Utahns through a proper and orderly legal process.” The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has set an expedited briefing schedule for the appeal, with all filings from both sides due by the end of February. It has not yet set a date for oral arguments in the case Peggy A. Tomsic, who with James E. Magleby represents three same-sex couples who challenged Utah’s Amendment 3, called the decision “unprecedented and disappointing.” The decision “harms not only my clients, but hundreds of other same-sex couples who also were legally married, and whose families have been needlessly destabilized and stripped of basic legal protection,” Tomsic said in a statement. “Regardless of how the state believes the 10th Circuit will ultimately rule, these couples are legally married, and the state should treat them accordingly.” Tomsic said married couples were encouraged to consult their own attorneys about what to do in light of the state’s decision. Michael Ferguson was the first to wed Dec. 20 at the Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office, having rushed over with his partner, Seth Anderson, from The Queens’ Tea shop that they own. They were both working again Wednesday when they learned about Herbert’s order, which prompted a very different reaction than Shelby’s ruling. “It was this realization of like, ‘Wow, Gov. Herbert really hates our families so much that he will spend any amount of money to break apart our families,’” Ferguson said. Ferguson said he and Anderson will continue to relish the joy of being newlyweds. But they had begun to look into joining the same insurance plan at the University of Utah and filing taxes jointly both as residents and business owners — and even if they hadn’t taken such steps, he shouldn’t have to justify his indignation. “I get really annoyed when the conversation is how big or small the inconveniences are for second-class citizens,” he said. Weston Clark is a stay-at-home dad in Salt Lake City. He and partner Brandon Mark have a 3-year-old adopted son, Xander, and just this week added a 7-day-old baby girl named Zoe to their family. They were married at the clerk’s office by Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker Dec. 20 after seeing photos posted by Anderson on social media and realizing that Shelby’s ruling made it possible. Even then, Clark felt the state would likely invalidate the marriage. But if it doesn’t quite surprise him, Herbert’s order on Wednesday — and his mention of protecting Utah families — does anger him. “His attempt to not recognize my marriage puts my kids in jeopardy and endangers their security,” Clark said. “If that’s what he believes is important to protect families, then I think his concept of protecting Utah families is all sorts of messed-up.” Doug NeJaime, a law professor at UC Irvine School of Law in California, said the line the state intends to draw between actions taken or not taken could be hard to maintain. “What if a couple requested health benefits before this and continue to access going forward,” NeJaime said. “There are ways in which this is going to create a lot of questions for people in state government.” The other big question, NeJaime added, is the different consideration same-sex couples may receive from the federal government versus the state government, which is also occurring in other states where gay marriage is not recognized. That said, he called the state’s decision a “middle position.” “They are not saying the marriages are void,” NeJaime said. “And they are not commenting on the ultimate validity of them. It’s a middle position that they are trying to carefully carve out, it seems.” The ACLU of Utah sent Reyes a letter Wednesday offering its opinion that the state should recognize any marriages that occurred before the Supreme Court issued a stay. “These marriages are valid and have vested the married couples with rights that the state and federal government must recognize,” said John Mejia, legal director, in that letter. “Any efforts to retroactively invalidate those licenses would fail because these marriages are protected by the due process guarantees of the Utah and United States constitutions.” On Wednesday afternoon, the ACLU tweeted that it is seeking plaintiffs for a lawsuit to protect rights of same-sex couples who married in Utah. The ACLU said in its letter that the “precise issue” at stake in Utah has not been addressed by any court, but several courts have ruled in similar cases that marriages cannot be retroactively invalidated. The California Supreme Court, for example, in 2004 initially invalidated 4,000 marriage licenses issued by clerks in San Francisco in defiance of state law but then, after couples sued, ruled in May 2008 that same-sex marriage was a fundamental, protected right. That upended a ban on gay marriage in place since 2000. Some 18,000 California couples had married by Nov. 4, 2008, when voters passed Proposition 8 to again ban same-sex marriages. About two months after the general election, the California Supreme Court ruled the marriages that occurred before passage of Proposition 8 were valid. Bill Duncan, president of the Marriage Law Foundation and the Sutherland Institute’s Center on Family and Society, said