Friday, June 6, 2014

This Day In Gay Utah History June 5th


5 June
1899 Provo Sheriff Storrs brought over from Payson Saturday night the one eye tramp who was arrested for assault on two small boys in a straw attack Thursday night last. The fellow pleaded guilty to indecent exposure and was sentenced to 20 days in the county jail by Justice Thomas H Wilson.

1950 Tuesday Ray Cliver, 63, of New Willard Apartments was stabbed by Harold Homer Jackson, 40, of Earl Hotel. Incident occurred Monday at 9:42 p.m. at the International Bus Depot West Temple and South Temple. Mr. Cliver said he had never seen the attacker before and knew of no reason he should be assaulted. John Henderson, 45, of Stockton California said he escaped injury when he was slashed with a pocked knife in Jackson’s hotel room earlier. The Earl Hotel is located at 33 West 2nd South (SLTribune 06/05/50 Page 9 Col.3)

1966 Natacha Rambova died. She was born 19 January 1897 to Winifred Kimball, a great granddaughter of Latter-day Saint patriarch Heber C. Kimball and  Col. Michael Shaughnessy, whom she married in 1895 in San Francisco, CA. Winifred Kimball had been previously married in 1892 to Lieut. E.L. Butts of the Twenty-first Infantry, United States Army. Her mother subsequently married Edgar de Wolfe who adopted her. Edgar de Wolfe was a brother of the pioneering lesbian American interior decorator Elsie de Wolfe also known as Lady Mendl immortalized in Cole Porter's song Anything Goes. Winifred was educated in the United States and in England, at a girl's school recommended by her step-aunt, Elsie
Lady Mendl
de Wolfe. 
She was known as Winifred Shaughnessy (nickname "Sheba") until she adopted the stage name Natacha Rambova.  Her mother's 4th husband, was cosmetics millionaire Richard Hudnut. While going to school in Europe she changed her name to Natacha Rambova and joined the Imperial Russian Ballet which toured the United States. In America she went to Hollywood where she designed costumes and sets. She would marry the Screen legend Rudolph Valentino in 1922. In 1917 Rudoph Valentino, trying to get to get to California from New York City, worked as a chorister in The Merry Monarch and The Masked Model.  The show closed in
Rudolph Valentino
Ogden, Utah and Valentino was paid off with a train ticket to San Francisco. In late October he met lesbian Jean Acker and a few days later after a brief courtship they married on November 5, 1919. A fiasco, the marriage lasted barely a
Jean Acker
few hours. Jean Acker locked Rudy out of her apartment and refuses to see or speak with him. In December an announcement was made of their official separation. Acker never remarried, used his name for the rest of her career and remained a good friend. They corresponded for the rest of his life.  In 1920 Valentino met the great Russian Lesbian actress Alla Nazimova who was Acker's lover. Nazimova had hired Natacha Rambova, as a designer of the silent film Camille.

While vacationing in Palm Springs, Valentino and Rambova, with Hollywood friends, crossed the border and married in Mexicali, Mexico on May 13, 1922. On May 21, 1922 Valentino is arrested charges of bigamy and is jailed. He is fined $10,000. His bond was posted by his Gay pals June
June Mathis

Mathis, and George Melford. In 1923 the silent film Salome was made with Natacha Rambova and Alla Nazimova using an all homosexual crew and cast. Valentino and Rambova officially married in 1924 but the marriage falls apart and they are divorced 18 January 1926. Rambova was granted a divorce in the French Courts. After Valentino’s untimely death in 1926, Rambova claimed to commune with the spirit of Valentino through a Gay medium named George Wehner.  She later she married a Spanish Count and was caught in the middle of the Spanish Civil War until her escape to France and eventual return to New York City. There she became a well respected interior designer, artist, and even an Egyptologist writing several books on the subject. In 1952 Rambova gave the Utah Museum of Fine Arts several Egyptian objects she had recovered on her trips to study in Egypt. She died of a rare disease that mummified her internal organs.



1968-Artist Andy Warhol was shot by Valerie Solanis, founder and only member of SCUM (Society to Cut Up Men), whose screenplay he had recently rejected. The SCUM Manifesto is a radical feminist manifesto written in 1967 by Valerie Solanas. It argues that men have ruined the world and that women should overthrow society and eliminate the male sex. Reprinted at least 10 times, translated into 13 languages, and excerpted several times, the SCUM Manifesto generated a range of reactions, including that it was utopian, feminist, pre-feminist, crusading, and a call to act; accurate, symbolic, irreverent, funny, outrageous, and extreme; parodic and satiric but not a put-on; witty, shocking, and articulative of rage; nonviolent, a suggestion for retraining of men, a declaration that men would be killed, and a charter for violence; and misandric; and that it sought a women-only world and that it wouldn't be necessary to kill men.

