24 February
1945-After heavy
opposition from religious groups, the play Trio closed. The play featured a
young female student who falls in love with an older woman.
1951- SLC, UT Mayor Earl J. Glade (1885-1966) in
response to an LDS Church's Law Observance and Enforcement Committee pressure
for the Salt Lake City's anti vice squad to take care of "the crime situation
in Salt Lake City", responded saying "the committee should cite bona
fide evidence in its periodic reports of vice in the taverns". In a letter
to the mayor of Salt Lake City, the Law Observance and Enforcement Committee of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints had declared: Vice conditions
cannot be controlled by a vice squad of only five or six men, several of whom
can reasonably be expected to be absent on their weekly day off, or engaged as
witnesses before the courts or for other reasons." The letter was signed
by Col. Elmer G. Thomas (1887-1964) Chairman, C. Earl Alsop (1895- 1970), and
Elias L. Day Asst. Chairmen.
 |
| Harry Hay & John Burnside |
1971 Two charges of sodomy from alleged
incidents on November 15 involving two
male juveniles have resulted in Nolan Chad McGavin, 31, 649 28th
Street being bound over to Second District Court Ogden Standard
Examiner
1974 An 18 year
old Clearfield job corpsman has been booked into the Davis County jail on a
charge of sodomy officials reported today. Arrested at the center was Eddy L
Mathews. An official of the job corps said the allege incident was reported by
another corpsman Ogden Standard Examiner
1981-Shirley Pedler, executive director of ACLU of
Utah, spoke at a Salt Lake Affirmation Meeting on Gay Rights in Salt Lake City.
1984-Composers Ned Rorem and Elliot Carter, Metropolitan Opera
conductor James Levine, and other distinguished musicians performed a memorial
concert for New York Philharmonic pianist Paul Jacobs, who had recently died of
complications from AIDS.
 |
| John Reeves |
1989 Friday- A rejection letter was in the PO Box 252 from AIDS
guru Louise Hays. Dan Fahndrich had asked her to speak at Beyond Stonewall.
1990 PRINCIPAL DENIES DISORDERLY CONDUCT CHARGEA
Jordan School District principal arrested in connection with a Salt Lake vice
operation has pleaded not guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct. Bernett
Baldwin appeared in 3rd Circuit Court and demanded a jury trial. A pretrial conference
was scheduled for March 14 before Judge Philip Palmer. Baldwin, 51, Bountiful , was issued a
misdemeanor citation Feb. 9 after a man sexually propositioned an undercover
male vice officer at Jordan Park, 1000 S. 900 West, according to police reports
and court records. Another Jordan
principal, Edwin C. DeBoard, was arrested two days later for soliciting sex
from an undercover female vice decoy. DeBoard, 48, Sandy , pleaded no contest Feb. 16. He was
fined $250 and ordered to undergo testing for sexually transmitted diseases.
Both principals have been suspended with pay pending an administrative review
by the Jordan
superintendent.
1990 WOOD ONLY WATCHED KILLING OF STUDENT, HIS ATTORNEY
SAYS By Lane Williams, Staff Writer The defense for Lance Conway Wood said that
while Wood witnessed the torture killing of a former Southern Utah State
College student in 1988, he did not participate in the murder. Wood, 21, is the
second defendant to be tried in the death of Gordon Ray Church, 28, on Nov. 22,
1988. Michael Anthony Archuleta, 27, was found guilty of first-degree murder in
the killing and sentenced to death in December. His case is on appeal. Wood is
charged with capital homicide and two first-degree felonies, aggravated assault
and aggravated kidnapping. In opening arguments Friday, defense attorney Marcus
Taylor said the evidence will show that "Mr. Wood is there. He doesn't
lift a finger, not one finger, in that cruel, cruel death." But Millard
County Attorney Warren Peterson, the chief prosecutor, said, "Two people
committed these crimes." He said the prosecution will show that Wood
played an important role in a murder that was "heinous, atrocious, cruel
or exceptionally depraved." Wood's defense will apparently mirror the
defense of Archuleta, 27, during the earlier trial. In it, Archuleta's
attorneys said Wood was mainly responsible in the killing. Church's body was
found half-nude on Nov. 23, 1988. The body was gagged, draped in chains and
covered with dirt and tree limbs in Dog
Valley , which is north of Cove Fort in
Millard County Taylor said. Wood was then
arrested. Peterson said Wood had initially led investigators to the crime
scene, but the prosecutor told the 10-woman, two-man jury that Wood's initial
testimony to officers differs from the facts the state intends to show in the
case. Testimony in the trial is expected to last about two weeks. During that
time, about 40 witnesses will testify and more than 200 exhibits will be
presented to jurors, Peterson said. Taylor
said Wood intends to take the stand in his own defense. Archuleta will not
testify in the case. Testimony is set to begin Monday at 9 a.m. Wood was
dressed in a blue pin-stripe business suit. He showed little emotion during the
arguments except when Taylor
mentioned the date the incident began, and Wood quietly bowed his head and put
his hand to his face. (Deseret News)
1992 Gay and Lesbian activists hung some 80
national safe-sex campaign posters around the University of Utah’s campus. ``By 9 a.m. the next day, they were all torn
down,'' says U. senior Scott Speirs, an Institute member. ``I was very upset,
very angry but not really surprised. The campus is an extremely closeted,
homophobic, sexphobic, AIDSphobic place.''
But Sonia Delago, a customer-service representative, calls the posters
``near pornographic. ``I couldn't
believe the university allowed them to put them up,'' says Ms. Delago, who
along with six co-workers wrote a letter to The Daily Utah Chronicle. ``It is
not necessary to be that graphic to get your point across.'' The students had
every right to hang the posters, says Director of Scheduling Dick Christiansen,
whose office stamped the posters with the standard two-week expiration
date.
1994 -
Steven Allen Billas age 32, died at his
residence in Salt Lake City. A native of Pennsylvania Steven was a graduate of
the Pennsylvania State University Salt Lake City
since 1983, and in this period of time acquired many true and close friendships.
He was first employed by Utah Biomedical Testing Laboratories as a chemist and
spent the last seven years as a field service engineer for Hewlett-Packard.
