This Day In Gay Utah History February 22nd

22 February 

1970-Metropolitan Community Church in San Francisco held its first service.

Troy Perry

Ken Storer

1976- At 1:00 a.m., Century 21 Theater presented second of a series of Gay oriented films to the Gay Community. The Gay Deceivers and a Very Natural thing were shown. The “all niters” were joined by a very special guest, Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Universal Metropolitan Community Church, and was introduced by Ken Storer director of the Gay Community Services Center of Utah.

1977 The Utah Daily Chronicle ran an article on page 4 that in part said- "There is a fruity brouhaha brewing in Florida's orange groves. Anita Bryant, famous nomadic orange juice promoter is using all the pull an OJ advocate can muster to fight a Gay rights ordinance passed by Florida's Dade County Commission. Bryants' antics may well reflect the majority of America's attitudes about homosexuals. However opposing equal rights for women, Blacks, Gays or other oppressed groups isn't part of what makes America the United States. Equal protection under the law must be given to every citizen. The battle in Florida is based on fears of possible ill effects of equal rights for Gays. If Gays don't bother straights and straights don't bother Gays these fears of people like Bryant will never be realized."

1978- The Advocate published an abridged version of the Payne Papers which first appeared in Salt Lake's OPEN DOOR. The Payne Papers were printed later as PROLOGUE and published by the owners of the OPEN DOOR.

1978- A Gay bathhouse chain known as Club Baths opens at 727 West 17th South with a free workout. Locally known as “Jeff's Gym”.

1979 Studio 8 "Comes Out " as a Gay Bar. Located at 8 West 200 South SLC. It was promoted as "The most fabulous Gay Bar Salt Lake ever had." (Building demolished... bank complex now)

1986- At 579 West 2nd South, a grand opening was held for the In-Between which occupied the building once known as the Three Aces. Bar owners were Bob Dubray and his lover Donny Eastepp. The In-Between became the home bar of the Gay Rodeo Association. Dubray was president of the Gay Rodeo Association while Donny Eastepp served as Mr. Utah Gay Rodeo for the past two years. (Where Club Sound is now)

Jeff Manookian

1987- Musician Jeff Manookian gave a Piano recital for Wasatch Affirmation at Beesley Hall. In SLC UT [1999 Jeff Manookian, a Salt Lake-based pianist, composer and conductor, is the classical-music critic for The Salt Lake Tribune.]

1988 Monday- We had a brief AIDS Quilt meeting. We decide to have the next meeting at Barbara Stockton’s place rather than my apartment to watch a video on the Names Project’s display of the quilt in Washington DC. [1988 Journal of Ben Williams]

1988- I went to LGSU where Joe Dewey gave a lesson on Gay Culture. It was okay. John Bennett [Chair of GLCCU] is gone now. He left for San Diego where he was accepted into a paralegal program. We will have new elections for the Gay Community Council next month because with John Bennett gone and Satu Servigna so ill we have no chair or vice chair. [1988 Journal of Ben Williams]