1969-The Committee for Homosexual Freedom newsletter announced that after two weeks of picketing, Frank Dennaro, who was fired from his job at Tower Records because he was Gay, was re-hired. The employee’s union at Tower affirmed that sexual discrimination was an issue over which their union would act.

1971 Theater 138 Underground’s performance of Marc Crowley’s “Boys In the Band” finished its Salt Lake City run. 

1981-  The disease first called GRID Gay Related Immune Deficiency and known as Gay Cancer is discovered. The Centers for Disease Control announced that five previously healthy Gay men in Los Angeles have been diagnosed with pneumocystic carinii pneumonia, a rare disease that previously unknown in people with healthy immune systems. This was the first official warning of what would become the AIDS pandemic.


1983- Harvey Fierstein's play Torch Song Trilogy won the Tony Award for Best Play of theTorch Song Trilogy first opened at the uptown Richard Allen Center in October 1981, produced by The Glines. On January 15, 1982 it transferred to the Actors' Playhouse in Greenwich Village, where it ran for 117 performances, produced by The  Glines.The cast included Fierstein as Arnold, Joel Crothers as Ed, Paul Joynt as Alan, Matthew Broderick as David, and Estelle Getty as Mrs. Beckoff. After eight previews, the Broadway production, directed by Peter Pope, opened on June 10, 1982 at the Little Theatre, where it ran for 1,222 performances. Fierstein, Joynt, and Getty were joined by Court Miller as Ed and Fisher Stevens as David. Later in the run, David Garrison and Jonathan Hadary portrayed Arnold, Craig Sheffer was cast as Alan, and Barbara Barrie replaced Getty.The play won Fierstein two Tony Awards, for Best Play (with John Glines' historic Tony speech that acknowledged his lover and co-producer Larry Lane) and Best Actor in Play; two Drama Desk Awards, for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Actor in a Play; and the Theatre World Award.
Add caption
1982-83 season.

Russ Lane
1986-Thursday- Russ Lane Chapter Director of Wasatch Affirmation called Elder Theodore Burton of the LDS Church to complain about an address Elder Burton had gave at BYU where he called Homosexuality “an abomination.” 

1986 [HEALTH] SL MEETING TOLD PASSING AIDS TO HEALTH WORKERS UNLIKELY (SLTribune B4-5)

1987-  “I  saw Bob McIntier at Backstreet and I asked him why no one told me about Mark Bluto’s death and he said  that he was sorry and just assumed that I knew. He’s very upset with the direction which the Restoration Church is going right now. He said that he felt that John Crane and Tony Feliz have destroyed it by their megalomania. Bob stated that John Crane even sent a threatening letter to Bob McIntier
Robert McIntier
about exposing his Gayness to the LDS Church if Bob pursued a litigation action against Tony.  Bob also said that Tony has even kicked Pamela Calkins out of the First Presidency. Tony claimed to have had a letter from Pam saying she was resigning but Pam says she never did so.” 

1987  Rick E. Cochran age 34 former director of AIDS Project Utah died of AIDS.The first faux pas by the newly created AIDS Project Utah was on the part of its acting Director, Richard Cochran. In October 1986, APU sponsored an AIDS Awareness Week featuring

Roseanne Barr, sister of Ben Barr, an APU emotional support volunteer. Cochran, however, caused a rift in the community when he expressed his gratitude for what he thought was “the first AIDS Awareness Week,” even though the Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire had twice sponsored such activities. This rift led to Cochran’s resignation and Ben Barr’s succession as director in November 1986. Cochran was the only director of an AIDS Project that had full blown AIDS.

1988 I spent most of the day at Memory Grove reading the newspaper and watching the Gay guys play volleyball there until 5:30. Then Ron Murray picked me up and drove me down to KRCL where Becky Moss and I did a show on Coronation and up coming events for the summer for Concerning Gays and Lesbians.

