This Day In Gay Utah History March 25th

25 March 

1629-The Virginia Court began hearing testimony in the matter of Thomas/Thomasina Hall, who claimed to be both male and female.  The decision of the court would be that Hall was both a man and a woman, despite lack of evidence of female genitals. The court specified the clothing Hall was to wear, which included both male and female apparel. Hall was an English servant in colonial Virginia whose wearing of female attire and, on subsequent investigation, a liaison with a maid provoked public controversy in 1629. Hall was subjected to a physical inspection, and the case reached the Quarter Court at Jamestown, which ruled that Hall was both a man and a woman and must dress in male and female clothing simultaneously. Hall's given name is typically written as "Thomas(ine)" or "Thomas/ine" in scholarly literature on the case. Residents of Warrosquyoacke Virginia claimed that Hall's changes of dress and sexual relations with members of both sexes were causing disorder. Hall's case reached the Quarter Court on April 8, 1629. Governor John Pott presided and the court heard from several witnesses, as well as from Hall. The court ruled that Hall had a "dual nature" gender,: "hee is a man and a woeman". Before Hall's time, any individual determined by court to be "man and woman" was forced to adopt either a permanent male or female identity. Instead, as punishment for Hall's previous gender ambiguity and alternating identities as a man and a woman, the court denied Hall the freedom to choose a single gender identity. As a form of public ridicule, Hall was forced to "goe clothed in man's apparell, only his head to bee attired in a coyfe and croscloth with an apron before him". In addition, Hall had to provide evidence of good behavior to each Quarter Court.

1948- The Radio City Lounge opened in Salt Lake City to a clientele of heterosexuals.  However, it evolved into a Gay bar, being the oldest continuous operating Gay bar in Utah. Elvin Gerrard and Lee Caputo, two straight business partners, open Radio City is believed to be the oldest Gay bar in Utah. Located at 147 South State Street, SLC Is called Radio City Lounge because it used to cater to the Radio Station Crowds when all the broadcasting stations were up the street on Social Hall Avenue. (Joe Redburn)

1970 An institute dealing with sex crimes scheduled at U of U Little Theater in the Union Bldg. The 2 day program sponsored by U of U division of continuing education and Utah Sex Crime Investigators and will feature a lecture on pornography, forensic medicine, and the sex criminal. Apprehension, Prosecution, and Sentencing of Sexual Criminals will be discussed by Judge John Farr Larson of 2^nd District Juvenile Court. Dr. Charles E. Bemis delinquency control unit LAPD spoke to 25 lawmen at the institute on sex crimes. Bemis, an expert on Sex crimes warned that there was more to fear from sexual ignorance than from sex education at the conference. Dr. Bemis added his views on homosexuality saying, “Homosexuality is a disease. It can be treated but homosexuals like most people, don’t want to change. But it is just not true, as some homosexuals claims, that people are just difficult and that’s the way it is.” (03/22/1970 SLTribune B11, 03/26/1970 SLTribune B1)

1970  Mary Wiegars of Washington Post wrote article on Women’s Liberation printed in the Salt Lake Tribune, “Becky, Pam, and Peggy have all heard the charge that women in the movement have Lesbian tendencies or “are just a bunch of Lesbians.” They shrug it off. “What else would you expect threatened males to say?”  We think liberating women will liberate me too. The question of whether or not there is an unusual percentage of emotionally troubled, disturbed women in the liberation movement is a valid one. The question is not necessary whether they Lesbians but whether they are women who have had difficulties in their relationships with men either because of a bad marriage, a bad experience with a boy friend, or just difficulties in attracting a man’s interest. (03/25/1970 SLTribune page 13)

Paul Harvey 

1972 National Syndicated Commentator Paul Harvey- “AMA Officers Clinical Analysis of Homosexuals” Ogden Standard Examiner-The Homosexual remains an uncomfortable misfit in society. Only recently, has the word “homosexual” been mentioned above a whisper. But here is a research report in the journal of the respected American Medical Association offering a clinical analysis of homosexual problems and the public response. If they are no longer shunned like lepers, they will still feel and suffer from the stigma. LESSER MENACE At the risk of shocking my American Legionaire friends-again- it is my observation that, on balance, the effeminate man is a lesser menace than the gung-ho, all-male, barrel-chested behemoth who is no ‘sissy’ but has to keep proving it with cussing, swaggering, and spitting on the floor. Yet for generations we’ve tended to lionize the latter type in history and fiction, in movies “where men are men” and in politics where the gruff-voiced tough-guy image was acceptable where a lisp was not. These each suffers from a similar hormonal imbalance.  Dr. Robert Deisher and Dr. Thomas Roesler of the Uinversity of Washington, Seattle, have studied 60 young membes of what we now call the “homosexual subculture” and find them to be immersely miserable: 48 per cent have visited psychiatrists; 31 per cent had made a significant attempt at suicide. This study shows that the time between the first experience and the time when the youth decides he is a homosexual, is a period of extreme emotional torment and turmoil. There after about one third of them continue defensively to prefer to think of themselves as “bisexual” and for these the torment is life long. Those who accept the fact that they are different are able to make the best adjustment. Presently on the fringes of civil rights overtures are semi-organized groups professing the purpose of “gay liberation”. They demand that present laws relating to conduct between consenting adults discriminate; some do. They insist that homosexuals are discriminated against in most industrial employment. ANALYSIS of HOMOSEXUALS The more effective ‘demonstrations’ in their behalf- their more effective missionaries for public acceptance- are the gentle men who comport themselves with dignity and propriety in the arts and the professions where “being different” is more an asset than a liability. Pyshcologists cannot agree to why there is a disproportionate artistic talent among homosexuals but quite obviously there is. They tend to excel as artists, decorators, musicians, hairdressers, composers. The historic stigma derived mostly from the crude, overt “pansy’ and the piteous female impersonators- both of whom are altogether as repugnant to discreet and discriminating homosexuals as the rest of us. The AMA Journal’s clinical treatment of this subject will reduce their distress, only if it helps some up-tight parents not to be panicked by something just because they don’t understand it.

