This Day In Gay Utah History June 20th

20 June

1732-The Georgia Colony was established with English Law automatically established, including the buggery statute. Officials of the colony would later re-affirm their acceptance of the statute.

Errol Flynn

1909 – Errol Leslie Flynn (June 20,1909 – October 14, 1959) is born. He was an Australian-born American actor who achieved fame in Hollywood after 1935. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, as well as frequent partnerships with Olivia De Havilland. He became an American citizen in 1942. Known as one of the greatest of Hollywood womanizers, it was a surprise when biographers reputed that he also slept with men. They included Tyrone Powers, Truman Capote and Howard Hughes.

1917 – Donald Vining (June 20, 1917 – January 24, 1998), was a

Donald Vining

diarist. At best, Vining had minor success as a playwright and short story writer. His importance rests in the five volumes of his published diary, appearing between 1979 and 1993. In his review of the first volume of the diary in Body Politic, John D’Emilio said that “A Gay Diary is, unquestionably, the richest historical document of gay male life in the United States that I have ever encountered…. It chronicles a whole life in which homosexuality is but one part and an ever-changing part at that…. It illuminates a critical period in gay male American history.” D’Emilio discusses the earlier years of the diary at some length in his Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority. Many of Vining’s original diaries for the 1932–1958 period are now at Yale University. There is a substantial archive of Vining’s playscripts, correspondence, and related material in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library of the New York Public Library.  He died in New York City on January 24, 1998 at the age of 80, and is buried alongside Richmond Purinton at Forest Grove Cemetery, Augusta, Kennebec County, Maine

Frances Carrick aka Fred G Thompson

1923-Fred G Thompson of Chicago was arrested on suspicion of murder. Until the arrest Thompson had passed as Mrs Francis Carrick, wife of Frank Carrick. He was found not guilty. Thompson, identified positively by Mrs. Richard Tesmer as the "terrible woman who killed my husband," was locked up tonight in the men's quarters of the Hyde Park Station. The man, 30 years old, known for thirteen years as "Mrs" Francis Carrick, legal wife of Frank Carrick of 309 West Schiller Street, rubbed stubby fingers over a chin smeared with rouge and whiskers.  Fred G. Thompson was born in Columbus, Ohio. At age thirteen, his father kicked him out, and he went to Chicago, started living as female and took a job as a chambermaid. Later Frances used her high soprano voice and became a singer in a cabaret. "Once I tried to be a boy and put on male clothing. The men would not believe me and told me to go home and put on proper clothes and not try to masquerade around." In 1912 Frances married Frank Carrick, a chauffeur, in Crown Point, Indiana. The two of them were arrested on suspicion that there was something amiss in their relationship, but they were able to produce a valid marriage license and so were let go. Frances as Fred later married a female, Marie Clark, and they attempted farming on five acres outside Chicago, but the task was beyond her. She also dressed as a man whilst helping her family during the big floods in Ohio in 1913. Frank Carrick, Fred Thompson as Frances and Marie Clark ended up all living together. In 1923, a Richard Tesmer was shot and killed by a woman assailant in a brown dress, with a male companion, while putting his car away. His wife was able to get a view of the woman’s face from the discharge of the pistol. She declared that it was a grin that she would know anywhere. The police after trying several female suspects, some of whom had been identified by Mrs Tesmer, ran out of clues, and then they got a tip to check out a 'female impersonator'. When arrested in the middle of the night, Frances dressed in a frock to be taken to be identified by Mrs Tesmer and then to the police station. She was examined by a male and a female physician, and then moved to the men’s ward. The police searched her apartment and arrested her husband. But they could not find a single brown dress. The neighbors refused to believe that Frances was a man, or that she would use a gun. The only odd thing about her was that she needed to shave. Frank, who had a drug habit, cracked after two days, but rambled on about nonsense. He was transferred to the Psychopathic Hospital. Frances gave interviews to female visitors who wanted her opinions on being a woman. The newspapers ran photographs of her as male and as female. She was charged as ‘Fred Thompson’ and was not allowed to appear at the trial in proper female clothing. The widow identified her as the bandit, but the defense counsel was able to concentrate on the fact that the widow described the assailant's eyes as 'blue' while the defendant's were gray. Her major defense was her performance under cross examination when she broke down and cried while insisting that she had been at home on the night in question, sick from drinking cheap moonshine. The judge addressed her as ‘lady’. Her husband took the stand to testify for the defense, but had to stand down following the State’s objection that a husband cannot testify for his wife. The jury acquitted her after two hours. Frances was surrounded by women who embraced her.
With her new notoriety, she was engaged to appear in vaudeville as 'the Smiling Bandit Queen'. But the police stopped the show. She applied for an injunction, this time appearing in court in proper female attire. The application was denied. The Tesmer murder was never solved. What an amazing legal precedent that was never reused. The State of Illinois recognized the marriage of Frank and Frances.

