This Day In Gay Utah History February 4th

4 February

1868 - Deseret News editorializes that "it is a pity" LDS father did not succeed in killing his daughter's lover when the father "drew a revolver and shot him down in the court room."

Edith Ellis

1915-In Chicago on a speaking tour, Edith Lees Ellis, openly lesbian wife of Havelock Ellis, encouraged women to begin "organizing a new love world."

Magnus Hirschfeld

1923-During a speech by homosexual rights activist Dr Magnus Hirschfeld in Vienna, Nazi youth stormed in. They hurled stink bombs and opened fire. Dr Hirschfeld was unharmed, but many audience members were wounded.

1956 Saturday- Shortly after Salt Lake City Police Department records bureau clerk handed in his resignation, Friday, he was named in a complaint charging indecent conduct.  The clerk, Roy Bishop, 25, 1009 East 3^rd South was charged in a complaint signed by Sgt, M.L. Christensen, youth bureau. Action came after a mail carrier Tuesday afternoon told two radio patrolmen that a young man exposed himself to him in the hall way of an apartment house.  Bishop was questioned in regards to the report, Friday by J.L. Allen, superintendent of records and Police Chief Odes B. Record. The clerk later turned in his resignation. He was appointed to the department on 19 June 1950 (SLTribune 02/04/56 Page B3 Col. 2)

1964- The movie "The Fourth Sex" was stopped at two Salt Lake Theaters after a police squad headed by Asst. Chief M.J. Butterfield decreed it "objectionable for this community" The film was booked at the Gem, 162 South State, and Redwood Drive In Theaters. Mr. Butterfield said there were scenes where "too much nudity" was in evidence. He added that homosexuality was a prominent theme in the picture. A member of the Law Observance Committee of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints viewed the picture, Mr. Butterfield said, and agreed with the report. The Salt Lake Tribune's theater listings for February 1st printed the title of the movie as "The Fourth Set" which was shown with a double feature entitled "The Twilight Girls". The promo for the films said "Finally approved in the USA; Two Adult Drama Hits". (02/04/64 page 22 Col. 3 SLTribune)

Patty Hearst

1974- Heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. The FBI justified its infiltration and harassment of lesbian organizations by stating that two SLA members were lesbians.

1978- Mormon Apostle Mark Peterson published an anti-Gay article entitled “On the Safe Side” in the Church News section of the Deseret News.

1980  Monday -" I called Karl Idsvoog and told him to erase the tapes which I had filmed for the documentary. I do not want to sabotage my life anymore. This was not the place for me (Salt Lake City, Utah). I must really think of finding a place where I can work out my life without harm coming to that process." (Memoirs of Donald Attridge)

Jon Hinson

1981- US Congressman Jon Hinson (R-MS) was arrested for performing fellatio on a man in the restroom of the House of Representatives. It was his second arrest, the first was for the same sexual act at the Iwo Jima Memorial five years previous. He plead no contest.

1983 -" David Leta (my attorney ) straightened out the hospital so I can work with patients. He spoke to Bill Evans directly. There was a position in rehabilitation therapy opened but the hospital would not approve me for the position. "I decided to avoid wasting my time during the negotiations. With the small sum of 3,000 dollars which I ended up with through the law suit I left the country to take some time revitalize my desire to live. My lawyers had taken close to 11,000 dollars of the 15,000 dollar settlement. They had spent close to four times that amount on the case but according to the A.C.L.U. who had taken the case and secured these two attorneys, their attorney's (A.C.L.U.) usually take the case without compensation. My attorney's actions were a violation of the agreement according to Sally Pedler, head of the A.C.L.U. in Utah. Well at least it appeared all over and I stood up for myself and other gay and lesbian people. No one would be able to fire another gay in Utah for appearing in a documentary concerning the Mormon Church." (Memoirs of David Attridge)

1985- US President Ronald Reagan's 1986 budget request was announced, including a $12 million cut in AIDS related funding.

1987-Liberace died of AIDS in Palm Springs, California at the age of 62.

1987-Andre Nichols, 19, was acquitted of murdering a Catholic priest after claiming the priest made sexual advances toward him.

1988- Gay and Lesbian Community Council of Utah met with 40 in attendant.  AIDS was a predominant theme including the need for increased safer sex education and awareness in Utah. The Gay and Lesbian Concerns Subcommittee of the Health Dept.’s AIDS Advisory Committee and AIDS legislation met before the state legislature. The council constructed 4 more AIDS information Boxes to be stocked with AIDS brochures and installed in Gay and Lesbian establishments. The council had three subcommittees: The Anti-Violence Project chaired by Lyle Bradley, The AIDS committee chaired by David Sharpton, and Gay Pride Day ’88 committee chaired by Floyd Gamble. “I went to the Gay Community Council tonight. We agreed to sponsor a Romanovski and Phillips Concert, and to buy a case of peanut butter and tuna for Chuck Whyte’s can food drive. It was a good turn out without the “activists” clouding our issues and objecting to everything not sponsored by them.” [1988 Journal of Ben Williams]

1989 The Phoenix Foundation later called Evergreen Foundation an organization founded to help Mormon men overcome the homosexuality. “Alan Gundry, the so called Mormon Liaison to the Gay Community, announced the formation of an Exodus Group for men who are trying to renounce their homosexuality. Gundry was the same man who David Sharpton said had lied to him and Dave Malmstrom about the Mormon Church's extending an olive branch to the Gay Community. [1988 Journal of Ben Williams]

1989-Saturday I spoke to Dave Malmstrom most of the morning about Derek S and Brook Hallock’s accusations. Chuck Thomas and he have also come to the conclusion that he’s probably a plant. They had thought for a long time that Derek or a kid named Lawrence might be spies.  Dave said Derek S was always calling him for addresses and an information about people. [1988 Journal of Ben Williams]

1989- Darryl Webber held an Unconditional Support officers meeting at his West Valley UT home.

