This Day In Gay Utah History January 27th

January 27

1858 - Judge Hosea Stout describes with no disapproval how Mormons "disguised as Indians" drag a man "out of bed with a whore and castrated him by a square and close amputation."

1972-The New York City council killed a gay rights ordinance.

1973-A male couple in New York City were found stabbed to death and their poodle drowned. They were the sixth and seventh victims in a series of gruesome murders in New York patterned after the murders in Gerald Walker's novel Cruising.

1976- A Letter to Editor Daily Utah Chronicle stated “God Hates Gays” I read with some interest your article about the “gay movement”.  I simply cannot believe anyone could commend an individual who engages in homosexuality. The Apostle Paul denounced homosexuality and the Lord said now as then that He abhors it.  The plight of “gays” is brought on by their own acts: they who knowingly partake of this sinful relationship do so at the risk of blotching up their lives.  True, there are some who can’t cope with life and this is their way of expressing that feeling.  They should seek help not sympathy. To permit or tolerate homosexuality in the least degree is to blind yourself to what it does to all involved.  It is a sign of a decaying society. Sodom and Gomorra should suffice as an example.  They were totally destroyed because their inhabitants were guilty of this awful perversion of nature. I therefore must raise my voice against the “gay” movement and any others like it. These people need spiritual help. Seek God, Not Satan. Be children of light-not animals wandering in darkness-“ Richard Hollingshaus (1/27/1976 Daily Utah Chronicle page 2)

1976- Tuesday- Letters to Editor Daily Utah Chronicle Neither my habit nor my life style, I must never the less respond to Lorin Twede letter. My first reaction was one of caustic amusement. I immediately envisioned a smug self righteous, smooth cheeked youth standing on a soap box somewhere between the Union Building and the Marriott Library defending with zeal a cold, closed, and cruel view of sex and of persons who vary from his sense of “normal”. A view handed down to him, no doubt, by prejudiced adults and through Christian dogma. My second reaction was of disillusionment and frustration and came later in the afternoon. I am 30 years old and have believed that although this attitude of intolerance common to people of my parents’ generation, it had soften in people my age, and had died in the NEW awareness of my younger contemporaries. Now mellowed somewhat, I feel sad and uneasy. I had thought sex was kind of personal communication which two individuals shared in an atmosphere of freedom. I had believed that the how and with whom of this sharing was something left to the desires and needs of the persons involved. Does Twede believe that an ideal sex act involves four? A man, a woman, a fertilized egg and an umpire? Thank God this is not and must not be the case. I shall hope Person Twede find himself in a larger world someday. One that includes all others, that those others are kind in understanding his perversity. Annette Caine.

1982-Connie Marschner of the National Pro Family Coalition testified at a congressional sub committee hearing that homosexuality is equal to child abuse and murder.

1987-Cable Network News interviewed Russ Lane, Keith McBride, Val Smithson, Davydd Daniels and Ben Williams, members of Wasatch Affirmation, for a news spot concerning Affirmation and the Mormon Church.

1988- Ben Williams operated and paid for a phone mailbox system for Unconditional Support and the other Gay groups.   Its cost was $15 a month plus $10 hook up fee. “I got a phone mail box system for Unconditional Support and the other groups so I don’t have to use my home phone anymore. Its $15 a month plus $10 hook up fee. After work I went to the Crossroads Urban Center to pick up some money from Michael Ortega the center’s director. He donated his winnings from a poker game last Friday. It was $10 and that was neat. Then I went to the central library to read about Stonewall and Gay Liberation.  I need to get more active politically to keep Gay Pride going. Politics Equals Power. [1988 Journal of Ben Williams]

