This Day In Gay Utah History June 29th

29 June 29-

1900 Ogden Standard Examiner Man Gets His Chin Cut page 7 Three boys Clarence Turner, Frank  Allson and Roby Danley complained to the police this morning that they had been the victims of a most revolting outrage at the hands of five tramps this morning. The five men are charged with sodomy sodomy and three of them Frank McCormick, Fred Wilson, and  Geo. Powers are now under arrest.  It is alleged that the boys were forcibly taken to the railroad yard near the S P Bridge where the acts were committed.

1969-The New York Mattachine Society held a meeting to discuss the direction gay liberation would take in the aftermath of the Stonewall riots.

1973-The first bisexual religious organization, The Committee of Friends of Bisexuality, was founded by Stephen Donaldson in Ithaca New York.

1975 - Sunstone Picnic held with outing at B.A.B. $3.00 donation includes food and beer.  The Sunstones were a Utah softball team composed of Gay women who play in in two leagues. Donations will raise funds for jackets and out of state tournaments.

1977-Coors Beer Company took out a full page ad in the Advocate announcing that the Coors family did not contribute in any way to the defeat of Miami's gay rights ordinance. Coors was already reeling from a union boycott.

1977 - GAY MARRIAGES BANNED IN UTAH The Utah Legislature passed a measure clarifying ambiguous language in the marriage statutes including a last minute amendment prohibiting homosexual marriages. The Measure HB3 was listed in Governor Scott M. Matheson agenda for action because the legislature in amending the marriage statute during general session last winter, left unclear language concerning minimum age requirements to marry.  An amendment by Representative Roger Livingston Republican-Sandy prohibiting marriage “between persons of the same sex “, went virtually undiscussed. Although some legislators responded later that they were aware of the controversial nature of such a proposal, they said any discussion was “better left unsaid.” However senators did face the amendment barring marriage between persons of the same

Frances Farley

sex when Senator Frances Farley Democrat Salt Lake City moved to eliminate that language from the marriage bill. The motion failed and the bill passed on a 20 - 2 vote with one other senator, Arthur Kimball Democrat-Salt Lake City joining Farley in the opposition. Sen. Farley said the intent of the marriage law was not to deal with the homosexual issue. Senator Carl E. Peterson Democrat-Magna spoke against Farley’s motion asserting the ban on homosexual marriage is what “we in the state believe in.” (06/30/77 SLTribune page A10)

1978 - Sgt. Dave Harkness of the Salt Lake City vice squad stated “Salt Lake City is a dynamite training ground for busting homosexuals.” Officer Nelson said “the worse problems come from closet queens, those who wish to keep their sexual preference quiet. Something needs to be done. The public has no idea of how much secret and illegal homosexual activity is going on in Utah.” (SLTribune)

1980 The Salt Lake Tavern Guild sponsored a float in San Francisco’s "Liberty and Justice for All" Gay Pride Day Parade (The Salt City Source A Voice For Our Community Vol. 1 No. 1 March 15 1984)

1985 Salt Lake Men’s Choir Second Annual Summer Concert was held at the Plaza Stage at the Utah Arts Festival. T. Brent Carter took over as director of the Salt Lake Men’s Choir in 1985. (SLTribune 11/29/1991)

Bruce Barton

1986-Sunday- Gay Pride Day at the Lake Park Pavilion. Over 300 Gay men and Lesbians attended. Resurrection MCC held services at Lagoon with Rev. Bruce Barton including a moment of silence to remember AIDS victims. Activities held on National Gay Pride Day and was sponsored by Triangle Magazine.