1976-President Jimmy Carter's nephew William Carter Spann began a 10-year prison sentence for armed robbery of several Gay businesses in San Francisco "for chump change". One of his targets was the Mint Tavern, a San Francisco gay bar.  Spann was a bisexual heroin user in and out of prison for most of his life. At one point he was so broke in jail he had to borrow stamps from cellmate Charles Manson. President Carter once wrote to Spann to suggest that he not apologize for any negative publicity. ''You are part of our family and we are certainly not thinking of disowning you.  'We all just wish you well.'' The former president paid for his nephew's methadone treatments. Spann died in 1997 of AIDS and the family asked that donations be made to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation client services division.

1977- D. Kendall Perkins, counsel for Metropolitan Community Church of Salt Lake filed a lawsuit against the state of Utah in behalf of Metropolitan Community Church of Salt Lake to compel the Lt. Governor to allow MCC the use of the State Capitol Rotunda  for a dance. Bob Waldrop- Metropolitan Community Church of Salt Lake Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church SLC sued the state of Utah to be allowed to hold same-sex dances in the state capitol rotunda, events similar to those held regularly by Mormon stakes. He wins case but legislature then bans all dances. Metropolitan Community Church of Salt Lake sued the Lt. Governor office over his rescinding of their reservation to have a dance in the State Capitol Rotunda.

1980  THE ROYAL COURT OF THE GOLDEN SPIKE EMPIRE, INC. Business License Number: 736640-0140 Date of Registration 3/25/1980

1984 Lesbian and Gay Student Union sponsored the first week long Gay and Lesbian Student Union Conference with the theme “Reaching Out”. Dr. Don Clark, psychiatrist author of wrote “Loving Someone Gay and “Living Gay” was the keynote speaker on March 30th. Bill Olson, Regional Director of the National Gay Task Force also addressed conference attendees.  Michael Sowerby [Michael Aaron], President of LGSU, and Wes Jolley Outreach Director organized the Conference which received coverage by Channel 4 and was the top Utah News story in the USA TODAY local state news section. The Daily Utah Chronicle refused to cover any of the events and only ran one article. Most if not all the LGSU Conference posters were torn down. The Channel 2 Take Two interviews for Sunday March 25^th were canceled for no apparent reason by KUTV.

1985 The Times of Harvey Milk won the Academy Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary.

1988-Robert Joffrey, founder of the Joffrey Ballet, died in New York City at age 57 of liver disease and renal and respiratory failure caused by AIDS.

25 March 1988 John Reeves and I went to the YMCA this afternoon to sign the contract for the Beyond Stonewall retreat. We were both extremely nervous and afraid that once they saw the word Gay all over the agenda it would be all over and throw us out. But they didn’t say a word to us about it being a Gay retreat and they can’t say they didn’t know now that we are a Gay group. They must need the money. So the fears that Bruce Barton rested on my heart is finally put to rest. Yay! What a burden has been lifted.  John Reeves has done a superb job at planning this event and if the retreat is successful it can be laid at his feet.

25 March-22 April 1990- The Anne Frank Holocaust Exhibit opened at the City-County

Building and sparked widespread protest because homosexuals were not permitted to be mentioned as victims of the holocaust “Three pages were removed from the 38 guide page educational supplement supplied to teachers who intend to visit with their classrooms at the school board’s request.  The pages were entitled The Fate of the Homosexuals Under Nazi Rule.” The GLCCU’s spokesman Robert Austin said the coalition will not protest the exhibit, as was announced earlier but will” witness" to the suffering of homosexuals at the hands of the Nazis. He said "witnessing" will include wearing pink triangles and perhaps carrying candles and distributing information. Victims of the Holocaust included "not just Jews and gypsies but Gay people too, " Austin said. At the Anne Frank Holocaust Exhibit a woman outraged by the presence of Gay activists angrily kicked a box full of symbolic pink triangles down the steps of the Salt Lake City-County Building. The Gay activists were offering the pink triangles to everyone who entered the exhibit, explaining that they were used by the Nazis to identify homosexuals. About half of those visiting the exhibit Sunday afternoon accepted the emblem.