1989 Wednesday, HATCH, SIMON SPONSOR BILL FOR COLLECTING INFORMATION ON `HATE CRIMES' NATIONWIDE  By Lee Davidson, Staff Writer Legislation to collect national data on "hate crimes" by white supremacists and others was introduced Wednesday by Sens. Paul Simon, D-Ill., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.  "Hate crimes are among the most heinous of all crimes because they strike so deeply at their victims' individuality and self-esteem," Hatch said. "While the FBI collects certain national crime statistics, there is no federal record-keeping concerning the occurrence of hate crimes." The bill would require the attorney general to collect data for the next five years about crimes that show evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity. "Hate crimes are not committed in one local area, but surface all across America. Yet we have no uniform method of determining if these crimes are on the rise and exactly where they are taking place. This bill is aimed at rectifying that information gap," Hatch said. "Through this data, law enforcement agencies can better address and seek to prevent these crimes." Hatch also said that hate crimes have touched virtually every ethnic and many religious minorities in the nation in recent years. Some instances he mentioned:  - In Salt Lake City in 1980, a former member of the American Nazi Party murdered two black men jogging with two white women in Liberty Park in a sniper attack. The same man was later convicted of the 1977 bombing of a synagogue in Chattanooga, Tenn. -In 1987 in Howard Beach, N.Y., a black teenager was killed by a car while being chased by Whites. -In July 1987 in San Jose, Calif., a black woman was denied access to a public park by white supremacists who also terrorized her with racial threats. -During the winter 1982-83 in North Carolina, the White Knights of Liberty conducted nighttime cross burnings in front of interracial couples. -In February 1982 in Cleveland, a member of the Social Nationalist Aryan People's Party murdered two blacks and a white person he mistakenly thought was a "Jewish professor."  -In 1981 in Mobile, Ala., members of the United Klans of America murdered a black teenager. -A Chinese-American was beaten to death with a baseball bat in Detroit by two whites upset about the effect of Japanese car imports on American jobs. -Last September in New York, two teenagers desecrated a synagogue, painting swastikas on the walls, burning the building and destroying six Torah scrolls. -Last year in Doraville, Ga., the Yeshiva High School was spray painted with anti-Semitic and racist slogans. -In the mid 1980s in Cedartown, Ga., Hispanics were shot at and had their cars rammed by members of white supremacist groups. Hatch also said that according to the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 1988 anti-Semitic incidents included 823 episodes of vandalism and desecration and 658 acts of harassment, threat or assault - the highest number of incidents reported in five years. © 1998 Deseret News Publishing Co.

Robert Eugene Bennett

1989 Killer speaks of crime at parole hearing: 'I lost control'  By Stephen Hunt The Salt Lake Tribune  Fifteen years [2004] after killing and dismembering his chess partner, Utah State Prison inmate Robert Eugene Bennett finally spoke of the crime at a Tuesday parole hearing.  Bennett, now 66, said he fatally shot 51-year-old Larry Duane White during a fit of anger and frustration after White began groping him during a car ride in February 1989. "I lost it," Bennett told Utah Board of Pardons and Parole hearing officer Jennifer Bartell. "I pulled over and tried to push him off me and started getting more frustrated and just released a whole bunch of anger, I guess. I shot him five times." The crime came to light when White's legs turned up in a grocery store dumpster on Feb. 22, 1989. Acting on a hunch, police later unearthed White's head and torso from the yard of Bennett's rented Salt Lake County residence. The dead man's arms were never found. Bennett was arrested two months later in Las Vegas, where he appeared to be assuming White's identity. He had rented a post office box in White's name and had applied for a certified copy of White's birth certificate. To avoid a trial, Bennett pleaded guilty to murder. Bennett's attorney said Bennett wanted to minimize the exposure of details about his private life and about the mutilation. He was sentenced to an indeterminate prison term of five years to life. Bennett declined to appear at his original August 1992 parole hearing, and almost opted to be absent at his Tuesday hearing. "I didn't want to face this," Bennett told Bartell, but "I'm glad I did come down here . . . as uncomfortable as it was."    White, a part-time telephone solicitor and author of several unpublished books, lived with his then-76-year-old father in Salt Lake City. Dale White testified at a July 1989 preliminary hearing that his son taught Bennett to play chess and one day invited him to dinner.  "My son blessed the food and then I sat down and ate dinner with the man who was going to kill my son," the father testified. Bennett -- a drifter and part-time truck driver -- claims they were on the way to interviews for telephone-soliciting jobs when he killed White.  "I have no words I can contribute to alleviate the shame I have for this or the guilt I feel," Bennett told Bartell. "The frustration of several years of failure got to me and I lost control." Bartell said Bennett had been a "model prisoner," who had taken advantage of available programs and "made life pleasant for the [Corrections] officers around you."    She said the question for the parole board will be, "What's [a life] worth in terms of time?" Answered Bennett: "I don't think there is any amount of time to compensate for taking a person's life. If you gave me natural life [with no chance of parole], I'm prepared for that. Whatever you do, I can handle." The parole board is expected to issue a decision about Bennett's fate next month.     shunt@sltrib.com

1991-Three same-sex couples in Hawaii announced their plans to sue for the right to marry.

1991-The Kansas State Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of a man whose insurance company refused to pay his claims after he developed AIDS.

