This Day In Gay Utah History June 27th

27 June

1893-Delia Perkins and Ida Preston were arrested in Indianapolis after running away in order to be together. Perkins cut off her hair to sell to finance their running away. When returned home to her parents, Delia told her mother that Ida was the only one she would ever love, and if they were not allowed to be together she would kill herself.

1963 Assignment of a special uniformed and plains clothes officer patrol unit to control unlawful loitering, begging, and other activities along 2nd South and West Temple was announced Wednesday by Police Chief Ralph C. Knudson. Patrols of two uniformed officers and one vice squad officer will police the area from Main Street to 1st West on 2nd South and on West Temple from 1st South to 300 South. Six Beer Taverns located near 2nd South and West Temple source of problems for the city. 06/27/63 page A14 SLTribune)

1969 Canada repealed its sodomy laws.  On that date all homosexual acts were still criminal in America except in Illinois. 

1969 Friday- -Judy Garland’s funeral held in New York City with a funeral procession down 5th Avenue. Flags flew at half mast on Fire Island a Gay resort community. 2,000 persons stood outside the funeral chapel. Actor James Mason Judy Garland’s co-star in A Star IS Born gave the eulogy saying, “She could sing a song so it could break your heart.” New York Mayor John Lindsey and his wife attended the funeral to represent the city of New York. (06/27/69 SLTribune page A15) (06/28 /69 SLTribune page 6)

Layout of the bar in 1969

1969-Friday-Saturday-Sunday -For the first time in modern history Gay men and women rioted as the police tried to arrest patrons of the Stonewall Bar in Greenwich Village, New York City, which began the Gay Liberation Movement. Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, New York, draw national attention. The Stonewall Inn located at 53 Christopher Street in New

The Stonewall Inn 1969

York, in the course of its 2 and a half year existence became the most popular gay bar in Greenwich Village and the site of the beginning of the modern Gay Human Rights Movement Many saw it in the late sixties as an oasis, a safe retreat from the harassment of everyday Gay life, a place that was less susceptible to police raids than other Gay bars and the one that drew a mix of patrons ranging from Ritzy East Siders to street queens.  It was also the only Gay male bar in New York where dancing was permitted. The Gay Bar scene in New York City as was the case in most of America was Mafia controlled. The owners freely talked about their hatred for the "faggot scumbags" who made their fortune with watered down and overprice drinks.  The Mob did not like to invest too heavily in liquor in turning a profit because the police during their raids would usually confiscate all the liquor on the premises. The Stonewall Inn was owned by three Mafia figures that had grown up together in NY's Little Italy.   Mario and Zucchi dealt in illegal firecrackers and Fat Tony Lauria, who weighed 420 lbs, was the controlling partner. Mario served as Stonewall's manager and ran the place on a day to day basis. The Stonewall Inn was opened at a private bottle club to get around not having a liquor license and the Mafia owners spent less then $1000 fixing up the interior of the bar. They put in a third rate sound system and got their jukebox and cigarette machines from the local Mafia don Matty “the Horse” Ianello.  The Stonewall partners also had to pay off the notoriously corrupt NY Sixth Precinct Police Department. A patrolman from the Sixth on a weekly basis would stop by the Stonewall Inn to pick up envelopes filled with cash for the captains and desk sergeants.  The total cash payouts from the Stonewall Inn were about $2000 a week. The Stonewall Inn quickly became a money machine for the owners with typical Friday nights taking in $5000 and Saturdays $6500. Typically some of the Mobsters who worked gay club were themselves Gay and were terrified of being found out as was Fat Tony. The Stonewall Inn was a fun bar but also a sleazy one.  A hepatitis epidemic broke out in early 1969 which were blamed on the non sterilized drinking glasses at the Stonewall Inn.  The bar had no running water behind the bar so a returned glass was simply ran through one of two stagnant vats of water kept underneath the main bar; refilled and then served to the next customer. Most of the employees at Stonewall did drugs, and the bar was known to be a good place to buy acid. The chief supplier was a famous drag queen named "Maggie Jiggs" who worked the main bar along with his partner Tommy Long who also kept a toy duck on the bar that quacked whenever someone left a tip.  Maggie was blond and chubby and loud and knew everybody's business at the Bar and would think nothing of yelling out in the middle of a crowded bar, "Hey girl I hear you got a whole new plate of false teeth from that fabulous dentist you been fucking!" Maggie was said to have loved people, had good drugs, was always surrounded by gorgeous men and arranged wonderful three ways. Maggie and Tommy were stationed behind the main bar which was one of two bars in Stonewall. Before you could even get to it you had to pass muster at the door which meant an inspection through a peephole in the heavy front door by “Blond Frankie" Esselourne who was famous for being able to spot straights or undercover cops with a single glance and 'Papa ' Ed Murphy who had been working in Gay bars since 1946. Murphy was the Bouncer-doorman and purveyor of drugs who also pimped for the young teenagers. He was also involved in corruption simultaneously by taking payoffs from the Mafia and the New York Police Department. Once through the doors you moved a few steps to a table which usually was covered by members of the mafia who always wore suits and ties.  Here one plunked down $3 for which you got two tickets for watered down drinks.  You then signed your name in a book which was kept to prove that the Stonewall Inn was indeed a private bottle club.  People rarely signed their own names with Judy Garland, Donald Duck and Elizabeth Taylor being the most popular choices. On weekends, a scantily clad go-go boy danced in a gilded cage on top of the main bar to Motown tunes. Beyond the main bar was a spacious dancing area lit only with black lights.  Queens with “Murine” in their eyes looked liked they had white streaks running down their faces. Should "Lilly Law" as the police were called unexpectedly arrive, white light bulbs instantly came on in the dance area signally everyone to stop dancing and touching which would get you arrested. A smaller room off to one side with its own jukebox and service bar and booths became the head quarters of the flamboyant queens of which there were two types. The "scare drag queens” who were boys who looked like girls but you knew were boys and the Flame (not drag) queens who wore eye makeup and teased hair but dressed in male fluffy sweaters and Tom Jones shirts. The Motown Labels was still top of the charts in the summer of 1969 and three of the five hit singles were by Marvin Gaye, Junior Walker and The All Stars and The Temptations.  The love theme from the movie Romeo and Juliet played over and over again along with Elvis Presley's In the Ghetto and The Beatles "Get Back". If the Bar crowd was in an especially campy mood, ten or fifteen dancers would line up to learn the latest dance steps beginning when it was shouted "Hit It Girl!" The staid penny-loafer crowd kept near the main bar and disapproved of the antics of the queens. The age range at the Stonewall Inn was mostly late teens to early 30's. There could also be seen at Stonewall just a sprinkling of the new kind of Gay man beginning to emerge; the hippie, long haired, bell-bottomed, laid back, and likely to have weird "radical Views". Very few women ever appeared in Stonewall except for the occasional fag hag. This was the Stonewall Inn prior to the night of the full moon on June 27. During the day of June 27 Friday, 1969 funeral services for Judy Garland had been observed in NYC. 20,000 people waited up to four hours in the blistering summer heat to view her body at a Madison Avenue Funeral home.  Flags were lowered on Fire Island and many Gays went completely hysterical. It was said to be the end of an era- the greatest singer- the greatest actress of that Gay generation was no more.  Never again would "Over the Rainbow" be sung by the Gay Icon. That night about midnight, a cluster of vice officers led by Deputy Inspector, Seymour Pine, were in gathered in front of the Stonewall Inn beginning to commence another raid on the  bar.  Two weeks earlier, it had been raided also. Usually the Stonewall management had always been tipped off by the police before a raid took place, because given the size of the weekly payoff, the police wanted to keep the golden goose alive.  But this raid was different.  It was carried out by 8 detectives from the First Division and the Sixth Precinct had only been asked to participate at the last possible moment.  The raid had been inspired by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms after having discovered that the liquor bottles used at the Stonewall had no federal stamps on them. And after having put Stonewall under surveillance discovered the bar’s corrupt dealings with the Sixth Precinct. A small group of on lookers had gathered to watch the event which was surprising since usually at the first sign of a raid, Gays immediately scattered. Typically Gays fled rather then loitered, and fled as quietly and as quickly as possible in the presence of Cops, grateful not to be implicated at the scene of the crime. This crowd was decidedly different. It was small but strangely quiet as if waiting for the next development.