• 1990 Easter Sunday About 150 people attended the 5 pm rally in front of the City County Building to protest the exclusion of Gays from being mentioned in the Anne Frank's Exhibit there. The State wanted an exhibition on the horrors of intolerance and here they turn around and exclude a whole group of people who were specifically targeted by the Germans! Hypocrites. Anyway could not begin to enumerate all the activists there. Did see David Sharpton there and am concerned about all the weight he is losing. [Journal of Ben Williams]

1992- Ben Barr announced that the Utah AIDS Foundation’s WALK FOR LIFE,  normally held in September, would be held in June because of a flood of new clients and a scarcity of dollars to serve them. ``In the last three months, we have seen 80 new clients with HIV. That's 25 percent of all ofthe people who we have served since thebeginning of 1989,'' Ben Barr the foundation's first and only executive director, announced he was resigning in July to return to school.

1992-David Edward Reed, Sr. age 40 years died  at his home

AIDS Born June 6, 1951 in San Mateo, Calif. Graduate of BYU in 1973, Masters in Education in 1976. Taught lst and 2nd grades at Draper Elementary for 11 years, the 3rd grade at Lone Peak Elementary for two years, and 1st grade for two years at Midvale Elementary.  Attained Chartered Financial Consultant Degree in October of 1991. He loved music, trains, sang with the Utah Opera, He was an avid runner, running 15 marathons.  Survived by his wife,  and six children of Sandy. Dave was an active supporter of Affirmation and Unconditional Support. He financially sponsored the Youth Group and was a close friend to Beau Chaine and Ben Williams.

1993 Dr. R. Jan Stout, age 57, died in Salt Lake City, Utah of cancer. He lived most of his life in Salt Lake City and attended Salt Lake schools, graduating from South High School.  Dr. Stout received his bachelor's degree in medical biology from the University of Utah in 1958 and his medical degree from the University of Utah School of Medicine in 1961. He interned at L.D.S. Hospital and completed residency training in psychiatry at Stanford Medical Center and the University of Utah Medical Center in 1965. He then practiced psychiatry in Salt Lake City until December, 1992 when illness forced him to discontinue. He was a kind and caring physician, highly regarded by his patients and professional colleagues. He was assistant professor at the University of Utah Medical Center where he shared his knowledge and experience with many medical students and psychiatric residents. He promoted public understanding of psychiatric problems through working with the media and was interested in replacing social prejudice with empathy, knowledge and acceptance, especially towards those having different sexual orientations. He also contributed a number of articles to professional and lay publications. Dr. Stout served as president of the Utah Psychiatric Association in 1970-71 and was an officer of the organization for the past 10 years. He was awarded a fellowship in the American Psychiatric Association in 1977. In 1991 he received the Distinguished Service Award of the Utah Psychiatric Association in recognition of his outstanding contributions and achievements. He is survived by his wife, Linda T. Stout of Salt Lake City, Utah; and children. [He gave several presentations at Affirmation on the biological causation of homosexuality]

1995 -- Wasatch Affirmation will present its 3^rd annual Gay & Lesbian Return Missionary Reunion Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the Utah Stonewall Center, 770 S. 300 West, Salt Lake City. Guest speaker will be feminist author and activist Maxine Hanks. The organization also will sponsor a Sunday fireside April 2 at 5 p.m. at the Stonewall Center. Guest speakers will be Ron and Adonna Schow, who assisted with editing of the 1991 book Peculiar People.

1996-Colorado governor Roy Romer became the first governor to veto legislation banning the recognition of same-sex marriage.

1996 AIDS UTAH AIDS FOUNDATION ``Oscar'' came to Salt Lake

City for ``An Affair to Remember'' March 25. At 13 1/2 inches tall and weighing 8 ½ pounds, the lightly gold-plated, much-coveted visiting statuette was matched only by a glittering crowd of close to 2,200 gathering in the spectacular Salt Palace Ballroom applauding Utah AIDS Foundation volunteers, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and life at the Oscar Night Gala. One of 12 official Oscar Night America events, the gala was underwritten by sponsors ensuring 100 percent of the ticket price and funds raised during the evening -- $85,000 --will go to the Utah AIDS Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to stopping the spread of HIV disease throughout Utah and ensuring compassionate service to those affected with HIV/AIDS. Among awards: Delores and Maxine Sanchez, for Most Committed Support; the Rev. Barbara Hamilton-Holway, Best Divine Intervention; Utah Food Bank, Best Supporting Cast; and Intermountain Health Care, Corporation of the Year. Valerie, Veronica and Victoria Gonzales accepted the Michael T. Elliot Volunteer of the Year Award for their mother, the late Liza Gonzales. Zach, Jon and Sara Stewart accepted the Advocate of the Year Award for their late father, Les Stewart. Volunteers Miriam Cunningham and Doug Brunker checked coats while Pat Derbidge, Lynda Griffiths and Shelly Wilkerson mingled with other guests before dining-room doors opened at 6:30 p.m. Donna Lahey was there with Kitty and Glenn Getz and Mary Beth Rivetti. Diane and Paul Diehl attended with former Tooele Mayor George and Violet Diehl, who admired the Salt Palace with architect David Brems. Utah AIDS Foundation executive director Barbara Shaw stopped to chat with Bill Balken and board vice president George Miller. Camille Campbell, Kisha Russell and Roxann  Hartt posed for photographs with Pat Poce, Rich Bender, David Anderson and Deon Gooch. Mitch and Susan Gross chatted with Sophia Nepolis and Connie Lenardakis. Development director Julie Mayhew's mother, Alice Jensen, had to go to her mass meeting before the party. Among partygoers: Sharon and Bill Loya, Gina and Mark Elardo, Dennis and Judy Fuchs, Jane Edwards, Anne Stromness, Sarah and Eric Shapiro, Edna and Grant Schettler, Turid Lipman, Betsy Blee, Bruce Romney and Pam Scarpelli. The Phoenix Band enticed guests to stay late, and girl-singer Myrlene Korologos wowed them with ``The Lady Is a Tramp.''