29 June 1986  LOGAN SCHOOL BOARD SETS AIDS POLICY (SLTribune B12-1)

Thursday, June 29, 1989 INMATE WITH AIDS GETS PAROLE DATE 4 MONTHS AFTER HER COMMITMENT By Peg McEntee, Associated Press Dianna Hernandez, a Utah State Prison inmate with AIDS, has been granted a Sept. 12 parole date less than four months after her commitment for theft and attempted drug distribution. Hernandez, 32, appeared Wednesday before the two of the three members of Board of Pardons, who said she would be released to a halfway house on condition she undergo medical treatment and continue in drug counseling. Victoria Palacios was absent. Hernandez was committed March 14 after pleading guilty to third-degree theft, a charge that came on the heels of other offenses related to the drug abuse she acknowledged to the board. The crime also violated her probation on an earlier charge of attempted distribution of cocaine. The zero-to-five-year terms were concurrent. Hernandez told board members Paul Boyden and Henry Haun she had become involved with heroin in her teens, kicked that habit in 1979 and turned to cocaine. However, she said that after she learned a year ago that she was infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS, she sought treatment for her cocaine addiction and had not used the drug since November. Hernandez, whose parents and brother were present, told the board she has her family's support And that of her outside physician, drug counselor and the Utah AIDS Foundation. She also submitted letters written on her behalf by the Alcoholics Anonymous chapter she attends behind bars, the LDS Institute and a guard, therapist and caseworker. Board member Paul Boyden told Hernandez that based on her criminal history, sentencing guidelines called for a minimum stay of 21 months, and that her confinement would be "extraordinarily short." However, he said that while her AIDS was a "significant factor," the board also recognized that none of her offenses had involved violence.

1989-The Washington Times reported that VIP officials in the Reagan and Bush administrations were implicated in a federal investigation into a gay prostitution ring. After being identified as one of those under investigation, Elizabeth Dole's adviser Paul R. Balach was forced to resign. Republican National Committee chairman Lee Atwater stated that it was wrong for people to be forced out of their jobs because of something that is strictly a personal matter. Male escorts

1989-Claiming that Congress needs to be aware of the truth about the sexual activities which the average homosexual man engages in before granting assistance to them, Rep William Dannemeyer (R-CA) claimed that common acts include rimming, golden showers, fisting and the rectal insertion of light bulbs. He also claimed that the majority of doctors and therapists treat homosexuals every day to reverse "this devastating pathology."

1998-Researchers at the 12th World Conference on AIDS reported that a drug-resistant strain of HIV had been identified.