Charlene Orchard

1998-Tuesday-The Utah Human Rights Coalition, which sought to amplify gay voices in education, politics and public policy, is dead. Its director and co-founder, Charlene Orchard, a front-line warrior in the state's battles over gay rights, has burned out. But already, community activists are stirring the ashes to life. They want to move fast – the Legislature is in session. ``There is a big gap in advocacy for gay and lesbian rights,'' said Carol Gnade, executive director of the Utah American Civil Liberties Union. ``The ACLU obviously is taking on the legal challenges in this area. But as far as hard-core activism, working for social change, there needs to be an advocacy group. A lot of us were hoping UHRC was going to be that organization.''   Activists are concerned about possible legislative reaction to the case of Spanish Fork High School teacher Wendy Weaver, a lesbian who has sued the school district for telling her she could not discuss her sexual orientation. ``We don't have a voice on [Capitol Hill] at all now, and that's bad,'' said Doug Wortham, a gay teacher and member of the Gay-Lesbian-Straight Education Network. ``We're not really dressed up, and we have some place to go. We don't know what isgoing to happen at this session.'' Wortham and several other representatives of community groups are planning to incorporate a political action committee that would consolidate the gay community's political concerns. `What we've needed for a long time is a PAC able to quantify the gay vote, and then exploit that for our own interests,'' he said. The task is huge, Wortham acknowledged. A correctly run PAC has a paid office staff and a board that has the time to monitor it properly. It must be accepted by the gay community as awhole. ``We are happy to be on our way,'' Wortham said. ``But there also is dread, because we know what work we have a head.''  The plans are welcome news to Gnade, who says that while the ACLU will continue to take on legal issues and provide meeting space from time to time, it cannot continue to be the main support of every community organization that comes down the pike. ``Too often, because we do have paid staff and an education and development director, the burden falls on us to organize events and help fledgling organizations because the people in these organizations don't work for them full-time,'' Gnade said. The PAC idea came up at a recent meeting of several community organizations. They met todecide how to respond to the Salt Lake City Council's decision to kill a civil-rights ordinance that extended job protections regardless of sexual orientation. Orchard, who did not attend the meeting, decided it would be a good time to announce officially that UHRC was no more. She asked Gnade to relay the message. ``As attendance at our meetings decreased, as people who volunteered didn't follow through, it became clear there just wasn't the support necessary to sustain it,'' Orchard said. Such drift is likely if an organization's purpose evaporates, says Stan Penfold, associate director of the Utah AIDS Foundation. Penfold pointed out that the AIDS Foundation has come close to closing its doors several times in its 12 years. What kept them going was a specific cause and a solid core of volunteers. A political action committee would give human-rights organizers a chance to develop a more stable organization. ``People are going into this with an understanding that we've tried several things and they haven't worked,'' Penfold said. ``One of our problems is we've always organized rapidly around hot issues. Then it's demoralizing when you sort of fade away. We lost the school [gay] clubs issue and everything just fizzled.''  An outgrowth of the Utah Progressive Education Network, which incorporated about 2 1/2 years ago as an activist umbrella organization that now has more than 25 diverse community-based members, the Utah Human Rights Coalition's first project was to assist the Washington, D.C.-based National Gay and Lesbian Task force to put on a forum on grassroots organizing. That was in October 1995. By December, the state attorney general's office had been asked for a ruling on whether East High students would be allowed to form a school club for gays, lesbians and bisexuals.   The backlash was swift, and to some, terrible.  When the Legislature got involved, Orchard took leave from her job and devoted herself to her cause. Orchard's networking contributed to the worldwide focus on Utah as the Legislature banned gay clubs in the schools.  In the end, those who fought to protect gay rights in the schools lost their fight. ``When you are in a monoculture like ours, most of the time you feel it is not worth the fight because you will never win,'' Orchard said. ``It's tough to sustain an organization when you don't see progress.''   Still, gay rights have made head way.  ``I have neighbors who used to cross the stree twhen they saw me who now come up to me and say, `I saw you on TV, and I like what you said,''' Orchard said. The Salt Lake City Council election last fall is evidence the human-rights coalition's message has gone mainstream. Two lesbians, Jackie Biskupski and Claudia O'Grady, ran for the open seat in District 5. So did Roger Thompson, a former Salt Lake City School District board member who had made friends with the gay community when he voted against the school-club ban, then outraged them by voting to scrap the city's job-discrimination ordinance.   But even the phenomenon of gay issues in the fore front of the city election brought Orchard personal grief when it was reported in a Salt Lake Tribune political column by Paul Rolly that members of the Utah Human Rights Coalition had endorsed O'Grady in the primary and Thompson in the general election. The UHRC had done neither, said Orchard. ``It is hard to undo that damage.''  Gnade has suggested that ``the ideal situation' 'would be if Orchard or UHRC co-founder Debra Burrington stepped in to lead the new PAC. That will not happen, Orchard said. But don't take that to mean she will quit the political scene. ``There are different ways to be politically active. Being out in the work place is one,'' said Orchard, who is. ``You have an impact by being who you are.'' 01/27/1998 Page: A1 SLTribune)

• Carol Gnade Executive Director of ALCU of Utah for 11 years. Instrumental in the

  

  Carol Gnade

  protest and subsequent legal action against the school districts for refusing to include Gay-Straight Alliances as after school clubs in high schools. Instrumental in ALCU taking on the case: Weaver vs. State of Utah  - where Wendy Weaver was fired/let go for coming out as a ‘lesbian.’ Served on the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Utah’s Board of Trustees, was a committee member for Utah Pride for several years. Served on several non-profit board. Partnered for 10 years to Lorraine Miller, former owner of Cactus and Tropicals