2003  Anderson Courts Gay Voters as Election Nears Rocky II: Salt Lake City's mayor is reaching out to a marginalized group to shore up a possible voting bloc in his re-election bid By Heather May    The Salt Lake Tribune Rocky Anderson says he never was homophobic, but he acknowledges he used to harbor biases against gays and lesbians. Not anymore. The Salt Lake City mayor --  who was defeated in a Utah congressional race partly because of his liberal views on gay issues  --  is highlighting those policy positions as he runs for re-election this year. Last weekend, speaking at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah, Anderson praised the city's police department for a new outreach program to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered residents. He said he supported offering city benefits to domestic partners of gay and lesbian employees. He expressed interest in a coalition's move to change a state law that forbids gay and lesbian couples from adopting or housing foster children. If such a thing as a gay voting bloc exists, Anderson is going after it. He already has the endorsement of Unity Utah, a political action committee focused on gay issues. Though Saturday's speech was a city function, Anderson's campaign manager was present, too, with "Rocky II" bumper stickers and fund-raiser fliers at the ready. "One of the best families I know, across the street from where I live, is two lesbian women and their two wonderful kids. People need to understand there are all sorts of different families that provide healthy, loving homes to children," the mayor said. Utah Families Coalition wants Anderson's support in fighting a 2000 law that prohibits the state from placing children in homes of cohabiting couples. The mayor said he would overturn it in Salt Lake City if he could, but he can't. Support for gay issues is a hot-button topic that can swing elections. Anderson says he lost his 1996 congressional bid to Merrill Cook because of his support for legalizing same-sex marriage. During that campaign, he moderated the statement, saying he would set aside his personal beliefs and vote the will of the residents in the 2nd Congressional District. It was such a critical issue, that in the last weekend of that election, Anderson paid for a TV ad where he declared: "I'm not going to advocate same-sex marriage in Congress." The backpedaling angered the Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats (GLUD), but the group stood by him. Anderson lost that race, though he had support from Salt Lake City voters and easily carried the capital. When he ran for mayor in 1999, he was attacked for supporting gays. Fliers accused him of owning gay bars and rumors flew that he was gay. But the allegations backfired. Unity Utah Director Michael Mitchell believes gay voters and volunteers helped boost Anderson then and could do the same this year. "We do have the numbers in Salt Lake to swing an election," Mitchell said. "We tend to vote for people who are good to us more than not  --  not that we're single-issue voters. I would hope somebody wouldn't vote for Rocky simply on gay and lesbian rights." Unity Utah's endorsement of Anderson does not mean the PAC disproves of the other candidates. Mitchell said Frank Pignanelli, a mayoral hopeful and former legislator, is a "very good man. He's a man that's very open" about gay issues. But Mitchell said Anderson was more up to speed, while he would have to educate other candidates.  Consider: Anderson issued an executive order to protect gay city employees from discrimination after taking office. Several employees have used it to complain about inappropriate workplace talk, said Greg Coronado, the city's equal employment opportunity manager. The mayor recently created a Police Civilian Review Board and asked Paula Wolfe, executive director of Utah's Gay and Lesbian Community Center, to join.  "I first saw him at a drag show," Wolfe said. "There are very few politicians who have that comfort level." In addition, the police department created a Gay and Lesbian Public Safety Liaison Committee. It works with owners of gay bars and is creating a gay-sensitive DUI campaign this summer. It also developed a program for people caught committing homosexual acts in public places. Offenders are offered 10 hours of therapy and charges are dropped if they do not reoffend. Lt. Kyle Jones said 100 people have completed the program and there is a low recidivism rate. The program also appears to help some people recognize they are gay. He said 60 percent to 70 percent of the men initially identify themselves as heterosexual and "after therapy realize they are bisexual and probably gay." Pignanelli has a record of advocating for gays and lesbians, too. As a legislator, he pushed for a hate-crimes bill that included protections for gays and lesbians and other groups. He criticized the city's school board for banning all nonacademic clubs in order to ban gay clubs. And he vows to keep Anderson's nondiscrimination order. But Pignanelli and other Democrats angered GLUD when they sought to distance themselves from gay issues and asked the group to drop the party label. "I have witnessed firsthand the contributions gay and lesbians have made to our community," Pignanelli said. "We need to make sure they feel and believe Salt Lake City is a comfortable place for them to live and thrive." Molonai Hola, another mayoral hopeful, said he is sensitive to such issues, but they are not his focus. "My priorities are revamping the city and recruiting businesses to come in."   On Saturday in response to questions from people at the center, Anderson said he supported extending city benefits to partners of gay and lesbian employees. Pignanelli supports the idea too, but would want to study the costs first. An actual ordinance extending those benefits appears unlikely. The mayor has not discussed it with City Council members, who would have to approve it. Even if they agreed, state lawmakers likely would have final say.