1963- Utah Attorney General A. Pratt Kesler upheld  the authority of Salt Lake Police to arrest persons for vagrancy who are on the streets at late hours under suspicious circumstances. In an opinion handed to Melvin H. Morris, city prosecutor, Mr. Kesler pointed out that the power to arrest applies not only to pedestrians but also to motorists and even persons who have visible means of support and have places to live. (06/20/63 page B1 SLTribune)

1966-A four-part series on Chicago's homosexuals began in the Chicago Daily News. It presented gays as deviants and transvestites.

1968 John J. Pyle, 53, on medical leave from Chicago Police Department since 1952 and Robert  F. Schwartz, 27, of Belmawr New Jersey were sentence 20 June 1967 to 5 years in prison and a 3^rd defendant Edmund C. Pacewicz pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 4 years in prison for bilking $10,000 from a Utahn in an alleged sex extortion ring.  The government contended that Pyle was the mastermind of a nationwide ring, whose members lured men into compromising situations and later blackmailed their victims by threatening to expose homosexual activities. (07/16/68 SLTribune page 25)

 1974 – The Lesbian Herstory Archives is founded. Lesbian members of the Gay Academic

Union who had organized a group to discuss sexism within that organization. Co-founders Joan Nestle, Deborah Edel, Sahli Cavallo, Pamela Oline, and Julia Stanley wanted to ensure that the stories of the lesbian community were protected for future generations. The  LHA is a New York City-based archive, community center, and museum dedicated to preserving lesbian history, located in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The Archives contain the world’s largest collection of materials by and about lesbians

Robert McQueen

1979  Robert I.  McQueen was excommunicated on 20 June 1979. Latter-day Saint leaders "regarded his prominent role as the [gay newsmagazine's] new editor with considerable dismay." His "excommunication process began after McQueen published a strong critique on the Mormon position on homosexuality in the [1978] Advocate." The Editor ignored Mormon leaders' summons to appear before the church's High Council court in San Francisco explaining "'he had no contact in any way' with the Church since he left it in 1964." A colleague later reflected, "Try as they might, they could not convince McQueen to return to the fold, so church elders, armed with an impressive document, showed up at Advocate headquarters." According to the magazine, "church elders publicly expelled McQueen from the Church, conducting the expulsion in the lobby of The Advocate's offices. Meanwhile, McQueen sat at his desk, calmly working on the next issue of the magazine." The elders were probably delivering the excommunication letter, rather than holding the court. It is unknown exactly which one of Robert's writings fueled the church charges. Most likely it was "The Heterosexual Solution." After his excommunication, Robert "was not afraid," one associate remembered, "to write about his troubles with the Mormons, nor to publish about the struggles of other gay man and lesbians with organized religion." (Religious Archive Network)

