This Day In Gay Utah History January 18th

January 18

1895  Police and Lewd Women- Proceedings at the Meeting of Fire and Police Commission- The Brigham Young Trust Company through its attorney last evening appeared before the police commissioners to protest against the colonization of scarlet women on Commercial Street. The women had been served with a notice to the effect that if they went to Commercial Street they would not be molested. Attorney charged that in chief’s building liquor was sold and a generally demoralizing business was being carried on within its walls. Deseret News

1977-Miami passed a gay rights ordinance, making it the first major southern US city to do so. Anita Bryant immediately announced her plans to organize Christians to have the law overturned.

1978 In a Letter to the Editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, David Olson, a SLC Police officer who was accidentally shot and paralyzed while putting Mormon apostate Douglas Wallace under surveillance by Mormon leaders official pressure on the police force, wrote "I would also like to thank Spencer W. Kimball for his incorrect press release concerning the police involvement combined with the LDS church's efforts to restrict Douglas A. Wallace from the temple grounds, specifically the Tabernacle, on April 3, 1977. …His denial of these actions is wrong. Any man who can take such actions and still call himself a prophet deserves more than I to be confined to this wheelchair." (In an April 2009 issue of the QSalt Lake Douglas Wallace wrote a letter to editor encouraging Gays to pressure the LDS Church more for equality.)

1981 Sunday An unidentified man found Saturday mornings in the middle of Rail Road Tracks underneath an over pass at North Temple at about 5th West left the Salt Lake Police with no clues to his death. He was a  white male in 30’s wearing coat, tie and dress slacks.  (SLTribune C24) [Rumor was that he was saw seen leaving the Sun Club]

1985 A man in his mid-20’s was in critical condition at LDS Hospital late Wednesday after he was found in a car in an industrial section of West Salt Lake with a gunshot wound to his head. He was found at 130 South 700 West SLC  at 9:15 p.m. in a small gray Volkswagen. (SLTribune B1) [The area was just up from the Sun Club. Article does not mention whether the wound was self-inflicted or attempted homicide]

Garth Chamberlain

1988--Monday Gay Youth Group formed by Garth Chamberlain, Tim Wanee, Shawn Hughes. Support group for Gay and Lesbians under the age of 23 years.) Group met at a private residence and inquiries were screened through Unconditional Support.  The group was  a “youth only” group organized to deal with the concern’s and issues of young people and by young people. “The Youth Group Run By and For Lesbian & Gay Youth Under the age of 22” meeting on Wednesdays at various locations. 

1988- The main branch of the Salt Lake City Library system on 5th South and 2nd East had 60 books and periodicals listed under the topic “Homosexual” in their card catalogue according to a survey taken by Ben Williams.

1990  I spent much of the day cleaning the apartment for tonight’s Snow-Frost Full Moon. Homo read the medicine cards of a friend of Anzo’s today. His name is Larry and from Ogden. His main totem was Badger.  Morning Star spent much of the afternoon copying the words to my Lunacy Tape because for the gathering we were going to learn some new  songs. People started arriving at 7 P.m. and there were 12 of us- Homo Erectus, Anzo, Larry, Gillian, Red Coyote, Shara, Golden Pixie, Silver Fox, Walking Shadow, Morning Star. Thunder Beam Moonfire, and myself Gayflower. We came together to celebrate the Snow Frost Moon by learning new songs, and reviewing some of the old ones

1991-In California, superior court judge Charles Litwin overturned a Long Beach CA ordinance that would have cancelled the city's gay pride parade unless organizers purchased a $1 million liability insurance policy. He ruled that the ordinance was a violation of free speech.

Robert Austin

Kate Kendell

1992 -The Utah AIDS  Foundation and American Civil Liberties Union, opposed House Bill 26 sponsored by Sandy Democrat Rep. Kurt E. Oscarson. The House Human Services Committee on Friday unanimously approved the bill requiring prostitutes and their customers to undergo mandatory tests for HIV infection. ``Putting people in prison for HIV is not the way to do it,'' stated Robert Austin, associate director of the Utah AIDS  Foundation. Kathryn Kendell, ACLU staff counsel, said prostitution doesn't necessarily include sexual contact. Even if it does, ``there are ways one can engage in safe sex -- as much as 98 percent safe.''  “`Let me beg you not to use that term,'' responded Dr. Harry L. Gibbons, Salt Lake City-County health director who prefers ``less-dangerous sex.''(01/18/92  Page: A1  SLTribune).