 2003 Daily Utah Chronicle Letter: Sexual Minorities and Pistols Despite a last-minute plea from students of Brigham Young University and Westminster College for Governor Mike Leavitt to veto state Senate Bill 108, the governor did the right thing on March 19 by signing the bill into law. According to The Chronicle's March 24 article, "Leaders Lobby to Keep Guns Off Campus," the law will allow licensed concealed weapons permit holders to carry their guns on college and university campuses in the state. I am a member of Pink Pistols of Utah. Members of this organization are gender- and sexual-minority gun owners and advocates in Utah. We are supporters of the Pink Pistols idea that was described nationally in 2000 by writer Jonathan Rauch for the legal, safe and responsible use of firearms for our self-defense and shooting-sport competition, including those of us who are gay and lesbian and our families and friends. And, yes, our members include current and former university students and staffers. By approving this bill, Leavitt enabled our members who are students and staffers and who have qualified for state-issued concealed weapons carrying permits will ha ve the human right to defend themselves. David Nelson Alumnus, Salt Lake City___

2005 The Daily Utah Chronicle – News Issue: 3/25/05 Posters around campus arouse questions from students By Lisa Narciso Students have mixed reactions regarding the posters focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people around campus this week and question the possible outcome of Monday's LGBT forum. The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center said the posters were intended to spark people's curiosity about the subject matter and also make people aware that LGBT students do exist as part of "Operation Visibility" week. The posters said phrases such as, "Gay is real" and "Transgender people are real." However, some students did not take the message positively. "We had some fliers...people had written 'Just because it's real, doesn't make it

Charles Milne

right,'" said Charles Milne, a coordinator at LGBT. "We had somebody call the office last night saying 'Gay's aren't allowed on campus. What are you thinking?' They actually thought it was against school policy for gay students to be on campus," Milne said. Dean of Students Stayner Landward also received two calls complaining about the posters. "They reported that they were offended that the University would allow that language on campus," Landward said. Landward said he explained to the callers that LGBT was expressing its constitutional rights and he encourages all students to express themselves. He also encouraged the callers to attend the forum and give their opinions on these issues. Some students were not quite sure what to make of the signs. Regan Duckworth, an international studies student, said, "If they want to put up signs, that's fine. I don't feel that you need to go around and flaunt whatever you are. Just be you, who you are." Despite any negative reactions to the posters, Milne said he encountered many students at the U that were supportive. According to a LGBT survey conducted two years ago, 64 percent of the campus had positive attitudes toward gay and lesbian people. "I can see how people may think [the signs are] controversial, but it's just like advertising anything on campus," said Nicole Nguyen, a freshman student. Nguyen also said she believed the posters were unclear of their connection to the LBGT forum on Monday, March 28. "Part of [putting up the posters] was to try and get people on campus to talk about the subject matter and maybe think about it from another perspective," Milne said. LGBT is hoping the forum increases people's awareness of LGBT people and knowledge of the resources at the LGBT center. "I think it's important for people to know that there are these safe environments, these safe zones that exist here on campus. And that campus is not a hostile place toward lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, intersexed individuals...all these things are welcomed and even embraced," said Derick Stephensen, a LGBT student. The center also hopes to address issues at the forum including suicide rates of students who identify with LGBT, the effect of Amendment 3 on the LGBT community and bringing heterosexual allies and LGBT people together as a community. The forum is to be held Monday in the Saltair Room in the Union from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

2005 The RCGSE and The UGRA-Along with Emperor 27 Bobby Childers and Empress 21 & Miss UGRA 2000 Tasha Montiel Present  The UGRA Royalty 2005 Pageant Show and Raffle  Friday, March 25th, 2005  8:30pm Sharp $5.00 Cover Heads Up!*

2006 The Utah Queer Scuba Club will be diving Blue Lake (by Wendover, NV), on Saturday, March 25 and Sunday, March 26. For those that missed the altitude specialty and wish to do it, we can do it again. This involves two dives and will only cost the price of the certification card ($20). We will also be doing some adventure dives. We hope to do an underwater navigation and a search and recovery. For those that do not have their Advanced Open Water certification, I can sign these two dives off if you complete them. I hope to do a night dive Saturday night. Feel free to come for one or both days! For more details or information, please email scubadiving@.... If anyone needs or can offer to share a ride, let me know and I'll see what I can coordinate. If you are not currently certified, you can find information about instruction through the queer scuba club and scheduling a class at http://scubadiving.queerutahgroups.org. Also, check out the other groups Thanks! Cougar Utah Queer Scuba Club The Utah Queer Scuba Club will be diving Blue Lake near Wendover, Nev. on the weekend of March 25–26. They will be having an altitude specialty involving two dives for the cost the price of the certifi cation card, $20. The club will also be doing some adventure dives and hope to do an underwater navigation and a search and recovery. For those that do not have their Advanced Open Water certifi cation, divers can be signed off as dives are completed. They are also planning a night dive on the first night. Divers are welcome to come for one or both days. 