1980 – The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence make their debut in San Francisco’s annual Gay Freedom Day Parade. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), also called Order of Perpetual Indulgence (OPI) is a charity, protest, and street performance organization that uses drag and religious imagery to call attention to sexual intolerance and satirizes issues of gender and morality. At their inception in 1979, a small group of gay men in San Francisco began wearing the attire of nuns in visible situations using high camp to draw attention to social conflicts and problems in the Castro District. In San Francisco alone where they continue to be the most active, between 1979 and 2007 the Sisters are credited with raising over $1 million for various causes, or almost $40,000 on average per year. Over the years the Sisters have named as saints hundreds of people who have helped on various projects behind the scenes organizing, coordinating actions or projects, performing at events as an artist or emcee or even serving the greater LGBT community. Rarely but sometimes they canonize community heroes who have recently died. It is customary for the Sisters to award sainthood with the addition of an elaborate “saint name”.

1988 – Tucson, Arizona  Mayor Thomas J. Volgy declares Lesbian/Gay Pride Week. He was the first mayor in the southwest to publicly issue such a proclamation.

1990-President George H Bush declined an invitation to attend the 6th International Conference on AIDS and instead sponsored a fund raising event for Jesse Helms.

1991 Thursday “Today is the last day of Beltane on our Faerie Calendar. Last night I taped Absolutely Positive. I went to Memory Grove park which  was almost deserted now that the road into the park is blocked off. I heard some Queens that live at the entrance of the park complained of all the cars cruising. I then went to Unconditional Support at the Utah Stonewall Center where Bobbie [Smith] did a lesson on fathers. Queer Nation was meeting tonight also so I was late to both meetings. I donated my book The Trouble With Harry to Bobbie’s library collection he is creating for the center. It was an autograph signed first edition about Harry Hay. John Reeves stood in line to have Harry Hay sign it and then he sent it to me. I also donated my AIDS poster that I had gotten in NYC in 89. Afterwards went to Village Inn with Bobbie, Frank [Loymeyer] and Larry and then took Bobbie home. [Journal of Ben Williams]

1993 The Utah Stonewall Center relocated from 450 South 900 East suite 140 to 770 South 300 West. Melissa Silitoe Exective Director, Ben Williams and Michelle Davis Librarians and Archivists, Marlin Criddle Chaiman of the Board of Directors. Moved to a warehouse with nearly 5000 square feet.

1998 The Utah AIDS Foundation’s Tenth Annual Walk For Life was held. Approximately 1300 walkers raised pledges exceeding $140,000.  The Names Project Quilt was displayed in the morning at the SL City County building.  

2000 06/20/2000 The Salt Lake Tribune Page: B8 S.L. City School Board May Rethink Its Nonacademic-Club Policy  Salt Lake City School Board members hope to snuff a lawsuit filed by a student Gay-issues group by rewriting district policy to do away with a blanket ban on nonacademic clubs.  "We're hoping that if we revisit the policy, the plaintiffs may reconsider the lawsuit," board president Kathy Black said Monday. Board members learned that if the suit survives, however, the district may find itself footing the bill to defend against the civil-rights suit. The Division of Risk Management, the state's self-insurance agency, has warned it may no longer defray the district's litigation costs. Filed in April, the suit accuses the district of violating the First Amendment rights of two East High School students when it rejected PRISM, a club formed to discuss homosexuality as it relates to sociology, politics and history. In April, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell issued an injunction allowing PRISM to temporarily meet, pending the outcome of the civil case. Risk Management officials subsequently decided not to pay for the district to appeal the injunction.  Risk Management officials are also reviewing coverage of the overall case, said Alan Edwards, director of Risk Management. Typically, liability insurance policies do not cover suits in which plaintiffs do not seek actual damages. In their suit, students ask only for the right to meet as a school-sponsored club, along with $1 in nominal damages.   "This is not about . . . whether we think this is a good lawsuit,"  Edwards said. "As of now we haven't made a clear determination" to continue defending the suit. The cost of funding further defense of the suit is unclear. The state spent at least $180,269 when the district was sued in 1998 by two other East High School students. That suit stemmed from the district's ban of nonacademic clubs to prevent students from forming a Gay-straight alliance. A federal judge upheld that ban last October. Meanwhile, Salt Lake City school board members plan next month to discuss changes to their club policy. If board members change the policy to accept nonacademic clubs, too, the lawsuit could become moot.  As a legal matter, the suit would remain valid, said Stephen Clark, who is representing the East High students as legal counsel for the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. There still would be the matter of whether the district unfairly rejected PRISM's application. However, Clark said that as a practical matter, a revised policy might appease the plaintiffs.  "The students were really interested in going forward and securing their right to meet," Clark said. "If the school board changes its policy in a way that allows them to do that without the need for a federal injunction, they will have achieved what they set out to achieve." State law says students cannot form clubs that "materially and substantially . . . involve human sexuality."  However, schools must also follow the federal Equal Access Act, which says schools that allow non curricular clubs cannot discriminate against what goes on in the club based on religious, political or philosophical views. The Granite School District's club policy, which Salt Lake City school board members may emulate, would allow students to discuss homosexuality as it relates to issues such as civil rights, sociology or culture. It would ban clubs centered on the mechanics or dynamics of sexuality.