Resided with his friend and partner, Donald Snyder in Salt Lake City the past 11 years.
1995-While being
interviewed by Barbara Walters, Greg Louganis stated that he had AIDS.
1996 Senate President Lane Beattie Senate OKs
Bill Aimed at Teachers Measure Prohibits School Workers From Promoting Illegal
Acts: THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The Utah Senate gave final
approval Friday to a bill aimed at preventing public-school employees from
promoting homosexual acts and other illegal conduct. After a stormy debate on Senate Bill 246 the
day before, senators were low-key Friday, though they split again by a vote of
18-8 on the controversial bill. SB246 would bar teachers and public-school
employees from promoting illegal activities, either professionally or, in some
circumstances, their private lives. The Republican-backed measure comes in
reaction to the unsuccessful request by students at East
High School in Salt Lake City to form a club for gay,
lesbian and straight students. It now heads to the House. In one of their most
heated debates of the 1996 session, senators differed over whether the bill was
a simple clarification or so broad as to threaten rights of free speech in
educators' professional and private lives. Thursday's debate left some
disatisfied. Senate President Lane Beattie, R-West Bountiful, used an
explanation of his vote Friday to berate Democrats, who earlier described the
the bill as a runaway train, rolling across Capitol Hill to passage with little
reflection. Beattie called it ``improper'' to insinuate that the straight party
line Republican vote in favor of SB246 was somehow ``a group effort.'' And he
said claims that the bill might infringe on the rights of teachers to civil
disobedience or was discriminatory were ``hurtful.'' ``If this does
discriminate against anything, it discriminates against the lawbreaker,'' the
Senate president said. ``It is very straightforward and should be passed in
every state in the nation.'' Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley
City
1996 Gary Zimmerman was born February 24, 1949, California. He died on his 47th birthday, 1996 inUtah . Tribute by Connell O'Donovan: I first met Gary in 1980, when I began working for the Genealogy Library (when it was still called that, and located in the "west testicle" of the Church Office Building Gary was a professional genealogist who used the library's services on a daily basis and we got to be quite good friends. (There was a group of about 20 Gay men I knew of during the early 1980s who all worked at the Genealogy Library, either as employees of the Library itself as I was initially, or as independent researchers like Gary .) Gary had gone on a Navajo-speaking mission to southern Utah , which had been extremely difficult for him, as he struggled both with his sexuality and with learning to speak Navajo-Dineh (considered by some linguists to be the most difficult language on earth). While Gary was bitter about his mission experiences, he was very helpful to me during my coming out, always willing to lend an ear or shoulder when I so desperately needed someone to speak with. I believe he was also the first person to tell me about Affirmation. Thank you so much Gary for your lovely friendship! During the early 1990s, Gary collaborated with a woman named Marion Wolfert on editing the first three volumes of a genealogical book titled German Immigrants: Lists of Passengers Bound from Bremen to New York . After Gary 's death, Ms. Wolfert finished their research project by publishing the fourth volume in this series.
1996 Gary Zimmerman was born February 24, 1949, California. He died on his 47th birthday, 1996 in
24 Feb 2000 Page: A8 House
Approves Bill Banning Adoption By Gays, Unmarried Couples BY DAN HARRIE THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE In one of the most
powerful speeches of the 2000 Utah Legislature, the state's only openly Gay
lawmaker pleaded with colleagues Wednesday to defeat a proposed ban on
homosexual or unmarried couples from adopting children. But the oratory skills
of Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt
Lake City Utah
2003 . "Delta Lambda Sappho UnionWeber
State University Union , Ogden ,
UT 84408 State
University Diversity
Center Ogden ,
Utah Weber
State University Diversity
Center Diversity
Center Diversity
Center Union Building), and staffed all day, where as DLSU/ GLBT Programs and Services was hidden on the fourth floor of the Shepherd Union Building, and staffed intermittently when someone could be found that wasn't in class. Delta Lambda Sappho Union will still maintain its own office space. Only the books, videos and brochures will move down to the Diversity
Center
2003 . "Delta Lambda Sappho Union
2005 Unity through Visibility! Open House for Allies An
Ally Open House for Support, Learning, and Fun! Speaker: Lori McDonald – On
Allied Visibility, For friends and Family of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender individuals When: February 24th 6:30pm Where:
The Commanders House Refreshments Served! For more
information please contact Lauren Littlefield at llittlefield@sa.utah.edu or
call 587-7973 BRING YOUR FRIENDS,
FRIENDS and your FRIENDS
2006 Dear Community
Member: Rep. Litvack’s HB90 – 4th sub. Criminal Penalty Amendments just passed
the House floor by a vote of 67-5! Ah, we needed some good news! Thanks again
for allowing me the increased communication during this legislative session. Believe
me, I am as ready as anyone for this session to be over – it’s been a tough
one. Yesterday was especially tough. Every day Rep. Biskupski and Sen. McCoy
fight the good fight. Here’s a glimpse of their day yesterday: When addressing
HB327 – legislation that would block public employers from subsidizing benefits
for anyone but public employees’ spouse or dependent children, Rep. Jackie
Biskupski expressed, “This bill treats one person on this floor different than
anyone else; and that person is me.” The house then passed the bill
52-16-7(absent). In the Senate when
speaking in opposition to Sen. Buttars’ SB97 – his bill on school clubs, Sen.
Scott McCoy said, “The most common epithets thrown about in our schools are
words like ‘faggot’ and ‘dyke.’ What these clubs exists to do is not to recruit
people, to change the way they live their lives or change their sexual
orientation, it is to recognize that those kinds of words and that kind of
treatment hurts.” The bill then preliminarily passed 18-11. The final Senate
vote will come today. Rep. Biskupski and Sen. McCoy are hard at work on our
behalf. Equality Utah
is opposed to SB97 and here are a few of our talking points. These may be
helpful in crafting your email.The Utah Board of Education views SB97 as unnecessary.
I agree. Please vote NO on SB97 Student Club Amendments. The Association of School Superintendents
views SB97 as unnecessary. I agree. Please vote NO on SB97 Student Club
Amendments. Federal & state laws already govern school clubs. SB97 is unnecessary.