Wendy Weaver

1998-Tuesday- Wendy Weaver half expects to be fired when all is said and done, but if she had the past year to live again, she would still file a lawsuit against the Nebo School District. ``I do realize there's a good chance I'll get fired. I wouldn't be surprised if this dies down, we settle the lawsuit and I get fired,'' she told a crowd of about 100 on Monday night. The presentation at a meeting of the Delta Lambda Sappho Union, a student club at Weber State University, was the first public speech Weaver has given since suing the district last fall. Weaver sued the school district where she worked for nearly two decades after district and Spanish Fork High School officials ordered her last October not to talk about her sexual orientation. Her former husband, Gary, a psychologist for the school district, also was included in the gag order. Weaver was divorced from her husband of 17 years last January. Shortly after the divorce, Weaver moved in with her partner, Rachel Smith, in a new home in Salem, south of Provo.   Weaver remains a psychology teacher at Spanish Fork High School, but was not reappointed to her post as girl's volleyball coach this year, even though she had led the team to four state championships and been named Utah coach of the year. On Dec. 23, a group called Citizens of Nebo School District for Moral and Legal Values filed a lawsuit contending Weaver had had improper contact with students and athletes and was practicing psychology without a license in her school classes. Weaver said Monday she has yet to be served with the lawsuit. ``They got the media blast and that was all,'  'she said. Meantime, Weaver said she has felt strong support from the community, colleagues and students. She has received two letters from prison inmates, one wanting to help pay her legal fees. Letters of support have come from across the country. So far, there has been no hate mail and only two letters have been lukewarm. At school, support from students has stayed strong, according to Natalie Kidman, a 16-year-old member of Weaver's psychology class and a former volleyball player.``We may not agree with her lifestyle, but she's a really, really good teacher,'' Kidman said. Unfortunately, Weaver told the WSU crowd, educators always have been held to a higher moral standard. Perhaps the most painful thing toWeaver is the suggestion she does not lead a moral life. ``I've taught 17 years and all of a sudden I've become this terrible, horrible immoral thing? The way I honestly and truly feel is that I am more moral being where I am with Rachel than in all the years I was with my husband,'' she said.  Brent Kidman, father of Natalie, said Weaver's loving and giving personality is something that has escaped the parent group organized against her. ``She would never tell you these things, but she has helped thousands of  kids,''  he said. It is terrible, Weaver said, for students to know for certain she is gay and for her to be unable to talk about it.  ``I know there are students out there I could help,'' she said. But perhaps the most telling words of the evening came from a man in the audience who raised his hand to say: ``I would have loved to have a teacher like you.'' (1/27/1998 Page: B2  SLTribune)

1999-The first official memorial service for gay men killed in Nazi concentration camps took  place at the site of Sachsenhausen. Approximately 300 people attended. Sachsenhausen had the largest number of gay inmates--approximately 1,000 from 1936 to 1945.

2004 (Utah Gay Forum) Dear friends and family, It has been 12 years that we having working getting HATE CRIME legislation passed in our state.  We are one of the last states to pass HATE CRIME legislation.  It is time to get it passed this year!  That requires us as a community to unite and take a stand on this issue.  I am urging everyone to get involved and support HB 68.  There is a debate tonight.  Please come and show your support. WHAT:  Hate Crime Debate WHERE:  County Complex Building (2001 South State) WHEN:  Tonight January 27^th TIME:  7pm SEE YOU THERE! Teinamarrie Nelson

2004   For those of you who are interested. FIFTH ANNUAL PRIDEFEST HAS SOMETHING 'QUEER' FOR EVERYONE LOGAN, UT - A ground-breaking documentary about gay youth in America, a look at gay subtexts in a popular mainstream film, and an appearance by Frank DeCaro (Comedy Central's The Daily Show) will highlight the fifth annual Pridefest of Utah State University's Gay and Lesbian Student Resource Center. The festival, which runs Feb. 9-14, also is sponsored by Cache Valley community members as well as USU gay and lesbian alumni. This year's offerings represent "Something Queer in Everything I See," a theme emphasizing the prominent cultural impact of the gay and lesbian communities, according to Cy Martz, a student majoring in

Cy Martz

public relations and festival coordinator. "We want to let people know that gay culture affects everybody's life, whether they recognize it or not," Martz added. The festival will feature a wide range of documentaries, feature-length and short films, and guest speakers designed to provide a greater cultural awareness of the impact of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community. All events for Pridefest 5 will be held in the Taggart Student Center Auditorium. "The festival has traditionally provided the motivation for individuals to become more comfortable and open about their sexual identity," Tim