1988 GAY ACTIVIST MICHAEL ORTEGA VOLUNTEERS RENOVATING HOUSE IN PROTEST OF MILITARY SPENDING  It was a different kind of protest: Instead of waving banners and shouting, members of more than a dozen Utah groups scraped and sanded the outside of a vacant house Saturday to call attention to -and deplore - the connection between military spending and the lack of federal funding for low-income housing. "We see it all as real connected," said Barbara Guy of Utah Peace Test, an organization that demonstrates at the Nevada Test Site. "The connection is that money spent on bombs is not money available for affordable housing." Similar "demonstrations" took place simultaneously across the country, organized by National Jobs with Peace as part of a "build homes, not bombs" campaign. According to national statistics, federal funds for housing assistance were cut by 78 percent between 1980 and 1987. At the same time, military spending doubled. For the cost of one Harpoon Missile - $940,000 - Jobs with Peace said four new duplexes could be constructed, as well as complete renovation on 10 units of abandoned housing. And there'd be money left over to weatherize 22 homes, with $2,000 "mad money" remaining. "The current way of thought is diseased, at best," Michael Ortega, Salt Lake Citizen's Congress, said. "You use a tank maybe one time. You use a bomb one time. But an adequate house that's safe, warm and appealing can go through the economy a number of times. We need to step back from the disease of military spending and focus on human service needs." Ortega said housing and human service cuts are "why we see such a neurotic situation of homelessness." As part of the national protest, Jobs with Peace constructed a house at the Pentagon. Other state events included marches, protests, rallies, house buildings, car caravans, neighborhood cleanup, street theater presentations and legislative action. Mary Hutchings, who is involved in several organizations, said, "We have seen landlord after landlord buy property and run it into the ground. They buy a house for nothing, put new glass in the front window and rent it out." She said people who rent that type of house would find it impossible to buy a home, and if they did they wouldn't be able to afford repairs. The site of the protest, a battered vacant house on Genessee Street, should be completed in about six weeks, according to Mark Lundgren, Utah Housing Coalition. A tour of the house showed a need for complete renovation - cleaning, wiring, window replacement, reinstallation, carpeting and painting. The front porch will also have to be rebuilt, but Lundgren said that, thanks to volunteers from the Westside Youth Project who work on it during the week, it should be done on time. Other groups involved in the protest Saturday included Agape Community of Salt Lake, Central America Solidarity Coalition, Crossroads Urban Center, Downwinders, Homeless Organization for People Everywhere, Interfaith Peacemaking Resource Center, KRCL 91 FM, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Sierra Club and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.






1989-  Republicans began circulating a memo that Democratic House Speaker Thomas Foley was a homosexual. The memo compared Foley's voting record to openly Gay Rep. Barney Frank. Those responsible for the memo apologized after Frank threatened to start outing Republican members of congress. Foley "suffered rare indignities in recent months for a House Speaker. Fighting round-the-clock slights on local talk radio, he took to the airwaves, only to be asked questions like whether he is a homosexual. Mr. Foley, who has been married for more than 20 years, said he is not gay."  WASHINGTON — A Republican national party official resigned today under fire, which included a condemnation from a "disgusted" President Bush, for writing a biting memo comparing new
Barney Frank
House Speaker Thomas F. Foley's "closet liberal" record with that of a homosexual congressman. Bush called Lee Atwater, chairman of the Republican National Committee, to complain about the incident and Atwater apologized to Foley, said White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater. "We consider the matter closed," he added. Within an hour of Atwater's apology, Mark Goodin, the author of the memo that equated Foley's voting record with that of Rep. Barney Frank, an acknowledged homosexual, resigned as RNC communications director. Goodin was a press assistant in Bush's 1988 presidential campaign. Fitzwater said Bush, who had a 90-minute lunch today with Foley and House Republican leader Robert H. Michel, had no
Lee Atwater
advance knowledge of the Goodin memo. "He was disgusted by this entire incident," the spokesman said. He said the memo seeking to discredit Foley (D-Wash.) violated the spirit of bipartisan cooperation that Bush has advocated since taking office. "The issue is closed," Foley said outside the White House.
"I deeply regret my decision on the Foley memorandum," Goodin said in a resignation letter to Atwater. But he added: "At no time did I ever intend to damage anyone's reputation. . . . The purpose of the memorandum has been misconstrued. And in that regard, I have no one to blame but myself." The document was headlined "Tom Foley. Out of the Liberal Closet" and said Foley's voting record was as liberal as that of Frank (D-Mass.). Frank accused the GOP of spreading "extraordinarily scurrilous" rumors about Foley. He said Tuesday that the Republicans had smeared the Speaker with "a sleazy headline." Frank implied to reporters that he thought the RNC's decision to focus on him was a not-so-subtle effort to portray Foley as gay. "They put my name on it," Frank said. "It was despicable. They could have picked other liberals and put someone else in the headline." Frank said he might reveal the identity of gay congressional Republicans if the attacks on Democrats continue.


1990 Tuesday-  Debbie Rosenberg came over and picked up Puck, Rocky O'Donavan and myself to go over to Carla Gourdains to tie dye some T-shirts for Pride Day.  They are going to sell them to raise money for the National Conference of Lesbians which they are planning on attending in Georgia. 
Michael K Ball

1990-  Emperor VII  of the Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire Michael K. Ball age 36 died in Anderson, Indiana after a valiant three and an half year struggle with AIDS. He lived in Salt Lake City from 1980-1990. He was survived by special friend Michael Bohney.