1972-Gay News became the first gay newspaper to be published in England.

1974- 5^th  Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village. Over 200 Gay men gather at approximately 8000 West along the south-east shore of the Great Salt Lake commonly known as “Bare Ass Beach” for a Kegger party to celebrate Gay Pride Sponsored by Joe Redburn of the Sun Tavern. A pride parade would not happen in Utah for another 16 years but  it was 1st public celebration of Gay Pride in Utah

• By 1974 the radical members Utah’s Gay Liberation Front had moved on. However in its place was two Gay Community Churches, several openly Gay and Lesbian bars, including Sweetwater, the first Gay Bar in Ogden. Activist Steve Holbrook, while a not “out at work” Gay man, was elected the first known member of the Gay Community to the Utah State Legislature. Holbrook, a SLC Democrat, served 6 years. Even though he was in the “closet” at work, he still managed to bring his Gay sensitivity to the job. Holbrook also began his drive to create a radio station that would be designed to specifically meet the needs of the “alternative” and minority communities of Utah. Holbrook ‘s vision culminated in the creation of KRCL FM 91 in 1979

Margaret Heckler

1983-Margaret Heckler, Secretary of Health and Human Services, arranged to be photographed with AIDS patients to calm fears that the disease could be spread by casual contact.

1986- Friday, Saturday and Sunday- The 1986 National

Carol Lynn Pearson

conference of Affirmation was held in conjunction with National Gay Pride Week in San Francisco. Carol Lynn Pearson, a very prominent LDS writer, was the keynote speaker for the conference. She spoke of her experiences and insights in caring for her husband, Gerald Pearson who had recently died of AIDS. (80)  Carol Lynn Pearson, a Mormon Poet, published Good-bye I Love You, an account of her  Gay husband’s struggles with his homosexuality and eventual death from AIDS. The book brought the reality of AIDS to the mainstream Mormon community. “I’m sure it will be a shock to some people that I would choose even to discuss this.. There’s no way in the world that anyone could approach these topics and hope to please all of the people all of the time. However it’s important to note that the book is not an attack upon the Mormon Church… I just suggest that all of us need to look at the matter with more realistic eyes and be able to talk about it.” Stated Carol Lynn Pearson. (71) Russ Lane Chapter Director of Wasatch Affirmation attended conference in San Francisco. (10)

Dr. Kristen Ries

1988 Dr. Kristen M. Ries, was chosen as one of Newsweek’s 51 Unsung American Heroes to appear in the July 4 issue due on the newsstands June 27. Newsweek selected one individual from each state and the District of Columbia for its Fourth of July celebration issue. Newsweek executives said Ries was an easy choice. 

1988 S.L. AIDS DOCTOR AN `UNSUNG HERO' Dr. Kristen M. Ries, a Salt Lake physician known for her compassion in caring for AIDS victims, has been chosen as one of Newsweek's 51 Unsung American Heroes to appear in the July 4 issue due on the newsstands June 27.Newsweek selected one individual from each sate and the District of Columbia for its Fourth of July celebration issue. The majority of individuals profiled have gone largely unheralded outside their local communities. Newsweek executives said Ries was an easy choice. When she came to Salt Lake City in 1983, she thought she was going to move into a more relaxing lifestyle after two years of hard but rewarding work for the Indian Health Service on the Oglala Sioux Pine Ridge Reservation near Wounded Knee. Instead, the internal medicine and infectious disease specialist has maintained a tireless pace, becoming a pioneering doctor in the treatment of AIDS patients in Utah. She is most respected for her compassionate care for her patients. Still one who makes house calls, Ries feels that by also helping family and friends of AIDS victims cope with the situation, they can in turn, assist with treatment. "It's too easy to say it's a fatal illness and forget about it and them. Their time is important too," she says. When not working directly with her patients or their families, Ries also helps develop policies designed to shape the community perception of and reaction to AIDS. A member of the Utah State AIDS Advisory Committee and head of the AIDS Task Force of the Utah Medical Association, she is working to get legislation passed that will make AIDS a compensable disease and provide workmen's compensation to emergency providers who contract AIDS on the job. Deseret News

Ronald and Jiro Onuma 

1990 Jiro Onuma (大沼 二郎, Ōnuma Jirō, February 2, 1904 – June 27, 1990) was a first-generation (issei) Japanese American gay man who was incarcerated in the Topaz Concentration Camp in Topaz, Utah in 1942. Onuma was born in Kanegasaki, Iwate Prefecture in 1904 and moved to the United States in 1923. The collection of his photos and personal belongings held by the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco is the only material in this archive that tells us about the life of a gay Japanese American man who lived in San Francisco before World War II and was interned in an incarceration camp during the war. In another photograph taken in Topaz, Onuma was photographed with a man named Ronald, whose family name is unknown and whose portraits appear multiple times in Onuma’s private photo albums. Takemoto claims that Ronald and Onuma were in a relationship and that Ronald sent his photograph of himself and his friends to Onuma after Ronald was sent to the Tule Lake Concentration Camp. This photograph is still in Onuma’s album today. Onuma was released from the Topaz Concentration Camp on May 16, 1944. After his release from Topaz, Onuma worked in Salt Lake City but soon moved to Denver, Colorado, where he worked for two years. He eventually returned to San Francisco. Onuma became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1956. His archival record testifies that he returned to Japan several times in the 1980s to visit his family. He died on June 27, 1990 in San Francisco at the age of 86. In accordance with his will, half of his estate was donated to Kimochi, Inc. in San Francisco, a nonprofit organization providing care for seniors in the Japanese American community.

1990-Columnist Mona Charen wrote a nationally syndicated editorial blaming AIDS in "the indifference of promiscuous homosexuals," calling for a halt to AIDS spending, and accusing the NAMES Project Quilt of attempting to instill guilt.