Tim Keller

Keller, festival founder and programming director, said, adding that he hopes that USU faculty will encourage students to attend the various events.  Exemplary of this year's offerings is "Jim in Bold," a 2003 documentary about Jim Wheeler, a young gay poet and artist who was the victim of homophobic attacks during his childhood days in rural Pennsylvania. In the aftermath of Wheeler's 1997 suicide, three members of Young Gay America, inspired by the poet's work, traveled across the country interviewing the gay youth about their experiences. The film will be screened on Monday, February 9, 2004 at 8:30 p.m. Proceeds from the screening will go to the Gay-Straight Student Alliance at Logan High School.  X2, the hit 2003 sequel to X-Men will be screened on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 8:30 p.m. Audience members will be asked to identify and discuss examples of gay sub-texts in mainstream films, Martz said. The festival will conclude with "Flaming Screens," an evening of clips and comedy featuring DeCaro, whose outrageous "Out at the Movies" reviews were a favorite on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" for seven years. Known for his pop culture punditry on numerous VH1 shows - most notoriously on "Britney vs. Christina" - DeCaro is a frequent contributor to such publications as TV Guide, The New York Times, and The Advocate. His 1996 book, "A Boy Named Phyllis: A Suburban Memoir," was called "hilarious" by Vanity Fair. Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door. The cost will be $3 for matinee documentaries and $5 for feature films. Festival passes also can be purchased for $25 for all screenings or $30 which includes the DeCaro show. Student discounts also are available. More information and a complete festival schedule can be found at www.usu.edu/pride/pridefest5 or by calling Cy Martz,

2004 (Utah Gay Forum) Michael, Very good point.  We all get very involved protesting a Movie Theater, but when it comes to equality, civil rights and our future.  It would appear that most of us would rather be out on a date. I'll see you tonight at 7:00. James P Hicks

2004 (Utah Gay Forum) One thing I noticed about the protest at the capital: There was NO ONE there but gay people, which means, yet again, we were only talking to our selves. While I feel these rallies are important for the morale of the community, someone else must also hear the message. KAP

2004 (Utah Gay Forum) In review of the many conversations of being politically correct or protests. It is one thing to be skilled and eloquent enough to tell a person you have reserved a warm seat for them in Hell and to enjoy the trip, and get a thank you later.  It is quite another to have the balls to flat out tell them to go there and have them clearly understand just exactly how you expect them to get there and how long you plan on them staying. We lost the momentum almost a decade ago, and now we’re left scrambling the last minute to keep films on screens and to pass legislation. There is a lot to be said about safety in numbers.  Ill take a protest that upsets one or two allies a little if it means making an in your face statement that gets results and makes the majority feel a little uneasy any day.  Besides if a little protest makes allies squirm rather than join in then perhaps they are not allies.  Then again that is a formula of capitalism, which brings us back to square one. It has been heard more regularly that If we don't know who and what we are, then how can we expect anyone outside our circles understand our needs  Instead of one cohesive whole, we are becoming more often than not a collection of related ever growing "sexual minority" communities glued together by a common cause.

Donald Steward

2004 Dear Group (Utah Gay Forum),I have to believe that everyone on this site is committed to making positive change in our community, both locally and nationally. The question then is a matter of tactics. In any situation, we need to thoughtfully and systematically analyze a situation and choose the most appropriate action, whether that is confrontation, cooperation, or something in between, to achieve the most sustainable and most beneficial result. My favorite example...(that I will repeat over and over and over until you get it) was the early AIDS protests of ACT-UP in Washington, New York and Los Angeles. Protest leaders had specific, tangible goals. They researched who or what agency had the ability to change a situation and they targeted that pressure point. BUT...It was a two step process. ACT-UP would stage confrontational die-ins and media events at the front door, while AIDS moderates (like the Whitman Walker Clinic, AIDS Project Los Angeles, Gay Men’s Health Crisis) would be working the back doors and the phones offering dialogue, and an attractive alternative or mediation. It worked well. In your face demonstrations have their place, but ultimately it’s the long-haul incremental dialog, and partnering and networking with like-minded allies that will facilitate change. Instead of beating each other up over tactics, or trying to change a monolithic religion with layers of defenses and almost unlimited resources, we need to be working collectively in the legislative arena and the courts to shift public policy. I guarantee a sincere two paragraph e-mail to your legislator about hate crimes, family adoption law, or civil benefits will have more impact than any public protest on the Main Street Plaza (with far less chances of backlash or media sensationalism). Fergie. (Donald Steward)

Michael Picardi

2006 Friday Who will be next? Salt Lake Tribune I am wondering how someone who speaks with such hate against his "immoral and perverted" neighbors in Utah can be called a "moral crusader" ("Buttars stands out as morals crusader," Tribune, Jan.22). Had Sen. Chris Buttars said anything near to what he said at the Eagle Forum Convention and the floor of the Utah Senate about the black, Jewish, Latino, Indian or any other minority community, he would be publicly chastised. He gets his strength from his faith? I am not LDS, but I know the LDS Church does not teach the hate-filled rhetoric that he does. He wonders what the kids in the gay-straight alliances talk about? I'll tell you. They talk about how to defend themselves against people like him. There is always a teacher present, so the picture of rampant sex he paints is false. No one is "after your kids." We want what everyone else already has. We love, we are mothers and fathers, we are taxpayers, we are the people next door, the worker next to you, the guy on the bus, the woman in the check-out line. We have no agenda! How much more will we put up with? When we do not defend our families and neighbors from angry, hateful individuals like Buttars, when and where will it stop? And who will be next on his list? Mike Picardi Holladay