Please vote NO on SB97 Student Club Amendments. Governor Huntsman has expressed
his view that this issue is best left to local school boards. I agree. Please
vote NO on SB97 Student Club Amendments. You can find your Senator’s email
address by visiting our Action
Center Utah , Mike Thompson Executive Director
2006 The Opposite of Education: Clouded minds make bad legislation
Tribune Editorial Salt Lake Tribune Fear clouds the mind. It causes otherwise
intelligent people to do things they would not normally do, things that, upon
reflection, they are likely to be ashamed of. Fear of one’s own people,
especially of the next generation, is neither a family value nor a productive
point of view. It is a deeply insulting mistrust of humanity, a desire to keep
our children children by forcing them to think only what we think and know only
what we know – the opposite of education. Chris Buttars is afraid. He is
honestly afraid that some weak-willed Utah
teenager, in the supposed sanctuary of her public school, will join a club
where her peers face the undeniable fact that not everyone has the same sexual
orientation and that, no matter how one feels about that, the conflict,
bullying and even suicide that too often result are tragedies to be avoided.
And he is equally afraid that those same young people, who in his mind choose
their values the way some people choose brands of toothpaste, will suddenly
become amoral nihilists if they are not somehow sheltered from the core
principles of modern science. So Buttars, R-West Jordan, has pushed through the
Senate an expression of fear called SB97. It is intended, in fuzzy language
that still stands against federal law, to encourage school districts to ban the
Gay-Straight Alliance clubs that promote only humanity. And Buttars continues
to press for a version of SB96, his bill that would single out the principles
of evolutionary biology for a state-mandated statement that science doesn’t
know what it’s talking about. Buttars and his allies can look you square in the
eye and claim they are bravely standing against a tide of moral decay and civil
collapse. But, in a time and place where anti-gay, anti-intellectual
politicians are unlikely to face repercussions at the polls, courage is
something they do not show. Scott McCoy is not afraid. Neither is Jackie Biskupski.
As the only openly gay members of the Legislature, Sen. McCoy and Rep.
Biskupski – and their few allies – are the ones who stand against bigotry and
fear, and do so at no small risk to themselves. And Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is
not afraid. He hopes to lead Utah
boldly into the future, and has strongly hinted that he will veto both of
Buttars’ expressions of dread if they should reach his desk. Who should lead us
into the future? The people who are not afraid of it.
2004 Utah House Bill 68, a Hate Crime Law never got out of
committee because it went to the Judiciary Committee instead of the Law
Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee, as HB85 did in the 2003 session.
24 February 2004- Most
of the RCGSE will be in Denver, CO, that weekend... but thanks! Mark Thrash
24 February 2004- This morning I
sat and watched as the President of the United States proclaimed that it
should be writen into the Constitution that I shall never be allowed to marry.
He declaired in front of millions, probly billions of people that I am "a
threat to the sanctity of marriage" and that I am un-natural and "
eakening the good influence of society". With tears streaming down my
face, I listened as he called to the masses to "protect marriage"
from me. I am unsure of all the "rights" I miss out on because I can
not marry my partner, but I do know that all of them are legal, financial, and
medical rights, none to do with God or my eternal salvation. I know that though
I am the sole financial provider for my family, I am taxed and treated as
single. I know that if my partner gets sick, we will be paying the full bill
because she can not be on my insurance. I know that there are many forms to
fill out and legal fees that we have to pay to insure we are responsible for
each other should anything happen to either of us, and I knoe that either of
our families could fight it in court and possibly win. I always dreamed of
marriage as a child. It wasn't untill I was around 12 years old that I found
out I wasn't "suppose" to dream of marrying another woman. I still
kept dreaming, after all we live in the "freest country in the
world". How could such a great Country denie me that right. How could a
Constitution that guaretees " equal protection for all under the law"
denie me the same rights and protections. Today a movement has begun to make it
equal protection for all heterosexuals under the law and only selective
protection for homosexuals. I find it odd that persons convicted of rape,
murder, pedofilia, who are in prison can get married, and yet law abiding, tax
paying citizens who want to marry someone of the same gender are turned away. The
first same gender marriage performed in San Fransisco this month was of Phyllis
Lyon and Del Martin, who just celebrated 51 years together. A marriage that has
lasted longer than most oppsite gender marriages of today. Can any of you look
those two in the eye and tell them thier relationship does not deserve the same
legal benifits as yours. That five decades does not warrent a mrriage recognized
by the state. Can you look me in the eye and tell me with out shame that you
and your spouse deserve more rights and protection than me and mine. Can you
justify writing descrimination into the costitution, can you show me how my
marriage will impact yours. Please think of me before you make a decision,
think of the millions of families you will have to look in the eye if you
support an amendment that would nolify "equal protection for all". Sincerly,
Aimee Marie Selfridge
2005 Thursday Great news! Angels in America :
Millennium Approaches at the Babcock Theatre has arranged a special showing of
the play for the invited guests of Salt Lake Metro and Little Lavender Book. On
Tuesday, March 1 – before it is open to the public – guests of SLMetro can see
the show. Of course, I’m inviting you. I have tickets available at the office
if you’d like to stop by and pick some up. Angels in America: Millennium
Approaches Babcock Theatre Lower Level of the Pioneer Memorial Theatre 300
South 1400 West University of Utah Tuesday, March 1 Show begins at 7:30 p.m.
We’re asking that all invited guests at this FREE performance bring a can of
food or a toiletry item to donate to the Utah AIDS Foundation Food Bank as part
of our Metro Cares program. If you have any questions, please call me. Jere
2006 posted by Mark Swanson Equality Utah Legislature Update Dear
Community Member: Rep. Litvack's HB90 - 4th sub. Criminal Penalty Amendments
just passed the House floor by a vote of 67-5! Ah, we needed some good news!
Thanks again for allowing me the increased communication during this
legislative session. Believe me, I am as ready as anyone for this session to be
over - it's been a tough one. Yesterday was especially tough. Every day Rep.