Robert Erichssen and Connell O'Donovan
aka Rocky

1990  1^st GAY PRIDE MARCH in Salt Lake City. Today is the 21st anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion and today in Salt Lake we held our first Gay and Lesbian Pride March in the history of Utah although only one news station felt it news worthy to be covered. About 200 people gathered on the steps of the state capitol to listen to Rocky O’Donovan who organized the march, Becky Moorman, Angela Nutt, and Robert Austin give speeches about the significance of what

Robert Austin 

we were doing today.  Becky Moorman's was the strongest speech and best talk because she talked about Gay Liberation as an on going process.  Rocky was terrific.  He had done all the foot work, getting the permits, and he said that the police department ate the cost of the officers which was about $1000.  Even N.O.W. wasn't able to get the police to do that for them so it wasn't something the police did routinely.  The only people who I thought were conspicuously because of their absence were Bruce Barton, Bruce Harmon, Chuck Whyte, Julie Pollack, Duane Dawson, and Empress Bianca.  In fact there were no representations from MCC at all!  Chuck Whyte later told me that he over slept and that Bruce Barton was performing a Holy Union.  But where was Kelly Byrnes then?   The only person from the Royal Court was Prince Royale Guy Larson and I think he was there more because of his friendship with John Bush and Mike Connors.  Other people who were there who I can remember off the top of head were Dave Malmstrom, Chuck Thomas, Neil Hoyt, Don Glenn, Ben Barr, Brenda Voisard, Maureen Davies, Becky Moorman, Alice Drake, Robert Smith, Robert Austin, Dale Sorenson, David Nelson, Debbie Rosenberg, Carla Gourdain, John Merrill, Curtis Robinson, Grant Cheever, Alex Gallegos, John Martin, Curtis Jensen, Val Mansfield, Mark Hanson, Greg Garcia, Mike Morris, The U.S. Wests Eagles Organization, George Marshall, David Waters, Angela Nutt,  Kevin Warren, John Bennett, Chris Brown, Angela Dahl.  These are just to name a few.  I was so proud of everyone who attended with rainbow flags, posters, and Gay and Lesbian pride.  We marched down Main Street in front of the Mormon Temple to South Temple Street then over to West Temple Street where we ended at the Art Gallery south of Symphony hall.  We accidentally scared some Mormon women who after seeing us darted into the Mormon Handicraft Store. We also scared some carriage horses by our boisterous shouting of "Not the Church Not the State! We alone decide Our Fate!"  (However I believed that the horse recovered faster then the Mormon women did), "We're here because were Queer!" and many more.  I walked behind Carla Gourdain to help Debbie control Carla's wheelchair on the steep incline coming down from the capitol.  The march was especially good for me because I was able to deal with some of my own unconquered internalized fears.  Marching in New York City is one thing but marching in Salt Lake City is another. But it was a great occasion and Rocky should be commended while Julie, Bruce and Bruce and Chuck should be ashamed.  Perhaps someday MCC will need the community support and I bet it won't be there if the leaders of MCC can't put aside their own agendas and support the community. Maybe next year 500 people will be out! [Journal of Ben Williams]

1991 The 2nd Annual Pride March and Rally was held June 27, 1991 as over 300 members of Utah's Gay and Lesbian community marched through downtown Salt Lake City. White supremacists along the route shouted at the group and waved a Nazi flag during the march, “but no physical confrontations erupted.” Gays, Lesbians, family members and friends bravely carried signs and chanted as they walked from the State Capitol down Main Street and east on 400 South to the City-County Building. More than a dozen police officers escorted the marchers and stood between them and 14 skinheads during the rally at the building. 

• "They tried to disrupt the rally and had signs that read `Thank God for AIDS,' "- Ben Barr
• Thursday Journal of Ben Williams Busy, busy, day. When I got up, Billy the Cat was still missing and I began to get worried. I know he will come back when he’s calmed down and he did later tonight (Note Billy Cat died June 5, 2004 age 18 years). Anyway I went back to my apartment and scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom and packed the few remaining possessions for my move.  After the place was completely emptied and cleaned. I threw away all the brooms, mops, garbage pails, etc., as not to bring negative energy into my new dwelling place when it’s ready. I also laid down on the carpet, spread eagled, and drew into me all the shadows left in the apartment from Jim Rieger, Mike Pipkim, Terry Johnson, Billy Bikowski, and took all my memories within me so that no part of me is left behind here. I don’t want to feel that something was missed and then drawn back to this place as I am to the Juel Apartments.  The phone, mail and newspaper was cut off this morning soooo Goodbye Buckingham Apartment Number 47. I never knew you. Anyway unloaded the rest of my thing’s at Bobby Smith’s place at Del Mar Court. I wasn’t sure I was going to join the Gay Pride March today organized by Rocky O’Donovan but I did at the last  moment. I joined Gary Boren and we ran up Second North behind the Deseret Gym to join the marchers on Main Street. I’d say about 500 to 600 people were at this march. We went down Main Street to Fourth South and finished in front of the City-County Building at Washington Square. MCC people were again noticeably absent from the march as were the Royal Court people. Anyway about ten skinheads with Nazi Battle Flags were on the steps of the county building ready to confront and hassle us. One of the parade organizers suggested that we turn our backs on the Nazis so as not to recognize their presence, which put Brenda Voisard, Maureen Davies and I in a very uncomfortable position of having our backs to these skinheads who were calling us every type of name. We had been marching in the front holding a Gay and Lesbian Community Council of Utah banner and we now were the closest to the skinheads. They ranted how God created AIDS to wipe out homosexuals.  We just huddled together, our fate interlocked.  How I admired the courage of those women who in the true face of adversity never wavered.  The police stood between us and the pseudo Nazis, with their batons out to prevent any violence.  I am sure several of the police wanted to do a number on the skinheads but there were no violence just verbal confrontations. I couldn’t hear any of the speeches being way in the back but I know Rocky O’Donovan, Melissa Sillitoe, Dale Sorensen, and Debbie Rosenberg all gave rousing speeches. Perhaps others did too. Debbie Rosenberg led us in singing Holly Near’s “We Are a Gentle Angry People”. The Nazis were saying things like “Out of the Closet Into the Grave” and carried signs which read, “Thank God For AIDS”. I could tell that David Sharpton (Note-Former founder of PWACU) was livid. I saw David Sharpton go up to the Nazis, separated only by the police. He was livid and telling them to fuck off and die. If the police had kept him at bay I'm sure he would have charged into the Nazi White Supremacists. He also told me that he got a hold of reporter Mary Sawyer about the Marinol issue. (Note-Marinol was a derivative of Marijuana which spurred appetite in AIDS patients)  Sawyer is a news reporter for KUTV. Anyway the rally broke up about 8:30 p.m. and I went back to Bobbie Smith’s to get ready for the San Francisco Gay Pride Trip that Gary Boren put together for Queer Nation. I picked up fellow faerie Jimmy Hamamoto and then went back to Del Mar Place to watch the news. Only Channel 2 and 4 covered the march and rally. The big news however is that Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall is resigning. There goes our court system. It will be stacked with six conservatives. While at Bobbie’s Billy Cat finally showed up and that took a load off my mind. Leaving Bobbie’s place, Jimmy and I went and picked up John Crapeau, Melissa Sillitoe and Michelle Davies, and Garth Chamberlain to take them to Curtis Jensen’s house to join the other adventurers. Alice Drake and Becky Moorman (Note-editors of the Bridge magazine) decided not to go to San Francisco after all since Alice lost her job yesterday when her employers found out she was a lesbian.  Gary Boren had rented two vans and these are the people who went with him; Devin Hansen, his boyfriend Lewis, Matt Landis, Curtis Jensen, Jared Brown, Dave Omer and his boyfriend Vince, John Crapo, Jimmy Hamamoto, Rocky O’Donovan, Robert Erichssen, Melissa Sillitoe, Michelle Davies, Toni Palmer and her girlfriend Laura, (Jimmy calls them the “Rocker Chicks”) Kathy Ries, Nancy Perez, Garth Chamberlain, and myself. We left Salt Lake City about Midnight after a Faerie blessing and ritual. [Journal of Ben Williams]

1995-Thursday Craig Ellis Barnard, age  27, died of complications due to AIDS, in Salt Lake City, Utah.  He enjoyed lapidary as his hobby. He was very talented in music. He was active in The Utah AIDS Foundation. He is survived long time companion, Bruce Amundsen, Salt Lake City.