2001  Union Makes Space for Gays, Lesbians By Sheena McFarland After a year of

Charles Milne

lobbying, the Lesbian and Gay Student Union announced last week it has a permanent home in the union for the first time.  “We want to provide a place for resources and educational outreach for the campus” said Charles Milne, former LGSU co president.  The LGSU’s year-long search ended when the Union Board unanimously voted to provide the space currently occupied by Quarterly West. The University of Utah administration has been supportive from the start, but has been unable to find space. “The LGSU center took about as much time as the Women’s Resource Center and the Center for Ethnic Student Affairs. It’s been a matter of space,” said Staynard Landward, dean of students, who was the first administrator to publicly support the LGSU proposal. Landward has worked with the LGSU to obtain the Quarterly West space because it is located in a high-traffic area and is directly across from the CESA. “I am delighted that the union has made the decision to provide ongoing space to the LSGU in the student union, which is where we believe they should be located,” said Barbara Snyder, vice president for student affairs. “This space will afford them access to administrative support from the Center for Ethnic Student Affairs.” Snyder said administrators will work on a plan to combine the LGSU Resource Center, CESA, the Women’s Resource Center and the Center for Disability Services into a single Diversity Center.  “I believe this emphasis on diversity is a most positive direction for the University of Utah,” Snyder said. The main purpose of the space is to provide students with information about the issues concerning sexual minorities on campus. Students will be able to find information and support groups. The resource center will also include a hired staff and a resource library. Students can use the new center as a comfortable place to find support on gay and lesbian issues, or just to hang out and feel accepted, Milne said.  “It is absolutely important to have a permanent space for the LGSU to meet,” Landward said. “It not only provides a safe place for gay and lesbian students, but it also sends a symbolic message that we celebrate diversity on campus.” LGSU will use the resource center to spread awareness about the issues concerning homosexual students and observing celebrations such as Coming Out Week and Gay Pride Day. “We want the U campus to be aware of sexual-minority students and the issues they face,” Milne said. He hopes the center will grow in future years. “We need student support to keep funding our office so we can continue to improve our resources,” Milne said. LGSU will not move into the union until November or December, when Quarterly West can relocate to the Kennecott Building.

2002 Chad Kelller  to Mel Nimer: Okay the Men's Choir leaves for Australia in October

Mel Nimer

right? I know that the choir has been supportive of the Memory Grove Project, and I was wondering if you guys would like one last chance in September to plead with your fans for money?  Jane and I are trying to put together an annual concert series in the fall in Memory Grove, and we would love to have the SLMC, as one of the featured performers.  This would not pay a lot this year if any, but next year we are working on Grants. The title of it all will be either Them Memory Grove Fall Music Festival, or Music at Memory Grove. Who would I need to talk too? ALSO.... Sherry and I have gotten totally into it...she tried to get me kick out recently....and now the board has turned on her....Call me I can give you details. CK. 