2000  Scouts Can Reject Gay Leaders ... 06/29/2000 The Salt Lake Tribune 06/29/2000 Page: A1 Scouts Can Reject Gay Leaders LDS Church hails high court ruling; homosexuals pledge to continue fight for public acceptance; Boy Scouts Can Ban Gay Leaders Even as the Boy Scouts and LDS Church celebrated a U.S. Supreme Court victory in a decade-long fight against admitting homosexual Scoutmasters, Gays bitterly vowed to wage their struggle anew in the court of public opinion.    "This is a pyrrhic victory for the Boy Scouts of America leadership; they have won for themselves the dubious right to be bigoted and exclusionary," said Evan Wolfson, senior staff attorney for the New York-based Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc. "They have shown  . . .  the country that they stand for discrimination."    In a 5-4 decision Wednesday, justices found that forcing the 90-year-old, 3.9 million-strong group to admit Gay leaders would violate the organization's rights of free expression and free association under the Constitution's First Amendment. While Gay-rights advocates insisted the ruling set a dangerous precedent, they agreed with other legal observers -- including two Utah attorneys -- that the decision's effect would likely be limited to sexual-orientation issues. Salt Lake civil-liberties attorney Brian Barnard, who won a 1993 U.S. Supreme Court case upholding the state's revocation of the St. George Elks Club's liquor license because it refused to admit women, said it would be "a major stretch" to apply Wednesday's Scouting decision to gender cases at large.    "The distinction is that our society has already said there is no legitimate difference between men and women," he said. "Our society has not yet said the same thing in regard to sexual orientation."    Barnard noted that the case against the Boy Scouts was filed by a former Gay Scoutmaster under a New Jersey law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation -- a law that has no parallel in Utah statutes. John Baldwin, executive director of the Utah State Bar, also failed to "see this at all as an inroad for other organizations to discriminate."    "Maybe it's closer than comparing apples to oranges, but it's still at least oranges and tangerines," he said.   Wolfson likewise dismissed the potential for the ruling to "open the floodgates of discrimination" but insisted that exclusion on the basis of sexual orientation would be reason enough for an increasingly accepting American public to make Scouting regret its policy.  "Those who actively support the Boy Scouts must now work to end discrimination and send a message of fairness," he said.  Failing that, he and others called for creation of an alternative organization for youth.  Wolfson rebuked The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which had threatened to pull its 410,000 Scouts from the program if it were forced to accept Gay troop leaders.  Second only in size to the 420,000 Scouts sponsored by the United Methodist Church, the Mormon stand weighed heavily in the group's decision to stand firm on its ban of Gay leaders, Wolfson said. "The LDS Church played a huge role in pushing [the Boy Scouts] leadership into adopting discriminatory rhetoric and policy that's going to be a tremendous detriment to this organization," he charged during a teleconference. "It will cause public schools and others [non private sponsors] to reconsider their involvement with [Scouting]."   In a brief statement, the LDS Church applauded the justices for "affirming the constitutional right of the Boy Scouts of America as a private association to determine its own standards for membership and selection of leaders."    Church officials declined further comment, but the decision -- and the LDS Church's stand -- won the gratitude of scouting leaders in Utah. "We are indebted to those who have filed friendly briefs in Scouting's behalf," said Kay Godfrey, spokesman for the BSA's Great Salt Lake Council.  The LDS Church was joined by The National Catholic Committee on Scouting, the United Methodist Men, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the National Council of Young Israel in filing supporting briefs.  Godfrey estimates that there are more than 150,000 Scouts in Utah, more than 90 percent of them from units sponsored by Mormon church wards.   To RDell Johnson, the decision is a disaster for Scouting and a death knell to his dreams of volunteering as a troop leader. Johnson, now a 27-year-old staffer at Salt Lake City's Gay and Lesbian Community Center; says he was 13 when he won Eagle Scout honors.    He is also Gay, though he didn't "come out" until he was 15.    "I was quite clearly aware of my orientation when I was 13," Johnson said. "So was one other boy in my troop, who was a year older than me; we were lovers." The high court's ruling locks the door on Johnson's plans to someday lead a Scouting troop, a position he says he would have otherwise accepted "in a heartbeat" to share his love of the outdoors and Scouting's life lessons. Gary Watts, a Provo physician and board member of the national Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays group, complained that the ruling will "perpetuate the myth that all Gay men are pedophiles and cannot be trusted with our youths.  "It paints an entire class of people with a broad brush," said Watts, whose Gay son was an Eagle Scout. "This decision will be very painful to them and their loved ones." The ruling reversed a New Jersey Supreme Court finding that the Scouts wrongly ousted James Dale in 1990 after learning he was Gay. On Wednesday, however, Dale balanced his defeat with optimism that his struggle would pave the way for future Gay Scoutmasters.   "There's a lot of room for hope in terms of where America is going," said Dale, who now lives in New York City and is advertising director for a magazine for people who are HIV-positive. "America is going in the right direction [in terms of the acceptance of Gays]."   Members of Utah's all-Republican congressional delegation contacted Wednesday praised the justices' ruling. Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, found the ruling “legally and constitutionally sound."   Sen. Bob Bennett added, "It's hard to find a provision in the Constitution that says any citizen has the 'right' to be an official in the Boy Scouts or for that matter any other private organization.   "Without discussing the question of whether homosexuality is good or bad, a sin or not  . . .  this comes down to whether a private organization had the right to choose its own leaders."   Rep. Chris Cannon said "it was good to see the court reaffirm things most constitutional scholars considered clear."   Vicki Varela, press secretary for Gov. Mike Leavitt, said her boss found it "very appropriate" the justices decided the Scouts were "a private organization  . . .  able to set the policies and standards for its members."   In addition to Rehnquist, the majority was joined by Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. Dissenting were Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen  Breyer.    In the dissent, Stevens contended that the New Jersey anti-discrimination law Dale sued under does not "impose any serious burdens" on the Boy Scouts' goals, "nor does it force [the Boy Scouts] to communicate any message that it does not wish to endorse. New Jersey's law, therefore, abridges no constitutional right of the Boy Scouts."  