1997 Friday, Documentary on gay murders is chilling  LICENSED TO KILL * * * - Documentary on gay bashing and the murder of homosexual men; produced, directed, written and edited by Arthur Dong; not rated, probable R (profanity, gory photos, nude photos, vulgarity); exclusively at the Tower Theatre. By Jeff Vice, Movie Critic      There's no need for documentarian Arthur Dong to put words in the mouths of the convicted killers interviewed in "Licensed to Kill"; each man convicts himself with his own words. While making the film, Dong (who produced, directed, wrote and edited it) interviewed 11 men, all of whom are currently serving time in prison for either killing gay men or for murders that were linked to anti-homosexual sentiments. Six individual interviews are included as is videotaped footage of a confession to New York detectives from a seventh man.     It's particularly astonishing to note that Dong, who was nearly beaten by "gay bashers" 20 years ago, had the courage to confront the men face-to-face (or camera-to-face, as it were) and managed to extract some very telling testimony.     What slowly emerges is a chilling look into the mind of a murderer, as all of the men share quite different stories. Multiple-murderer Jay Johnson explains that he killed three men (including a Minnesota state senator) because of inner turmoil regarding his sexual identity - more specifically, the schism between his religious beliefs and his homosexual preferences. Former gang member Corey Burley, who specifically targeted gay males to rob, chokes back tears as he admits he murdered a gay Vietnamese immigrant after being "egged on" by a friend. And though the four people killed by former Army Sgt. Kenneth Jr. French outside a North Carolina restaurant weren't gay, he claims he randomly shot at the eatery while in a drunken rage spawned by President Clinton's announcement on lifting the ban on gays in the military. Facing either life sentences or the possibility of death, most of the men now realize the consequences of their actions and sound repentant. However, Jeffrey Swinford, who killed a man who he says was making unwanted advances on a friend, remains unrepentant, referring to his victim as "just one less problem the world had to mess with." Ultimately, what makes "Licensed to Kill" memorable is the fact that you don't have to sympathize with gay rights to appreciate its message - that killing is a senseless crime.  The film is at its best when it concentrates on interviews with the seven inmates. But it does take a couple of unfortunate cheap shots at the expense of organized religion, which detract from its otherwise objective tone.  "Licensed to Kill" is not rated but would probably receive an R for considerable profanity, shots of some gory and nude photos and vulgar references and sexual talk.

2001 Letter to the Editor Nothing Good About LGSU Center By Jared Walker Editor: I was very sorry to read that the University of Utah was going to create a resource center for the Lesbian and Gay Student Union in the A. Ray Olpin University Union. I disagree with Barbara Snyder that this is "a most positive direction for the University of Utah." I sympathize with the notion of equal rights. However, the demands emanating from the gay movement sound more like spoiled children who want their lollipops. It is a far cry from meager demands of the suppressed. Minoritiarianism is by its very nature selfish and without regard for the common good. With cultural and moral relativism as its vehicle and tolerance as a guise, it replaces morality with amorality, cultural identity with pluralism. The consequence is dissolution of cultural unity and civic morality. This is discouraging enough, but it is downright depressing to know that individuals are running toward it, embracing it as a better way of life. Most embarrassing is the fact that among those supporting the incoherence are the intellectual elites, the supposed "wise men" of our time. Relativism is the progenitor of post-modernity, which begets moral chaos. One wonders how such a notion—that this could be good for society—ever made its way into the thoughts of the "elite." Perhaps it is their affinity for tolerance. True it is, that tolerance has increased, but with it immorality. Homosexuality, teen sex, teen pregnancy and a decrease in sincere religion are only a few examples. So unlike Snyder, I do not regard the LGSU's advance into the public square as positive. In my view, it will only serve to further de-culture and demoralize the traditional American way of life.  Jared Walker Junior, Political Science

Darin Hobbs

2002 Darin Hobbs Receipt for Amex Parade Entry: Receipts will be issued at a later date.  Booth rentals, parade entries, etc. are not entirely tax deductible donations--they received something for their money.  Once Stacy [Robinson] and I (working with the EC) determine the value of these things, we will then issue letters, if appropriate. If someone is excited about getting a receipt or letter, direct them to me. No one should be making any promises about the value of a "donation" or  the timeliness of recognition for the same.  If you have done so, let me know and I will do what I can to honor that promise.  However, you may not continue in this practice from this point forward.  Darin R. Hobbs Assistant Director Operations and Financial Director Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah. 

• Chad Keller receipt for AMEX parade entry: Let’s make this really clear....and I am highly offended. My opening statement to Stacy clearly states "Receipts are the responsibility of the Utah Pride, Inc. Department of Treasury."  So before you give a lecture to me or Adam, please make sure that you have read what was stated. If all of this is that complicated that Stacy [Robinson] is having trouble finding a receipt for a credit card, then I have yet another concern to add to a growing list.  Not to mention that there is no reason that many receipts, letters, and other financial items related to the closing of the books have not been handled and turned over to Stacy before now for a timely closing of our 2002 Records. I would add, that before any letter of any kind relating to In Kind Sponsorships, or items related to finance, the EC needs to bring them to the board for approval, as with other situations that have come forward that the EC as a body is not functioning as it should.  It is obvious the board needs to step in and see that all is handled properly, and fairly based on our organizations policy's and procedures, not the policies and practices of other organizations or our personal desires. CK.  
• Darin Hobbs RE: receipt for AMEX parade entry: Be that as it may, my previous email is not negotiable. Darin R. Hobbs Assistant Director Operations and Financial Director Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah

2003    Page: A1 Salt Lake Tribune Photo Caption: Reagan Plewe, 5, shows her support Thursday for her mother Maxine Plewe, middle and Plewe's partner Amanda Madsen, rear, at the state Capitol in Salt Lake City during a rally in support of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down a Texas sodomy law as an unconstitutional violation of privacy. The ruling means Utah's sodomy law could also be struck down in challenged. Court kills sodomy law Utah's gay-rights groups, conservatives see far-reaching ramifications By Elizabeth Neff and Rebecca Walsh    The Salt Lake Tribune  The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law banning gay sex as unconstitutional Thursday  --  a historic ruling that ensures the demise of anti-sodomy laws in Utah and 12 other states. In a vote of 6-3, the justices held the Texas law violated the privacy rights of consenting adults to choose what takes place in their own bedrooms. Unlike the Texas law specifically aimed at homosexuals, Utah law forbids "any sexual act with a [unmarried] person who is 14 years of age or older involving the genitals of one person and the mouth or anus of another person, regardless of the sex of either participant." But the justices said both kinds of consensual sodomy laws impinge on the constitutional liberties of Americans. "Liberty presumes an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression and certain intimate conduct," wrote Justice Anthony M. Kennedy for the majority. "The statutes do seek to control a personal relationship that, whether or not entitled to formal recognition in the law, is within the liberty of persons to choose without being punished as criminals." Thursday's ruling does not apply to two other portions of Utah's statute that prohibit forcible, or non-consensual, sodomy and sodomy on a child. Utahns  --  from gays rights activists to conservative pundits  --  were struck by the far-reaching ramifications of the decision. State