the state’s decision was the “obvious” one. “There is hardly a lot of choice the governor had,” Duncan said. “The situation Shelby created when he refused to issue a stay has created a lot of confusion about the status of those who took advantage [of the situation] and got marriage licenses. We are not quite sure what the legal status of those marriages would be. There was a lot of uncertainty injected into the situation by the failure to issue a stay.” But the governor’s choice wasn’t so clear in the eyes of others. Utah Democratic Party chairman and state Sen. Jim Dabakis says the Herbert’s directive was unexpected. “This is the governor deciding unilaterally — taking all power to himself — to destroy more than 1,000 loving marriages and leave hundreds of children without two parents,” he said. “On a whim. It’s outrageous.” Dabakis says he and partner Stephen Justeson waited 27 years to be legally married in the state they call home, and joked that “they can take that wedding certificate out of my cold, dead hands.” Shelby’s Dec. 20 ruling rendered legal all of the marriages that occurred, Dabakis says, and the state is overstepping its authority by refusing to recognize those marriages. “Stay means stop,” he said. “It doesn’t mean, go back and change history. Those were legal, lawful marriage licenses given by the state of Utah.” Brigham Young University law professor and Amendment 3 co-author Lynn Wardle had not yet read Herbert’s letter but said there is some merit to Dabakis’ argument that a stay does not apply retroactively. “At the same time, I would also say that the governor’s position is pretty valid,” he said, adding that it took courage for Herbert to take a position that is unpopular in some pockets. Wardle said he feels the state will win on an eventual appeal to the Supreme Court — “The 10th Circuit is too insecure to not do what they think is the latest trend” — but that people who were married while Shelby’s order was in effect were following the law of the land. “I tend to believe that you have to rely on the law, even if it’s a bad law,” he said. But he doesn’t have much sympathy for them, personally. “The opportunists who have lined up to get marriage licenses, they knew what they were doing,” he said. “It’s a political act. It’s designed to create headlines and generate attention.” Love Elevated — a mass reception for Utah’s same-sex marriages QSaltLake, Le Croissant Catering, X96 and UtahGayWeddings.com are teaming to host “Love Elevated,” a celebration of same-sex marriages that occurred in the 17 days since U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby’s ruling. The 21-and-over event will be held at The Rail Event Center, with donations going toward Restore Our Humanity — the group that funded the lawsuit. Doors open at 6 p.m.
2014 Supporters of Utah’s gay marriage ban gather for rally in Orem Amendment 3 • State’s rights, religion, and child-rearing speak to upholding law, say legislators, activists
2014 Utah’s action on gay marriages ‘puts my kids in jeopardy’ ‘On hold’ • Couples who are in the processes of applying for marriage licenses or benefits must wait for court rulings to proceed.BY BROOKE ADAMS AND MATTHEW PIPER THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune Michael Ferguson leans into his husband Seth Anderson after they were married at the Salt Lake County offices, Friday December 20, 2013. With them are friends Blake Ferguson, left, and Danielle Morgan. Michael Ferguson and Seth Anderson, (holding their marriage certificate) were the first couple to be married under the now legal same sex marriage decision handed down by a federal judge just minutes before their ceremony. The state will not recognize the validity of marriages that occurred before the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a district court judge’s decision overturning a ban on gay marriage, the governor’s office announced Wednesday. In a letter to state agencies, Derek Miller, chief of staff to Gov. Gary Herbert, said those marriages will be “on hold” while it appeals the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby. “Please understand this position is not intended to comment on the legal status of those same-sex marriages,” the letter said. “That is for the courts to decide.” With a stay in place, the original laws governing marriage in Utah are again in effect. In his letter, Miller told state agency directors that the state’s existing law prohibits not only performing same-sex marriages, but also recognizing them. Clerks in Utah’s 29 counties estimate they issued more than 1,300 marriage licenses in the 17 days before the stay was granted. “Wherever individuals are in the process of availing themselves of state services related to same-sex marital status, that process is on hold and will stay exactly in that position until a final court decision is issued,” the letter said. If couples had already received, for example, new driver licenses reflecting new names, those licenses will not be revoked, the letter said. But couples may not now seek new licenses. “If someone was four steps along in the process, they stop at step four and they remain at step four until we get further direction from the court,” Miller