1994 The Utah Health Department had recorded 494 AIDS deaths in Utah

1998- Stephen Covey, the Utah-based best-selling author, apologized to several businesses about his appearance at a $100-a-platefund-raising event in Hawaii organized to oppose Gay marriage.

1999 The Salt Lake City Weekly featured a story questioning the operating of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center. GAY COMMUNITY CENTER UTAH COFFEE SHOP OR COMMUNITY CENTER? Coffee or Community? Gay & Lesbian Center Searches for a Course by Ben Fulton City Weekly After months of planning, fund raising, networking and construction, Salt Lake City’s Stonewall Center has been successfully reincarnated into the Gay & Lesbian Community Center. It’s a small, charming, two-story building with hardwood floors and a library. Its doors have been open wide since October, but has it sacrificed a vision for the gay community in favor of a business- like drive to increase operating funds? That’s the feeling of some in the community, and the opinion of two former Center administrators. There are also charges that the tone of the Center, whose Operating Board comprises several successful business owners, has become elitist, demonstrating little concern for more blue-collar members of the community. Some who've resigned their administrative positions say programs aren't receiving enough attention. Others disagree. Part and parcel of any new organization, or the sign of final decisions sure to direct the Center’s future? All that remains to be seen, but with the resignation of its executive director and a small row over the balance sheet of the Center’s coffee shop, Stonewall Coffee, there have been plenty of tremors. Oddly, the center of those small quakes has been Stonewall Coffee. Even before the Center opened, everyone agreed that a coffee shop would act as a complementary social magnet—an ideal meeting place. That it has, say Stonewall Coffee supporters. But critics contend the small bistro has taken center stage, at the expense of actively forming programs that would empower Salt Lake City’s gay and lesbian community. Complicating matters, critics say, is the fact that many people who donated money to the coffee shop’s initial operations also sit on the Center’s Operating Board. So, is the end result a gay and lesbian community center inside a Coffee Shop, or a coffee shop inside a Gay and Lesbian Community Center? Naturally, the answer depends on whom you ask. “The vision of some board members is that it would be a coffee shop first and foremost to make profit so that it would sustain the operation of the building. But when you talked to them about goals beyond that they had no ideas. I don’t want to bad-mouth the Center. I miss it very much. But I was hired to do a job, and I was not allowed to do a job,” said Monique Predovitch, who resigned her position as executive director just over a month ago. “It was a division of a business downstairs and a non-profit community center upstairs. The business won out.”  Alan Ahtow, who, as interim director, kept the Center alive on the web while a building site was scouted, expressed similar feelings. Like Predovitch, he’s careful not to frame his differences with the Center’s current board in terms of who’s right and who’s wrong. Rather, it’s an issue of how the Center can best serve the community, Ahtow says. He left his positions as board member and Predovitch’s assistant when it became apparent that programs were being overlooked for the coffee shop. “I think it would be unfortunate for the opportunity we have as a community, and for the Center’s potential, if it just became a place to hang out and drink coffee,” Ahtow said. “I think the idea of a coffee shop was sound, but the execution wasn’t what people imagined. When you have people in the position of donating money to the center who are also on the board there are problems you encounter. It’s easy to say something like, ‘If you don’t do what I want you’re not going to get my money or my service or my time.’ From my own observation, I think there were instances where people felt uncomfortable or intimidated. It’s not necessarily a healthy environment to operate in.” “I’m not saying people didn’t have the best intentions. But I do think there was a lot of posturing, a lot of ego and a lot of comments fell on deaf ears,” Ahtow said. Michelle Turpin, a local tax attorney and board member who donated money toward Stonewall Coffee’s initial expenses, contends there’s been no let-up in programs since the Center opened. The board was fast to assign a new interim director, Doug Wortham, and the Center’s schedule is full with meetings and workshops, she said. True, the coffee shop might have received more than its share of attention upon opening, but it’s long since lost its status as the center of attention. Turpin sees no conflict of interest in her roles as board member and donator to the Center. “All I have to say is, ‘Where’s the conflict?’ I have nothing to gain financially. I’m doing this because I have a bleeding heart for gay rights,” Turpin said. “By nature, anybody who puts time or money into an organization is going to want to see it succeed.” Criticism is no problem for Turpin. For perspective, she remembers the example of Lori Jean, the former director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center who took its annual budget from $3 million to $24 million. “She caught flak, but gained respect in the end,” Turpin said. “We have successful business people on the board so that we can hopefully run a tight ship. It has to be run like a business or it’s not going to make it.”

1999 The Utah Hate Crimes Amendments bill (1SSB34) was defeated on by a vote of 4 to 2 in a meeting of the state Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary at the state Capitol Building in Salt Lake City. The bill would have amended the state hate-crimes penalties and statistics laws by expanding the protected categories and redefining a hate crime. State Sen. Pete Suazo, D-Salt Lake City, and various minority leaders said that the laws needed to be updated to reflect the relevant laws and court rulings of other states, and make the Utah penalties law enforceable. He said that it hasn't been used by state courts because many judges and prosecutors believe it's too vague.