1991-A complaint was filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination that Quincy Hospital refused to admit her because she was HIV positive. The hospital denied the charge.

1996-Thursday POLITICS-In one of the 1996 Legislature's defining debates, Republicans and Democrats clashed mightily over a bill sparked by formation of a gay and lesbian club at a Salt Lake City high school. Senators advanced Senate Bill 246 by an 18-8 vote after a 75-minute exchange that ranged from evocations of the U.S. Constitution and tales of teen suicide to quotations from the Nuremberg trials. Only one Democrat, Sen. Eldon Money, D-Spanish Fork, broke party ranks in the final roll call. SB246 is aimed at preventing teachers and public-school employees from promoting illegal activities, either in their professional capacity or, in some circumstances, their private lives. It requires another Senate vote before heading to the House. Supporters sought to portray the bill, sponsored by first-term Sen. Craig Taylor, R-Kaysville, as little more than a clarification of existing law and firmly rooted in established court rulings. Taylor said the controversial measure does not target homosexual activities exclusively, as SB246 critics have claimed ``This bill does nothing of the sort,'' said Taylor, who stood largely silent listening to the speeches of opponents. He noted that members of the proposed East High School Gay-Straight Student Alliance insist they do not promote homosexual acts -- which are banned under Utah law -- ``and all this does is take them at their word.'' But Sen. Bob Steiner, D-Salt Lake City, argued that SB246 was meant to ``crush'' the club and intimidate teachers from freely advising students and expressing their opinions. He and others singled out provisions in the law aimed at outlawing private actions by teachers or other employees when those actions disrupt school  activities. ``This bill is very broad, almost to have no meaning,'' Steiner warned, citing a post-World War II judge who criticized Nazi laws ``of such ambiguity that they could be used to punish almost any innocent act.'' Sen. George Mantes, D-Tooele, called the bill ``a one-way ticket to court,'' while others said it violated at least five provisions of the Utah Constitution. Steiner led a failed attempt to add language to the bill calling on teachers to promote tolerance and understanding for those of different races, religions, ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientation. The move was killed swiftly on a voice vote.  Though Taylor said he could support writing into law tolerance for all other groups, ``to include them [homosexuals] would be to elevate them to a protected status.''  Added Sen. Robert Montgomery, R-North Ogden: ``That's a leap the citizens of this state are not prepared to make.'' Echoing sentiments of many GOP colleagues, Sen. Alarik Myrin, R-Altamont, said he did not view the bill as a gay issue. Rather, he said, SB246 clarifies the treatment of a wide variety of behaviors, including, as another senator put it, ``heterosexual immorality.'' Still, Sen. Blaze Wharton, D-Salt Lake City, blasted senators for ``overreacting.'' He reeled off a litany of studies portraying gay teens as feeling isolated, being more prone to suicide and more apt to be rejected by their parents-- conditions he said the treatment by Utah lawmakers would only make worse. ``Three children -- children! -- are driving this train,'' he shouted, referring to the original founders of the East High club. ``We need to show these children how tolerance and understanding of other people works, with us not necessarily condoning what they do but working with them,'' he said. The gay-club turmoil stems from the legal implications of a 1983 federal law guaranteeing all student groups equal access to school facilities. The law, meant to aid Bible-study circles, was championed by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Adding to the controversy was a secret, illegal meeting held on Capitol Hill by senators of both parties in the legislative session's early days. Much of Thursday's discussion centered on the potential effect on teachers, with SB246 detractors claiming the law might allow school employees to be fired for common actions in their private lives, such as protesting nuclear weapons, getting a divorce or even smoking or drinking coffee. ``You're striking at the heart of civil disobedience and the right to say that something is wrong,'' Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City, said. He said under portions of SB246, the adherence to their faith by Mormon pioneers or the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott begun by civil-rights leader Rosa Parks might have been illegal and punishable by dismissal. But Taylor argued that the legal standard was high before actions against teachers might be taken. As written, SB246 says that to be in violation, educators must know what they are doing is wrong and that their actions lead to ``a material or substantial interference or disruption '' in normal school activities. ``One of the prices they pay in teaching our children is that we set the role model,'' said Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan. ``You give up some of your freedoms when you sign that contract and go to work. It's part of the job.'' Craig Taylor Mormon Terrorist