said. Likewise, if a couple had completed a process — whether that was filing for health insurance coverage or preparing joint taxes — they are now frozen at that point, he said. “Wherever anyone was at, that is now frozen in time until we receive further direction from the courts,” Miller said. “We recognize it is the courts that will decide the validity and legality of those same-sex marriages. But we do need to follow the law, and the law tells us we are prohibited from recognizing those marriages.” Miller also said licenses, valid for 30 days, issued to couples who had not yet married would be frozen, too, until there is a final court decision. The state’s decision has attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice, which confirmed Wednesday that it is reviewing the governor’s decision. Amy Fowler, 35, who married partner of three years Pidge Winburn, 37, at the Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office on Dec. 30, said it was “heart-wrenching” to have those rights — at least in the interim — taken away. “Before we were able to get married, we sort of knew … we knew the line of ‘Here are the things that we don’t get. We live in Utah and we choose to live here and so whatever, we’ll put up with this. One day it will change,’” she said. “And then in a blink of an eye, all of that changes. And lo and behold, the earth did not open up and swallow Salt Lake City.” Fowler said same-sex couples were in the process of evaluating their insurance, taxes and even adoptions, and now, “We’re back to Square One, but with the most devastating feeling.” Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes informed the governor that his office had been unable to reach a legal conclusion on the “ultimate validity” of same-sex marriages performed between Dec. 20, when Shelby ruled, and Jan. 6, when the Supreme Court granted the state’s request for a stay. “That question remains unanswered, and the answer will depend on the result of the appeal process,” Reyes said Wednesday. He said a review team has been set up to advise state agencies on a case-by-case basis about what to do now. “We acknowledge that this is a very difficult situation for many,” Reyes said in a statement. “It was the reason our office sought the stay of the district court’s decision immediately. We wanted to avoid the untenable situation in which many of our citizens find themselves. We are diligently seeking certainty for all Utahns through a proper and orderly legal process.” The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has set an expedited briefing schedule for the appeal, with all filings from both sides due by the end of February. It has not yet set a date for oral arguments in the case Peggy A. Tomsic, who with James E. Magleby represents three same-sex couples who challenged Utah’s Amendment 3, called the decision “unprecedented and disappointing.” The decision “harms not only my clients, but hundreds of other same-sex couples who also were legally married, and whose families have been needlessly destabilized and stripped of basic legal protection,” Tomsic said in a statement. “Regardless of how the state believes the 10th Circuit will ultimately rule, these couples are legally married, and the state should treat them accordingly.” Tomsic said married couples were encouraged to consult their own attorneys about what to do in light of the state’s decision. Michael Ferguson was the first to wed Dec. 20 at the Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office, having rushed over with his partner, Seth Anderson, from The Queens’ Tea shop that they own. They were both working again Wednesday when they learned about Herbert’s order, which prompted a very different reaction than Shelby’s ruling. “It was this realization of like, ‘Wow, Gov. Herbert really hates our families so much that he will spend any amount of money to break apart our families,’” Ferguson said. Ferguson said he and Anderson will continue to relish the joy of being newlyweds. But they had begun to look into joining the same insurance plan at the University of Utah and filing taxes jointly both as residents and business owners — and even if they hadn’t taken such steps, he shouldn’t have to justify his indignation. “I get really annoyed when the conversation is how big or small the inconveniences are for second-class citizens,” he said. Weston Clark is a stay-at-home dad in Salt Lake City. He and partner Brandon Mark have a 3-year-old adopted son, Xander, and just this week added a 7-day-old baby girl named Zoe to their family. They were married at the clerk’s office by Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker Dec. 20 after seeing photos posted by Anderson on social media and realizing that Shelby’s ruling made it possible. Even then, Clark felt the state would likely invalidate the marriage. But if it doesn’t quite surprise him, Herbert’s order on Wednesday — and his mention of protecting Utah families — does anger him. “His attempt to not recognize my marriage puts my kids in jeopardy and endangers their security,” Clark said. “If that’s what he believes is important to protect families, then I think his concept of protecting Utah families is all sorts of messed-up.” Doug NeJaime, a law