1999 Senate committee rejects changes in hate-crime bill A bill proposing to reform Utah's hate-crime law died a sudden death Thursday after a party-line vote of 4-2 in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Despite urging by the NAACP, the Utah Sentencing Commission and the Episcopalian Diocese, Sen. Pete Suazo's SB34 was killed in committee. Suazo said he has no plans to resurrect it this session. The bill provided criminal penalty enhancements for specific categories of people and institutions if victimized by a crime. Those categories -- particularly sexual orientation -- raised the ire of groups like Utah Eagle Forum, the America Forever Foundation and Concerned Women For America. Democrat Suazo and Sen. Mike Dmitrich, D-Price, endorsed the bill, which also extended protection to institutions like churches and abortion clinics. Republican senators Terry Spencer, John Valentine, Lyle Hillyard and Parley Hellewell voted against it. The bill made certain misdemeanors a third-degree felony if prosecutors could prove the crimes were motivated by hate. Felonies also were subject to sentencing enhancements. Prosecutors have complained Utah's current law is too vague and difficult to apply because it fails to include categories of protected classes.

4 Feb 2003 Chad Keller-Hey, There is beginning to be a slight battle over the GLBT,  LGBT, and now TGLB.  I have gotten several email from Alpha's and Betas regarding the improper use of the initials in the Business Guild and Forum.  SO....I think in March it would be nice set the record straight historically and philosophically.  How about we collaborate on the March Article.  All I ask is that we entitle it:  Alphabet Soup; Quest for an Identity for the Gay Community.  What got me going was several comments one stated that in history it was agreed the L comes first, another was that L had been recognized longer. My favorite from one was the identity issue should be first because of the history of the hiding or changing or hiding of identity in many cultures. I basically am being set up, it is more than clear.  I cannot afford to respond poorly, but want to take the time to respond with facts, and historically in the contexts of the movement.  I think if well written, it might go further outside the boundary of this hate filled nasty Skagg's Alpha Beta community.  (yes Im growing weary of the being consistently being taken to task.) Feel up to a collaboration??

 2004- Angels In America Added to Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Logan

 4 February 2004- Hello Everyone: I'm glad to see that I got a response and some wonderful dialog going regarding this subject.  It was never my intention to offend anyone.  It would appear that our efforts to change Utah Politicians minds have failed and SB 24 will more than likely be passed and signed into action. "Big Surprise"  However, on a lighter note it looks as though Massachusetts voted today 2/4/04 that the only way things will be equal is for Gay couples to be able to get married.  I've attached the document in case others want to view it.  I believe that's what it says.  Any other interpretations? I'm making plans to move quickly!  I can't decide, Canada or Massachusetts.. Heres a saying I've heard lately.  "Move to Canada, It's What America Used to Be!"  Hum? James Hicks

Fri Feb 4, 2005  Subject: Loud, Undisciplined conduct  Dear GLBT Community and Friends: Could you help our group with a problem? We have gathered at several businesses in the past, for socialization and fun. This is great for all of us! Unfortunately, we have been uninvited to some, not because we are gay, but because of LOUD and UNDISCIPLINED conduct. Yes, we are gay and proud! but please do not confuse this issue with that of appropriate and rational behavior. We currently meet on Wednesdays at Starbucks, and they have welcomed us, even with the complaints of a local anti-gay group, and some in our group have repeatedly acted like uncontrollable children, the sad fact is that the few members of "our" community and several of their "straight" friends are the ones causing all the problems, but when they do this it is only "our" community who suffers. It is the gay community who is targeted and put in danger, and it is all of us who are asked to leave. Here is a simple set of guidelines: 1) Be considerate of the other customers (don't yell at them or through anything at them, etc.) 2) Purchase items from the businesses where we meet. 3) Tell the staff thanks for letting us gather at their business. 4) Watch the noise level and horse play. This is plain common sense. We are members of a community that often rejects us. Don't let our social conduct be a reason for further discrimination. Thank you, Gene"

Feb 4, 2005  Subject: Re: Utah A Pretty Hateful State  Well, we can always depend on wonderfully kind and benevolent people of Utah and of the Mormon church to rise to occasion whether it is a family reunion, funeral, or hate fest. After all, they are "blessed" to have the true church and are full of the love of their Heavenly Father. Don't feel badly, though, if you scratch the surface, Mormons don't even treat each other all that well, especially in matters of money. My brother always said that no one screws their own kind more than gays and Mormons. Anonymous