1996 Thursday, GAY STUDENT CLUBS SENATOR BELIEVES CLUB BAN WILL STRENGTHEN LEGISLATION Sen. Charles Stewart believes the Salt Lake Board of Education's decision aimed at banning gay and lesbian clubs in schools will strengthen proposed legislation that would require parental signatures for club participation. "Every effort to help kids participate in good clubs will be continued," the Provo Republican said. "I think this shows people are concerned about any activity in school that may be harmful to children." Stewart and Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, were the impetus behind a closed-door meeting early in the legislative session in which they expressed concerns over the formation of a gay club at East High. The meeting, which Republican leadership initially said was to discuss the state's budget, included showing a segment of a radical anti-gay video. Republican leaders have conceded the meeting was held in violation of the state's Open Meeting Act. Sen. Craig Taylor, R-Layton, is sponsoring a pair of bills he believes could remedy the situation without forcing schools to do away with all clubs. One involves parental permission. The other would prevent teachers and club sponsors from promoting any illegal activity, such as sodomy. Utah Office of Education attorneys say rules in place right now already prevent such actions. Stewart hopes to be able to find a remedy that won't require doing away with all school-sponsored clubs as the Salt Lake School District voted 4-3 late Tuesday to do.  _© 1998 Deseret News Publishing Co.

1998, The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah and The Gay and Lesbian Law Alliance sponsored a town meeting held in the Moot Courtroom at the University of Utah College of Law, which was billed as a "legislative and political perspective," in support of the new Utah Stonewall Center, which will be a resource for Gays and Lesbians. Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, and Kathryn Kendall, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, were the featured speakers.

1999-In a lecture entitled "Our Gay President," activist Larry Kramer claimed Abraham Lincoln was Gay.

2000-The first prime time kiss between two men on American television occurred on NBC's Will and Grace.

22 February 2000 The Salt Lake Tribune Page: A7 Senate OKs Ban On Adoptions By Unwed Couples BY ROBERT GEHRKE   THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Utah Senate passed a bill Monday that would ban adoptions to non-married couples, including prospective parents who are Gay, a move opponents say could cost the state millions in legal fees. The state already has rules that prohibit officials from placing children with unmarried couples who are living together. The proposal from Sen. Howard Nielson, R-Orem, would make that rule law and extend the ban to private adoption providers as well. Proponents argue that traditional families provide more support and better role models for children. They have also said the ban would block any chances that Utah courts could follow Vermont's courts, which used legal same-sex adoption to justify Gay marriage. Gay advocates argue the bill is targeted at preventing homosexual couples from adopting since they cannot legally marry in Utah. "Proponents of this bill are dead set in dragging Utah through one of those moral, legal battles that just tends to cost Utah millions of dollars and we just end up getting our heads handed to us," said James Gonzales, a lobbyist against the bill. "If things keep going the way they are  . . .  we're going to end up in the courts again."     The bill passed 17-9 and will go to the House for consideration. A nearly identical bill sponsored by Rep. Nora Stephens, R-Sunset, has been approved by a committee and is awaiting consideration in the House.

22 Feb 2003 Hate Crimes Bill Has LDS Support BY DAN HARRIE THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The sponsor of this year's version of anti-hate crimes legislation on Utah's Capitol Hill believes his bill will get a significant boost from a public statement from the state's predominant religion and simultaneous endorsements by two LDS Church-owned news media outlets.   "We can get it done," Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake City, said Friday of House Bill 85.  "We still have a lot of work to do," he said, adding that for some lawmakers, the church's statements "will make a difference." The legislation would increase penalties for threats or acts of violence or vandalism against people based on their race, religion, ethnic background or sexual orientation. It is the last provision which has generated most opposition among Utah lawmakers and others who claim it carves out "special rights" for gays and lesbians. he Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that homosexuality is a sin and it has actively supported, with money and volunteers, legislation in Utah and other states intended to prevent recognition of gay marriage. But on Friday, church leaders issued a statement that the religion "does not oppose HB85, Hate Crimes Amendments, as drafted. "The church abhors all hate crimes. The Church's well-known opposition to attempts to legalize same-gender marriage should never be interpreted as justification for hatred, intolerance or abuse of those who profess homosexual tendencies, either individually or as a group." Litvack said church lobbyist Bill Evans had communicated the statement to legislative leaders, and Litvack, who is Jewish, was busy making sure colleagues were aware of it. In addition to the church's official nonopposition, church-owned KSL radio and television on Friday editorialized in support of the hate crimes bill, saying, "It is high time to approve it."  The broadcast editorial followed by one day an editorial in the church-owned Deseret News endorsing the bill.  Under the headline "Pass the hate-crimes bill," the News rejected arguments that the legislation would establish a thought crime. "Nor would the bill establish protected classes of citizens or imprint some official stamp of approval on homosexuality," said the editorial.