1991 Wednesday I talked to Randy [Burt founder of the Lambda Hiking Club] a little this evening. He’s coming ovr next Tuesday to have his [Medicine] cards read [for entry into the Sacred Faeries] I’m meeting with Luci Malin Monday at noon to plan a summer camp out. [Journal of Ben Williams]

1992-  Salt Lake Tribune Page: C5 NEW STATION AIRS GAY-
Willy Marshall
ORIENTED PROGRAMS Byline: By Harold Schindler An alternate-lifestyle television channel, KCN (Channel 38), operating on a low-power UHF license, began broadcasting gay-oriented programming this week on a one-hour-a-week schedule. Bryce Beesley, a Salt Laker who leases the channel from license-holder Willy Marshall of Salt Lake City, broadcast the station's first program, Gay USA, a one-hour videotape newscast, Sunday at 7 p.m. Because of the channel's low-power frequency (1,000 watts) and its UHF signal, the broadcast is limited to the Salt Lake Valley, but Beesley said he planned to find a new location or the transmitter, which would allow a sharper and stronger image within the valley.  ``KCN is gay-oriented,'' he said, ``but the programming will be news from across the nation as it pertains to gays and lesbians. Sunday's show, for instance, had an interview with Jerry Brown and Bill Clinton on issues involving the   gay community; there was a segment on Circus For Life, a fund-raiser for AIDS; and a Queer Nation protest on Wall Street to the Cracker Barrel Restaurant's discrimination in New York on gay hiring.'' Though Channel 38 is on the air at the same hour as the neighboring Trinity Broadcasting Network on UHF Channel 36, another low-power frequency, the signals do not seem to interfere with each other. (TBN is a religious program beamed from Santa Ana, Calif.)    ``We hope to increase our broadcast hours from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. by July 1, but that is dependent on advertising,'' Beesley said. He underwrites Gay USA at the present time, but expects to have other underwriters and sponsors on line to put classic motion pictures on air, and some of the old, campy B-rated pictures, films like I Was A Teenage Werewolf, that are in the public domain and can be aired at a minimum of expense. ``I want to stress that KCN is a very conservative station with a conservative approach. There will be no soft porno or anything of the kind. It's my intention to show the general public that gays are people; we have families and are like the neighbors next door. We want to overcome the prejudice that exists toward gays,'' he said.

1992- The Utah Stonewall Center, a Gay and Lesbian community center exhibited works
of regional artists at its one year anniversary celebration on Saturday. Photographs by Suzanna Kefalopoulos was featured during the month of June.  Kefalopoulos was a graduated from California State University at Long Beach. (SLTribune B5 6/5/92)

1992 Salt Lake Tribune Page: B2 FILM FESTIVAL EMPHASIZES PRIDE IN GAY, LESBIAN MOVIES  ``Exposed,'' the second annual Utah gay and lesbian film festival, will take place during two weekends in June in the Salt Lake Art Center Auditorium, 20 S. West Temple. The event is part of Gay and Lesbian Pride Week activities; tickets are on sale from the Utah Stonewall Center, 450 S. 900 East, suite 140.    The schedule includes ``Salut Viktor!'' and ``Fighting Chance'' on June 12. ``Before Stonewall'' and ``DiAna's Hair Ego: AIDS Info Up Front'' will screen June 13. ``Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'' plays June 26, followed on June 27 with ``Le Coeur A Decouvert (The Exposed Heart).'' All films begin at 7 p.m.

1993   Utah AIDS Foundation’s Walk for Life, at Liberty Park, walk at 10a.m., ending back at Liberty Park, followed by food and activities

1994 The Rev. Cindy Solomon was formally installed as pastor of Sacred Light of Christ Metropolitan Community Church. The church has been without a pastor for the past 18 months, and
Cindy Solomon
following the Rev. Solomon's guest appearance at the church during Holy Week, members overwhelmingly voted to call her to the post. She has been serving on the pastoral staff at Family of Faith Metropolitan Community Church in Tulsa, Okla.


1995-Saturday Scott Allan Wear, 32, has found peace as he slipped from this world, June 5, 1995, due to complications of AIDS. Scott was born December 8, 1962. He lived many places, but for the last three years, here in Salt Lake City. Scott loved the outdoors and was always "going fishing". Scott leaves behind some very precious friends, Danny, Dick, John and Paula. Thank you to Dr. Andy Pavia, Travelers Aid and Doxey Hatch. A special thanks to the Utah AIDS Foundation, for what was at times Scott's only source of support. We love and miss you, Scott 

1997-Colorado governor Roy Romer vetoed a state measure seeking to ban same-sex marriage for the second time. He instead appointed a commission to investigate the rights and responsibilities of same-sex relationships.