Biskupski and Sen. McCoy fight the good fight. Here's a glimpse of their day
yesterday: When addressing HB327 - legislation that would block public
employers from subsidizing benefits for anyone but public employees' spouse or
dependent children, Rep. Jackie Biskupski expressed, "This bill treats one
person on this floor different than anyone else; and that person is me."
The house then passed the bill 52-16-7(absent).
In the Senate when speaking in opposition to Sen. Buttars' SB97 - his
bill on school clubs, Sen. Scott McCoy said, "The most common epithets
thrown about in our schools are words like 'faggot' and 'dyke.' What these
clubs exists to do is not to recruit people, to change the way they live their
lives or change their sexual orientation, it is to recognize that those kinds
of words and that kind of treatment hurts." The bill then preliminarily
passed 18-11. The final Senate vote will come today. Rep. Biskupski and Sen.
McCoy are hard at work on our behalf. Please take a moment to drop them a note
of thanks. In addition, please send an email to your Senator this morning to
express your position on Sen. Buttars' SB97 Student Club Amendments. The bill
is up for its final vote in the Senate today. Equality Utah is opposed to SB97 and here are a few
of our talking points. These may be helpful in crafting your email. The Utah
Board of Education views SB97 as unnecessary. I agree. Please vote NO on SB97
Student Club Amendments. The Association of School Superintendents views SB97
as unnecessary. I agree. Please vote NO on SB97 Student Club Amendments.
Federal & state laws already govern school clubs. SB97 is unnecessary.
Please vote NO on SB97 Student Club Amendments. Governor Huntsman has expressed
his view that this issue is best left to local school boards. I agree. Please
vote NO on SB97 Student Club Amendments. You can find your Senator's email
address by visiting our Action
Center Utah , Mike Thompson Executive Director
2006 posted by Mark Swonson Family Night Rally February 27, 2006
Family Night at the Capitol Monday, February 27 at 4:00 P.M. on the West Plaza Capital Grounds PFLAG (Parents,
Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) invites you to a peaceful rally of
support for the GLBT Community and for Gay/Straight Alliances on Monday,
February 27 at 4:00 p.m. on the West Plaza Capital Grounds. What our
legislators are doing and saying is wrong, immoral, and sending a negative
message to our community. Bring friends and family. Wear t-shirts, buttons, and
make banners or posters that make a statement of how you feel about the
proposed bills that will affect our community and our loved ones. Include
positive messages that we want them to know about our friends and family
members. Together we can make a difference.
This is the last chance we have during this Legislative session to stand
together and have our voices be heard. Please join us! Thanks, Geralynn Barney
PFLAG Mom
 |
| Sarah Hamblin |
- 2006 I know your heart is sore. Even with Sara always in your heart it is not the same as having her in your arms. You and Sara are in a lot of peoples thoughts and prayers. Ben
- KathyWUT@aol.com wrote: Thank, you, Ben, and thanks for the lovely card that you sent while Sara was ill. It meant a lot to Sara to see all the cards she had gotten. Somehow she'd always thought that she hadn't made an impact on anyone's lives and that hardly anyone would even notice she was gone. Be sure to check out the obituary page again today. I wish Sara could see what they did. And, by the way, I didn't pay for them to run the obit today, that was the Tribune's decision. I paid for yesterday and for Sunday. Thanks again for being so thoughtful. I miss my Sara SO much. Kathy
2009 Democrats demand further action over
Buttars' anti-gay remarks Senate Democrats said this morning that Sen. Chris
Buttars' punishment for his anti-gay remarks has been inadequate and asked
Senate President Michael Waddoups to remove him from the powerful Rules
Committee. "President Waddoups put faith in Sen. Buttars and appointed him
to very important and key positions. Unfortunately, Sen. Buttars betrayed that
trust," said Senate Minority Leader Pat Jones, D-Salt Lake
City Lake Tribune
2010 Plan-B Theatre Company’s
Jerry Rapier Man With a Plan: Jerry
Rapier takes a break from his theater schedule to give us a tour of his
playlist. By Gavin Sheehan Those well-versed in Utah’s theatre community should
recognize Jerry Rapier—if not the name, then certainly his work. Plan-B Theatre
Company’s producing director has done exceptionally well with his demanding
role and shows no signs of slowing down. Originally brought in to direct Molly
Sweeney in 2000, Rapier took the reins when Tobin Atkinson took off to join the
army. His involvement helped raise the company to new heights. He is perhaps
best known for pushing boundaries that earned Plan-B a reputation as a daring,
bold company, staging productions of The Laramie Project as well as newer plays
including Amerika, Facing East, Exposed and Block 8. During this time, he
brought in new playwrights with bold ideas, including the multi-script virtuoso
Matthew Ivan Bennett. Within a few short years, he changed the outlook,
attitude and public image of the small theater company. Hitting Rapier up for
an interview was pretty easy, but you wouldn’t know it from the schedule he
keeps. Aside from the morning jaunt to grab a soy latte at Rosie’s Deli, Rapier
is either hard at work at the Plan-B office or planted in front of his Macbook
at home into the wee hours. OK, so he squeezes in time for Wii Tennis; every
chap needs a wee bit of exercise in his life! “I get so focused that an entire
day can pass where the only interaction I have is with my bevy of pets and my
partner, Kirt,” says Rapier, who has been off the singles scene for 14 years
now (or, as he refers to it, “a gay century.”) When asked about living in Salt
Lake City as an openly gay man, he says there’s a night-and-day difference from
when he moved here 16 years ago. Over the past decade, Rapier has been involved
in several organizations and received the Mayor’s Artist Award in 2008. On top
of his Plan-B duties, between May and November he’ll also be directing Hair for
Egyptian Theatre Company, Believing for Theatre Arts Conservatory, and The Last
Five Years for Dark Horse Company Theatre. And somewhere in the thick of all
this … sleep! When asked about all the work he’s up to, Rapier couldn’t be more
enthused, particularly regarding Amerigo, “a crazy-ass play with Niccolo
Machiavelli moderating a debate between Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher
Columbus. What I’m most excited about with that play is how big ideas are communicated
with surprising humor,” he says. “I’m also extremely excited about the spring
shows I’m directing. I’m amazed at the skill and tenacity of Richard Scharine
and Carleton Bluford as they inhabit the skins of Wallace Stegner and Wallace
Thurman, respectively.” Currently Rapier is working on Plan- B’s newest
creation, Wallace. Making its world debut next week, the play focuses on two
distinct men who claimed Salt Lake City as their home: Wallace Thurman, a gay
black writer who helped influence the Harlem Rennisance, and Wallace Stegner,
the historian and novelist who was dubbed the Dean of Western Writers by his
peers. Their individual experiences are intertwined from two one-act plays into