Jackie Biskupski

Rep. Jackie Biskupski quietly rejoiced. The openly gay, Democratic lawmaker from Salt Lake City figures the justices reinforced privacy rights that have been eroded by anti-terrorism campaigns, the Internet and so-called morality laws. "We're kind of losing some of our rights to privacy," she said. "This is reaffirming some of the core values of our country. I think the country as a whole will embrace this decision and not be disappointed by it." And attorney Matt Hilton, who used Utah's sodomy statute to try to force a gay teacher from her job, could not dispute the impact of the decision.  "The justices had to do some stretching to get where they got, but they definitely got there," he said. "There's no question. The language is broad enough. The sodomy law in Utah is invalidated by this opinion. I wouldn't try to prosecute it. It's gone." Thursday's landmark decision comes in the case of two Houston men arrested in 1998 for violating the Texas Homosexual Conduct law. Police found the two having sex after responding to a false report of a disturbance at one man's apartment. Both were jailed overnight, convicted, and fined $200 each. The high court reversed its own 1986 ruling that upheld a Georgia anti-sodomy law on moral grounds. That earlier court, the majority wrote, failed "to appreciate the extent of the liberty at stake." Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer joined Kennedy in the majority opinion. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor agreed with the outcome of the case, but not for the same reasons as the majority. O'Connor said the Texas law should be declared unconstitutional as a matter of due process in that it singles out gays.  State laws against consensual sodomy are increasingly rare. Before 1961, all 50 states had outlawed sodomy, but at the time of the court's 1986 decision, only 24 states and the District of Columbia had sodomy laws. Of the 13 states that still have them today, laws in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri apply only to same sex couples. Eight other states in addition to Utah ban sodomy for all unmarried people: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Utah law makes consensual sodomy a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Sodomy was outlawed even for married couples in Utah until 1977. The law is rarely enforced, but in 2001 a 19-year-old American Fork man was charged after a 16-year-old girl said she performed oral sex on him. Prosecutors eventually dropped the charges.  And Hilton and the "Citizens of Nebo School District for Moral and Legal Values" targeted Spanish Fork High School psychology teacher Wendy Chandler

Wendy Weaver Chandler

, saying she was unfit to teach as a lesbian violating state sodomy laws. The case made its way through the court system for six years but was ultimately dismissed by the Utah Supreme Court earlier this year.  Weaver said she was happy to see the old laws go. "I'm very glad that the U.S. Supreme Court saw fit to move on and move past those types of things," she said. "I wish it had happened a couple of years ago." Utah gay rights activists are relieved the threat of going through an ordeal like Chandler's is gone.  "It means that the heart of our lives can no longer be made a crime," said Unity Utah Director Michael Mitchell, "and thus, there is no excuse for t

Michael Mitchell

reating us as anything other than full partners in our great democracy." But state lawmakers may not be in a hurry to strike bans on consensual sodomy from the books.  Sen. John Valentine, an Orem Republican and an attorney, agrees the ruling invalidates one section of Utah's three-part law. "Consensual sodomy will have to be either changed, or prosecutors will have to enforce it differently," he said. "I suspect, in an effort to keep our statutes current, we would make some change consistent with the ruling." Some expect Utah legislators to put up a fight.    Dani Eyer, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, said she worries the law will be left on the books as a statement, in the same way legislators have left the state's unenforceable abortion statute in the code.  "In a perfect world, the legislature would realize that our statutes are not in compliance with the ruling," she said. "But our legislature has a history of leaving on the books statutes that they like [but] that the Supreme Court has found to be unconstitutional." If the sodomy statute were not repealed, attorneys say it would take a legal challenge to remove it. Beyond questions of what the Utah legislature will do, some wonder about the future of Utah's other morality laws including bans on adultery and fornication, and bigamy statutes used to prosecute polygamy. A dissent authored by Justice Antonin Scalia also calls into question laws against same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution, masturbation, bestiality and obscenity. In an unusual move, Scalia read his dissent from the bench. "The Court makes no effort to cabin the scope of its decision to exclude them from its holding," Scalia said. The justice, joined in his dissent by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justice Clarence Thomas, said the majority had "taken sides in the culture war."    Salt Lake City civil rights attorney Brian Barnard, who has supported well-known Utah polygamist Tom Green in an appeal of his bigamy conviction, said the ruling undermines the foundations of several Utah laws. "I don't see this opinion as attacking the bigamy law as such as much as maybe chipping away at the underlying assumptions in it, " said Barnard. "Before we get to the polygamy aspects, the fornication law will be the next one to go down." Utah's fornication law makes it a class B misdemeanor for two unmarried people to have sex. An adultery law can be applied to cheating spouses. Hilton agreed, saying the ruling's "overwhelmingly broad language" could muddle interpretation of other Utah laws. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff was out of the country Thursday. His office declined to comment on the decision in his absence.    Shurtleff signed off on a controversial brief supporting Texas in the case. The brief, written by Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, was signed by just one other state attorney general. At the time, Shurtleff justified his decision to sign on as part of his role to defend Utah law.

2003 DAVID THOMETZ America Online interactive poll Does the Supreme Court ruling against sodomy laws open the door to more gay  rights? 67% Yes, it is a big step   152,075 33% No, it just affects that specific issue 75,821 Total votes: 227,896  Should same-sex marriages be legal in the United States? 50% Yes 124,914 50% No  123,838

Total votes: 248,752 Note on Poll Results

   

2007 Stuart Merrill wrote: I’m just in shock. What on earth happened [to Chad Keller]? 

• Ben Wrote: He [Chad Keller] died at home from depression. He had been ill for some time 
•  Stuart Merrill wrote: Ben, I'm so sorry Ben. I know he was a good friend of yours. My heart really  goes out to all his family and friends. I broke both my arms last week and had surgery on one arm Friday. I'm still not feeling great, especially in the heat. But, I definitely want to attend the service. I just can't stay in the heat to long. Please keep me posted. Someday I would like to sit down with you and have a long conversation about how certain advocates in our community are treated quite horribly by the very community they work so very hard to serve. I hear other people say all gay communities are this way. However, I strongly disagree. I've lived in 17 cities and 6 countries, and I've never seen such cruel viciousness. It really brakes my  heart. Stuart From: 
• "Ben Williams" To: "Stuart Merrill" I am so sorry about your arm. I guess we are all just wearing out. It would be lovely sometime to talk. Ben

Courtney Moser wrote: Ben, Do you know what happened?  Chad was a room mate of mine when I first came out of the closet.  We've had our differences over the years as most people have with Chad but I genuinely liked him and always admired his drive and visionary mind. Courtney. 

• from: "Ben Williams" To: "courtney moser" Chad died of an overdose probably Monday. Kevin Hillman found his body last night at 7:30 after he and Mark were worried that no one had heard from him.  Mark was at work and a court meeting all day Tuesday and called Kevin to go to the house.  That is all I know. Kevin called me about 9 and after calling Michael Aaron I posted the information. Still seems like a bad dream.