2006 Saturday SLC Winterfest Interfaith Service  ~Reclaiming Faith from the Light Within ~ All Saints Episcopal Church – 1710 South Foothill Blvd, SLC, UT 84108 Saturday, February 4, 2006 at 5:00 pm  We welcome and enfold our families, friends, allies – gay and straight – open and affirming churches, and various faith traditions to this Interfaith Service. We are celebrating who we are, what we believe, and what we value as a community of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people reclaiming our faith from the Light Within. All are welcome here.  The program for the event is as follows: Prelude: Salt Lake Men’s Choir (4:50 PM) Director: Lane Cheney, Accompanist: Aaron Flood , Choir President: Wesley R Brady All Things Bright and Beautiful – Arranged by John Rutter, lyrics by Mrs. C.F. Alexander Siyahamba  South African Freedom Song, Public Domain, arranged by Henry H Leck  Welcome & Introduction (5:00 PM)  Invocation/Jewish Sabbath Blessing (5:05 PM) Rafi Schwartz, Director of Education, Congregation Kol Ami Special Guest Speakers (5:15 PM) The Rev Lee Shaw, Rector, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, also Chaplain to Integrity/Utah (Ministry to GLTB Community) Clay Essig, “Putting the Words of the Apostle, Paul, into Perspective”  Worship Band: Twist of Faith – Director Bill Green (5:30 PM) Imagodei , Composed by The Rev Jill K Warner, United Church of Christ  The Rev Erin Gilmore, United Church of Christ (Holiday/HUCC) (5:35 PM) Salt Lake Men’s Choir (5:40 PM) Director: Lane Cheney, Accompanist: Aaron Flood , Choir President: Wesley R Brady I’m Goin’ Up A Yonder Composer: Walter Hawkins, arranged by Martin Sirvatka Singing Bowl Meditation (5:50 PM) A time to reflect who we are, and to own & embrace the light within.Lead by Larry Tidwell, The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ Special Guest Speaker (5:55 PM) The Rev Jim Peterson, Unity of Salt Lake Congregational Singing (6:00 PM) “ This Little Light is Mine,” Words on handout Organist: Michael Shelton, Organist at All Saints Episcopal Church Benediction (6:05 PM) The Rev Dee Bradshaw, Sacred Light of Christ Metropolitan Community Church  Please help us extend special thanks to those involved in organizing this wonderful event:  Russ Gorringe , Event Chair/Reconciliation ; Duane Jennings , Pride Interfaith Chair/Affirmation ; Valerie Larabee , Executive D irector, GLBT Community Center of Utah ; John Johnson , Board Member for the GLBT Community Center of Utah ; The Rev Lee Shaw , Rector, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church ; Rafi Schwartz , Director of Education, Congregation Kol Ami ; Clay Essig , Reconciliation ; The Rev Erin B Gilmore , United Church of Christ (Holiday/HUCC) ; Larry Tidwell , Church Patriarch, The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ ; The Rev Jim Peterson , Unity of Salt Lake ; Bill Oliver , Unity of Salt Lake ; Maureen Duffy-Boose , Regional Director, Pagan Pride Project, Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans ; Pat Gamble-Hovey , Commissioned Ministries to GLTB/Q Community, United Church of Christ ; Jim Belmont & Nathan Spofford , Integrity Leaders, Episcopal Church ; Gary & Millie Watts , Family Fellowship & PFLAG ; Kay & Ted Packard; Aaron Cloward , Gay LDS Young Adults ; Mike Green , GAMOFITES (Gay Mormon Fathers) ; and The Rev Dee Bradshaw , Sacred Light of Christ Metropolitan Community Church . Additional thanks to: Annette Swan andBrein Jones, and the entire leadership of the Winterfest Committee; Michael Shelton , Organist at All Saints Episcopal Church; and to an anonymous donor. This Interfaith Service, organized by the Pride Interfaith Committee, is part of SLC Winterfest Utah’s newest winter festival, being held Feb 3-12 in Salt Lake City.  For information and tickets for the 27 other SLC Winterfest activities visit www.slcwinterfest.com today!

2006 WINTERFEST OPENING NIGHT - COMEDY SHOW THIS WEEKEND!! at the Rose Wagner Theatre FRIDAY - FEBRUARY 3RD AT 7:00 PM GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!  Call 355-ARTS! Gay/Lesbian Comedians are coming from New York & Los Angeles! JASON STUART, MICHELE BALAN, VIDUR KAPUR Mayor Rocky Anderson will join us in officially open Winterfest. Walter Larabee is the emcee for the evening! Individual Tickets - $30 from Arttix (355-ARTS) Backstage Party - $15 from Artix (Meet Stars, Food, Drinks) Winterfest Package Tickets at www.slcwinterfest.com

2005 Gay-lesbian community honors S.L. mayor Published: Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006 Deseret News Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson was honored Friday by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Utah for supporting the state's gay and lesbian community. Anderson received the Center's "Champion" award during a kick-off ceremony for Winterfest, a weeklong festival hosted by the GLBT Community Center. The ceremony featured three stand-up comics, Jason Stuart, Vidur Kapur and Michele Balan. Valerie Larabee, executive director of the GLBT Community Center, said in a statement that Anderson "has been and continues to be a pillar of strength." She continued: "He has refused to be silent about issues important to the GLBT community and we are pleased to be able to honor him with this award." Winterfest will run until next Saturday. The event will include forums, rallies and entertainment. For information, log on to: www.slcwinterfest.com