Feb 22, 2003 Utah Gay Rodeo Association  goes on its own talent search... The Gong Show Wild West Edition The Trapp Door* Doors open at 8:00 contest starts at 8:45 $5.00 benefiting UGRA Rodeo 2003 & Wild West Festival, Contestants still needed! Anything from the Elaborate to the Extreme  NO ENTRY FEE TO COMPETE  Make it though our judges to the Audience vote and win $50.00! Brought to you by: The Pillar, City Weekly, The Trapp Door (a private club), Bud Light,  Mixed Media Display Business & your friends at UGRA!

2005 Living in a cave Nebo School District leaders are in a dither because they can't find a psychology textbook that elucidates only the "negative consequences" of homosexuality. The American Psychological Association has determined that homosexuality is not an illness but a normal expression of intimacy and attraction for a minority of individuals and is likely determined at or shortly after birth. Priscilla Leek, a member of the committee that will make final recommendations, said board-sanctioned articles and directed readings will be provided because, "We don't live in a cave." In a cave is exactly where they are living, a cave of prejudice, hatred and bigotry they call moral values. It is a cave where straight students don't get to see that gay people can and do lead happy, productive and fulfilling lives. They are not taught the human (and Christian) values of treating others with respect and dignity. It is a place where gay and lesbian students are isolated, tormented and exposed only to the "negative consequences" of their God-given sexuality. It is in this very cave that these young men and women, without role models and support, often are left to negotiate the horrors of depression, drugs, suicide, promiscuity and AIDS. These educators should look out of their cave and see that the negative consequences of homosexuality are really the stereotypes, hatred and bigotry they perpetuate. I am not holding my breath. David Winmill Ogden

2006 posted by Stuart Merrill RE: [gay_forum_utah] Q Salt Lake: Michael [Aaron], man, you have had some stress lately. Congratulations. It sounds like a good decision. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help. You want a post session summation on HIV issues? I will be in the Caribbean from March 3-14, but I could write one when I get back. Stuart

2006 Wednesday • from 5pm-7pm at Baci for our “OUT for Equality” event.  It’s been a rough session, with lots of anti-LGBT legislation. Let’s take a break and rejuvenate for the last week of the session – have a few drinks and enjoy free appetizers.  “OUT for Equality” is $5 at the door and free for 2006 members of Equality Utah.  Working for a fair & just Utah, Mike Thompson Executive Director