Bythe Nobelman

2003    Section: Opinion    Page: AA4 Salt Lake Tribune Photo Caption: Blythe D. Nobleman Collaboration is necessary to improve minority inclusion in society By Blythe D.Nobleman  On Wednesday, I took part in a panel discussion at the University of Utah titled "Defining Minority: A Process of Inclusion?" The panel was formed to provide a structured, civil forum for discussion about the burning questions of how we recognize and designate minority status in government and society. I was heartened to see that the room was filled to capacity. The panel was to include Theresa Martinez, associate professor of sociology and gender studies; Ana Archuleta, probation officer and community activist; Brenda Lyshaug, professor of political science; William Smith, professor of race relations; Tony Yapias, state director of Hispanic Affairs, and me.  Smith called to say that he was running late, but did not arrive. Archuleta had a last-minute family emergency and was unable to participate. The discussion included personal anecdotes and a discussion about social and political theory. Representing the Salt Lake City Mayor's Office as the Minority Affairs and Communications Coordinator, I described some of the programs, projects, grants and hiring initiatives the mayor has implemented in order to provide greater recognition of, and opportunities for, people from all "minority" communities. The panel discussion itself was lively, informative, insightful and thought-provoking. After an hour, the moderators, Charles Milne of the University's Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center, and Tim Chambless of the Hinckley Institute of Politics, handed the microphone over to the audience for what was supposed to be a question/answer session. When the microphone was passed among audience members, the discussion, which had been inspiring and dynamic up until then, became a free-for-all for a few people who continue to criticize my appointment as the Minority Affairs and Communications Coordinator on the basis that I am not a member of an ethnic minority community. I understand that a few people do not want others to infringe upon their "minority" turf. However, we all need to find common ground and work together, rather than allow a few abusive, disruptive people to divide us. As a lesbian, I belong to a "minority" community. I have been subjected to exclusion, discrimination and persecution. I do not have equal rights to marry the person I love or to adopt children. I also have felt the disdain and condescension aimed in my direction solely on account of my sexual orientation. Contrary to Carol Goode's uninformed, cruel comment, I did not "choose" my sexual orientation. Believe me, few people would choose to attract the belittlement, cruelty and hatred so often directed at gays and lesbians.    This essential dialogue last Wednesday was sidetracked by intolerant, hateful comments made by a few screaming audience members. I was disheartened by their lack of civility and respect. I was saddened by their abuse of a situation in which an intelligent, challenging, open discussion had previously taken place, and of their undermining an opportunity for further exploration and dialogue relating to such crucial issues. The argument that a white lesbian does not deserve to work in a minority affairs position reduces the issues of bias and discrimination to being solely about skin color and race. No one person can represent all minority communities, ethnic or otherwise. We have a great deal of work to do  --  work that we must accomplish in collaboration with each other as we exercise the utmost empathy, tolerance, respect and, above all, kindness. -----    Blythe D. Nobleman is minority affairs and communications coordinator in the Salt Lake City mayor's office.

Paula Wolfe

2003    Section: Opinion    Page: AA3 Salt Lake Tribune Photo Caption: Paul Wolfe Implications of the Supreme Court's ruling on sodomy Decision secures rights for the oppressed By Paula Wolfe Sodomy has been used to deny equal rights and equal protection to a group of people. Regularly, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of Utah are denied housing, are fired from their jobs, denied access to their partners in health-care situations. In Utah, members of this community are more than three times more likely to be a victim of a hate crime.