one production. In the midst of rehearsals for Wallace (opening March 4), City
Weekly asked Rapier to sit down and play our musical version of Russian
roulette, with surprising results when he clicked on “shuffle.” Jerry Rapier
writes about his iPod picks: Buddy Guy
ft. Tracy Chapman, “Ain’t No Sunshine,” Bring ’Em In I have every song ever
recorded by Tracy Chapman. Her eponymous debut album came out when I was in
high school. Yes, I’m that old, and she’s been my favorite ever since. And I’m
glad she finally came out! Suzanne Vega, “Blood Makes Noise,” 99.9F I just
bought the Retrospective album and really re-discovered her. This song reminds
me of driving my 1970 Chevy Nova around Thatcher, Arizona—I went to school at
Eastern Arizona College for two years, right after I got home from my LDS
mission. Yes, I went on a mission to the exotic land of Minnesota. Dixie
Chicks, “Not Ready To Make Nice,” Taking The Long Way I love the anger in this
song. It makes me smile, realizing that there is no longer a member of the Bush
family living in the White House. And it brought the house down at Plan-B’s
banned fundraiser two years ago. Zoé,
“Nada,” Reptilectric Um, to be honest, this was the Free Single of the Week on
iTunes—I downloaded it but haven’t listened to it yet. But I love the pointy
little hats they’re wearing on the cover! Nena, “99 Luftballons,” 99 Luftballons Favorite.
Song. Ever. Not sure why. I had a little gay-boy crush on her when this song
was new, hairy armpits and all. I used to listen to the cassette over and over.
The A-side was in English, the B-side in German. I loved the B-side and can
still sing along in German, even though I have no idea what they’re saying.
 |
| Jerry Rapier |
2010 The Rail's Bad Vibrations New SLC venue The Rail faces
confrontations with irate neighbors and a felonious past. By Stephen Dark Salt
Lake City weekly When Scott Gollaher was released from a halfway house on Feb. 10, 2004,
after serving almost eight years for child abuse and two parole violations, he
thought to himself, “Freedom is a wonderful thing. Don’t be stupid and screw it
up.” The former residential-property developer knew he couldn’t go back to
building homes. “Someone with a sex offender conviction having the key to your
house doesn’t work well,” he says. So, he shifted to commercial development in
the Guadalupe neighborhood in north Salt Lake City. He bought land adjacent to
the railroad tracks in 2005 for $1.1 million, which was developed into offices
and commercial space. Two years later, he purchased the adjoining warehouse and
began renovating it into what would in 2009 become the multi-use venue The Rail
Event Center (235 N. 500 West). Before Gollaher, developers were afraid to
enter an area blighted by drugs, boarded-up houses and graffiti, says Maria
Garciaz, the executive director for the nonprofit NeighborWorks. Driving that
point home, Gollaher recalls local Hispanic women hugging him in gratitude for
investing in their neighborhood. Other Rail neighbors, however, are far from
thankful. For the previous six months, 58-year-old Carol McCracken and many of her neighbors on a small, manicured cul-de-sac called Bliss
Court have bombarded police dispatchers with complaints about noise from the
tin-walled and-roofed Rail—which Gollaher describes as “a Taj Mahal with an
edgy metal feel”—which has a capacity of 3,570 people and sits 10 feet from
their back patio walls. McCracken, whose home faces the back of The Rail, and
the residents of 10 neighboring homes—among them a 28-year-old firefighter, a
65-year-old Navy veteran, and a couple with a 10-month-old baby—don’t
necessarily want the multi-use venue shut down. After all, something worse
could replace it. But they want their quiet back, qualified though it may be by
the background hum of the neighboring freeway and railroad tracks. Those
noises, however, are steadier, and the residents are accustomed to them. The
noise of the 44,000-square-foot Rail, and particularly its bass vibration, is
altogether different. As McCracken e-mailed city officials in October last
year, “We are literally being driven from our homes after 10 years of peace and
quiet by a business that should never have been permitted to open a
rock-concert venue 30 feet from our windows.” At first sight, the strange saga
of The Rail and its increasingly ill-tempered feud with its immediate neighbors
comes down to what Salt Lake Valley Health compliance officer James Bennett
described to a colleague in an e-mail as “poor planning” by Salt Lake City’s
planning department. While The Rail is in the city’s jurisdiction—and its use
is permitted because of its light-manufacturing zoning, according to Salt Lake
City Mayor Ralph Becker—the county is responsible for noise issues. In an
October e-mail to county officials, Bennett wrote, “As we approach maximum
build-out in Salt Lake County, these types of problems are going to continue
unless the cities and the county start to look beyond the property lines at who
these facilities might affect. I have seen too many cases of ‘let them build
it, see what happens, and if there are problems call the Health Department.’ ”
Look a little deeper, though, and a more complex picture emerges. On the
fringes of the murky world of venue owners and concert promoters, two lives
collided. One was convicted sex-offender Gollaher, a driving force behind The
Rail. The other was paralegal and Bliss Court resident activist, McCracken, who
ironically works with sex offenders and says the courts and society frequently
mistreat them. Now, she’s the one who feels abused. Gollaher says he is not
hiding his past: “I bought it, it’s part of who I am.” He tells everyone he
meets about “my cancerous history.” On Jan. 19, 2010, that history caught up
with him, when he was returned to prison for parole violations. In or out of
prison, McCracken doesn’t judge him, she just wants her restful nights back. No
more nights of The Rail’s bass leaking into her home at 1 a.m., no more police
officers standing in her home, telling her there’s nothing they can do. Noise
and Dissonance While its tin roof compounds The Rail’s noise issues, Gollaher’s
record as a convicted felon has provided fodder for opponents, not all of whom
are immediate neighbors. Most notably, a woman using a pseudonym has driven
investigations by city officials and state liquor agents, using information
that Rail owners suspect may have been provided by rival club owners worried
about the competition from the new venue. The Rail’s current two principal
managers and shareholders, painting contractor Scott Cook and attorney Blake
Nakamura, were unprepared for what Nakamura terms “the underhanded efforts”
used by as-yet unidentified forces to try to close them down. They lease the
building that’s home to The Rail, renovated at a cost of as much as $9 million,
from Gollaher’s wife, Sharon Western Gollaher, who declined an interview
request. These efforts include, Nakamura says, “bogus noise complaints” and
fliers soliciting noise complaints from Rail neighbors with business cards from
a city engineer attached that, Nakamura says, were stolen. Gollaher suspects
the hand of competing venue owners and Bliss Court homeowners (pictured at
left) in such skullduggery, although nobody has been identified. While
Gollaher’s past has been used against the club by others, Gollaher’s
child-abuse conviction is a red herring for the sleep-deprived Bliss Court residents.