• Mel Nimer to Chad Keller: Hey Chad; Yea, the choir leaves for Sydney on Oct 30th, and I’m sure we would love to sing in Memory Grove. We actually have two concerts here in SLC in late October, and one more out of town before we leave for the games. Talk to Jonathan Stowers – the choir pres/diva/chief coordinator/decision maker/bitch - about this idea. His email is stowerjo@xmission.com The Pride festival was really fun. I noticed in the guide that most of what was in the sponsorship brochure was just transferred over to the guide. To bad there was nothing in the guide about the actual activities – like when the parade was to start, who was singing at what time on stage, etc. Next year the schedule should be definitely included. As far as the committee goes ----- TOOOOO much drama for my taste buds. Do you want me to call you at home or at work? I don’t think I have your new work number…. So send it to me, or I’ll just call you at home. Take care of yourself. Mel.

David Ferguson

2002 David Ferguson to Chad Keller: I thought this article was interesting.  I am interested on your perspective on his comments. An Advocate.com exclusive posted June 19, 2002 Ashamed of pride What does pride mean? Is our pride best represented by the big Gay parties that explode every summer in big cities across the country? We have to face it: More and more gays and lesbians are opting out. They don’t need a flag, a parade, a banner to be proud. They just need to live openly.  By Charles Karel Bouley   Gay pride weekend in Long Beach, Calif., where I live, is in May. That weekend, in 2001, is when I lost my partner, Andrew Howard. So this year, I didn’t feel much like participating. While the parade kicked off downtown that Sunday, I went to Home Depot to get some things for the backyard, my late husband’s pride and joy. There I met Tim, an old friend, who was shopping for lattice with his husband. A few minutes later John and Steve were found in the lighting department, getting a new dining room fixture. The parade was going full steam not five miles away, and here they were, shopping at Home Depot. And I realized that this was their pride event. Making a home for themselves, their family. Being together, a visible couple, integrated in to the community. And that touched a nerve. As other people dust off their nipple rings, stitch up their sequins, and slurp down some steroids, we were mingling with the masses, buying fertilizer, fixtures, and furniture. We missed out on the dykes on bikes, the bars with their decked-out flatbed trucks, and the church groups marching behind the AIDS organizations nestled between the hard bodies and recovery groups, all parading down Main Streets all over the USA.  Pride season is a time of year when we are supposed to come together as a community, to celebrate the events that took place so many years ago at a little bar in New York City, the Stonewall, when a group of drag queens said “enough is enough” and stood up for their rights. That simple act of rebellion inspired a splintered community to come together, at least once a year, to show the rest of the world that we are one, we are strong, we are proud.  Well, at least in theory. What’s really happened is that we’ve created events that are part circuit party, part drag fest, part sexual fetishes on parade, and part just plain embarrassing. Perhaps it’s because the events became so successful. Perhaps it’s because we lost sight of the goal. Whatever the reason, there’s not much to be proud about any more at our pride events. Having attended hundreds across the country as both a spectator and participant it has now become my distinct pleasure to avoid the events at all costs. I’ve grown weary of trying to explain them to my nongay friends, grown tired our providing the freakish video clips that invariably run on the local news—you know, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence followed by topless lesbians and yet another heterosexual has-been disco star. It’s not that I haven’t tried to enjoy them. My late partner, Andrew, and I were the first openly gay male couple to ever host a major-market radio show, in Los Angeles two years ago. As such, we were asked to emcee the Los Angeles Christopher Street West Pride Parade for television. Halfway through the event, we took an almost comedic tone because we just couldn’t rationalize 20 half-naked men on a flatbed truck, beer logos abounding, gyrating away to this or that disco song representing this or that bar, followed by an AIDS service group and then a church. Every time a seven-foot drag queen walked by with nothing but a T-string on, we couldn’t help but comment how proud we were to be gay men at that moment. There were no floats, no real ones, yet this was the second-largest parade in California. Aren’t we supposed to be creative? There were no contingencies of doctors, lawyers, playwrights, authors, major workers’ unions…nothing, just a lot of the same. It was fetishes on parade and the occasional straight group like PFLAG to rally the crowd. Of course, when we mentioned this on the air, we were shunned. We were shut down when we asked why we praise parents and friends of gays for doing exactly what any normal person—parent, friend, or otherwise—should do, which is accept and love their gay or lesbian child, sibling, or friend. When we questioned why the headliner at Las Vegas Pride, Cyndi Lauper, got a sizeable fee, limo service, and a hotel suite while the gay and lesbian acts got to get dressed alongside a Porta Potti, drive themselves, and sleep where they may, we were told it was none of our business. And when we raised the issue that perhaps the grand marshal should at least be a gay man or lesbian instead of some accepting heterosexual, we were told we didn’t know what we were saying. In fact, CSW threatened our radio station, KFI, with a lawsuit if we didn’t retract some of our statements about the pride festivities. Us, the only openly gay people on the radio, the gay guys whose show aired after Dr. Laura and Rush Limbaugh—we get the threat of a lawsuit. The right-wing Christian groups left us alone, as did the antigay Republicans and the legions of nongay people who would want us off the air. They never once drafted proposals against us. It was the gay group that gave us grief. Because we spoke out with a contrary opinion.  