2006 posted by Ben Williams [Seth Jeff For those who have been following the Jeffs escapades sounds like some serious police abuse of power was going on in Pueblo CO] Article Last Updated: 2/22/2006 Could traffic stop lead to Jeffs? Denver Court: Must rule on whether detaining his brother by police in the wee hours was legal By Brooke Adams The Salt Lake Tribune DENVER - The best break yet in the search for fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs now hinges on whether a Pueblo County Sheriff's deputy properly detained his brother during a traffic stop last October. Seth Jeffs, 32, faces a federal charge of harboring a fugitive, based on information gathered because of that Oct. 28 stop, made after dispatchers received a report of a possible drunk driver. During a hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court for Denver, Deputy Eric Medina said he saw no evidence that Jeffs or Nathan Allred, the driver, appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs but wanted to search the vehicle because they acted suspiciously. Jeffs' attorney, Daniel Smith, wants the judge to suppress statements and evidence gathered during the stop and in subsequent interviews, contending Medina had no probable cause and illegally detained his client and searched the vehicle. "Once they determined they had no probable cause of arrest for alcohol or drugs, the stop should have ceased and they should have been free to go," Smith told The Salt Lake Tribune. Judge Robert E. Blackburn allowed Smith and U.S. Attorneys Phillip Brimmer and Bill Taylor to submit their closing arguments in writing by Feb. 28. Warren Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is wanted on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution on an Arizona charge that he arranged a marriage between a 16-year-old girl and an already married 28-year-old man. The FBI is offering a $60,000 reward. Warren Jeffs has not been seen publicly for nearly two years. The FLDS church is based in the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., but has enclaves in Colorado, Texas and British Columbia. One of its religious tenets is polygamy, which the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abandoned in 1890. Seth Jeffs is the FLDS president's younger brother and a self- described messenger for him. Allred, 27, is their nephew. Medina testified Tuesday that he pulled over their SUV around 3 a.m. in Pueblo and that they gave him vague and conflicting answers about what they were doing and their destination. Moments after the stop, Medina told other officers he was sure the pair were "smugglers" and that he believed the vehicle contained stolen equipment, according to a videorecording played in court. Smith said Medina was simply shopping for a reason to look through the vehicle. Medina said Allred appeared shaky, sweaty and wide-eyed, which he interpreted as signs of possible drug use or nervousness. Allred told him he was tired and both men denied using alcohol or drugs. A check on the men's licenses came back clean. Still, Medina asked to search the vehicle, which both men refused. Questioned by Smith, Medina acknowledged he told Allred to explain what was going on or he would pull him from the vehicle and search it. He then called his supervisor to get permission to have a K-9 search for drugs. During that call, an officer can be heard on the tape saying, "I say we shoot him and leave him in the ditch." Medina said he had been unaware of the comment until he reviewed the tape and didn't know why the officer made it, suggesting he might have been joking. As they waited for the dog, Jeffs told Medina there was a large amount of cash in the truck, including $5,000 he had paid Allred for work. Medina testified that he asked Allred what kind of work he'd done for Jeffs and Allred said "trust" work and then "personal favors." Medina said he asked Allred if those were sexual favors, and that Allred responded vaguely and then said, "So be it." Medina then arrested Jeffs for solicitation and Allred for prostitution; those charges were subsequently dismissed. The search dog arrived nearly two hours later and gave a positive alert for the odor of drugs. A subsequent search turned up $142,000, cellular phones, prepaid credit cards, a GPS unit, PalmPilot, computer and musical equipment and hundreds of envelopes addressed to "The Prophet," or "Warren Jeffs" and a jar with his picture and a label reading "Pennies for the Prophet."