1992 GAYS HAVE RIGHTS, CAN GO STRAIGHT To the editor: Gays should be protected against hate crimes just as any other type of person. However, supporting laws to protect deviant people against hate crimes does not mean that we should stop condemning their sexual perversions and taking prudent and lawful measures to protect society against those sexual perversions. The truth that homosexuals can change even if they are born with a propensity toward homosexuality is dramatically proved by a recent study of twins (Dec. 16, Deseret News). The study showed that in 50 percent of the cases where one brother is gay, his twin brother was straight - even though the straight brother is genetically identical to his gay twin. If the gay twins have difficulty in becoming straight, even though their identical twins who have the same propensity to be homosexual may have made the transition of the decision to be straight without much trouble, the gay twin brothers can also make the transition with the help of therapists and organizations such as Evergreen, Homosexuals Anonymous and Exodus. Various Protestant and Catholic ministries and LDS Social services can provide the names of trustworthy therapists and addresses and phone numbers of these organizations that have helped so many homosexuals go straight. Those who have made the transition from gay to straight usually cannot give out their names because of the shame and embarrassment to their spouse and children they have had after going straight. Some brave ex-homosexuals have risked shame and embarrassment to themselves and their families By writing about their transition or by working on the staffs of Evergreen, Homosexual Anonymous and Exodus to help homosexuals change as they have changed. E. Richardson Salt Lake City 

Kevin Hillman

Brenda Voisard

1993 The Utah Stonewall Center hosted its first "Diversity Is Great" awards dinner at 32 E. Exchange Place (355 S. Main), at 6:30 p.m. The dinner was held to recognize individuals who worked in 1992 to help Gay and Lesbian people in Utah.  Kevin Hillman and Brenda Voisard created the DIGS Awards.

1993 Health officials stated that the number of reported AIDS cases in northern Utah may not reflect the actual extent of infection.   Salt Lake County has about 76% of the AIDS cases in the state. The Weber/Morgan Health District has 7%;Davis County has 4% and the Bear River Health District about 1%.  Dr. Mark Nichols, director of the Weber/Morgan Health District, said the statistics may not accurately reflect the occurrence of AIDS in northern Utah.  ``They may well come from Weber and Davis County, but they move to Salt Lake,'' he said.  Davis County has had 21 cases of AIDS reported since 1983, the first year a case was reported.

Add caption

1994--Tuesday- Steven Scott Markland died of AIDS at the young age of 34 native of Wyoming. He graduated from Granger High School. He worked in several administrative positions during his career in the medical field.

1998 Page: A1 WEIRD UTAH LAWS; Nonsense Clutters Code Book; Weird Laws Clutter the Utah Code Byline: BY DAN HARRIE and JUDY FAHYS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE COPYRIGHT 1998, Then there's a whole body of state law that, if enforced, would put a sizable portion of the state's adult population in jail for having sex. For example, fornication (sexual intercourse between consenting but unmarried adults) is a class B misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.   With so many ludicrous, outdated or unenforceable laws already on the books, some people wonder why

Brian Barnard

Utah's 104 legislators don't spend some time scaling back the dense Utah   Code.  Civil-rights attorney Brian Barnard has some candidates for the stupid-law scrap heap: statutes making it a crime to commit adultery, sodomy or fornication. ``If the government wanted to enforce that last one, our courts would be full of nothing but fornicators,'' says Barnard, who notes that about half the states already have removed similar statutes from their books.   ``It's clearly an invasion of peoples' privacy and an imposition of one person's moral standards upon another.''   Barnard has brought several federal lawsuits aimed at uprooting the state sex laws, but most have been thrown out on grounds that there was no legitimate threat of prosecution. Still, he is convinced it will be the court, not the Legislature, that will remove archaic sex laws because of the politics involved. ``If there's an individual legislator who says `repeal this law,' he or she would be crucified and accused of destroying the morals of American society,'' says Barnard.  

Pete Suazo

1998-Sunday   Utah's gay and lesbian community began stepping out of the closet and flexing its political muscle in the mid-1980s. One of the state's few Democratic legislators, Ted Lewis, who represented Salt Lake City's west side neighborhoods, was a respected, conservative Democrat. He was an attorney, an astute student of the legislative process who sided with LDS Church positions on moral issues, including opposing gay-rights issues.  He was defeated for re-election in the Salt Lake County Democratic convention by a political newcomer, Pete Suazo, in a political upset for which the Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats (GLUD) took credit.  Afterward, GLUD began organizing in more neighborhood mass meetings, electing more delegates to county and state Democratic conventions and pressuring legislative forums and local government commissions and councils to begin recognizing the gay community as a political player.    Long before a few students at East High School turned Utah's political landscape on its