• --  A year ago, the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah was asked to sign on to the amicus brief of Lawrence versus. Texas. On June 26, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a decision in that case that, in essence, invalidated 13 state sodomy laws, including Utah's. For a third of a century, sodomy laws permitted the government to dictate what was appropriate in our bedrooms. They controlled and defined the most intimate component of an adult relationship. Some sodomy laws, such as the one in Texas, named only homosexuals as potential offenders. Other state laws, including Utah's, made illegal any non-procreative acts, regardless of sex or gender. In only four of the 13 states were the laws ever enforced. Invariably, they chose to prosecute only homosexuals. As Justice Sandra Day O'Connor pointed out, we were denied equal protection under the law. Since Utah has not evoked its sodomy law, why is our gay community so excited about this decision? Sodomy has been used to deny equal rights and equal protection to a group of people. Regularly, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of Utah are denied housing, are fired from their jobs, denied access to their partners in health-care situations. In Utah, members of this community are more than three times more likely to be a victim of a hate crime. They are more likely to commit suicide. Lesbians are more likely to lose custody of their natural-born children, and men and women without any criminal conviction are denied the right to adopt a child. Every year when the hate crimes bill comes before Utah's Legislature, it stumbles over the term "sexual orientation." The thinking seems to be that if homosexuals are illegal, they don't deserve to be protected. Not too many years ago we believed that African-Americans were inferior and therefore did not deserve the same rights as the rest of us. We created an entire culture built upon a notion of "separate but equal." In an effort to join the rest of our society as full citizens, the gay community has struggled since the '60s for equal rights. The Supreme Court has taken a step toward the recognition of that protection and those rights. The dissenting opinions written by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas argue that laws do control or define morality and that if a law was enacted yesterday, we should practice it today. From this perspective, I assume we should bring back the laws that permitted the burning of witches, laws against miscegenation and, while we are at it, let's eliminate that vote for women. On a more serious note, it is my hope that this decision will extend its influence beyond gay men and lesbians to include the rest of what some of us call the "queer" community. It is my hope that the rights to privacy and personal liberty will be extended to include those immigrants and naturalized citizens who were most recently held without any proof of wrongdoing, without the right of appeal, without an opportunity to let their families know where they were.  I hope this decision will shore up our commitment as a nation to the vision of our forefathers, to offer equal protection for every person in America. ----- Paula Wolfe, Ph.D., is executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Utah.
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Paul Mero

2003 Paul T. Mero Justices delivered a loss for the family by Paul Mero     The culture war is actually defined by its primary institutional combatants -- the family vs. the individual. Utahns traditionally side with the family. The Supreme Court has now bedded down with the individual in legitimizing homosexuality.   -- On its face, the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a Texas law proscribing homosexual sodomy is simply reflective of our changing culture. In an obviously downward-spiraling atomistic culture, we might ask what took them so long.  As law, the court's decision is mired in contradiction and judicial whim. On the one hand, the court finds violations of due process in the case. On the other hand, it omits to establish a "fundamental right" to homosexual sodomy required to find a violation of due process. On the one hand, the court rejects the idea that proscribing sexual morality presents a legitimate state interest, presumably including our laws against prostitution, adult incest, bestiality, obscenity, or homosexual marriages. And then on the other hand, limply reassures us that its decision only pertains to a legitimate state interest in private, consensual sex between adults and will not extend further.  Most perplexing is the court's perverse argument that the Texas law somehow undermines the home. "The state is not omnipresent in the home." But how is a proscription against homosexual sodomy a threat to the home? The answer lies deeper in the court's majority opinion.  The state of Texas argued that its homosexual sodomy statute regarded conduct only and spoke nothing to the humanity of the people involved in that conduct. The Supreme Court disagreed and stated that such a law is "demeaning" to people engaged in such conduct because such "conduct can be but one element in a personal bond that is more enduring."   As creepy as that line feels, it reveals the court's bias in this case. This ruling is not simply about the legal nuances of homosexual sex; this decision is about legitimizing homosexuality in general.  Justice Antonin Scalia, in his dissenting opinion, wrote that, "Today's opinion is the product of a court . . . that has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda." And that, "It is clear from this that the court has taken sides in the culture war."  Indeed it has, perhaps more so than even Justice Scalia realizes. The culture war is not simply a war between the sexually proud and the sexually prude. The culture war is actually defined by its primary institutional combatants -- the family versus. the individual. Only one can claim the title of fundamental unit of society. Utahns traditionally side with the family. The Supreme Court has now bedded down with the individual in legitimizing homosexuality.  Homosexuality very well could become the flagship of individualism over time. It is no coincidence that the right-leaning Cato Institute and the left-leaning American Civil Liberties Union, each dedicated to atomistic individualism, both submitted friend-of-the-court briefs supporting a change of law in Texas. Defenders of the family institution should be alarmed. The poor legal reasoning and deceptive scholarship so evident in this decision will certainly lead to numerous legal challenges on several other fronts of the culture war. Scalia calls this decision a "massive disruption of the current social order."     Ironically, this hostile future for the family was predicted in the Bowers decision, the case presumably overturned by this new decision. In Bowers, the court wrote, "The law is constantly based on notions of morality, and if all laws representing essentially moral choices are to be invalidated under the Due Process Clause, the courts will be very busy indeed." And now, so they will.   -----   Paul T. Mero is president of The Sutherland Institute, a Utah-based public policy research institute, and a member of The Tribune's Editorial Board Advisory Committee.