professor at UC Irvine School of Law in California, said the line the state intends to draw between actions taken or not taken could be hard to maintain. “What if a couple requested health benefits before this and continue to access going forward,” NeJaime said. “There are ways in which this is going to create a lot of questions for people in state government.” The other big question, NeJaime added, is the different consideration same-sex couples may receive from the federal government versus the state government, which is also occurring in other states where gay marriage is not recognized. That said, he called the state’s decision a “middle position.” “They are not saying the marriages are void,” NeJaime said. “And they are not commenting on the ultimate validity of them. It’s a middle position that they are trying to carefully carve out, it seems.” The ACLU of Utah sent Reyes a letter Wednesday offering its opinion that the state should recognize any marriages that occurred before the Supreme Court issued a stay. “These marriages are valid and have vested the married couples with rights that the state and federal government must recognize,” said John Mejia, legal director, in that letter. “Any efforts to retroactively invalidate those licenses would fail because these marriages are protected by the due process guarantees of the Utah and United States constitutions.” On Wednesday afternoon, the ACLU tweeted that it is seeking plaintiffs for a lawsuit to protect rights of same-sex couples who married in Utah. The ACLU said in its letter that the “precise issue” at stake in Utah has not been addressed by any court, but several courts have ruled in similar cases that marriages cannot be retroactively invalidated. The California Supreme Court, for example, in 2004 initially invalidated 4,000 marriage licenses issued by clerks in San Francisco in defiance of state law but then, after couples sued, ruled in May 2008 that same-sex marriage was a fundamental, protected right. That upended a ban on gay marriage in place since 2000. Some 18,000 California couples had married by Nov. 4, 2008, when voters passed Proposition 8 to again ban same-sex marriages. About two months after the general election, the California Supreme Court ruled the marriages that occurred before passage of Proposition 8 were valid. Bill Duncan, president of the Marriage Law Foundation and the Sutherland Institute’s Center on Family and Society, said the state’s decision was the “obvious” one. “There is hardly a lot of choice the governor had,” Duncan said. “The situation Shelby created when he refused to issue a stay has created a lot of confusion about the status of those who took advantage [of the situation] and got marriage licenses. We are not quite sure what the legal status of those marriages would be. There was a lot of uncertainty injected into the situation by the failure to issue a stay.” But the governor’s choice wasn’t so clear in the eyes of others. Utah Democratic Party chairman and state Sen. Jim Dabakis says the Herbert’s directive was unexpected. “This is the governor deciding unilaterally — taking all power to himself — to destroy more than 1,000 loving marriages and leave hundreds of children without two parents,” he said. “On a whim. It’s outrageous.” Dabakis says he and partner Stephen Justeson waited 27 years to be legally married in the state they call home, and joked that “they can take that wedding certificate out of my cold, dead hands.” Shelby’s Dec. 20 ruling rendered legal all of the marriages that occurred, Dabakis says, and the state is overstepping its authority by refusing to recognize those marriages. “Stay means stop,” he said. “It doesn’t mean, go back and change history. Those were legal, lawful marriage licenses given by the state of Utah.” Brigham Young University law professor and Amendment 3 co-author Lynn Wardle had not yet read Herbert’s letter but said there is some merit to Dabakis’ argument that a stay does not apply retroactively. “At the same time, I would also say that the governor’s position is pretty valid,” he said, adding that it took courage for Herbert to take a position that is unpopular in some pockets. Wardle said he feels the state will win on an eventual appeal to the Supreme Court — “The 10th Circuit is too insecure to not do what they think is the latest trend” — but that people who were married while Shelby’s order was in effect were following the law of the land. “I tend to believe that you have to rely on the law, even if it’s a bad law,” he said. But he doesn’t have much sympathy for them, personally. “The opportunists who have lined up to get marriage licenses, they knew what they were doing,” he said. “It’s a political act. It’s designed to create headlines and generate attention.” Love Elevated — a mass reception for Utah’s same-sex marriages QSaltLake, Le Croissant Catering, X96 and UtahGayWeddings.com are teaming to host “Love Elevated,” a celebration of same-sex marriages that occurred in the 17 days since U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby’s ruling. The 21-and-over event will be held at The Rail Event Center, with donations going toward Restore Our Humanity — the group that funded the lawsuit. Doors open at 6 p.m.