The truth is, gay pride events have become a joke. They should remove the word pride from their title and just be called what they are, Big Gay Parties. We have to face it: The community itself is becoming splintered, with more and more gays and lesbians opting out of the festivities, going to Home Depot for the afternoon. Andrew and I used to have a rainbow triangle on our car. We never thought much about it. Then one day we had to go to a biker bar in Trabuco Canyon, Calif. A very famous, very rowdy place. On the way there, several bikers passed, and more than a few expressed upset about our rainbow. When we got there, we took it off. Now, you’re probably gasping. But you know what? We didn’t need it anymore. You see, each day we went before millions of nongays as the happy gay couple talking about life, love, and current events. We were proud by example, by living as two out gay men in front of countless listeners who then gained a better understanding of who and what gay people are. We didn’t need the flag, the parade, a banner—we just needed to live openly.  We scream that we are the same as our heterosexual counterparts, and then we throw events to show them exactly how different we are. We put our sexual fetishes on parade in front of hundreds of thousands and call it pride. We drink ourselves silly in beer tents, dance with half-naked muscle-bound boys at parties sponsored by AIDS organizations while downing designer drugs and feel we are expressing who we truly are. We support the heterosexual arts community by paying the Cyndi Laupers, Pat Benatars, and Crystal Waterses of the world while gay and lesbian acts have to scrounge up money for airfare or a hotel room, hoping someone shows for their 20-minute set at 1:35 on a Friday afternoon. And that makes us feel we have presented something balanced and well-rounded. Gay pride events are now business ventures, nothing more, nothing less. They don’t become more because we don’t demand more. Those who have outgrown them or lost interest simply don’t attend, and those who love the party atmosphere, the countless trinket booths, beer vendors, and overpriced food stands plop down their money willingly. It’s all economics, really.  Even I enjoy the electric atmosphere in the city when a pride event is in town. The local clubs are full, more gays and lesbians are visible in the community as a whole, and there is a certain energy only strength in numbers can bring. But there can be no doubt that pride events are now dinosaurs, relics of a time gone by when our sexuality was so suppressed that we thought the only way to be proud was to wear it down the street. What’s sad is that some of those attending aren’t out at work or home, haven’t learned how to have a committed relationship, don’t realize that there is a great gay heritage of scientists, doctors, lawyers, politicians, adventurers, authors, CEOs, inventors, and countless others on which to draw. They don’t see that pride comes through everyday deeds and not a parade. That living out by example, that integrating, not segregating, is the ultimate act of pride. And that until we achieve equality under the law, we will be held to a higher standard, an unfairly harsh light and microscopic scrutiny, and that as long as we keep giving those who would defeat us so much ammunition we won’t ever achieve our goals.  Elevating what’s best about our community isn’t hard, it just isn’t as glamorous. Promoting every aspect of who we are isn’t impossible, it just doesn’t play well in a dance or beer tent. And presenting a more balanced picture to those from outside the community who would watch isn’t a huge chore, but might require a major paradigm shift in thinking that we just don’t seem willing to make. Yet hope springs eternal. This June is seeing a new kind of pride event, one born in a country of war, of terror, of unrest. Two-hundred-fifty-plus people marched through Israel in their first-ever pride parade. They risked attack and retaliation and had the military march alongside with automatic weapons. But they marched, they made their statement. The drag queens from Stonewall would be proud. Meanwhile, in conservative Orange County, Calif., this year the pride event was canceled. A gay community of more than 30,000, and it can’t support one event. You win some, you lose some. Be who you are. And be proud. Just be sure to present the whole picture instead of a snapshot of who we are in the bed or barroom.  Charles Karel Bouley is a Long Beach, Calif.–based talk show host and entertainer. He is a feature writer for Billboard and writes the column Karel’s Komments for the Orange County/Long Beach Blade. He can be seen on TNN’s show The Ultimate Revenge and can be heard at www.karelchannel.com