2006   End the anti-gay propaganda and hate Jere Keys Salt Lake Tribune I was driving to work on Monday morning when I got the news that Eric, my friend and colleague, had passed away rather suddenly and unexpectedly from complications related to hepatitis B. As I pulled off to the side of the road to collect myself and begin the process of grieving, an unwelcome and venomous thought floated into my head. “Maybe Buttars is right, maybe we are more likely to ‘harbor disease.’ “ We, in this sense, refers to us queers. State Sen. Chris Buttars, R-Sandy, and rabid right-wingers of his ilk have been making a lot of scientifically dubious and statistically questionable claims of late that homosexuality is a dangerous lifestyle. As an out, proud and completely healthy 28-year-old gay man, I’d always been offended by these sorts of claims in an abstract, political kind of way. I’ve read their so-called research and recognized it for what it was – biased skewing of facts that any scientist or academic worth their reputation would dismiss. It works like this: Yes, there seems a higher percentage of medical and mental health problems for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people (particularly teenagers), but to make a leap of logic and claim that this “proves” that homosexuality is an unhealthy lifestyle is absurd. It’s a strategy employed by bigots and racists for years known as blaming the victim. If gay teenagers are more likely to commit suicide than straight teens, are they attempting suicide because they are gay, or because they feel rejected and outcast from everything they have ever known? If gay men are more likely to grapple with addiction and alcoholism issues, the root cause of the problems probably stem from social pressures such as looking for ways to cope with the condemnation of families and friends. If some gay men experiment with sexual promiscuity and unsafe sexual practices, well, I’m pretty sure that the school district my younger siblings attend isn’t teaching anyone about using condoms for sexual intercourse or safer forms of sexual stimulation. In fact, the message most people growing up in Utah hear again and again is that sex should be saved for marriage. But if you start to realize that you’re never going to be allowed to legally marry the one you love, what are you to do then? Yes, there’s a certain amount of responsibility we queers must take for our own actions, but I wonder if we lived in a society of perfect acceptance whether or not we’d see that these problems exist in straight and gay populations equally. As I sat in my car letting all these thoughts wash over me, I found myself getting angrier and angrier with people like Chris Buttars. Gone was the abstract, political offense I’d felt to these sorts of arguments. Now it felt personal. Eric was a shining light in the lives of many people, but in some sick, compassionless way, I know that right-wingers will score political points from adding Eric’s name to their list of statistics. “One of those gays died just this week from hepatitis B; we must save our children!” The very idea disgusts me to my core. The faces of other gay friends lost to AIDS (like my bartender friend Juan from Las Vegas), violence (Brian), or drugs (Anthony) floated in my mind. Would I ever be able to remember them again without thinking of the hateful comments of Sen. Buttars? I wonder if Sen. Buttars truly does have gay friends, as he claims, because I doubt a man who lacks enough basic empathy to recognize that he’s talking about real, beautiful people when he accuses us of “harboring disease” has ever been close enough to one of our lives to understand any of what we experience. I want to remember my friends for their talents and their personalities and their loving hearts, not as political points for hateful philosophies. I want people like Sen. Buttars to truly understand what it means to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender in Utah before they promote more anti-gay propaganda and hate. The opportunities for real education are numerous, such as the 10-day Winterfest celebration and conference planned by the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Utah next month. All anyone needs to do is make a small effort to begin learning empathy and respect. In the meantime, I’m going to try and do my best to remember Eric as he ought to be remembered: proudly, honorably, and with all the compassion I can muster. –Jere Keys is a board member of the GLBT Community Center of Utah, coordinator for Utah Pride 2006 and the former editor of Salt Lake Metro.

2006 Yahoo Utah Stonewall Historical Society Group Site Pardon My Rabble Rousing Sermon  by Ben Williams Webster Dictionary Rabble: noun-noisy crowd or mob, especially of the lower orders I put this difinition in just so you'd know whom I am addressing. As a Gay activist I have been accused at times of rabble rousing. The term never offended me because, according to my Webster Dictionary which I've used since college (1969-1975, it's always been my intent to stir things up especially among the "lower orders". Being a Queer and sissy for all my life I guess I can recognize others who are equally placed in the catagory of the "lower orders." There use to be a whole bunch of us- blacks, Mexicans, women, sissies, socialists, communists, and hippies, to name a few. The list is smaller but have things changed? The hippies and communists are in the dust bin of history as they like to say. Only sub-hominid life forms will disparage African- American's rights to the American dream. Mexicans have been replaced with "Illiegal Alien" as fair game to deride. Die hard feminists are far and few in America and mostly held in derision, but on the most part, women rights are just not an issue in America anymore, even though they still make less then men, have glass ceilings, and while roughly half the population still elect more men to political office then their "sisters". That leaves the faggots and dykes and genderfreaks left behind to be the most visible and last politically correct minority to revile, curse, call names at, legislate against and basically say we are unworthy of the American dream. We are the lower order. I want every Gay person to start calling this attitude of subjugating our birth right, our inalienable right, to "life liberty and the pursuit of happiness" for what it is and quit dancing around it. It's EVIL! All those sanctamoniously bigots that wrap themselves around the flag and religion are EVIL! It's our flag too. God is our God too, not just yours! You, no matter how you try, cannot separate us from his love. Guess what he died for Gays too! We are responsible only to a higher power not to earthly marionette manipulators. The Christian Reich, (the movement to set up America as a theocracy)are quick to call me EVIL. Well America is still a secular nation created on the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment and therefore I get create my own short list of who I hold as EVIL people. Rep. Buttars is EVIL! ALL members of the Eagle Forum are EVIL! The POPE is EVIL! All of the CHRISTIAN RIGHT who revile GAYS are EVIL! All LDS General Authorities and their "thinking has been done" followers are EVIL! George W. Bush is EVIL! (This will get me a visit by the FBI I am sure, thanks to the Patriot Act)Osama Bin Lauden is EVIL! (There maybe I am safe from the suits.) Now what is the difinition of EVIL? Adjective-Morally bad, wicked, sinful, unfortunate, mischievious, disastrous, worthless. Adverb-badly, unkindly, Noun-moral depravity, injury, affliction. I submit to all people, that anyone who deliberately and wontingly causes pain or injury to anyone else, who has never caused them pain of injury, is EVIL! What is the EVIL that is being perpetrated on NON-heterosexual Americans? The call for constitutional amendments to keep Gays as a "lower order" in America. That's what I call EVIL. Not since slavery has such an EVIL been thought to be codified in the constitution a whole section of Americans as second class citizens. What else can you call the attacks on GAYS for desiring the same fundamental rights as any other American but EVIL? I call it EVIL! What do you call it? Wrong headed? Misguided? Bullshit! It's EVIL. Utah Rep. Buttars' amendment to deprive a whole number of people he has never met who has never done him any injury or harm is an EVIL man. Is Buttars acting morally bad, yes. Morality means living a ethically good life, not simply the misuse of sex, as some religions have twisted its meaning. Is Buttars wicked? Causing pain and suffering to others? Is Buttars sinful? Judging others and not leaving judgment up to God? (We are all sinners in the sight of God according to St. Paul) Is Buttars unfortunate? Diffinitely for the tax paying citizens of Utah who are targets of his bigotry. Is Buttars mischievious? Is Buttars disastrous? Is Buttars worthless? Does Buttars act badly, unkindly? Does Buttars cause moral depravity, injury, and affliction? Now substitute Bush, the Pope, Eagle Forum, Jerry Falwell, Sartorum, LDS General Authorities or anyone else that willfully are striving to cause harm by altaring the Constitution of Utah or the United States to mimic their nafarious prejudicial and bigoted beliefs. What can Gay people do? Maybe its up to GAYS and their friends to call these people to repentance from their EVIL ways and remind them of their profession of the Christian faith: "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first anf great commnadment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hand the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:37-40 I'd like the radical Christian Reich to point out a passage in the Bible that supercedes this? If you believe that "denying civil contracts between loving individuals", is loving thy neighbor as they self, then you truly are EVIL. Repent. Stop being a control freak. Take anger management classes. Change your ways. Become a better person. Have chariety in your heart. And live and let live. I will make this promise with members of the Christian Reich. I won't point out the faults in your life if you don't point out the faults in mine. Done.