2014 Supporters of Utah’s gay marriage ban gather for rally in Orem Amendment 3 • State’s rights, religion, and child-rearing speak to upholding law, say legislators, activists
BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Orem • The legal battle over Utah’s same-sex
marriage ban concerns a state’s rights issue with religious, moral and
traditional underpinnings, state legislators and activists said at a rally in
support of Utah’s Amendment 3 Wednesday. “This is a sacred issue,” said Rep. LaVar
Christensen, R-Draper, who wrote the law defining marriage between a man and a
woman. “It is absolutely constitutional for people to have a moral and religious
basis for public policy, along with other social and historical
justifications.” Speaking to a crowd of about 75 people at a
Golden Corral restaurant, Christensen, like other speakers, said he didn’t want
to be offensive. “We want to do this in the most kind and
loving way possible, but truth is truth,” Christensen said. U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby declared
the ban unconstitutional Dec. 20, prompting some 1,300 couples to get state
marriage licenses — until Monday, when the U.S. Supreme Court granted the
state’s request for a stay. “Many people are in shock this even happened
in Utah,” said conservative activist Cherilyn Eagar, who organized the event.
Radio talk show host Sam Bushman framed the issue as one of state’s rights,
saying the federal government doesn’t have the authority to regulate marriage. “The states have way more broad-based
authority than the federal government ever did,” Bushman said. “It’s an
activist judge that flat-out needs to be reined in.” Defending the ban isn’t a lost cause, he
said. “Do you want to know why we’re going to win?”
he asked the responsive crowd. “Because it’s right … We need to turn to our god
in prayer and then we need to go to work.” Eagar, meanwhile, said her opposition to
same-sex marriage isn’t generally about consenting adults, but rather about
giving children “the optimal environment to be reared.” “That is, as all credible social science will
tell you, with a mom and a dad,” she said. Children are also a major concern for Mary
Summerhays, whose group, Celebration of Marriage, focuses on “defending a
child’s right to have a relationship with a mother and father.” “If we do not respond, we will be endorsing
this,” she said. Eagar spoke about the effect of legalized
same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, which she said has affected schools,
businesses, state health education and politics. “Even the Republican party has caved in
Massachusetts and is not opposed to same-sex marriage,” Eagar said. “Some are
marching in these gay parades themselves.” Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, meanwhile, said
she “prayed and fasted,” for the marriage stay. When she heard the U.S. Supreme
Court had granted it, “I was an emotional basket case.” Dayton also spoke against a proposed
anti-discrimination bill scheduled to be introduced during the upcoming
legislative session. A similar bill passed out of a Senate committee last year,
something Dayton called “a terrible thing.” “We must not let this bill pass because it
will be in the schools,” she said, referring specifically to transgender
children being allowed to use the bathroom of the sex they identify with,
rather than the gender they were born as. In the audience was Lindon resident Vince
Newmeyer, who said he heard about the rally through the conservative Eagle
Forum group. “These attacks are coming from all sides. I
guess I’m not surprised, I’m disappointed because we’ve lost our moral
foundation,” said Lindon resident Vince Newmeyer. “When it comes down to laws,
I think they need to have a foundation in God’s law.” Spanish Fork resident Melody Barber said she
was “a little disappointed” when she heard about Shelby’s ruling. “I felt like Utah should stand up for
itself,” she said. After a few meetings with like-minded people, she started
feeling like Utah has a solid state’s rights argument in the case. “The majority of people in our country still
hold moral values. I believe that,” she said. “If [supporters of same-sex
marriage] have the right to stand up, so do we.”
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