The only question that matters to McCracken and her neighbors is whether The
Rail is committed to finding a solution to the noise problem that, they say, is
ruining their lives. “Nobody wants to take the hit for screwing up here and, as
a result, nobody wants to take responsibility for fixing it,” McCracken says.
“Everyone is standing on the sidelines, wringing their hands and saying our
neighborhood will never be the same. How sad.” In just eight months since
opening, The Rail has certainly made a splash. Offering good deals to
nonprofits, it has held bashes for The Leonardo, public radio station KRCL and
the 2010 Utah Census launch, and it also showcases the popular Friday Pure gay
dance night. It provides part-time work for up to 75 local employees, including
some who reside on Bliss Court. With the imminent construction of the North
Temple airport TRAX line, the expansion north of the Gateway retail development
just a few blocks away and Becker’s $100 million-plus North Temple development
plan, The Rail could have a bright future. Not, though, if competitors or
detractors have their way. All The Rail has to do, McCracken says, is turn down
the volume. “They need to give me my quiet back, and no one’s willing to do
that.” McCracken’s neighbor Judy Ege takes antidepressants and anxiety
medication for post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from her service in the
U.S. Navy. She can’t take much more of The Rail. “I can’t stand it,” she says.
“It pounds into my soul.” She bows her head between her hands, staring blindly
at the table. Ege’s suffering may well continue, judging from an e-mail sent
from Salt Lake County’s James Bennett to a city official: “Even if we are able
to get the owners’ of [The Rail] to comply with the noise regulations […], the
residents are likely not to be happy in the future as surely this facility will
have a direct impact on their property in some manner.” Past Ghosts The twists and turns of the Rail
story arguably began in 1978, when Cook met Gollaher while both were serving a
mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Canada. Back in
Utah, Gollaher managed a cement and concrete business, while Cook and his
brother ran painting contractor Cook Bros. Cook first learned Gollaher was a
sex offender when his friend went to prison in 1996, after Gollaher was
convicted of one count of sex abuse of a child, a second degree felony, for
touching an 11-year-old girl’s genitals on a trampoline. Although he initially
denied the charge, Gollaher is forthcoming about it now. “I lied,” he says,
close to tears. “This child did not lie.” When Gollaher (pictured at left) got
out of prison in 2004, “I didn’t stop and hide,” he says. His past has created
problems for him and, as Cook found out with The Rail, for his friends. “If a
sex offender doesn’t hang his head low and walk around unseen, that is very
irritating to some people,” Gollaher says. In 2006, Gollaher was charged with
another abuse incident, but it was dismissed. “It should never have been
filed,” Nakamura says, who met Gollaher when he defended him on that charge. Gollaher
introduced Nakamura to the concept of a multi-use venue center, and the lawyer
eventually became a partner in The Rail. Now, along with being The Rail and
Gollaher’s counsel, Nakamura also provides what he says is “its big-picture
vision.” When Gollaher bought the neighboring warehouse in 2007 that was to
become the Rail, he says he put it in his wife’s name for liability issues. In
May 2009, Sharon Gollaher, as president and owner of The Rail Event Center, and
Cook as local manager, applied for a business and liquor license for a
corporate event center. Scott Gollaher, with his felony record, would be
prohibited from owning liquor licenses. The Lemonheads In the late spring of 2009, a woman using a pseudonym contacted Rail
neighbor and local nonprofit developer NeighborWorks. The woman, who also
declined to provide her real name to City Weekly for publication, was concerned
that a convicted sex offender, Gollaher, was opening an all-ages venue. But
NW’s Garciaz, who actively lobbied for The Rail and wrote a letter to the Utah
Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control in support of its liquor applications,
says that she found the woman’s legitimacy questionable. The same woman also
contacted former City Councilman Eric Jergensen by e-mail on June 1, 2009,
alleging that Gollaher “had merely licensed [The Rail] in his wife’s name in
order to not have any trouble with the opening.” In a reply to the woman,
Jergensen says that he asked his staff to investigate. Shortly after Sharon
Gollaher, who herself has a misdemeanor conviction in her past, applied for
beer and liquor licenses, she withdrew the applications, because, according to
a letter from DABC’s director Dennis Kellen to The Rail’s general manager Brad
Davis, “of her own disqualifying criminal history” and also so The Rail could
be restructured. Cook, however, says that Sharon Gollaher resigned because Cook
and Nakamura (pictured at left) would only take on the management of The Rail
if they were independent of the Gollahers. In late June 2009, Cook and Nakamura
ended up owning 50 percent each of the event center, but not the property
housing it. In late July 2009, the day before Rail GM Davis and Cook made their
presentation to the DABC for a beer license for the ground floor and a club
license for the upper floor, the liquor commission received a letter from the
same pseudonymous female e-mailer who had complained to Rail neighbors and city
authorities. She pointed out Gollaher’s sex-offender status and alleged he was
still involved in The Rail. The DABC postponed its decision until certain
“issues” were resolved, among those the presence of minors on the same floor
where beer would be sold and the extent of the Gollahers’ involvement. By this
point, The Rail was running out of time before its scheduled official opening.