David Nelson

ear because they wanted to form a gay club, GLUD leader David Nelson earned a place at the table in Democratic Party strategy meetings. Republicans jumped in with the establishment of a Utah Chapter of the national Log Cabin Club. Bruce Bastian, millionaire co-founder of Word Perfect, supported the fledgling movement by opening his impressive checkbook.  Endorsements by the gay and lesbian community were a blessing and a curse. Their organization was such that they made a difference in

Bruce Bastian

Democratic Party conventions. Their money was welcome. But their endorsements were a feared kiss of death in morally conservative Utah. Indeed, the Utah Democratic Party faced a perceived crisis in 1986 when the late Scott Matheson, one year removed from the state's governorship, chaired the newly formed National Democratic Party Policy Commission, an organization designed to hold forums throughout the United States on selected issues and write a platform statement to be used as sort of a road map for future Democratic candidates.    Matheson was to chair a Family Values forum in none other than Salt Lake City, capital of a state that boasts of being the family values capital of the world. But in Washington, DC, where the political money changers held

Scott Matheson

court, the gay and lesbian organizations were pressing to have a representative on the panel. The crisis: Democrats would either have to offend the gays and risk losing candidate donations by denying them a place at the table, or offend the moderate and conservative groups they were trying to attract by giving gays and lesbians an equal voice in family-values discussions.    Image won out over money. The gays and lesbians had no representative on the panel, but it was a gut-grinding decision for the Democrats. When Salt Lake City mayoral candidate Rich McKeown was endorsed by GLUD in the 1995 race, someone photocopied a Salt Lake Tribune story about GLUD's endorsement and McKeown's support of a gay-civil-rights ordinance. The copies were placed on the windshields of cars in LDS Church parking lots the Sunday before the election. McKeown, himself an active Mormon, lost to incumbent Deedee Corradini by a mere 500 votes. Less known was the fact that Corradini had been given $25,000 for her campaign by Bastian. The Utah gay and lesbian political machine hit its stride in 1997 when Jackie

Jackie Biskupski

Biskupski, who is openly lesbian, was one of the two primary election winners in the District 5 Salt Lake City Council race, and the Salt Lake City Council passed an ordinance that specifically protected the rights of gays and lesbians in the workplace. But like any political group, the more successful and larger it becomes, the more factionalized its members become. GLUD was backing Biskupski. But the Human Rights Coalition, another gay and lesbian rights advocacy group, backed another candidate, Claudia O'Grady. When O'Grady lost, the Human Rights Coalition, instead of backing Biskupski, worked for the election of Roger Thompson, also a Democrat who remained prudently silent on the   gay-lesbian workplace rights issue. That election caused a split in the gay-lesbian community. The leadership of GLUD eventually resigned, leaving that organization seemingly dormant. Thompson beat Biskupski by a few dozen votes and then tipped his hand in the first meeting of the new council. He will vote with three others to repeal the gay    rights ordinance that was passed in December. (Salt Lake Tribune 01/18/86 Page: AA3)