Michael Bowers
1997-Former Republican Georgia Attorney General Michael Bowers' political ambitions were derailed when, during his campaign for the 1998 Republican gubernatorial nomination, he admitted to a decade-long extramarital affair with his employee and secretary, a former Playboy Club waitress. Georgia's sodomy law carries penalties for adultery. Bowers  defended the constitutionality of a Georgia criminal sodomy statute in a test case brought by the ACLU. The plaintiff was Michael Hardwick, a man who had been arrested by the Atlanta Police Department on charges including violation of the state sodomy statute. (Hardwick had engaged in consensual sex in the privacy of his own home.) The relevant county
Michael Hardwick
district attorney refused to prosecute the case, but the courts ruled that Hardwick nevertheless had standing to challenge the constitutionality of the statute. The United States Supreme Court upheld the statute in Bowers v. Hardwick (1986). The Georgia statute that Michael Hardwick had challenged was overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court in a subsequent case in 1998. The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned its Bowers ruling in a 2003 decision, Lawrence v. Texas, in which it stated that "Bowers was not correct when it was decided, and it is not correct today." Bowers has declined further comment on the case, saying "I did my job as best I knew how, and reasonable people can disagree about it, but that’s all I want to say about it now."


1998 The First Annual Gay and Lesbian A. A. Conference of Utah  Three day conference Sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian A. A. Groups of Utah 

1999-Time magazine placed Harvey Milk alongside Mother Theresa and Rosa Parks as one of the 100 heroes of the century.

2002 From: Chad C Keller To: Steve Kmetko [Grand Marshall] Subject: Flight Schedule Importance: High Just in case you did not receive the package. Here is your flight information coming to Salt Lake City  Flight 324 Friday June 7 Delta Airlines  LAX 605pm will arrive here at 8:49 Leaving Salt Lake City  Flight 396 Sunday June 8 Delta Airlines 4:20pm arrive at LAX 5:16 Stella is booked. There is only a beverage for both flights. So let me know if you would like to go eat before or after the official arrival party at The Trapp Door.  Thanks!  Chad Email 

  • Steve Kmetko to Chad Keller: Hi Chad, Below are the remarks I penned for tonight's
    dinner.  I hope it's not Too long.  The package arrived.  Very nice guide, but I thought we'd agreed on First Class tickets, not Coach.  Hmmmmmmmmmm.  “Hi, folks, and thanks for inviting me to serve as Utah Pride Grand  Marshall. As those close to me have learned, I certainly can be GRAND when the situation calls for it. Anyway, I'm very excited and looking forward to meeting as many of you as humanly possible this weekend.  I'm sorry I can't be with you tonight but my home is currently undergoing renovations and the plumber had to turn off the water to the house.  I couldn't shower.  I took one look in the mirror and---after the paramedics were called and revived me---I said to myself: “I can't go to
    Salt Lake City with bad hair!"  Trust me, it's better this way.  I hope at the very least you'll help me celebrate Pride weekend by joining me on Friday Night at the Trapp Door. One brief story I'd like to share with you before you get on with the festivities tonight.  20 years ago, when I was but a fledgling broadcaster in Grand Rapids, Michigan, I was in line for a promotion that was very important to me.  That is until the General Manager learned that I was gay. He called me up to his office and asked me all kinds of questions he had no right to ask, and questions that had nothing to do with my job performance. Personal questions like "Do your parents know you're gay?" and "Do you show affection to your gay 'lover' in public?"  He even made the remark "You’re not going to be marching in any parades, are you?"  At the end of the meeting he told me "You may as well start looking for a new job because you’re not going any further here."  I wound up getting several good jobs, including my current one at E! where everyone knows my sexual orientation and it's a non-issue.  So now, here I am in Hollywood.  I don't know where the Hell that General Manager wound up.  And Hallelujah!  This Sunday, I finally get my chance to march in that parade, and I can't wait!  All my best till then,Steve Kmetko.
2003 Subj: Saturday's Film  - SLC  Just a short reminder about the film, Brother Outsider, that the Stonewall Democrats and the Black Caucus of the Democratic are sponsoring this Saturday, the 7th at the new Salt Lake Public Library. The film is FREE and will begin at 11:00am in the Auditorium.  The film is 88 minutes long and we will have a short discussion after. Please tell anyone who may be interested and we'll see you Saturday! Mike Picardi, Chair, Utah Stonewall democrats