2003 FAMILY FELLOWSHIP FORUM  Sunday June 29, 2003 2:30 p.m. Salt Lake Library Auditorium 210 E 400 South Salt Lake City Family Fellowship Building Bridges - Healing Relationships - Loving and Serving All Dear Friend of Family Fellowship,     The quarterly Family Fellowship Forum will be held on Sunday, June 29th at 2:30 p.m., in the new Salt Lake City Library Auditorium, 210 East 400 South.  Please note the time change from our customary start at 5 p.m.   A short film, "Blessing," will be presented to be followed by a panel discussion and a question and answer period.  Our panelists will be Wayne and Sandra Schow and David and Carlie Hardy!!  Synopsis of the film:  Bill Dunn, an orthodox Mormon father, recently suffered a heart attack, and has just been released from the hospital.  His wife and four adult children, a mixture of active and non-active Mormons, gather on a Sunday evening to welcome him home.  The bishop of Bill's ward is also present.  The middle son, David, arrives late.  David, a returned missionary, is gay.  Bill's wife insists that a Priesthood blessing be given, to aid Bill in his recovery.  David's active LDS brothers make it clear that David is "unworthy" to participate in the blessing.  This film explores the excruciatingly complex tension between "worthiness" and "unconditional love," taking a hard look at the idea of "exclusion" and its repercussions.  In dealing with an issue as volatile and emotionally charged as Mormonism and homosexuality, this film seeks to raise questions rather than supply answers.     Stephen Williams recently received an MFA in Film Studies from the University of Utah, with an emphasis in Film Production.  He also holds an MBA from Northwestern University and a BA in English Literature from BYU.  His short film, "The Cufflink" has won several awards, including the Gold Hugo at the 2002 Chicago International Film Festival.  The film has been featured at numerous other film festivals around the country.  Outside of film, he has worked professionally as an actor, opera singer, and art dealer.  Currently, he teaches film courses at Salt Lake Community College.   The program will conclude at 4:00 p.m. and will be followed by a light buffet.  The Family Fellowship strives to encourage all family members to love, strengthen, and support one another.  We are concerned and care about gay individuals and their family members.  We do not feel compelled to agree on how gay individuals should express their sexuality or on what the official response of the LDS Church to its gay members should be.  We ask that there be no "bashing" of any person, group, or church.  Please join with us in a spirit of love and understanding. Sincerely, Family Fellowship