2003  Logans Cache Valley Alliance  13th annual - CAMPING AT HIGH CREEK  event held When:  June 20 - 22. Where:  7 miles Up High Creek East of Cove Utah

Orrin Hatch

2003 Subject: Hatch Now Supports Federal Hate-Crime Bill [Washington Blade] Washington Blade June 20, 2003 Hatch: House GOP hate crime opponents need to grow up GOP lawmaker, once chief opponent, attends rally of bill's supporters By LOU CHIBBARO JR. Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah told a gathering on Tuesday of more than 100 supporters of a federal hate crimes bill outside the U.S. Capitol Building that he supports the bill's sexual orientation provision and Would work to resolve his remaining objections to the legislation. As Hatch spoke, dozens of gay activists and their supporters stood behind him carrying signs reading, "Stop the hate." The legislation, S. 966, the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2003, would authorize the federal government to prosecute hate crimes that are linked to a victim's sexual orientation, gender and disability. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), the bill's chief sponsors, called Hatch’s decision to attend the gathering a major breakthrough in their effort to secure the measure's passage. Hatch played the lead role in defeating the bill in a Senate vote last year. He said then that Kennedy and other Senate Democrats refused to consider changes he suggested that would restrict the federal government's ability to override state and local prosecutors in cracking down on hate crimes. But at Tuesday's rally, Hatch appeared to take a far more conciliatory stand, raising hopes among the bill's supporters that he and Kennedy  would soon reach an agreement on the bill. "I think we can solve this problem, I really do, if we work together," Hatch said. Standing near Hatch as he spoke at the event, billed by organizers as "Rally Against Hate," was Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard, the gay University of Wyoming student murdered five years ago. Also attending was Trev Broudy, a gay man who was critically injured in a 2002 gay bashing incident in West Hollywood, Calif. After the rally, in response to a reporter's question, Hatch appeared to go a step further by chastising Republican leaders in the House of Representatives for opposing the bill, in part, because of its sexual orientation provision. "People have to grow up and realize that that's an important issue for many, many people in our society, and nobody should be discriminated against," Hatch said. "And certainly, nobody should be brutalized in our society. Hate crimes -- we've got to work against them. It's just that simple." Gender issue key for Hatch in addition to Kennedy and Smith, other sponsors of the bill who spoke at the rally were Senators Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Arlen Specter (R-Penn.). Hatch told the gathering that one of his remaining concerns -- and a problem for senators who voted against the bill last year -- was a provision authorizing the federal government to prosecute hate crimes based on the victim's gender. Hatch said the current provision could possibly open the way for the  Federal government to prosecute rape cases. Noting that state and local authorities traditionally have prosecuted the crime of rape, he said the provision could lead to a federal infringement of state and local law enforcement  powers. Kennedy and Smith said they were willing to work with Hatch to change The provision to limit its scope to gender-based hate crimes other than rape cases. In his opposition to the Kennedy-Smith bill last year, Hatch cited two Other provisions that he could not support. One would