2013 As the Director of Restore Our Humanity, I am proud to announce.On behalf of Restore our Humanity, the law firm of Magelby & Greenwood, P.C. filed a lawsuit on behalf of 3 couples in loving and committed relationships, seeking to have Amendment 3 to Utah Constitution declared unconstitutional under Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the United States Constitution. Further Details will be available on our website tomorrow.-Mark Lawrence

Derek Kitchen & Moudi Sbiety

2013 Gay, lesbian couples sue Utah for right to marry By Dennis Romboy, Deseret News Gay couple Derek Kitchen and Moudi Sbiety and lesbian couple Laurie Wood and Kody Partridge are challenging the state law that says marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman. Summary Three gay and lesbian couples filed a filed federal lawsuit Monday seeking the right to marry or have their marriage in another state recognized in Utah.  Utah among several states with marriage laws under legal challenge SALT LAKE CITY — Three gay and lesbian couples filed a filed federal lawsuit Monday seeking the right to marry or have their marriage in another state recognized in Utah. Gay couple Derek Kitchen and Moudi Sbiety and lesbian couple Laurie Wood and Kody Partridge are challenging the state law that says marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman. "Both couples desire to express their love for, and commitment to, one another by getting married and obtaining official sanction for their family from the state of Utah," according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court. In addition, Karen Archer and Kate Call, who were legally married in Iowa, claim Utah law bars them from being treated the same as heterosexual couples because it does not recognize their marriage as valid. The lawsuit asks a federal judge to declare the Utah law unconstitutional under the due process and equal protections clauses of the 14th Amendment. It seeks a permanent injunction preventing the state from enforcing its ban on same-sex marriage. Wood and Partridge applied for a Salt Lake County marriage license Monday but were denied because they are a same-sex couple. Kitchen and Sbeity applied and were denied a license last Friday, according to the suit. In 2004, Utah voters approved Amendment 3 to the state constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman. The amendment also states that no other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect. "Utah has long been among the states that have enacted laws stripping gay men and lesbian women of rights afforded all other citizens," according to the complaint. The lawsuit names as defendants Gov. Gary Herbert, Attorney General John Swallow and Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen.

• Couples file legal challenge to Utah’s gay marriage ban BY MARK GREEN, Fox News SALT LAKE CITY – Three Utah couples have filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to declare any state law barring same-sex marriage unconstitutional. The plaintiffs have asked the court to find that Utah’s Amendment 3 violates the fourteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution and stop it from being enforced. The fourteenth amendment prohibits government from depriving people of life and liberty, and contains an equal protection clause. Governor Gary Herbert, Attorney General John Swallow and Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen are listed as the defendants. 
• Legal Document File

2015 Dr. Kristen Ries Community Service Award - 2015 Nominees

Following is the list of 2015 nominees that satisfied the nomination / qualification requirements.

PAUL BURKE -

Paul Burke is an exemplary member of our community and the legal community at large. His tenacity, zeal, and compassion have made him a champion of the underserved and most disadvantaged in our community. Paul received the Utah Bar’s Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year award in 2012 in recognition of his representation of an underage lesbian in southern Utah who was being abused by her custodians. Over the course of many months, Paul waged a legal battle against the girl’s parents, the anti-gay “therapists” they had hired to turn their daughter straight, and the guardian ad litem who had inexplicably sided with the parents and custodians. He ultimately won the girl’s emancipation. Paul has also volunteered to help the family of, David Phan, the Taylorsville teen who was subjected to such extreme bullying that he committed suicide in 2012, just outside his junior high school. In 2013, Paul led a team of attorneys, including former U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman, in filing an amicus brief on behalf of the Pride Center in Windsor. Paul then travel to Washington DC to attend arguments before the United States Supreme Court, where he gained national media attention for UPC's efforts. Finally, over the course of 2013 and 2014, Paul authored numerous opinion articles in the Salt Lake Tribune advocating marriage equality and equal rights for LGBT Utahns. Paul’s unwavering dedication and service to our community—both public and private—make him an outstanding potential recipient of the Dr. Kristen Ries Community Service Award.