1999 Jackie Biskupski, Utah's first openly lesbian legislator attended the 1999 session of the state legislature.

2003  Utah GLBT Community Leadership Forum--Moving Forward In Unity Salt Lake City, Organizations who have been active and participating in the GLBT Community Leadership Forum met at the Metropolitan Community Church to draft bylaws so that they may incorporate as an organization under the laws of the State of Utah.  From the meeting, lasting several hours, a skeletal structure and governing rules to move the organization forward were created. During the meeting it was unanimously decided to keep the name The GLBT Community Leadership Forum. The next regular meeting of the Utah GLBT Community Leadership Forum will be February 12 at Metropolitan Community Church. It will also be hosting a Community Leadership Summit on March 15, 2003. In the creation of the governing bylaws, two classifications of memberships were created Organizational and Individual. Each type of member will have voting privileges in the issues before the Forum. They may also sit on sub-committees created by the collective for positive contributions to community. A structure for the monthly meeting was also established to insure an ongoing community calendar, leadership training, community building and open dialog. Elections of the governing body will occur in the weeks to come. The current incentive program established by the Pillar will remain in place. Organizations represented included groups such as Metropolitan Community Church, Stonewall Democrats, The Pillar, Utah Gay Rodeo Association, The Utah Stonewall Historical Society, Gay LDS Youth, and many others who offered suggestions in smaller focus groups leading up to the marathon meeting. The Community Leadership Forum was started as a project by the Pillar to bring the Utah GLBT Community together to network and gain a greater understanding of each organization, and each other. "At its creation it was important to get the community talking again. Too often in our rush to get things done, we leave out the opinions of the minorities of our own community", stated Chad Keller, Forum Facilitator for the Pillar. The Community Leadership Forum has been meeting as a networking organization since last August. The group gained members and momentum up through the holidays, when those regular attendees felt it important to officially organize so that they could collectively and positively work together to fulfill the mission of the network, to build unite and inform the GLBT community. "This was a very productive meeting, it showed though out the process that there is a need and a desire for the community to come together for the betterment and growth of the entire Utah Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Trans Community.  People want to speak up, and voice concerns and opinion." stated Todd Daley, Publisher of the Pillar.  Attending the meeting was community historian Ben Williams, who pointed out the importance of an organization like this, referencing the great things accomplished by the Gay and Lesbian Community Council of Utah. The GLCCU was a creation in the 1980's as a community sounding board and network. It lasted till the late 1990's when its projects spun off.  The GLCCU created such notable community resources such as Utah Gay and Lesbian Pride Day, and The Utah Stonewall Center. Through the guidance of the GLCCU the community came together to host the first Lagoon Days, created the largest GLBT Library of the time in the nation, supported and managed the Anti Violence Project created my Michael Aaron. It also can be attributed to supporting and helping build the GLBT Community Diversity is Great Awards created by Kevin Hillman and Brenda Voisard. "It was an organization that put everyone on the same level, no matter how big or how small an organization or a persons social standing," stated Ben Williams community historian."The Pillar has been extremely honored to bring this much needed resource back to the community," Stated Daley, "We are excited to watch it take flight on its own, and anticipate great things happening for the betterment of our entire Utah community." All organizations, individuals, and friends of the GLBT community are welcome and encouraged to participate in an inclusive environment whose focus is to creating positive changes though the involvement of the entire GLBT community.

Judy Shepard

2004 Judy Shepard, mother of slain Matthew Shepard of Laramie WY, was featured speaker at a Town Hall meeting at the City and County Building  in Salt Lake City. joined by Professor Forrest Crawford and Representative David Litvack to speak to this year's Hate Crimes Legislation (HB 68).

Ron Johnson

2004 Ron Johnson, Owner of Signs & Such, and now SGO, hosted an open house to view his new facility next to Signs and Such at 1414 South West Temple. Ron has been a long time supporter of our community, giving countless hours of his talent to help us all. 

2006 Author: Mark Havnes The Salt Lake Tribune Page: B1 Kanab endorses 'natural' families KANAB -- After unanimously endorsing a conservative think tank's resolution supporting the "natural family," Kanab's City Council is coming under fire -- naturally. Gay-rights advocates and even some residents are scolding city leaders for embracing a nonbinding proposal that: * Labels marriage between a man and a woman as "ordained of God." * Sees homes as "open to a full quiver of children.

Claudia Bradshaw

2006 St. George Dems hear about gay rights on MLK day By BRIAN PASSEY bpassey@thespectrum.com ST. GEORGE - A guest at the monthly meeting for the Democrats of Southern Utah spoke Monday about civil rights on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but the focus was not a racial one. Claudia Bradshaw, a local advocate for improving the relationships between gays and lesbians and their families, spoke Monday about civil rights for homosexuals, including the opportunity for marriage. "We live in a society of homophobia and prejudice," she said, before alluding to remarks made by King. Bradshaw cited part of an historical letter King wrote from a jail in Birmingham, Ala.: "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." Bradshaw, who calls herself a "living example of curable homophobia," said this is why she decided to speak out after her son told her nearly eight years ago that he is gay. Bradshaw said she has since determined that her former homophobia was ignorance. Now she focuses on helping families stay together by encouraging communication between gay people and their families. Bradshaw holds monthly support meetings at her home for PFLAG - Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. But on Monday she took her advocacy for acceptance past the family level. She compared the current conflict about gay marriage to tensions about interracial marriage prominent during the Civil Rights Movement. Bradshaw said some day there will be complete equality but until then there will be a damaged democracy and a tarnished constitution. Following her speech, a man from the audience asked if she would support a step-by-step approach to civil rights - such as civil unions - rather than going directly to marriage. Bradshaw acknowledged that the Civil Rights Movement was in many ways a step-by-step approach, but said she still supports gay marriage rather than civil unions. "Remember the first time you fell in love with someone?" she asked the audience. "Well imagine being told you could never marry them." The meeting also featured two Maya Angelou poems read by Derek Streeter of St. George as a tribute to civil rights.