2006 Winter Fest Art show Amazing local GLBT Artists take Center Stage WINTERFEST GALLERY ART SHOW at the Patrick Moore Gallery  511 W. 200 S., Salt Lake City Saturday - February 4  7:00 PM Tickets $5 - At The Door  Amazing local GLBT artists take center-stage at the Patrick Moore Gallery. Participating artists include: Trevor Southey, JoNell Evans, Duncan Hilton, Steven Sheffield, Randal Lake, Bevan Chipman, Sandee Parsons, Bob Hyde, Terry Stevens, Ron Butkovich, Christina Lenzi, and Evelyn Garlington. This art show will also include an exhibit of new, local, emerging artists. A portion of all artwork purchased will benefit the GLBTCCU. ~The Winterfest Gallery Art Show is graciously underwritten by Greg Call and Marty Christensen~

 2006 Gay-lesbian community honors S.L. mayor Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson was honored Friday by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Utah for supporting the state's gay and lesbian community. Anderson received the Center's "Champion" award during a kick-off ceremony for Winterfest, a weeklong festival hosted by the GLBT Community Center. The ceremony featured three stand-up comics, Jason Stuart, Vidur Kapur and Michele Balan. Valerie Larabee, executive director of the GLBT Community Center, said in a statement that Anderson "has been and continues to be a pillar of strength." She continued: "He has refused to be silent about issues important to the GLBT community and we are pleased to be able to honor him with this award." Winterfest will run until next Saturday. The event will include forums, rallies and entertainment. For information, log on to: www.slcwinterfest.com.

 2006 Betty Friedan died today on her 85th birthday Feminist icon Friedan’s work changed fabric of U.S. By Margalit Fox The New York Times Salt Lake Tribune Betty Friedan, the feminist crusader and author whose searing first book, The Feminine Mystique, ignited the contemporary women’s movement in 1963 and in so doing permanently transformed the social fabric of the United States and countries around the world, died Saturday, her 85th birthday, at her home in Washington. The cause was congestive heart failure, said Emily Bazelon, a family spokeswoman. With its impassioned yet clear-eyed analysis of the issues that affected women’s lives in the decades after World War II – including enforced domesticity, limited career prospects and, as chronicled in later editions, the campaign for legalized abortion – The Feminine Mystique is widely regarded as one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century. Published by W.W. Norton & Co., the book had sold more than 3 million copies by 2000 and has been translated into many foreign languages. For decades a familiar presence on television and the lecture circuit, Friedan, with her short stature, round figure, protuberant nose and deeply hooded eyes, looked for much of her adult life like a ‘’combination of Hermione Gingold and Bette Davis,’’ as Judy Klemesrud wrote in The New York Times Magazine in 1970. The Feminine Mystique made Friedan world famous. It also made her one of the chief architects of the women’s liberation movement of the late 1960s and afterward, a sweeping social upheaval that harked back to the suffrage campaigns of the turn of the century and would be called feminism’s second wave. In 1966, Friedan helped found the National Organization for Women, serving as its first president. In 1969, she was a founder of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, now known as Naral Pro-Choice America. With Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug, she founded the Women’s Political Caucus in 1971. Though in later years, some feminists dismissed Friedan’s work as outmoded, a great many aspects of modern life that seem routine today – from unisex help wanted ads to women in politics, medicine, the clergy and the military – are the direct result of the hard-won advances she helped women attain. A brilliant student who had graduated summa cum laude from Smith College in 1942, Friedan had trained as a psychologist but had never pursued a career in the field. When she wrote The Feminine Mystique, she was a suburban housewife and mother who supplemented her husband’s income by writing freelance articles for women’s magazines. Though Friedan was not generally considered a lyrical stylist, The Feminine Mystique, read today, is as mesmerizing as it was more than four decades ago: ‘’Gradually, without seeing it clearly for quite a while, I came to realize that something is very wrong with the way American women are trying to lives their lives today,’’ Friedan wrote in the opening line of the preface. ‘’I sensed it first as a question mark in my own life, as a wife and mother of three small children, half-guiltily, and therefore half-heartedly, almost in spite of myself, using my abilities and education in work that took me away from home.’’