Kathy Worthington and Sara Hamblin

2007 Kathy Worthington (20 October 1950 - 22 February 2007) committed suicide- “This is a watershed time. Now when leaders move on, there is not only one person, but several people awaiting to take their place. People used to think it was frightening to be a gay or lesbian leader. Now more people are coming forward and saying, ‘I’ll do that.’”   —Kathy Worthington, 1995 We regret to announce the passing of Kathy Worthington, a well-known Utah activist who made tremendous contributions to the GLBT community in Utah and across the country. Her passing comes one year and one day after the passing of her wife Sara Hamblin, who died of breast cancer on February 21, 2006.  Even though Kathy left the LDS Church many years ago, she was supportive of Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons and on one occasion came to an Affirmation meeting to speak of her experiences attending the 1993 March on Washington. She also helped Affirmation prepare an article with information for Mormons who want to get their names removed from the rolls of the Church.  At around the time when the LDS Church tried to conceal its involvement in fundraising for anti-gay causes in California, Kathy wrote several articles for The Pillar, the local gay paper in Utah, showing proof of the church's involvement. She also organized a campaign to help disenchanted Mormons, straight and gay alike, resign from the church and “send a message to the church that its manipulation of California politics... is objectionable and offensive to many people, including members of the church.”  Kathy's contribution to the GLBT community are many. Between 1991 and 1995 she edited the Womyn's Community News, a monthly newsletter for lesbians. Over the years the publication attracted 1,000 readers from Seattle to Bridgeport, Conn. She spent $15,000 of her own money and thousands of hours working on that project. Between 1992 and 1999 she facilitated a women's peer support group, first at her home and later at the Stonewall Center. After 1999, she organized a similar group at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center (today the Pride Center).  Kathy met her wife Sara Hamblin in 1992. They had a commitment ceremony a year later. In 1997, two years after Sara was diagnosed with cancer, Kathy fought the U.S. Postal Service to be allowed to take open-ended leave to care for Sara under the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act. Kathy's request was denied twice, but she tried one more time and won approval. Kathy and Sara were legally married in Canada in 2003.  Family and friends were hesitant to say how she died at first, but on Thursday, Kathy's daughter, Lucy Juarez, said her mother committed suicide. After losing her partner of 14 years, Kathy had fallen into a deep depression, stopped participating in the community, and let her friends fall by the wayside. Kathy still worked full time at the U.S. Postal Service, but she was lonely and struggled to wake up most mornings without Sara. Kathy had contemplated suicide throughout the year, and family and friends tried to get her help and support her. “I’d rather just be up front about it because that was the way my mother was,” Lucy told The Salt Lake Tribune. “We are in no way ashamed about her depression or the way she died. We wish we would have been able to save her.” A memorial service for Kathy will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, March 4, at I.J. and Jeanné Wagner Jewish Community Center, 2 N. Medical Drive, Salt Lake City. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Utah Pride Center (www.utahpridecenter.org) or Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (www.bestfriends.org). A tribute to both Kathy and Sara may be found at www.geocities.com/kathywut/homepage.html. Kathy's passing was noted in the April 10, 2007 issue of The Advocate (see page 19, “Transitions”).  Tribute by David Nielson: Kathy's contribution to the Mormon world has shaped many, many pieces of policy and viewpoint, even if TBM's refuse to acknowledge it. While it was possible before for an individual to have their name removed from Church rolls, it was difficult and required a lot of guesswork. Kathy created resources to make it an easy, definite process. She and her partner were also the greatest test case, before or since, for FMLA-style leave within the Postal Service. At her insistence, management of our postal facility set a precedent for gay couples to get the same treatment as straight couples, when caring for ailing partners. She was a friend to me at the Postal Service, and I am still very sad and incomplete because of her passing.  Joe Timpson, who worked with me and with Kathy at the Remote Encoding Center here in Salt Lake City, was also a gay former Mormon. These two people both took their lives within weeks of each other. The reasons for suicide are never simple--there's never just one reason--but looking at these cases, I have to stand up and say, as I have said before, WE ARE STILL LOSING TOO MANY GAY MORMONS TO SUICIDE. Who are we being that will bring GLBT Mormon suicides to an end? David Nielson  “There are events in ours lives that make us stop, pause, and question our sense of reality and perhaps our delusions.  Kathy Worthington’s recent death has had that affect on me. When Michael Aaron called me at home with the news, he was at the UAF’s Oscar’s Banquet. The report that Kathy was no longer with us was monumental to him. I think somehow he knew that the heartrending news had to be passed along to someone, as if by saying the dreaded words, sense could be made out of it. It was however insensible that the towering strength that was Kathy had left us. There was a time in Salt Lake City when most everyone- who was doing anything in the Gay community, was known by everyone else.  