James Hicks

2003 James Hicks  to David Thometz David, Very cool!  I believe it opens a lot of doors.  However, I also believe the right-wing groups are working fast to close those doors.  We can not sit idle as they plan and scheme.  We must take action as quickly as possible and sue the Eagle Forum and other right wing groups to crush them.  If we don't act quickly I am convinced they will get a hold of our legislators and despite the latest ruling they will find something else that will take away our equality.  I know people don't believe me.  But I strongly feel it deep inside, I know the Eagle Forum is working as I write this e-mail to do damage to us as a GLBT community.  I realize people have a difficult time believing those of us with "gut feelings."  I also understand it's difficult to understand what I'm writing, but we need to crush the Eagle Forum "NOW" and not wait.... With much love and friendship, James

2006 The true moral issue Salt Lake Tribune Opponents of same-sex marriage say homosexual relationships are unnatural, harmful and against God's will - in short, immoral. But unnatural? Exclusively homosexual individuals have been documented in more than 60 wild mammal and bird species. Harmful? Some homosexuals abuse drugs, molest children and transmit diseases, as do some heterosexuals. But the many who do not deserve no censure. Gays and lesbians (like straights) can and do have risk-free, emotionally fulfilling sexual relationships. Although they cannot procreate, neither can many heterosexuals, yet holding to love and commitment despite infertility is honorable. Against God's will? Sincere believers disagree about this, as they once did about slavery, but religious doctrine should not be imposed on the whole population when other reasons are lacking, asthey are here. Homosexuality is rarely significantly mutable. It is unrealistic to expect gays and lesbians to be celibate, change orientation or marry traditionally. Two compatible people sharing a life together is the best blueprint for how to satisfy intimacy needs in the long run. Surveys have shown that for homosexuals and heterosexuals alike, the "happiness-maximizing" number of partners is one. No guarantees, but marriage promotes what is best in life regardless of how sex is done in private. Banning same-sex marriage irresponsibly denies this opportunity to millions. That is the true moral issue. Robert Dow Salt Lake City

2007 Ben Williams to Kevin Hillman Kevin, how are you holding up? I've been weepy all week but that's okay. Do you have anymore info on Chad's service? I am going to try and go up Monday for at least the viewing to say my goodbyes.  Do you think it will be at the Thatcher Wardhouse? Thatcher looks to small for a funeral home.  Do you think it would be okay if I went? Love you Ben 

• Kevin Hillman wrote: I am doing well and things are going really well with his family The viewing is at 10:30 am to 11:30 am and the service is at noon This all at the Thatcher Ward House Just so you know it will be a closed casket because of the condition the body was in when I found him and it is best that way And of course you can come.  As soon as the brothers get me the directions I will let you know. The brothers are being very inclusive and it has been nice Later Kevin Chad's  Funeral Services Are going to be held on Monday July 2^nd In Thatcher Idaho about 2 1/2 to 3 hours north from Salt Lake Viewing is from 10:30 am to 11:30 am With the service at Noon Directions and other information as it comes available Kevin  
• From: "Ben Williams" To: "Kevin Hillman" I guess its not like Snow White where you get to lie in a glass casket looking stunning although I am sure Chad would have wanted it that way. If there isn't going to be a viewing I might just go to the SLC Memorial.  I am not really thinking straight I suppose. You are a good man. Ben

2014 No decision on Mormon gay-rights advocate case BY BRADY MCCOMBS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A Mormon man who’s well-known for advocating for gay rights and questioning some church policies says a Utah church leader is taking time to decide whether he’ll be excommunicated. John Dehlin says the regional church leader told him Sunday in Logan, Utah, that he needs to think and pray about Dehlin’s case. The meeting came six days after Kate Kelly, the founder of a prominent Mormon women’s group, was excommunicated in a case that sent ripples throughout the country. Dehlin says another meeting or deadline has not been set and that he agreed not to talk with the media any more about his case. Dehlin was told in June to resign from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or face a disciplinary committee. He’s operated a website for church members questioning their faith.

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