2006 Another wine event this week Hey all.  We are having another "Metro Mixer" this Friday (and every Friday) at the Panache Wine Bar in the Wells Fago Building at 300 South Main St. This one is about wine and wine pairings with the Panache wine  expert as a special guest. They will serve 3 wine tastes for  something like $5 or $6. There will also be free all-you-can eat  tapas. This weekly event is for people who would like to wind down at a  wine/martini bar at the end of the week and meet and mingle with other like-minded gay men and lesbians. We are targetting professionals, business owners, community activists and the like. Hope you can make it! METRO MIXER Panache Wine Bar, 299 South Main St Level 2 Friday, Jan. 27 4:30-6:30pm

Jennifer Nuttall

2006 Friday, January 27 from 10am - noon, the Dr. Liz Hale Show will be discussing homosexuality and family issues. As guests, Dr. Liz will have representatives from Family Fellowship, Jennifer Nuttall (Adult Program Director at the Center), and possibly some GLBT youth. Dr. Liz will also be giving time to an opposing perspective, “the Graham’s” who claim their child has been able to turn away from homosexual feelings and become heterosexual and have apparently written a book about it. (see http://www.standardofliberty.org/).

2006 KIM RUSSO, PRINCE ROYALE 23 LEGACY, MISS GAY UTAH 22 SEAN LIQUE, CROWN PRINCE 30 ALONG WITH THE ROYAL COURT OF THE GOLDEN SPIKE EMPIRE PRESENTS…“HUMANISM” A BENEFIT FOR THE PEOPLE’S CONCERN FUND JANUARY 27TH AT THE PAPERMOON* (3737 SOUTH STATE) 9:00 pm SHOWTIME $5.00 SUGGESTED DONATION RAFFLE PRIZES AND SALT LAKES MOST TALENTED PERFORMERS!!! COME AND HELP SUPPORT A VALUABLE CHARITY THAT OUTREACHES TO OTHERS IN THE COMMUNITY *A PRIVATE CLUB FOR THE BENEFIT OF ITS MEMBERS

2007   Wasting the people's time Public Forum Letter Salt Lake Tribune Once again Sen. Chris Buttars and lobbyist Gayle Ruzicka are spewing their hateful rhetoric about gay-straight alliances in Utah high schools. As a taxpayer and a parent of a high school student, I don't need or want our Legislature wasting valuable time on these kinds of so-called moral issues. If I want moral guidance I will go see my bishop, pastor, priest or other spiritual counselor, and I encourage all Utahns to do the same. I ask the Legislature to use the few days they have on the Hill to worry about ways to deliver better teacher salaries, some kind of affordable health care for everyone, bringing higher-paying jobs to our state, and totally eliminating the sales tax on food. Stop wasting the people's time! Jeff Geigle Richfield

2007   That way Public Forum Letter Imagine an extracurricular club at Generic Utah High, the Left-Right Alliance. The organization seeks to raise the awareness and tolerance of right-handed students toward left-handed students. The club is a safe haven for the lefties, who can get together without fear, petition the school for left-handed desks, and show the right-handed students that they are all normal people ("Lawmakers take a new run at bill on gay clubs," Tribune, Jan. 24). Enter Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, quoting Matthew 25:41, "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels!" Convinced the alliance will recruit students to the left-handed lifestyle, he introduces legislation to ban clubs based on "hand orientation. " This scenario is no sillier than Buttars' proposal to ban gay student support clubs. Left-handed people have been considered "sinister" (from Latin, meaning "on the left side") for thousands of years. Do we believe, in 2007, that some people choose to become left-handed, or that they are sinister? Someday even the Buttars of the world will figure out that gays neither choose their orientation, nor are they morally wrong for being born that way. Jane Wolfarth Salt Lake City

2007   Gay: Not a choice Public Forum Letter Salt Lake Tribune  Over my life I have had many gay friends. I once asked a friend if being gay was a lifestyle choice. He said if it truly were a choice, there is no way that he would choose to be discriminated against, ostracized and treated as a lesser person. He said his only true choice was to either put on a charade or be true to himself for who he is. With that said, gay clubs in schools are not, as Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, thinks, for recruiting more gays. These are support groups. A place for gay people to realize that there are other people out there like themselves, and to discover they are not, as some zealots would cast them, evil or freaks of nature. With the gay teenage suicide rate already at a shameful level, especially in strong religious communities, banning gay clubs will not only result in continued discrimination but will result in more sorrow from unfortunate deaths. Rob Ramage Farmington

2007  Seats are now going fast for the Fabulous Fun Bus to Wendover, Nev. sponsored by QSaltLake and the Utah Cyber Sluts. http://qsaltlake.com/funbus/  Saturday, Jan 27 Leases the parking lot of Club Try-Angles at 1pm Goes to the Montego Bay Casino and Resort Leaves Wendover at 9pm Arrives back at Club Try-Angles by 11pm. Tickets are $20 and gets: • $7 cash back • $21.95 Saturday Spectacular Buffet with Prime Rib and more • Fun book with lucky bucks, free drinks and other goodies The Utah Cyber Sluts will be onboard to host Bingo. Net proceeds fo to Utah gay and lesbian charities. Sign up at http://qsaltlake.com/funbus/ or call 1-800-806-7357 to reserve your seat.