On Aug. 2, 2009, Davis wrote to DABC compliance officer Stephne Hanson that The
Rail had canceled one event due to the license delay, and with its grand
opening just three weeks away, the license issue was “causing a significant
financial stress on the business.” Nakamura, in an Aug. 12 letter to the DABC,
sought to ease concerns about the Gollahers. Rail management had hired lawyers
to remove the Gollahers from any financial or management involvement, he
informed the DABC. While the Gollahers remained property owners and received
payment from the event center through a fixed-rate lease, they were prohibited
from entering the property during concerts. The Gollahers ownership of the property,
however, would continue to haunt The Rail management in the months to come. Attorney
Nakamura further resolved the minors’ issue by withdrawing the beer-license
application for the ground floor during his presentation to the DABC commission
on Aug. 20, two days before the grand opening. He told the commission The Rail
had developed relationships with “our resident neighbors.” Even though DABC
Commission Chairman Sam Granato scolded the owners, saying, “You put a lot of
lemons in our path the last two or three months,” The Rail got its liquor
license. Frat-Boy Blues Nakamura’s statement to the DABC that The Rail had
developed relationships with its neighbors puzzled residents of Bliss Court.
The first they learned of The Rail’s grand opening on Aug. 22, McCracken says,
was from an official sounding leaflet put on their doorsteps informing
residents of their rights regarding bothersome noise. The leaflet, however,
wasn’t from the county, as Bliss Court residents assumed. In fact, it turned
out the mysterious woman who was e-mailing authorities her complaints about The
Rail had struck again. Despite repeated calls on Aug. 22 to the police, bass
vibrations beginning in the early afternoon continued until 2 a.m. with no
reduction, McCracken says. “After the third or fourth hour, it’s all you hear,
all you focus on. It’s like a frat boy who won’t turn down his stereo.” Cook
says the first The Rail heard of a problem was when the police asked them to
turn the sound down on opening night. “The least effective way to communicate
with me is to call the police,” he says. Since then, Nakamura says, “we’ve been
actively trying to contain the noise.” Gollaher says the Rail has spent
$200,000 on sound improvements including a sound curtain, a special
sound-absorbing paint, a cinder-block wall and blankets on the roof. “Bliss
Court has legitimate concerns,” Nakamura says, “but I’m disappointed they have
refused to acknowledge all we’ve done.” McCracken says The Rail should ask for
its $200,000 back. “It’s not working.” McCracken documented and tape-recorded
audible bass in her home from most of the concerts The Rail has held since
opening. At first, police were sympathetic to McCracken and her neighbors’
plight. Several October 2009 police reports note the music from The Rail being
“unreasonable” from both inside and outside a Bliss Court residence and
“loud/audible thumping music” coming the club. But by November 2009, officers
were less understanding. One told complaining Bliss Court owners that a nearby
dog barked louder than the club’s noise. Another officer responded to a
complaint by a resident, only to find the club was closed that night. “The club
owners have worked very hard to comply with the noise ordinance and feel that
there is political pressure to get the club shut down and they feel that some
of the disturbance calls are not legitimate,” Officer Mark Faulkner wrote in an
Oct. 15, 2009, report. The
Rail's
Letter of the Law The city and county, McCracken argues, have sided
with The Rail. Salt Lake County´s Bennett described Bliss Court residents as
possibly “hypersensitive” in one e-mail. After Bennett met with Scott Gollaher
at The Rail during a late October concert and identified some noise issues,
primarily an air-conditioning unit, Bennett gave The Rail time to resolve the
issue. What infuriated Bliss residents was that Bennett set no deadline for The
Rail to fix the problem. The city’s attitude pleased them even less. Salt Lake
City’s community liaison Michael Stott argued in an e-mail to Bennett that what
the city had to decide was whether to “stick to the letter of the law” and
issue citations following complaints or “take into account the significant
efforts of [Rail] management to mitigate this, and hold off on citations.” Frustrated, McCracken wrote to the DABC on
Dec. 23, 2009, detailing from documents she obtained from records requests to
the city and county how Gollaher was acting as The Rail’s owner. Numerous
e-mails from city and county officials identified Gollaher as the owner of The
Rail Event Center. A Salt Lake Valley Health Department’s warning letter dated
Oct. 7, 2009, over noise ordinance violations was also addressed to Gollaher.
Given that felon Gollaher was, she alleged, acting in an ownership and
management capacity, McCracken requested the DABC revoke The Rail’s alcohol
permit. The DABC’s Earl Dorius said several undercover investigations of The
Rail revealed no violations and that the city and the county were unclear
whether Gollaher was the owner or not. While Gollaher laughingly acknowledges
he has a reputation as a small-time Al Capone, who, he says, “owns nothing but
controls everything,” he insists it’s not true. “I can tell you with absolute
certainty,” Nakamura says, “Scott Gollaher does not insert himself within the
operations of the Rail Event Center. He acts on behalf of his wife managing
that property.” The Price of Friendship For all the people out to get him,
Gollaher, it seems, is his own worst enemy. On Jan. 19, Gollaher played what he
calls the “20-questions game” with his parole officer about an anonymous
allegation that Gollaher was with a Hispanic woman and her two children in a
Walmart on Christmas Eve, buying one of the children a present. Because he was
not authorized to be around the children, Gollaher was returned in handcuffs to
the Utah State Prison. “I believe these allegations have no merit,” Nakamura
says, acting as Gollaher’s counsel. At a Feb. 17 parole hearing, the board took
Gollaher’s case under advisement. “Every time I think about it, I shake my
head,” Cook says, way past feeling betrayed. Gollaher’s actions, he says, “are
flat-out stupid.” He recalls Gollaher’s fondness for saying his friendship
comes with a price. “It’s never been this large,” Cook says. Gollaher’s
imprisonment, The Rail management say, will not impact its operation, but
Gollaher is less optimistic. He and his wife are $200,000 short of certain
financial obligations. “This is the most serious cash-flow crisis of my life,”
he says in a small, cramped room in the state prison. “It’s questionable
whether we will [succeed].” With 23 hours under lockdown to fill, Gollaher, in
his prison whites and sporting a trimmed gray beard, found a copy of Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter in the unit. It was like finding an old friend.