2010 Are summer fests a cash boon or burden for SLC? By Derek P. Jensen The Salt Lake Tribune June 27, 2010 01:29AM  Cachet or cash? Salt Lake City has wrestled that equation since last summer when it began charging special events — such as the Utah Arts Festival — thousands for police services and cleanup. At the time, promoters went berserk, suggesting the “heavy-handed” fees could force them to bolt the city and take their festivals to less-expensive suburbs. The threats seemed idle. Nevertheless, the city has pared back those event prices ever since, pledging to keep downtown vibrant. Parades get a 100 percent break as a “free-expression activity.” And the city covers 75 percent of public services rendered for downtown festivals — paid by taxpayers through a “cost-recovery” fund. New this summer, despite the slumping economy and bleak city budget, the capital city has replaced its policy of collecting 10 percent in all alcohol sales with a flat fee of $250 a day. The break on booze translates into a $20,000 hit for the city on the arts festival alone, city documents show. And the write-off on city services adds up to tens of thousands more. But the calculus pays off, says City Council Chairman J.T. Martin, when you consider the crowds — all carrying debit cards. “When I saw all those people,” Martin said of the mobbed opening night of the arts fest, “I saw dollar signs. It’s like Christmas for so many of our vendors downtown. We more than make — so many more times — the dollars back.” The four-day arts festival draws an estimated 100,000 people each June. The Utah Pride Festival drew 25,000 earlier this month, a 20 percent jump from last year, according to

Michael Westley

Michael Westley, spokesman for the Utah Pride Center. Despite cool weather and rain, thousands attended the Living Traditions Festival. And large crowds reliably cram Washington Square for July’s Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival. All those bodies — and vendors — book hotels, buy gas and sample the city’s restaurants and bars. Pride organizers plan to commission an economic-impact survey next year. But overall, it’s difficult to measure the benefit of sales tax versus the cost of closing streets and paying police. “We don’t see the decisions we’ve made as being fiscally irresponsible at all,” said Lisa Harrison Smith, spokeswoman for Mayor Ralph Becker. The goal, she says, is to simplify the permit process and ensure it is fair. “We’re not the only ones struggling in this economy — so are the organizers of some of these events,” Smith added. “These events are huge for our city. We do everything we can to support them.” At the same time, this year’s bruising budget cycle forced city leaders to erase a kids arts program, cut maintenance in beloved parks, raise fees for garbage, water and some parking, and eliminate nearly 70 jobs. Promoters, not surprisingly, are thrilled with the changes — particularly the alcohol break Smith concedes is a “huge giveback.” “It was a ridiculous charge,” said Lisa Sewell, director of the arts festival. “Show me where it says I have to give you 10 percent of our profits.” The festival still pays $18,000 to lease Library Square, she notes, the next charge Sewell wants to see the city wipe out. The alcohol charge has been a point of contention with festivals for years. Some payments never were made by the arts festival, forcing the city to step up collection pressure. Now that dispute has been eliminated, even if it literally costs the city. While the jazz festival generated about $4,300 a year in beer and wine sales, documents show imbibers at the Utah Pride Festival provided the city $25,000 over the past four years. “We were very pleased” with the flat fee for alcohol, Westley said. “But we still hand over a pretty decent chunk of funds to make this work.” Counting the lease fee for Washington Square, police assistance for the parade and cleanup costs, Pride was billed $2,299. Yet that bill was slashed to $577 after the city applied its 75 percent discount. After a deep discount, Living Traditions’ city tab was cut to $661. What’s more, festival permits now cost $100, free-expression permits just $5. “We basically are knocking money off their bill in advance,” said city events manager Tyler Curtis, adding the alcohol policy “frankly is a significant savings.” The city still collects from promoters when it closes streets for the marathon or myriad 5K runs. But hefty sums associated with the Days of ’47 never are gathered because the massive parade on July 24 qualifies as free expression. Curtis says the city already has granted 86 free-expression permits for 2010. Ordinances governing event fees have been on Salt Lake City’s books for decades. Perhaps based on the economic climate, officials note, City Hall has applied the rules differently in different eras.

2013 Utah state senator Jim Dabakis proposes to longtime partner By ASSOCIATED PRESSSALT LAKE CITY — A Utah state senator used a celebration over two Supreme Court gay rights decisions to propose to his longtime partner. Democratic state Sen. Jim Dabakis was giving remarks Wednesday during a party at Salt Lake City's rainbow flag-draped Club Sound when he asked Stephen Justesen to join him onstage. Dabakis described Justesen as "a wonderful man" he met 26 years ago before asking Justesen to marry him. Dabakis got on one knee and gave Justesen a ring while the crowd whooped. Dabakis told The Salt Lake Tribune the proposal was a spur-of-the-moment decision and a wedding date has not been set. The Salt Lake City lawmaker's biography describes him as an art dealer and founding chair of the Utah Pride Center who began serving in the Legislature earlier this year.

John Williams

2017 Utah restaurateur’s husband pleads guilty to murder, arson Craig Crawford  pleads guilty Tuesday to killing his husband, 72-year-old John Williams, last year by setting their Capitol Hill on fire. Defense lawyers Mark Moffat, and Jim Bradshaw, stand with him in Judge Vernice Trease’s 3rd District courtrooom in Salt Lake City. By jessica miller The Salt Lake Tribune Courts • “He has extreme remorse for the horrific act that he committed,” the man’s attorney tells a judge. In a Salt Lake City courtroom Tuesday, Craig Crawford admitted that he trapped his estranged husband, well-known restaurateur John Williams, inside his home and then set it ablaze last year. As those who knew Williams cried in the courtroom gallery, Crawford pleaded guilty to first-degree felony counts of aggravated murder and aggravated arson. He was insistent on pleading guilty, defense attorney Jim Bradshaw said after the hearing, so he could accept responsibility and allow Williams’ family to move forward. “He has extreme remorse for the horrific act that he committed,” Bradshaw said. “He wants to give closure to the family that he hurt so badly and to the community.” With those guilty pleas, several of those who were close to Williams said after the hearing that it does help them gain closure. “I’m just so happy,” sobbed Patty Lignell, who said she was close to Williams and was his housekeeper for two decades. In exchange for Crawford’s guilty pleas, prosecutors agreed to not seek the death penalty. At his sentencing hearing, a judge will decide whether Crawford, 48, will serve life in prison with or without the possibility of parole. An attorney for Williams’ family members told the judge Tuesday they will ask that Crawford never be released. A sentencing date is expected to be set during a court hearing Friday. Crawford was accused of setting the couple’s Capitol Hill home on fire May 22, 2016, shortly after Williams, 72, filed for divorce and unsuccessfully sought a restraining order. The couple had been together for about 20 years. Williams was a well-known LGBT pioneer in Utah who owned the popular Market Street Grill and other restaurants. Charges indicate that Williams, who was in the process of evicting Crawford from the home, located near 600 North and East Capitol Street (200 East), had expressed fear of Crawford and had filled out a petition for a protective order May 21. Additionally, friends and family of Williams told police that Crawford had said multiple times in the past that “he would be rich” once Williams died, and that Crawford had expressed a desire to set the home on fire, or said he wished the home would burn down, charges state. Fire crews who responded to the early-morning blaze heard Williams cry for help from a bedroom on the fourth floor, according to charging documents.  However, firefighters were not able to reach the man because the staircase between the third and fourth floor was fully engulfed in flames and had collapsed. A fire investigator later determined that there was “growth and development” of the fire from the second floor of the home’s foyer leading to the stairway to the upper levels, charges state. “The stairway would be the only way out of the residence for persons on the upper levels,” a Salt Lake City detective wrote in charging documents. “With the stairway rendered unusable, persons on the upper levels would be trapped.” A neighbor called 911 at about 1:20 a.m. on May 22 to report that Williams’ house was on fire, according to charging documents. That neighbor later told police that shortly after she got off the phone with dispatchers, Crawford came to her home and calmly told her that he wanted to show her something in his kitchen. The neighbor then watched Crawford walk back toward the burning home. Some juveniles told police that they drove to Williams’ home after seeing smoke and flames and noticed a man, who matched Crawford’s description, using a hose to spray water on some trees and plants — but he did not direct any water toward the burning

Craig Crawford

house, charges state. By the time fire crews arrived, Crawford was no longer near the home, court records state. Firefighters eventually broke through a fourth-floor window to try to reach Williams, but he had already died. A Utah medical examiner later determined Williams died from smoke inhalation. Court records show Williams filed for divorce May 4, including a motion two days later requesting a temporary restraining order against Crawford. Crawford then filed a temporary protective order against Williams, which was denied May 13, according to court documents. Williams’ attorney told police that he also filled out a petition for a protective order against Crawford on May 21, charges state. The attorney told police he was helping Williams evict Crawford and that Williams had posted a five-day eviction notice on his home May 20 at about 5 p.m. Williams had been a partner in Gastronomy Inc., a business that owns Market Street Grill, the New Yorker and other restaurants and property in the Salt Lake City area. Gastronomy spokesman John Becker has said that Williams had been retired from day-to-day operations for several years, but he had previously directed the company’s property acquisitions for at least 40 years.