2003 Donald Steward CYBER SLUTS -Pride Parade – Sunday 8 Logistics Information: Tam Captains need to sign in between
Donald Steward
7:00 and 7:30 a.m. on Sunday in the forming area (300 South between Main and State streets) to receive their lineup and assignments. Your entry will be assigned to a color group and you will line up in that color column. Floats and vehicles need to be in the forming area between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. and MUST enter 300 South from the Main Street side traveling east, as we do not have room to turn floats around in the forming area. Walking groups should be in place at the latest, by 8:30 a.m. We will make important safety announcements concerning traffic, protesters, dispersement, and parking at the end of the parade at 8:30 a.m. Because of noise ordinances and the equestrian units, there will be no idling of engines or amplified music until Step Off. There will be Port-A-Potties near the forming area. STEP OFF will be promptly at 9:00 a.m. so the parade can disperse and the opening ceremony can commence at 10:15 a.m. Miscellaneous Stuff: The giant Rainbow Flag which usually is towards the beginning of the parade will be the final entry (sort of like the Santa Claus float in the Macy's Parade). After it has passed spectators will simply close in behind the flag, and some spectators will be asked to pick up one of the twenty rainbow balloon pillars along the parade route, and take them to the festival area. This allows the police to clear the barricades quickly and open the streets back up to traffic. The dispersement area is one block away from the festival area. Why? Because of the University Trax line on 400 South. For safety and speed reasons in the dispersement area, floats will be directed to the left for parking/dismantling and walking entries will be directed to the right. To facilitate the movement and clearing of the parade, we are not doing a reviewing stand this year. Judging for the five Parade Awards will be done close to the Step Off area and winners will be announced in the Opening Ceremony. The Parade is divided into six color groups. Each will be led by an arch of single color balloons. Under that arch (or very close by) will be one of the Parade Coordinators (Members of the Utah Cyber Sluts) who have radios and are tied into the logistics and public safety folks. If you have any problems or questions during the parade, these are the people to go to. If you have questions before then my cell phone number is (801)597-9844. Enjoy the Parade ... Fergie and all of the Utah Cyber Sluts.

Gweneth Mulder
2003  Gweneth G. Mulder, a granddaughter of Suza Young Gates, and great granddaughter of Brigham Young was born and reared in Salt Lake City. She worked at the University of Utah for many years. She received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the "U." She became a college Professor in Sociology spending most of her career at Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL. Upon her retirement she was awarded the status of Professor Emeritus and a scholarship was established in her name. When she retired (age 72) she returned to Utah and settled in Park City to be near her beloved mountains. She was very active as a volunteer for the Park City Arts Council, The Utah Aids Foundations and was instrumental in establishing a PFLAG chapter in Salt Lake City.  

2003 Chad Keller  to Ben Williams- Well it is official, and of all the things in life this will hurt the most. An email was sent to the Pride committee last year, and all the chairs invited to ride in a truck behind Billy and Sherry.  Like Booth deserves any credit. It is not like I put my life on hold, and worked my butt off, again for the rest of the world to take credit, and then to be treated like crap because I wanted to save pride, rather than just sit with a financial problem, so that handing it to the Death Star Center. But that was the plan all along, I was just the Motley Fool that stumbled across the plan and took issue. While I know that there may have been personality conflicts, it would be nice to be recognized once in a while.  Yeah I take the issues head on, and totally don’t care if   I grow old and tired, and maybe none of it really matters.  And I know that I’m not and will not be the most loved in their circle, but it would have still be nice to be asked. And I still haven’t gotten the other call either, but as I was told yesterday by Marianne Martindale and Craig Miller, "Oh yeah their making a big deal of the award, and all are going to be there.  They will be calling, I’m sure that its and oversight." Well I’m done, the gloves are off, and screw it all. From here on out is about me, and those that respect me, and if you don’t want to hear what I have to say don’t ask.  The biggest slap in the face yet, but I should have seen it coming. I have been patient with them, I am ordering a Birthday Cake, and am having it delivered.  The wording: Happy 29th Anniversary. Here’s to many great and often profitable years!