He first read it in 1997 in state prison and, he wrote in a letter to City
Weekly, “felt it was one of the top 5 books of the 500 or so I read while in
prison.” Re-reading it, he was deeply moved by the last chapters. The scarlet
letter, he wrote, was “society’s public branding for cause.” The lead
character, adulterer Hester Prynne, chose, he wrote, “to rise above its label
until the branding ceased to be the stigma; in the end alone, yet no doubt in
peace.” The Whore Next Door If things could not have gotten worse for Gollaher, several days after
his arrest, McCracken and the residents’ already strained relationship with law
enforcement hit a new low. On Jan. 24 at 8:45 p.m., Salt Lake City Police
Department Lt. Mark Scharman knocked on the door of McCracken’s townhouse.
Scharman had had enough of Bliss Court residents pestering his officers with
their complaints. Officers were not going to respond to the calls they were
making “every 10 minutes,” Scharman told her. “It’s not healthy for [The Rail],
it’s not healthy for you or my patrolmen.” McCracken lost her temper. Because
of the bass vibration coming from The Rail over numerous weekends, “I have not
been allowed to sleep in my own bed for four fucking months. Have you got
that?” Scharman urged her to sue The Rail civilly. “I have to file a lawsuit to
fix something that isn’t my fault?” McCracken said, incredulously. “What have
we done wrong? Why is it every weekend we get lectured on [The Rail]’s rights,
their [business] permit, their noise abilities, and how it’s our problem to
fix?” Bliss Court phone calls to the police did prompt some city action,
though. On Feb. 2, 2010, The Rail Event Center, represented by Nakamura, faced
two counts of noise-ordinance violations, with an additional nine counts
pending. McCracken and six other Bliss Court tenants and property owners sat in
Judge Jeanne Robison’s court for two hours that afternoon while Salt Lake City
prosecutor Scott Fisher and Nakamura negotiated in a nearby room. Fisher asked
Robison for a trial date, but Robison was initially unwilling to put aside two
days. However, Fisher said that the case “merits departure from the norm,” so
Robison agreed to set a date for mid-April. “We finally have an avenue,”
McCracken said afterward. Nakamura says The Rail wants to be a good neighbor.
“And we want [Bliss Court] to be good neighbors in return.” The Rail
controversy has also prompted change at the city level. Salt Lake County’s
environmental health director, Dr. Royal Delegge, says that the health
department will now “be involved in reviewing applications the city thinks
would generate noise.” Becker notes The Rail’s problems helped inform decisions
about their proposed neighborhood bar ordinance, which is being considered by
the City Council. That’s cold comfort for McCracken. Since the court hearing,
she says, things have only gotten worse. The Friday-night Pure is louder than
ever and feels like, she says, “a ‘fuck you’ from The Rail.” While she doubts
that “ordinary people can make a difference,” she also says that “unless we
agree to shut up, they can’t shut us up.” She honestly doesn’t care, she
continues, if the warehouse overlooking her back patio wall is home to “a
whorehouse. As long as it’s quiet.”
 |
| Jesse Nix and Capitol 13 |
2014 13 arrested for LGBT protest plan return to
Utah Capitol SB100 • They also planned to plead not guilty to disorderly
conduct Monday, but no charges filed. BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST THE SALT LAKE
TRIBUNE Thirteen people arrested while protesting at the Utah Capitol in
support of a measure that would forbid discrimination against gay people hope
to eventually take their cases to trial, and plan to again press the state
Legislature to hear the bill. “This is self-defense,” said activist Troy
Williams. “Our community has been under assault at the Utah Legislature for
years. What we did was in defense of ourselves and our community.” The “Capitol
13” planned to plead not guilty to misdemeanors at a Salt Lake City Justice Court
appearance Monday, but found formal charges hadn’t yet been filed — an
oversight Utah Highway Patrol troopers planned to fix Monday afternoon, said
spokesman Dwayne Baird. Judge John Baxter instead made an entry on his personal
calender for the group to check in with their attorneys on the case status in
30 days. They had expected class B misdemeanor charges of disturbing the
Legislature and charges of disorderly conduct, a class C misdemeanor. Regardless,
activists plan to return to the Capitol on March 5 at 12:30 p.m. for a rally to
again push legislators to hear SB100, which would outlaw employment and housing
discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Utahns. “I
believe that God loves each of us and relies on us to love and care for each
other,” said Angela Isaacs, who was among the 13 arrested and describes herself
as a straight Mormon woman. “I believe you shouldn’t be fired for being gay, or
refused housing or service at a restaurant for being gay. ...We have a long way
to go.” The rally seems unlikely to lead to more arrests — Williams said it
won’t have the same “civil disobedience” aim. Not everyone agrees the Feb. 10
protest was effective. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George,
said in a tweet earlier this month that SB100 would be better served if the
protesters had instead met with Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy. But
Williams said Monday that he met with Niederhauser the week before the
demonstration and thought another meeting wouldn’t have done any good. “They
don’t care about democracy. They don’t care about the will of the people,” said
Williams. “When I spoke to Senator Niederhauser, it was clear his mind was
already made up.” Urquhart didn’t immediately respond to a call for comment on
the new rally. On Monday, Urquhart and openly gay Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake
City, announced a “first-ever conversation” between legislative leaders and
people from the LGBT community. Scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Utah
Capitol in Room 445, the event is open to the public and will bring together 12
LBGT people with legislative leaders, including Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox. Meanwhile,
Utah cities and counties continue to pass their own ordinances banning gay
discrimination. Holladay became the 20th local government to pass
such a measure last week. The Capitol 13 were detained while they blocked
access to an afternoon Utah Senate committee meeting. They had spent most of
the day standing in front of Gov. Gary Herbert’s office, seeking assurances the
bill would be given a hearing. Republican leaders decided not to hear any bills
related to LBGT issues this year, even though several polls indicate a solid
majority of Utahns support a nondiscrimination bill, which has been proposed at
the Legislature for the past five years. They cite potential damage to the
state’s legal battle to keep the state’s ban on gay marriage, which was
overturned by a federal judge in December.
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