2020 Utah Pride Center besieged by complaints of discrimination, mismanagement By Leia Larsen Salt Lake Tribune   Salt Lake City’s famously vibrant Pride Festival was quiet this month, with parades, balls and fundraisers canceled due to the pandemic. But behind the scenes of the Utah Pride Center, an uproar grows louder. More than a dozen people have come forward sharing stories about an organization they say is plagued with questionable finances, mismanagement, lack of transparency, discrimination and dismissal. These allegations long simmered beneath the surface, but came to a head when two recent rounds of layoffs removed half the nonprofit’s staff, followed by a move to completely dissolve the center’s volunteer-based Pride Planning Committee. Leadership at the Utah Pride Center points to a devastating reduction in revenues brought on by the pandemic as the reason for restructuring.

Those terminated, most of whom refer to the layoffs as “firings,” say the official explanation makes little sense, given that many of these employees performed key fundraising, finance and outreach roles. Instead, they believe they were retaliated against for filing complaints or raising concerns with the board and center director.

“We’re not disgruntled employees. We were subjected to inappropriate behavior and

Michael Bryant

reported it, as we should,” said Michael Bryant, who worked as community development manager until June 10. “I don’t want any of it to be true, because I don’t want anything bad to happen to the center. But leadership needs to provide an answer. They can’t just fire people.”

For their part, executive leaders at the Utah Pride Center say layoffs were legal, appropriate and critical in enabling the nonprofit to weather the COVID-19 economic storm.

“The allegations and actions of certain

Rob Moolman

individuals are now damaging the financial success and well-being of the center,” said Executive Director Rob Moolman. “By putting out information they know is confidential and we can’t respond to, the impact to the center is that donors and sponsors are being affected. The lifesaving work of the center is being affected.”

            In happier times for the Utah Pride Center, Executive Director Rob Moolman, center, cheers the raising of the pride flag over Salt Lake City Hall, May 28, 2019. Then-Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupskie, left, applauds with Liz Pitts. To Moolman's right are bek Birkett and Hillary McDaniel. Pitts, Birkett and McDaniel all have been laid off from the center in recent weeks.

            Mona Stevens, the board chairperson, called allegations “unfounded” and in some

Mona Stevens

cases “slanderous.” She asserts that the former employees aren’t acting in the best interests of the center but “trying to burn it down…. They’re trying to cause harm.”

Where it started: The Salt Lake Tribune interviewed numerous former employees, dismissed volunteers and people currently working for the center in reporting this story. The newspaper also reviewed several leaked documents and audio recordings from anonymous whistleblowers.

All the current turmoil appears to have first been sparked when a top employee filed a grievance about nepotism in 2018. In a copy of the complaint obtained by The Tribune, then-Community Engagement Director Liz Pitts wrote to Moolman that she was concerned about his plans to hire the romantic partner of the center’s operations director without posting the high-level position or interviewing other candidates.

“No people of color, people with disabilities or gender nonbinary folks had an equal

Liz Pitts

opportunity to apply,” Pitts wrote, going on to say, “it seems to me that certain systematic practices and lack of policy/guidelines has brought us to a place where hiring, compensation & promotion is inequitable and potentially unethical.”

While describing herself as “passionately committed” to the center and its mission, Pitts said she was “very disillusioned and stuck.”

She added in her complaint that, “I am also afraid [of] the impact filing this grievance will have on my job.”

Although Pitts is not the person who shared the grievance with The Tribune, she verified its authenticity.

After filing her complaint, she said she sensed growing hostility.

Numerous former employees who worked under Pitts — and said she had built close relationships with sponsors and was responsible for bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants — also said they saw a change in the executive director’s behavior, something Moolman said never happened.

“Absolutely that situation did not take place as described,” he said. He also said that he took Pitts’ nepotism complaint seriously but declined to discuss the matter in detail.

Pitts was terminated April 30 along with nine other center employees, weeks after the pandemic forced the Utah Pride Center to close.

bek Birkett had discussed concerns similar to Pitts’ with the executive director. Birkett

bek Birkett

worked as an executive assistant to Moolman and a bookkeeper under the operations director. Soon after starting that job in the fall of 2018, Birkett noticed what they said was suspicious and potentially unethical behavior.

“My fight has been for financial transparency … that the pride center sorely lacks,” said Birkett, who uses fluid gender pronouns, including “they” and “them.” An email to the board of directors, which Birkett confirmed they submitted to the pride center board earlier this month, raised several red flags. The operations director, Birkett wrote, had told employees that they didn’t need to keep expense receipts, leaving “no way of tracking or itemizing” purchases.

The lack of documentation was so extensive it was impossible to conduct an audit of the center’s 2017 finances, Birkett said, warning the board, “We are going to lose more and more funding because of this.”

The operations director — hired by a former center director and given responsibilities, including financial oversight, that both former employees and current leadership agree were beyond her ability — resigned in April 2019. Birkett and others say she was forced out. Mona Stevens, the board chairperson, says she “chose to resign” — one of three options presented her, including a pay cut. The former operations director’s romantic partner, who most agree is well-qualified, remains employed at the center.

A forensic accountant was able to piece together 2017 records enough to conduct

Chris Jensen

what is called a financial compilation, said Chris Jensen, the board vice chairperson, and Marci Milligan, the board secretary. The Council of Nonprofits notes that such reviews do not examine

Marci Milligan

risks of fraud or embezzlement and do not test the accuracy of records.

Moolman and executive board members said that a more comprehensive formal audit is underway of the center’s 2018 finances that will be released soon.

Questions, few answers: About a month after the first layoffs at the end of April, two events ignited an even bigger controversy at the Utah Pride Center. Pitts sent an email to pride center employees and members of the board with a subject line of “What just happened?”

The May 27 memo summarized her nepotism grievance and the alleged retaliation that followed. She also included a list of 29 questions, including “Why, given the incredible growth and revenue, did [Utah Pride Center] find itself in a position in April where 10 staff were terminated?” She also alleged that employee reports of the former operation director’s “negligence, book doctoring” and potentially worse were “covered up.”

That same day, Moolman led a management meeting and announced that the pride center had received a Paycheck Protection loan through the program approved by Congress to help small businesses and organizations retain employees during the pandemic.

Funds would have covered 2½ months of wages for the center’s full staff, but in an audio recording from the meeting, Moolman is heard saying that he would not be using the loan to bring back laid-off employees. Instead, he said, those funds would be placed in a savings account and paid back.

Bryant, the community development manager, was among staffers questioning the decision to park the funds in a bank account instead of bringing back staff to help the center transition.