2003 Ben Williams to USHS members We could use some help setting up the six history kiosks on the library plaza Sunday morning on the 8th for Pride Day. We need people with trucks to transport the flat sided 8 x 2 feet billboard like kiosks and help place them. They are light. If you can help it would be much appreciated. Please email Ben Williams or leave message. Thanks for all you do and remember "Pride is more than a Party."
  • Mark Thrash to Ben Williams SUBJECT: Thank You Ben!  Thank You! Ben, thank you for that statement about "Pride being more than a Party" at the end of your email. That statement rings true to a discussion I recently had with some of my friends here in
    Mark Thrash
    Utah just yesterday. I was telling them how frustrating it is that too many people view Pride simply to cruise, meet new guys that they never see at the club and a way to get noticed. In Utah, it is less about being "proud" and more about meeting guys. I remember Pride festivals in Arkansas where we had many "lessons learned" type displays and speakers. I severely miss those days and focused events... Thanks, Mark XXVIII
  • Jan Sylvester to Ben Williams- Hi Ben,  Yes I should be able to help I have a truck.  Call me so I can get more details and a time.   Thanks   Jan
Larry Tidwell
2004 Gay Mormons find acceptance in Restoration Church Larry Tidwell speaks to parishioners at the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ. (Isaac Brekken/The Salt Lake Tribune) Parishioners of the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ participate in the sacrament at a service. The church has a primarily lesbian, gay and bisexual membership. (Isaac Brekken/The Salt Lake Tribune) This is the logo of The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ. "Our mission is to those who feel outcast and lost," says Larry Tidwell, presiding patriarch of the church. By Rosemary Winters The Salt Lake Tribune  The small chapel looks like hundreds of others in the Salt Lake valley: powder blue upholstered pews with back pockets that hold green hymn books, auditorium-style seats in the front for speakers, a white lace tablecloth draped over a table for blessing the sacrament.     But the congregants set this chapel apart from any wardhouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ has a primarily lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender membership. But this is not a "gay copy of the LDS Church," says church president Robert McIntier.  The Restoration Church teaches that Joseph Smith restored the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth and that the Book of Mormon
Robert McIntier
is an authentic scripture, but it also has many teachings that are distinct from the LDS Church. The LDS Church teaches that it is not a sin to be attracted to others of the same sex, but that those Mormons who do should ignore those feelings and live the law of chastity, abstaining from sexual activity outside of marriage.  Mormons are also taught that heterosexual marriage is sacred and essential to reach the highest realm of heaven. But these teachings leave many gay Mormons torn between a religion that promises eternal salvation or accepting their sexuality to find a loving relationship in this life. In The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ, members don't have to make such a harrowing choice: gay people can have sexual relationships while receiving the blessings of the gospel. For them, chastity means sex between two people who have mutual love and respect.   "The Lord can't require gay people to have sex within the bond of marriage if they can't get married," says Larry Tidwell, presiding patriarch of the church. "My own feeling is that those who have the law will be judged by it, and those who don't have the law will not."  Believing that the faith's first president, Antonio A. Feliz, received his priesthood power in 1973 from LDS Church President Harold B. Lee, The Restoration Church performs "sealings" -- much like marriage ceremonies in the LDS Church -- in a room of the chapel that has been dedicated as a "temple."     Like the LDS Church, Restorationists have endowment ceremonies but they do not do them as proxies for others nor do baptism for the dead. The church believes in the same scriptures used by the LDS Church, but also has its own book of scripture, Hidden Treasures and Promises, which contains revelations members believe were given to church leaders by God. Unlike the LDS Church, which limits priesthood membership to males 12 and older, the Restoration Church allows women to hold the priesthood and any church office, including president. Members believe in a Heavenly Mother along with Heavenly Father and speak openly about her.  They believe in the Word of Wisdom, which forbids the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, but that it is a health guideline, not a requirement for church callings or temple recommends, documents that attest to a candidate's "worthiness" to enter the temple.  It was in 1985 that six men in Los Angeles who had left the LDS Church founded The Church of Jesus Christ of All Latter-day Saints -- later changed to The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ to avoid confusion with the LDS Church -- as a haven for gay Mormons who feel estranged from the LDS Church but still keep the faith. Feliz, author of Out of the Bishop's Closet, was named the first president but was voted out eight months later when members disliked changes he made without their consent. The Los Angeles congregation disintegrated after Feliz left. In 1989, there were congregations -- called "families," not wards -- in Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Houston, Albuquerque and San Diego, but now only the Salt Lake City group remains.  "Our mission is to those who feel outcast and lost," says Larry Tidwell, presiding patriarch of the church. "This church is an option, a choice for the marginalized." Angela Carter attends the Restoration Church with two of her kids and her partner Bonnie Workman. She enjoys being able to worship the way she learned in her youth in the LDS Church, but without feeling judged for her sexuality. "It's very different from the LDS Church," she says. "We accept one another." Carter and Workman are among only about 10 people who attend Sunday meetings regularly, and Tidwell recognizes this church is not an option that appeals to everyone in the gay LDS community, which likely numbers in the thousands. Some reject religion entirely when they come out, especially those who maintain Mormon beliefs, he says.  "They've been burned [by the LDS Church], and they don't want to come here and be burned again," Tidwell says.     Other gay Mormons may try to remain active in the LDS Church or become inactive but hope the church's policy on homosexuality will eventually change.     Rick Bickmore followed LDS principles for many years. He served a mission, married in the temple and tried to overcome his attraction to men. When he realized he couldn't love his wife the way she deserved, the two divorced. He stopped attending LDS services because he disagreed with the church's teachings about homosexuality.  "I knew in my heart that it was right for me to be gay and that wasn't something that should be changed even if it could be," he says.  For the past six years, Bickmore has directed the Wasatch chapter of Affirmation, a national support group for gay and lesbian Mormons. He has investigated other religions, but he has decided against joining another church, including the Restoration Church. He says the LDS Church is "the most true church, the one that comes closest to the mark."  Bickmore holds onto the hope that some day a new divine revelation will change LDS policy on homosexuality, just as the church received a message in 1978 to open its once-closed priesthood to black men. The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ does not claim to be the only true church, but rather sees truth in all churches spawned by Smith, including the LDS Church and the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints). The Restoration Church has experienced a lot of flux in its 19-year history. Two years ago, McIntier and Tidwell were the only two people showing up on Sunday. Now a few more come regularly to meetings, and McIntier says he is in touch with about 50 people who are affiliated with the church but live too far away to be active members. "There are so many times when it would be easy to give up," says McIntier. "But little things keep happening to make me think this is still the right path, this is still what God wants us to do." 