2006 Calling all teachers, educators, school counselors, and others who are interested in supporting safety, equality, and tolerance in Utah's schools! If you are interested in supporting students, Gay/Straight alliances, faculty, and staff--the entire school community--you should be part of this group. Please come to our next meeting at 6pm on Wednesday, January 18 at the GLBT Community Center of Utah (middle meeting room). Though this organization is modeled on GLSEN  it is locally run and organized. For more information, contact Stan Burnett

Brandon Burt

2007 Guns and Butt Sex by Brandon Burt  It’s not unusual at a gun show or NRA rally to hear a spokesman speak reverently of the Second Amendment’s sanctity—and, in the same breath, defend a president whose wanton disregard for the First and Fourth Amendments makes him look like an autocratic Third World despot. However, longtime Salt Lake City activist David Nelson wants the government not only to stay the hell out of your holster—he wants it to stay the hell out of your bedroom, too. According to a Jan. 16 Q Salt Lake article, Nelson is tired of waiting for the Legislature to repeal Utah’s sodomy law on its own—even after a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision found such laws unconstitutional. So he started a petition calling for its repeal (PetitionOnline.com/utsodomy). It’s unclear whether the Republican-dominated Legislature is likely to heed the petition, especially considering the graphically worded statute outlaws common sexual acts few legislators would admit to—like oral sex, anal sex and, if we’ve read the law correctly, one called “the rusty trombone.” 

2008 Author:    Brooke Adams The Salt Lake Tribune "Gay families seek lifting of adoption restrictions" When Merrilee Bowser came out as a lesbian eight years ago, she worried about how people would react. But she found acceptance - "only nice people" - and today is comfortable being open about her "two-moms family."  "Yeah, we get looked at but we look at people, too," said Bowser, 27, who has been with partner Summer Bowser for six years."It is becoming more open for people and people are more comfortable." That's what the Williams Institute, based at the University of California at Los Angeles, concludes in a new "census snapshot" that provides a demographic and economic profile of Utah's same-sex couples. Using 2005 Census data, the institute projects there were 53,832 gay, lesbian or bisexual people in Utah. The institute, in UCLA's School of Law, estimates there were 4,307 same-sex couples in Utah - an increase of nearly a thousand from the 2000 Census. It attributes that increase to a growing willingness to disclose partnerships on government surveys. Christine Johnson, one of Utah's two openly lesbian legislators, adds another factor: Political activism among lesbian, gay, transgendered and bisexual residents that followed passage of Amendment 3 in 2004. The constitutional amendment banned same-sex marriage in Utah. "The changing dynamic and increased number of LGTB families in the area has a direct correlation to the constitutional amendment," Johnson said. "A lot of families came out and decided to be proactive in supporting nontraditional families." The community is gearing up for a new political fight in the 2008 legislative session, which begins Monday. The goal: to get adoption restrictions on cohabitating couples, including same-sex couples, lifted. Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City, has agreed to sponsor the bill, said Keri Jones, manager of programs administration at Equality Utah. Utah, which adopted the ban in 2000, is one of three states with the prohibition. "I'm very optimistic," said Jones. "We are ready to run it over and over and over again until it happens." The Williams Institute found that 19 percent of Utah's same-sex couples are raising children together. It estimates the number of children at 1,226. When Merrilee and Summer Bowser's relationship began, they knew just one lesbian couple with children - but even that single example gave them hope that having a family was possible. "A lightbulb went off that said: We can be lesbians, and we can have kids," said Merrilee Bowser, 30, who runs home-based day care. "We both came from big Mormon families with lots of kids, and we wanted to have children." They have one son, 3 1/2 year old Camden, and hope to add two more. Johnson said that Utah is a great place for same-sex couples to raise children - provided they "reside in a tolerant community, and within Utah, Salt Lake City is one of the most tolerant cities, in addition to Moab and Park City." Karen Blanchard and partner Janice Park have been together 10 years and are raising three children - Sydney, 3, and Cameron and Spencer, 18-month-old twins - in Riverton. "We blend in," said Blanchard, 33, who stays home with the kids while Park works. "We've been really accepted and left alone. Most people like to be politically correct." The Williams Institute found same-sex couples in every county, from one couple each in Wayne and Daggett counties to 1,964 in Salt Lake County. "We have great friends and family and doctors, and everybody we have come in contact with is very nice to our family," said Merrilee Bowser, who lives in South Salt Lake. "Everybody knows Cam has two moms and that is just how our family is." Gay, lesbian and bisexual Utahns * 53,832: number of gay, lesbian or bisexual residents. * 4,307: same-sex couples, with 19 percent raising children. * 1,226: Children being raised by same sex couples. Source: Williams Institute estimates of 2005 census data

2010 Newsweek "the Conservative Case for Gay Marriage