2010 On Feb. 4, Utah Rep. Christine A. Johnson proposes and sponsors a bill to amend the state Code by prohibiting discrimination in business employment and housing based on sexual orientation or gender identity. State legislators don't vote on the bill, and it isn't adopted

2010 D.J. Bell Case: Still Active Investigation of the assault of two gay men continues. By Jesse Fruhwirth Salt Lake City Weekly Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller recently charmed longtime critic DJ Bell, the victim of a severe attack after his neighbors accused him of kidnapping two small children. South Salt Lake Police and Miller’s office bought into that kidnapping accusation, but a jury acquitted Bell in September 2009. It almost takes a diagram now to keep straight who’s blaming whom for Bell’s high-profile acquittal and the failure — thus far — for charges to be filed against the attackers of Bell and his boyfriend, Dan Fair. Bell, 31, formerly of South Salt Lake, partially blamed Miller’s office for putting him on trial, but after a private meeting Jan. 28 — their second face-to-face meeting — came to trust Miller’s efforts to take a new look at the case. The meeting happened after he delivered a petition with more than 1,000 signatures urging Miller to investigate the attack, which he now believes she intended to do all along. “I had no idea that the South Salt Lake Police just sat on the case and did nothing on it,” Bell says. “[Miller] went in and took the case from them to do something. That shows me she wanted to do the right thing from the get-go. I had no idea.” The case began July 5, 2008, after several hours in which Bell was drinking alcohol with his next-door neighbors in their front yard. Around sunrise, he says, he walked over to his home and saw two unattended children, ages 2 and 4, who had previously been sleeping in the neighbor’s house. He gave them Kool-Aid. Moments later, the mother of one of the children accused him of taking the children and attacked Bell, before a group of male party guests attacked both Bell and Fair. Trial testimony revealed that it was only after the attack that the mother called police to report that Bell had kidnapped the children. Bell suffered a head injury and was jailed on $100,000 bail, which was posted a month after his arrest. Fair was hospitalized for three days. The jury acquitted Bell of all charges 14 months after the incident, and complained to attorneys afterward that the trial against Bell was a waste of taxpayer money. While Bell’s faith in Miller is counterbalanced with condemnation for the South Salt Lake Police Department, in speaking with City Weekly, the district attorney has nothing but praise for the department. “I’m very grateful to South Salt Lake for assisting us in the reinvestigation. … I think we all recognized that more had to be done to see that justice was served in this case. The jury came out with the right verdict,” she says, admitting that her office “could have done better in DJ’s case.” She says her office filed the kidnapping charges, referred the assault allegations back to a South Salt Lake prosecutor for possible misdemeanor charges, but then took the case back for reinvestigation when no charges resulted. Miller says the reinvestigation of the situation is ongoing and resulting charges, if any, will be announced soon. Citing the ongoing investigation, South Salt Lake police declined to comment. Meanwhile, Salt Lake City Prosecutor Sim Gill, who wants to replace Miller as the district attorney in the November election, says it’s the prosecutor’s job to tell police when an investigation is deficient and, he argues, that needed to happen sooner. Miller’s office filed charges that, if Bell had been convicted, would have led to a minimum 30 years in prison—and the D.A. filed them only three days after the initial accusation against Bell. “Felonies don’t file themselves. They are under the authority, supervision and review of the district attorney. If you file it, the message you send to law enforcement is, ‘You’ve done what you’re supposed to do, and we’re confident in this case,’” Gill says. “You don’t get to send that message to law enforcement, go forward, lose the case, then turn around and blame law enforcement for not doing their job.” Gill, a Democrat, also will have to defeat Greg Skordas this spring for the Democratic Party’s nomination before taking on Miller, a Republican, in the general election. Skordas, a former prosecutor-turned-defense-attorney, says it’s inappropriate for him to criticize a case he was not involved in. Bell’s camp has threatened a civil lawsuit against South Salt Lake Police, but thus far, nothing has been filed. Among a long series of complaints, Bell’s attorney Sussane Gustin says South Salt Lake Police failed even to collect the attackers’ clothing that was stained with blood, probably belonging to Bell and Fair.