LOGAN BRUECK -

Before leaving the Utah Pride Festival Steering Committee due to health a few years ago, Logan Brueck was instrumental in the planning and growth of the Utah Pride Parade. He brought a level of professionalism to this important, and highly visual, component of the annual Utah Pride Festival. He also founded ROTC - the Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corps of Salt Lake City. He continues to give service in the broader community through the

Utah Friends of Basset Hounds and training the Ogden High Winterguard. Since moving to Salt Lake City, Logan Brueck has worked tirelessly to promote pride and

dignity among the gay community. He was one of the founders of the Spicy dinner group, which has served as an outreach to the community to provide a wonderfully fun, and positive group for people to socialize and feel connected in Salt Lake. He has also founded the Righteously Outrageous Twirling Corp which has provided a wonderful and stunning visual addition to the community, while simultaneously promoting pride an dignity to our community. Logan has been a positive force for change and recognition of the GLBT community in Salt Lake City. He has a wonderfully positive influence on the people around him. He is out, proud, and works to end discrimination and prejudice in Salt Lake. His work with the Utah Pride Parade is one of the highlights of his time in Salt Lake. He has worked hard to make the parade the jewel of the Gay Pride Celebrations. I recommend him to you in recognition of the work that he has done to make Salt Lake City a more open, and positive place for all the people of Utah, especially GLBT community.

JAMES GONZALES -

For decades, James Gonzales has been a leader on advancing LGBT equality. He was the campaign manager for LGBT ally and leader Senator Pete Suazo. Jim has helped elect and re-elect almost every single Pete Suazo award winner! He led the efforts to pass the state's hate crimes legislation. He's been a leader for LGBT equality through bringing together coalitions of business, labor, and ethnically diverse groups. Jim Gonzales has been the man behind the curtain for almost every major LGBT advancement of the past two decades in Utah, and it is time he is recognized with this singular honor for his selfless service to the Utah LGBT community.

COURTNEY MOSER -

Many in our extended Utah LGBT community have been involved in many programs and  organizations to help our lives and future be better. Courtney Moser is just one of suchpeople. For many years, Courtney worked tirelessly in the Logan area, including but not limited to pride celebrations, interfaith gatherings and discussions, panels at Utah

Kelly Byrnes & Courtney Moser

StateUniversity to inform the university community about being in the LGBT community, its challenges and its success. Courtney was an active and vital member of Resurrection MCC in Salt Lake City traveling the 90 miles for weekly Sunday Services as well as Wed and Thursday gatherings. He, with his husband Pastor Kelly Byrnes, established and worked hard for the success of Bridgerland MCC in Logan. In his capacity, he served on the hospitality committee as well as the music for worship. Courtney has participated in the Gay Pride Parades annually beginning with the very first parade. Currently, Courtney is better known by many as Petunia Pap Smear, and a founder and worker with the Matrons of Mahem doing the monthly bingo that raises a great deal of money for many good causes. I believe that we have good people that work hard and too often for brief periods. These are good people. For me, however, these are good people, but the excellent and dedicated ones quietly most often work tirelessly behind the scenes. Courtney is one of the good workers, but his decades of dedication puts him in the realm of excellent. 

• —-Courtney Moser aka "Petunia Papsmear" embodies the true meaning of the Dr. Kristen Ries Community Service Award. If it wasn't for "Petunia" most of the community wouldn't even know who Courtney is or what he has done. Courtney does
  

  