2009 Common Ground: Ruzicka, Sutherland wage campaigns against gay rights Backlash » Conservative groups see a common enemy BY ROSEMARY WINTERS  THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE  Equality Utah's Common Ground Initiative -- a push for legal protections for gay and transgender Utahns -- has drawn hundreds of marchers to Capitol Hill, thousands of petition signatures and even broad-based support in statewide opinion polls. The initiative also has ignited a backlash, led by defenders of "traditional marriage" who want to crush the effort. Rather than "common ground," Gayle Ruzicka and the Constitutional Defense of Marriage Alliance are touting "common sense." And a Salt Lake City-based conservative think tank, The Sutherland Institute, wants Utahns to stand on "sacred ground" instead. "The family is the central unit of society, and so our efforts in this regard are ultimately to protect the traditional family and protect marriage," said Sutherland spokesman Jeff Reynolds. Next week, his group will kick off its Sacred Ground Initiative, a counteroffensive aimed at defeating the handful of gay-rights measures. "The message [from opponents] is that our bills are an attack on marriage -- which is exactly what they're not," said Will Carlson, Equality Utah's public-policy manager. The proposed laws range from protecting someone from being fired for being gay to establishing a statewide domestic-partner registry. The Common Ground Initiative was dealt a major setback Tuesday, when a Senate committee snuffed out a bill that would have allowed Utahns to sue if a same-sex partner suffers a wrongful death. The overall initiative was crafted in response to LDS Church statements made after the passage of Proposition 8 -- the California ballot measure that banned gay marriage in the Golden State -- that the church does "not object" to rights for same-sex couples such as hospital visitation and probate rights and safeguards such as fair housing and employment laws. A recent Salt Lake Tribune poll found 56 percent of Utahns support extending legal protections, short of marriage, to same-sex couples. Ruzicka, president of the Utah Eagle Forum, and Reynolds both argue that granting any legal standing to same-sex couples -- or even recognizing sexual orientations as protected classes -- could precipitate a court battle to legalize gay marriage. That's what happened in California, Ruzicka said, when the state's Supreme Court decided gay couples were entitled to wed because they already had many of the same rights as married, straight couples. Last fall, the court's decision to allow same-sex marriage was overturned when voters approved Prop 8. "Common sense says that Utah's not going to make the same mistake," Ruzicka said. She -- along with Republican Sen. Chris Buttars of West Jordan and former GOP Rep. LaVar Christensen of Draper -- formed the Constitutional Defense of Marriage Alliance to help pass Utah's Amendment 3, which defined marriage in 2004 as solely between a man and a woman. This alliance now is drafting a "common sense" rebuttal to the Common Ground campaign. The fact that the Utah Constitution already prevents gay marriage makes California a false comparison, notes Carlson, who insists Equality Utah's initiative is not an end run to sue for gay marriage. The Utah Supreme Court, he said, "can't overturn the Utah Constitution." Sacred Ground kickoff » The Sutherland Institute presents its arguments against Equality Utah's Common Ground Initiative and rallies Utahns to oppose the gay-rights bills. When » Feb. 5, 7-8:30 p.m. Where » Thanksgiving Point Show Barn, 3003 N. Thanksgiving Way, Lehi. R.S.V.P. required » Call 801-355-1272 or e-mail si@sutherlandinstitute.org. Common Ground vs. Sacred Ground What » A debate between Equality Utah and the Sutherland Institute over gay-rights legislation. When » Feb. 19, 7 p.m., with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Where » Sutherland Moot Courtroom, University of Utah law school, 332 S. 1400 East, Salt Lake City. 