We use to be that small. Oh sure there were thousands who lived quiet lives, partied on the weekends, and thrived in the protective cocoons of their familiar cliques. However those who were out of the closet and wanting to make a social difference, in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, perhaps there were little more than two hundred people. These extraordinary queers were willing to serve in leadership positions, raise money, make their voices heard, and make a different in the bastion of rabid ultraconservatism we like to call home. “We are family” was not just a Pointers Sisters’ song but was a watchword for us Gays.  We called each other family because we were and are. Therefore, when someone of the stature of Kathy Worthington leaves us, it’s not simply a sad event, but a sorrowful, devastating loss.  When I first heard the horrific news I felt much the same disbelief, sorrow and grief as when I heard that the larger then life AIDS Crisis advocate David Sharpton had died.  That is how Kathy lived her life- larger then life.  When people who have sustained that much vigor and vitality are taken away, it makes my own world feel smaller and diminished. Funny, as much as that small cohort of activists fought, fumed, and fussed, (especially David Sharpton), Kathy was always above the fray.  She had what appeared to me the stoic virtue of a Roman Matron.  She like Caesar’s wife was beyond reproached.  When she spoke at Community Council, we listened. Her words were always sound, true, and pragmatic. At the time I hated that actually- because I was all emotion and ethereal fire and wanted to lead the Gay revolution by storming the Bastille of Homophobia.  Kathy however was calming, reasonable, and down-to-earth in her approach to the struggle for our human rights and had this homey “let’s be sensible” approach in dealing with the issues of the day.  While Kathy and I were not close friends, we were always friendly. Comrades in arms.  I sent an appreciation card to Sara shortly before her death and on the day that Kathy died I had emailed her a quick note to say I was thinking of her and Sara on the anniversary of Sara’s passing. I will never know if she ever read it. The kinship I felt with Kathy was that of one comrade-in-arms towards another. Kathy, I as well as many others were fighting the same “good fight” against injustice,  bigotry, prejudice, and homophobia.  I felt safe knowing that Kathy had my back.  She had all of ours. Possibly because Kathy and I are baby boomers, travelers on the same time line I feel especially connected with Kathy.  Only six months older then I, we experienced in our teens the turmoil of the Civil Rights Movement and the disastrous bloody Vietnam War that lasted until our early twenties.  Events like the assassinations of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy, the Kent State Massacre where the National Guard fired on college students, and Constitutional Crisis of Watergate influenced our social consciousness and our sense of social justice. For us they were not just events out of history books. Although we both were heterosexually married once, because of society’s pressures to conform, we still had our young adult lives affected by the Equal Rights Amendment’s struggle for Women’s Rights and the Anita Bryant National Backlash to Gay Liberation.  We knew who Harvey Milk was and what he stood for.  We saw “Gay Related Immune deficiency” Syndrome become AIDS and, because of Government neglect, wipe out nearly a million Gay men within a decade. Our generation. Kathy and I both were late bloomers in our Gay activism, I in 1986 when I was 35 years old and Kathy in 1989 when she was 39 years old. But when we came out- we were out – and we were formidable, working ferociously to make up for lost time and to construct a safer and more hospitable Utah for Gay people.  We both had the honor of being recipients of the Dr. Kristen Ries Community Service Award for our efforts. We both ran support groups. We both started papers in Salt Lake City, Kathy for the Women’s Community and I for the Men’s.   We both wrote newspaper columns, (however she never pissed off as many people), we both did not hesitate to send letters to the editor, nor did we turn down a newspaper interview.  My favorite memory of Kathy Worthington is rallying her circle of Lesbian friends to clean, paint and decorate the old Utah Stonewall Center at  3^rd West at 770 South with rainbow curtains.  She did not do it for praise. She did not do it for money.  She did it because she loved Gay people. She did it because it needed to be done. She did it because she was Kathy Worthington. While I am incredibly sad that Kathy is gone I can’t be but grateful that because as weary as she was she now can rest forever in Sara’s arms. {My Tribute to Kathy- Ben Williams 2007]

2009 Sean Penn received Oscar for Best Actor for Milk

2009 Rolly: Lobbying with the backing of God Before the package of gay rights bills called the Common Ground Initiative died at the Legislature last week, Utah Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka sent an e-mail to her troops commanding them to fill the seats at the committee hearings on those bills and lobby legislators hard to ensure the bills' quick death. "We have never seen a time when the homosexual community has been as aggressive and as committed to an objective as they are now," wrote Ruzicka... Author:    Paul Rolly Tribune 

2020 Please join us on Saturday, February 22, 2020 as the Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake hosts the First Annual Two Spirit Pow Wow in the Salt Lake Valley. We are very excited to join other powwows in the movement towards inclusivity and honoring of our Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ relatives. The Two Spirit Pow Wow will be co-sponsored by the Utah Pride Center. This event is a community social powwow that will feature pow wow dancers and drums, community presentations and resources, a cake walk and more! We look forward to seeing you there!