  not accept payment for his time, instead he volunteers and works for all of us. I wish I could list all of the work that Courtney has done to better the lives of our LGBTQA family. Just know, he was there for the Cache Valley community for many years and is here for the Wasatch Front community today. And he will be helping all of us for the rest of his life. Courtney shows his love for community/church/family/friendship every single day. Please accept this short, but heartfelt nomination for a true hero.
• —-Courtney Moser is exemplary in what the Reis Award represents--community involvement,leadership, contribution, and most importantly SERVICE. From 1988 to present day Courtney has been involved in myriad ways that have benefitted so very many people and organizations. Courtney IS the finest definition of a volunteer, community activist and community builder. Amongst many other ways of involvement, Courtney has been involved with The Matrons of Mayhem for over a decade, and is now the leader of that phenomenal fundraising group. They have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for diverse and worthy organizations, the majority being LGBTQ organizations. Courtney is at the core of all the good they do--in organizing,planning, creating fundraising events, and being the leader of the group. Courtney does all of this while creating love, support, and respect in all the volunteer service he does, which is not an easy thing to do in the Utah LGBTQ community. He is RESPECTED and admired for his giving, good will, and generosity. He is a most worthy candidate for this prestigious award.
• I would like to nominate Courtney Moser for this year’s Dr. Kristen Ries Community Service Award. Courtney truly typifies why this award was created in 1987. As a volunteer community activist and community builder thousands of people in Cache Valley were served by his dedication and love for community. More recently his Drag personae “Petunia Papsmear” is a much loved figure in the community and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for various causes within and without the LGBT community. He is a monthly Columnist for Q Salt Lake, a published author and is actively involved with the First Baptist Church, People With AIDS Coalition of Utah, Q Business Alliance, Our Store, SLMens Choir, ROTC-SLC and much more. Here is a brief chronology of some of Courtney’s long time service for those who only know his as Petunia. • 1988 a member of the Cache Valley AIDS Council until 2002 and was its chair for four years. AIDS outreach included doing AIDS awareness in most of the public schools in Cache Valley. Founder of the AIDS outreach “Weenie Roast” up Logan Canyon to help raise awareness of HIV among closeted men for nearly 15[2003] years with the support of The Utah AIDS Foundation and the Utah Department of Health, Bureau of HIV/AIDS. Often paid for the event out of own pocket. • 1988 Along with Bruce Allen (aka Auntie Fern) arranged a meeting with representatives of the Gay community and the USU Police, Cache County Sheriff’s office, and Logan City Police to discuss an increased bashing of Gay men in the Cache Valley. However the increased presence of the police became more to keep the gay men out than to protect them from beatings. • 1989 Partnered with Rev. Kelly Brynes former pastor of MCC Bridgerland • 1990 founding member and president for two and half years of the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Alliance of Cache Valley a Utah State University social and support group. Courtney also keeps busy doing Gay and lesbian panels at USU,  • 1992 - First local coming out groups organized in Logan by Courtney Moser • 1992 He helped with the first float that the GLBA put in USU's Homecoming Parade • 1993 advisor for the Cache Valley Alliance for 10 years. • 1993 involved and helped organize the first march and protest in Logan when the Herald Journal refused to run the comic strip, For Better or Worse, because it had a Gay theme that week. • 1994 - First youth group organized in Logan by Courtney Moser • 1997 The Logan Herald Journal pictured Courtney and Kelly together as a couple on the front page and talked about what it was like to be an out Gay couple in rural America. After the article ran a woman called on National Coming Out Day to say that, because of the article, she was no longer going to hide in the closet. • 2000 Advisor to the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Pride Fest at the USU • 2000 "Groups such as the Pride Alliance group, whose purpose is to support or advocate homosexuality, may be disacknowledged, for this act is destructive to all that is godly and good in humankind,"• 2001 Defended the USU Pride Alliance history display at the 2001 film festival in the Taggart Student Center, when attacked • 2002 Advisor to The Gay Pride Alliance until fired by USU for “inappropriate” use of email to promote LGBT community event and was no longer allowed to serve as the club’s official university adviser. The email suggested a $5 donation to be used to help underwrite the financially struggling gay film festival held on campus. Due to the fact that the Gay Film Festival went $2,000 in debt. The absence of the Gay Alliance adviser left the Cache Valley LGBT community without a clear spokesperson. • 2002 active member of the Salt Lake Men’s Choir • 2003 Board member of the Utah Stonewall Historical Society • 2006 Developed Character Petunia Papsmear from a Utah Gay Men’s Health Summit to raise money for charities. As Petunia, Courtney has also participated in events held at Club TryAngles to raise funds for QUAC, the Utah AIDS Foundation, Moab Pride and others • 2009 Facebook shuts down Petunia Papsmear Page because it was adding friends too fast by its popularity. Joins the Matrons of Mayhem charity raising group which raises an average of $1500 a month for LGBT charities as diverse as SAGE, TEA, SLMen’s Choir as well as non LGBT charities • 2012 after departure of Donald Stewart [Ruby Ridge] hosted with the Matrons of Mayhem Third Friday Bingo at the First Baptist Church in Salt Lake City w, on the Big Gay Fun Bus to Wendover, or nursing a Swamp Water at Try-angles • 2014 Marries partner Kelly Byrnes after relationship of 24 years.• 2015 Courtney was recently invited to read at the prestigious Hekicon West - the first openly gay author every invited - where he read, as Petunias, five stories from her book, The Perils of Petunias Pap Smear.

DOMINIQUE STORNI -

Dominique Storni has made a difference for the Transgender population in Salt Lake. She was a main reason why the former Utah Pride Center changed their named to the GLBT Community Center from Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah. She coordinated the first Transgender Day of Remembrance Candle Light Vigil in 2002. In her own way hasalways been a voice for Transgender people in Utah. She has been speaking up for Transgender rights for over 15 years. She deserves to be acknowledge for her contributions. People may not always agree with her or her methods however I feel that her heart is in the right place.

2020 The March Public Oratory of the Utah Queer

Historical Society featured Mark Lawrence.  A native of Salt Lake, Mark first got into LGBT activism in the late 1970’s, protesting against Anita Bryant with the “Coalition for Human Rights”. He moved to San Francisco in 1982 where he tested positive for HIV in 1990. Mark moved back to Salt Lake City in 2000 to spend time with family and start a new chapter in his life. After years of being very ill due to HIV complications, Dr. Kristen Ries dragged him back to life.  In 2012 Mark formed "Restore Our Humanity" and began looking for a crazy legal team to challenge Utah’s Prop 3. They found one, went to court, and "kicked the shit out of" Attorney General, Sean Reyes. Mark also stood up to the World Congress of Families when they were in Salt Lake City in 2015, and now is working with survivors of sexual abuse within the Mormon Church. He recently bought an old Mormon Pioneer house in the Fairpark neighborhood and is beginning to renovate it. He currently works for Salt Lake County and has a bunch of tattoos.