2009 Gay-rights push suffers setback in Legislature Common ground » Buttars' committee kills one bill, casting doubt on chances of other measures. BY ROSEMARY WINTERS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE  It didn't take long for Utah gay-rights advocates, uplifted after energetic rallies and supportive polls, to be brought down to earth. On day two of the 2009 Legislature, the first in a series of gay-rights bills -- seemingly the least controversial piece in the Common Ground Initiative -- died Tuesday in the Senate judiciary committee. The early setback doesn't bode well for Equality Utah's campaign, possibly the most expansive legislative push for gay rights in state history. The very fact that this didn't even get out of Senate committee . . .is clearly a bad sign for other parts of this initiative," University of Utah political science professor Matthew Burbank said. Equality Utah's drive -- crafted in response to statements the LDS Church has made that it does not oppose some rights for same-sex couples -- includes creating a statewide domestic-partner registry and protecting someone from being fired or evicted for being gay. Sen. Scott McCoy's SB32 would have amended state law so that financial dependents -- besides spouses, parents and children -- could sue if a breadwinner suffers a wrongful death. The measure would have benefited same-sex couples, but also other nontraditional households, such as one in which a grandmother relies on a grandson for financial support. A standing-room-only crowd listened to nearly two hours of testimony before the committee, led by Republican Sen. Chris Buttars, voted 4-2 against sending the measure to the Senate floor. Only McCoy, who is openly gay, and fellow Salt Lake City Democrat Ross Romero voted for the bill. Buttars, who was lobbied by a group of gay and bisexual activists at his West Jordan home earlier this month, didn't comment on McCoy's proposal during the meeting. Opponents likened the bill to a "slippery slope" and a "dirty shirt" in a laundry basket of marital rights that could lead courts to justify legalizing same-sex marriage, similar to rulings in Massachusetts, California and Connecticut. "SB32 will begin the process in Utah," Stan Rasmussen of The Sutherland Institute told the committee. "We simply do not share common ground in chipping away at the definition of marriage." But McCoy argued that couldn't happen in Utah, where there is a constitutional amendment forbidding gay marriage. The constitution would "trump" the Utah Supreme Court's ability to change that policy, he noted. "Amendment 3 actually serves as the bulwark against that slippery slope," McCoy said. A gay Iraq War veteran, a gay father of four and a Draper mother of a lesbian daughter made impassioned pleas for the bill. "I'm very invested in this country, which I love and put on a uniform for and was willing to give my life to defend," said Jeff Key, a former U.S. Marine. "If you put yourself on the opposing side of allowing the liberty and freedom that this country stands for, then you've put yourself on the wrong side of history."  After the committee meeting, McCoy concluded his colleagues' votes were "fear-based." Regardless, he plans to push the measure again in 2010. Equality Utah executive director Mike Thompson stayed upbeat about the remaining three bills in the initiative. "I still believe we are standing on common ground," he said. "The Tribune poll and our poll demonstrate that the average Utahn supports what we're doing. The Legislature just needs to catch up."  Three bills remain in the Common Ground Initiative: In addition to asking the Governor's Office to extend employee health benefits to domestic partners of state workers, Equality Utah is pushing three bills in the 2009 legislative session: Fair housing and employment » Make it illegal to fire an employee or evict a tenant for being gay or transgender. Sponsor: Rep. Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake City. Domestic-partner rights » Create a statewide domestic-partner registry that would provide rights of inheritance, insurance and fair housing. Sponsor: Rep. Jennifer Seelig, D-Salt Lake City. Repeal a portion of Amendment 3 » Eliminate the second part of Utah's constitutional gay-marriage ban to avoid confusion about what protections are the legal equivalent of marriage. Sponsor: Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake City.

2009 Buttars' committee kills first gay-rights bill BY ROSEMARY WINTERS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The first of a series of gay-rights bills aimed at the 2009 Legislature died in the Senate judiciary committee today. Sen. Scott McCoy's SB 32 would have amended state law so that financial dependents - besides spouses, parents and children - could sue if a breadwinner suffers a wrongful death. It is part of the four-bill Common Ground Initiative being pushed by Equality Utah to expand legal protections offered to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Utahns. A standing-room only crowd listened to two hours of testimony for and against the bill before the committee, headed by Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, declined, in a 4-2 vote, to send the measure to the Senate floor. Only McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, and his Democratic colleague Ross Romero voted in favor of the bill. McCoy's measure would have benefited same-sex couples but also other nontraditional households, such as one in which a grandmother relies on a grandson for financial support. Unlike spouses, parents and children, a wrongful-death designee would have to prove a financially dependent relationship with the victim to go to court. McCoy said he plans to introduce the bill again in the 2010 session.