“We had a lot of upset families who relied on our services that were suddenly taken away from them,” Bryant told The Tribune. “It’s unethical … why accept that money in the first place?”

Moolman told The Tribune it would have been “unethical” to rehire people using the Paycheck Protection loan only to lay them off again in a few months.

Screenshots show Hillary McDaniel, director of the Utah Pride Festival and other

Hillary McDaniels

events, sent a request to be added to the board’s June 8 meeting to discuss the issue and concerns raised in Pitts’ email. Stevens declined.

Days later, on June 10, McDaniel sent an email complaint to the center’s human resources firm. It began: “I wanted to address some concerns I have about decisions being made by our executive leadership that I do not feel are being communicated properly to the full board nor are in the best interest of our organization and our community.”

Hours later, McDaniel, Bryant and Birkett were terminated in the second round of layoffs. “To me, it points to retaliation,” McDaniel said. “These were the people asking hard questions about financial transparency, about who was let go and why.”

Birkett had sent their email to the board outlining concerns just days before being terminated. “I believe in the center. I believe in the mission of the center. It has saved so many lives, including lives that are near and dear to me,” Birkett said. “I also believe it’s rotten.”

Most confusing of all, many current and former employees said, was that by all accounts the Utah Pride Center had just had a banner year for revenue. And even during the pandemic, a virtual Pride Spectacular fundraiser on June 5 had exceeded goals.

“Five days later, we restructured and laid people off,” said Bryant, who uses they/them pronouns. “I think it’s unethical and inappropriate to not tell your donors that in five days we’re going to reorganize and fundamentally change this business.”

Moolman and executive members of the board maintain the terminations were entirely due to financial shortfalls, despite previous fundraising success.

“Forty-eight percent of our income comes from events. Almost all of that is from the Pride Festival,” which was canceled this year, Jensen said. “If you look at our expenses, 40% are personnel. You have to cut deep, unfortunately.”

The pride center recently posted notice that it is hiring for two new positions. One of the job listings, for an associate executive director, appears to include many of Pitts’ former responsibilities.

Regarding the Paycheck Protection loan, Jensen and Stevens said the center does not want to accumulate debt. “Everything is changing daily with the [Paycheck Protection Program] loan,” Stevens said. “We will make sure we take smart steps that keep us financially viable, either giving all that money back, or if things change down the road with that loan to give us another opportunity, we’ll consider that. We’re not going to do something that puts us in further debt.”Although Congress has adjusted the Paycheck Protection Program a few times, one thing remains constant — the funds become debt only if they’re not used for payroll and retaining staff. Otherwise, the loan becomes a grant that does not need to be repaid.

In response to Pitts’ May 27 allegations, Stevens provided a brief “Governance Committee Report” that reviewed points made in the email. That committee found that restructuring was done lawfully and that all conduct related to the center’s finances were ethical. Stevens also provided a one-page summary of an investigation conducted by Stratus, a firm the center uses for human resources. Stratus said it investigated all 29 of the questions in Pitts’ email and issued a response for each to the board. Those answers were not included in the document given to The Tribune and shared on the center’s website. “As many of the answers to these questions are proprietary, there is a need to keep them confidential,” wrote Brad Fagergren, a consultant with Stratus. “That being said … there is evidence to refute questions raised of financial impropriety.” Stratus also cleared Moolman of misconduct. In an interview, Pitts raised concerns about the objectivity of the reports.

Fallout: In the weeks between the first round of layoffs on April 30 and the second

Connell O'Donovan

round on June 10, people began taking to Facebook to share anger and concerns about the center. Connell O’Donovan wrote in a public post that he had resigned as a volunteer with the center’s Utah Queer Historical Society and returned the Lifetime Achievement Award the center gave him last year. “People were thinking that my criticism was about people being fired and that wasn’t it at all,” O’Donovan said in an interview, acknowledging the financial constraints brought by the pandemic. “My criticism was about how they were fired, how they were treated, in particular Liz Pitts.”

Trouble then erupted on the Utah Pride Center Lobby Facebook page earlier this month. Roberto Lopez was the

Roberto Lopez

center’s youth and family coordinator. He had immediately returned as a volunteer after the center laid him off in April — something other terminated employees said they would have considered, as well as pay cuts or furloughs, but the option was never presented to them. “Once my Zoom meeting notification of termination was presented, I immediately offered my services without reimbursement,” Lopez told The Tribune in an email. “I am positive that if things were handled differently, I wouldn’t have been the only one to offer this.”

After the second round of terminations on June 10, however, and an abrupt dissolution the same day of the Utah Pride Center’s nearly 20-member Pride Days Planning Committee (on which Lopez was a volunteer), Lopez posted a demand on the lobby page that the pride center host an open forum. He also asked whether the board of directors had informed sponsors about the center’s current state.

Moolman’s Facebook account deleted the posts, removed Lopez and blocked him from the page, a screenshot shows. “Change needs to happen, we are stronger as a community and the lifesaving programs and services that the Pride Center provides are in danger for lack of transparency, leadership and inclusivity,” Lopez said. “The voices that have cried for countless years are still being silenced and ignored and it’s time that they are heard.”

Moolman said he has since apologized to Lopez and reinstated him in the lobby group, but according to Lopez and others, this isn’t the first time people of color and other minorities have felt ignored by executives at the center.

Stevens said the board has made diversity a priority at the center. She noted that a quarter of the board of directors includes people of color (although all the people holding executive roles are white). “It’s better than nothing, but if those people aren’t involved in the executive decision-making, then it doesn’t really matter,” said a person currently working for the center who requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation. “If you’re not a cis, white, gay male, there’s no space for you here.” The misuse of pronouns by executives was a complaint voiced by at least three people who currently work or formerly worked at the center.

Numerous current and former workers also noted the executive director tends to talk over and be dismissive of women and femme-presenting people. “He’s a big-ego man who seems to protect the interests of his male staff more and better than of his female staff,” said another person currently working for the center who requested anonymity due to fears of retaliation.

Moolman disagreed, saying he has actively hired and promoted women and femme-

Chelsie Acosta

presenting people as well as queer people and people of color. He pointed to two women of color, Chelsie Acosta, an activist who volunteers with the center, and Paula Espinoza, who worked for the center for about a month and has also volunteered. Both offered words of support for Moolman. “It’s a witch hunt at this point,” Acosta said. “We’re taking out one of our own so viciously and publicly.”

Espinoza said she was surprised about Pitts’

Paula Espinoza

termination, agreeing that Pitts had played an important role in raising funds for the center. But, she said, Moolman created a positive and inclusive work environment. “He would ask, ‘How do we bring more people of color into the center? What do I need to do?’” Espinoza said. “He was willing to help us do that.”

Executive board members told The Tribune they were unaware of any allegations about Moolman and discrimination at the center. Stevens said despite the growing number of voices raising complaints, a silent majority still backs the Utah Pride Center’s restructuring but fear speaking out because they expect to be “bullied” and verbally “attacked immediately.”

All the former employees who discussed their concerns with The Tribune said they realized they might come across as soured workers who were trying to take retaliatory measures of their own. But, they said, that’s far from the truth. “It really does break my heart that it’s come to this,” Birkett said. “Our lives do not matter in the greater picture. What I care about is the center still standing and performing its services in 30 years.”

2020 Lgbtq+ Covid-19 Testing Day at the Utah Pride Center There were 158 cars served by the University of Utah Health University of Utah Transgender Health Program Wellness bus doing the free drive in Covid-19 testing.  That is the most they have had since starting this service!