bar the use of the death penalty in certain hate crime-related murders prosecuted by the federal government. The other would allow the federal government to take over the prosecution of hate crimes from state and local authorities if state or local officials fail to "vindicate" the federal interest against hate-motivated violence. Hatch said the latter provision was too vague and would allow the Federal government to usurp state and local law enforcement powers. Gay activists have said the provision is needed to ensure that federal prosecutors could step in if state and local officials initiate an overly lenient or inadequate prosecution of a hate crime. In some past cases, activists say, local prosecutors have allowed gay-bashers to plead guilty to a minor charge, such as a misdemeanor assault, even though the perpetrators seriously injured -- and in some cases killed -- their victim. Hatch made no mention of these two issues during his comments at Tuesday's rally. But his conciliatory tone prompted Senator Smith to predict that Hatch would soon agree to a compromise with Kennedy to enable the Senate to pass the bill. It currently has 49 co-sponsors, including Kennedy. The Human Rights Campaign, the national gay political group leading lobbying efforts for the bill, says a total of at least 60 senators have said they would vote for it. Supporters predicted a Senate vote on the measure could come in September. Hatch, as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has Jurisdiction over the bill, is considered one of the most prominent conservative Republican leaders in Congress. HRC political director Winnie Stachelberg said Hatch’s support for an eventual compromise version of the bill would provide an enormous boost for the bill among Republicans, including House Republicans."I would like to tell you that, at a level that I know as a Republican,Senator Hatch is due enormous credit for being here today," Smith told gathering. "And he is evidence that we are changing hearts and minds and votes ... And so his presence here today is very historic and very appreciated."

2003 Friday Mark Swonson" Subject: Pride Partner To: Chuck Whyte, Ben Williams, and Chad Keller "I asked Paula [Wolfe] about the Pride Partners and here is her response. So I have no idea about that meeting Michael Picardi was going too? Mark

• From: mark swonson Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 To: Paula Wolfe Subject: Pride Partner “Hi Paula- As member Board of the Utah Stonewall Historical Society we were wondering when they are going to have a meeting to distribute the money for the Pride Partners? Thanks, Mark”
• From: "Paula Wolfe" To:    "'mark swonson'" Subject:  RE: Pride Partner Date:  Fri, 20 Jun 2003  “Mark, It will probably be in July. We still have bills to pay, and money to collect, so cannot possibly know our final outcome until mid-July. Not to mention we have to calculate the volunteer hours. I'm hoping we'll schedule something around the 3rd week of July. A nice party for everyone, and distribute checks at the same time. We will let the partners know by early July of the scheduled date. Paula”

Sean Dennison

2003 Ben Williams to Jan Sylvester “Rev. Sean Parker Dennison of the South Valley Unitarian Church is the first transsexual minister hired in the United States.  

2013 – 

John Paulk 

Exodus International, a group that claims it could cure same-sex attraction through prayer and therapy, announces it will close its doors after more than three decades. The organization’s leader, John Paulk, who admitted to his own “ongoing same-sex attractions,” apologizes to gays, saying, “I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn’t change.”