2010 Dustin Lance Black, narrator of 8: The Mormon Proposition By Jesse Fruhwirth Salt Lake City Weekly Dustin Lance Black, who won an Academy Award in 2009 for the screenplay to Milk, narrates the documentary 8: The Mormon Proposition, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival Jan. 24. A gay Mormon who grew up in Texas and California, Black has used his celebrity to further gay rights. While in town for Sundance, he spoke at Equality Utah’s “Joyous Sound for Common Ground” at the Capitol and spent “all but six hours” of his weekend in Salt Lake City, not Park City. What was your impression of Salt Lake City’s gay community? I’ve been to Salt Lake City many times for visits with family and when we were working on [HBO’s] Big Love [which Black once co-wrote]. What I didn’t know [previously] is how active it seems everyone is, politically and socially. It reminds me a lot of the divide and passion that I found when I was reading about San Francisco in the late ’60s and early ’70s. … San Francisco was traditionally a conservative area that was going through a sea of change. Do you think being brought up Mormon outside of Utah contrasts significantly with being a home-grown Mormon? Yes. You learned early on what it means to be a minority and it’s comparable to being gay. There is terror associated with coming out and kids being cruel. Do you think The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will eventually capitulate on the issue of homosexuality? Yes. A lot goes to the conversations I’ve had with the rank-and-file in the Mormon church. What these people are learning now—especially in Utah, especially after the backlash of Proposition 8—is that they have gay and lesbian family members who were hurt by the church leadership. I don’t think any of them want to see their gay and lesbian kids excluded from heaven because of words spoken from the pulpit. What would you say to people who refuse to see 8 because of claims that it’s untruthful or unfair? I would urge people to see it before you make those sorts of judgments, because the evidence presented is pretty clear. You and others involved in 8 have been villified by some individuals, especially on the Internet, for voicing criticism of church political activities. How does that feel? I’ve heard criticism from everything I’ve ever done that’s mattered. It’s just a part of the game. In this case, I think it’s very important that people speak out.

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2018   (KUTV) -- Josh and Lolly Weed, viewed as proof, and used as an example, that a gay man and a straight woman can make a successful Mormon marriage, have announced their divorce. And in the same blog post where they announce their divorce, they offered an apology to the LGBTQ community. "Today, we need to let you know that Lolly and I are divorcing," the blog said this week, after recounting the couple's accidental rise to the media spotlight when Josh Weed came out as a gay LDS man who was faithful to his church and married to a woman. They were in high demand to explain how they made the seemingly contradictory lifestyles work together. The couple wrote, together and then individually in the same blog post on Thursday, that they came to understand over time that their deep platonic love was not a substitute for romantic love and that such a relationship is vital to everyone's happiness. Lolly Weed wrote: And that is what human beings need to be healthy. All of us. Romantic attachment. It’s one of the main purposes of life! They explain at length how they came to the realization. Josh Weed said three factors led him to believe this was the case. Love for the LGBTQ population, Love for himself as a gay person, The death of his mother. The couple rise to notoriety came about because of a blog post -- that can no longer be found on JoshWeed.com -- that, according to Josh, led them to be "featured on shows and newspapers around the globe." That included a story on Nightline. Josh works in his private practice as a licensed marriage and family therapist. Included with the announcement and explanation about the couple's divorce was an apology to the LGBTQ community. Among the specific things the Weeds apologies for are: We’re sorry, so incredibly sorry, for the ways our post has been used to bully others. And we’re sorry if our story made it easier for people in your life to reject you and your difficult path as being wrong. We’re sorry to any gay Mormon who received criticism, backlash, or hatred as a result of our story. We’re sorry to anybody who felt a measure of false peace because of our story. We’re sorry to any LGBTQIA person who was given false hope by our story. Each of the specific apologies came with longer explanations. Josh Weed also wrote that his stance on homosexuality, that once aligned with that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had changed.  "I have spent my entire life conforming to every standard of the LDS faith because I believed it was what God wanted me to do. "I believed this because every mentor, every exemplar, every religious teacher, every therapist, every leader I ever grew up listening to and trusting told me that that was the only way I could return to live with God. There was an emphasis on “perfect obedience” and yet, over the course of my lifetime, the list of things said by these trusted leaders about my sexual orientation was profoundly inconsistent and confusing." Josh Weed listed a number of those things, which included: My sexual orientation wasn’t real, My sexual orientation was evil, My sexual orientation was an abomination, My sexual orientation was tantamount to bestiality and just shy of murder, My sexual orientation could change in this life if I had enough faith, My sexual orientation was a “trial” to bear, My sexual orientation maybe couldn’t change in this life after all, My sexual orientation could be managed with faith, My sexual orientation could be endured. Lolly Weed also wrote that many of her friends and community expressed to her, upon learning of the divorce, empathized with her and say she deserved the romantic connection, but few felt that empathy for her husband. The thing that’s so interesting to me is how few people think of Josh in this way. How few people in his life have ever thought these things about him—things that are so obvious, so clear, so emphatic when talking to another straight person. I mean, isn’t the same true for LGBT people? Shouldn’t we feel the exact same intuitive injustice at the thought of them deserving to be “loved like that”? When the tables are turned and we are talking about LGBTQ individuals, somehow people don’t see the parallels. Why am I, as a straight person, entitled to reciprocal, requited romantic love while an LGBTQ individual is not? The blog post says the couple and their children will continue to be close and will continue to love each other. "We can continue to be the family we have always been, and we can add to that family," they wrote. Weed emailed KUTV this statement: "In posting, we hoped to let those who followed our story five years ago know the reality of our situation. We also wanted to apologize to the LGBTQIA community and to anybody who was hurt by our story over the last five years. Thanks so much! Josh"