2014 State makes it all about kids in brief against same-sex marriage Utah • Children need to be “raised by their biological mother and father within a stable marital union.” BY BROOKE ADAMS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The state of Utah offered a bold defense of its ban on same-sex marriage in a brief filed late Monday evening with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing its prohibition of such unions is all about the long-term interests of children. Utah has chosen a definition of marriage that is “principally a child-centered institution, one focused first and foremost on the welfare of children rather than the emotional interests of adults,” the state said. “And by reinforcing that understanding, the state gently encourages parents to routinely sacrifice their own interests to the legitimate needs and interests of their children.” That definition is not designed to demean other family structures “any more than giving an ‘A’ to some students demeans others,” the state said. But redefining marriage in “genderless” terms, as sought by plaintiffs challenging Utah’s laws, would undermine the state’s objective in promoting stable families and likely result in not only reduced reproductive rates but fewer children being raised in the ideal environment provided by biological, opposite-sex parents, the state said. The state filed the 120-page brief at approximately 11:30 p.m. Monday, beating its deadline by 30 minutes. Seven attorneys, led by newly hired outside counsel Gene C. Schaerr, crafted the brief. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes issued a statement Tuesday that said the state’s defense of the ban is driven by duty, rather than any political motives. He said attorneys and staff working on the case have varied personal beliefs about same-sex marriage, but are united in respecting an obligation to defend the law. “The legal question at issue is not the fundamental right of same-sex couples to enter into exclusive and permanent relationships, raise children, or bequeath property at their death,” Reyes said, since Utah law already provides those rights. “The constitutional question is whether it is reasonable for Utah’s citizens to believe that a child benefits most from being raised by his or her biological mother and father in a permanent relationship, and that such relationships should therefore be encouraged through recognition as marriages.” The Sutherland Institute, a conservative policy think tank that has been an ardent defender of the state’s position, called the brief “brilliant” and the state’s case “impenetrable.” “The people of Utah can have confidence that their overwhelming majority view of marriage and family has been well represented,” said Paul Mero, Sutherland president, adding that the brief “sets the new legal standard in defense of the state interest in traditional marriage and the natural family.” Attorneys for the three same-sex couples who are challenging Utah’s ban have until Feb. 25 to file a response, and the state’s final filing must be submitted by March 4. Oral arguments are scheduled for April 10 in Denver. The three-judge panel that will hear the case — as well as an appeal from the state of Oklahoma involving a similar ban — will be picked 10 days before the hearing. Cliff Rosky, board chairman for Equality Utah, called the state’s arguments a “disappointing” rehash of stereotypes and disproved studies about gay people and same-sex parents. “The arguments in the state’s brief are the same arguments that the Supreme Court rejected last summer,” Rosky said. In striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the court found that the statute “actually harmed children, instead of protecting them.” “Amendment 3 has the same affect,” Rosky said. In its brief, the state argued that U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby’s Dec. 20 decision overturning Amendment 3 misinterpreted legal precedents in two prevailing cases — one that upheld the right of states to define marriage and, in the United States v. Windsor case, that the federal government cannot interfere with that state decision-making authority. Together, those opinions allow for a “diversity of outcomes” rather than a “uniform national answer” on marriage rights, the state said. The state also said Shelby erred in finding same-sex couples sought access to a fundamental right; that that right is implicit in notions of liberty and autonomy; that history and tradition were “insufficient reasons” for a ban on gay marriage; and in comparing Utah’s marriage laws to anti-miscegenation laws. “Anti-miscegenation laws were odious measures that rested on invidious racial discrimination,” the state said. “Defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman may be controversial in today’s political climate, but it is hardly invidious.” Limiting marriage to one man and one woman, as Utah and 32 other states do, fulfills a compelling governmental interest rooted in tradition, social science and religion, the state said. The attorneys said that while the state endorses no religious beliefs about marriage, its laws are supported by approximately 20 of the 25 largest faith communities in Utah who “understand marriage and sexuality as gifts from God” and primarily designed to bear and raise children. “These beliefs are tied not only to theology but also to religious and family practices, deeply and sincerely held personal beliefs, and entire ways of life,” the state said. “They are not less integral to the dignity and identities of millions of Utah citizens than plaintiffs’ sexual orientation is to them.” Upending that understanding of marriage would create the potential for “religion-related strife,” it said, impacting rights of religious organizations or members to carry out faith-based or business activities. Governments face a “perennial challenge” to formally link mothers and fathers to maximize the welfare of children, it said. “Marriage between the man and woman who create a child provides that essential link,” the state said, and encourages those parents to set aside their own personal desires for the benefit of their children. “The district court’s ruling rests on a very different understanding of the principal public purpose and meaning of marriage — one centered on accommodating adult relationship choices,” the state said. But Utah has “steadfastly” reserved social recognition of marriage for man-woman marriage “so as to guide as many procreative couples as possible into the optimal, conjugal childrearing model.” “While other jurisdictions may choose to elevate adult-centric relationships, Utah has chosen a different course,” the state said. Utah’s marriage laws signal “all would-be parents that the state wants them to do their best to ensure that any children they conceive are raised by their biological mother and father within a stable marital union.” And that model is working, the state said, as reflected by Utah having the lowest percentage of unwed births in the nation, the highest percentage of children being raised by both parents and low child-poverty rates. “Such real-world benefits to children are exactly what Utah’s marriage policies are intended to produce, and what the district court’s decision both ignores and imperils,” the state said.  Redefining marriage to include same-sex couples would “tend to encourage more parents to raise their existing biological children without the other biological parent.” The state lists six other possible negative outcomes of such a move, including more out-of-wedlock births; increased divorce rates; increased nonmarital sexual activity; more children being raised by same-sex parents; making it difficult to bar other “innovations” such as group marriage; and decreased interest in marriage. Utah also has a high birthrate, slightly above the replacement rate. In comparison, fertility and birthrates are “markedly lower” in nations and states that have embraced same-sex marriage, it said. Utah “has good reason to fear that a judge-imposed redefinition — and the changes to the public meaning of marriage such a redefinition would entail — would over time weaken its marriage tradition enough to reduce its fertility rate, perhaps even below the replacement rate,” the state said. The laws governing marriage do not interfere with the ability of same-sex couples to enter committed, loving relationships or to raise children together, the state argues. Instead, they “encourage a familial structure that has served society for thousands of years as the ideal setting for raising children. Nothing in the federal Constitution prevents Utah’s citizens from making that choice.”

Jania Sommers

2016 Jania Sommers is offering a Gay Mens Support Group. The group will be very flexible, and Jania will lead the group, however the group will help guide and dictate the deeper dive into issues, problems and possible solutions for members of the group. Jania would like to begin the smaller support group as soon as she has 6 committed group participants.