Jere Key
2005 Sunday Ben, I wasn’t going to respond originally, but I’ve heard this rumor floating around quite a bit and thought maybe I ought to. In your last column you wrote, “Sadly, I recently heard that drag queens would not be allowed to perform at Gay Pride Day.” This is absolutely not true. We do have drag queens on stage this year. Juan Lopez and his Latin Drag Extravaganza. Never has Pride said that drag queens would not be allowed on stage. In fact, we would love nothing more than to make sure our stage is as diverse as our community. However, all our performers are expected to follow the same process and agree to the same rules. Every other performer on the stages this year submitted demo tapes, play lists, and signed contracts saying they would not appear on stage either intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. The sad truth is that other than Juan Lopez and his Latin drag troupe, no other drag queens were willing to follow the same process everyone else is expected to follow. Additionally, I hope you’ll notice that our entertainment line-ups are both the festival and acoustic stage are nearly evenly divided between male and female performers and represent a variety of musical styles. It is impossible to please everyone when planning a festival music line-up, but we really do try. The entertainment line-up is among the first aspects of the festival to get planned (the line-ups were completed in March) each year. Anyway, I don’t know where you heard that drag queens were not welcome, but I want to emphasize that this is an unfair, untrue rumor. Jere Keys

2006 Now that everyone or nearly everyone has recovered from Pride Day I was wondering what people thought about it. A person on a blog I subscribe to wrote: "We're back from Pride already... We didn't stay all that long, it was very hot! :( I wasn't very inspired to take any pictures either, so I didn't... sorry about that. There wasn't anything spectacular to take pictures of. Don't get me wrong, the festitives was OK... but after a complete trip around the whole thing, we didn't really feel compelled to stay for any entertainment, especially with the heat." My roommate Mike said that the films shown for the Pride Day events were well worth the $5 ticket but he didn't bother going into the event itself. The descriptions in the newspapers were lackluster also. Just wondering.

2006 Social, political mix at Pride Parade Gay, lesbian festival precedes debate on same-sex marriage By Deborah Bulkeley Deseret Morning News Political activism blended with celebration Sunday as cheerleaders with rainbow colored pompoms, drag queens donning tiaras, men in hula skirts, or less, took to the streets of downtown Salt Lake for the annual Utah Pride Parade and Festival. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender participants march along with straight supporters in the Utah Pride Parade on Sunday. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News For Sue Rogers, 51, of Ogden and Karen Weaver, 51, of Layton, the parade was "awesome." So was the crowd of thousands. The two friends had only been to Pride once, about 20 years ago, when the celebration was indoors and much, much smaller. "It's just grown so much, I can't believe it," said Weaver. "It's great it's come this far. We shouldn't have any prejudice." It's purely coincidental that the annual Utah Pride Parade and Festival took place just days before the Senate is expected to take up the debate on a federal constitutional amendment to prevent states from recognizing same-sex marriage. But the issue is on the minds of many of the of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals who attended the festival, along with their straight supporters. "It's never just social, it's never just political," said Dee Jost, 48, of Salt Lake. "It's just nice to feel like the majority, just for a day." Jost, who's had the same lesbian partner for 15 years, was among those in line at a Human Rights Campaign booth to fill out postcards expressing their opposition to the federal amendment. "It's already illegal," she said. "I don't see why they have to underscore it. . . . There are so many things you try to do to prepare to take care of the person you love. But there are laws." In the wake of a statement from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints reaffirming support for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, both of Utah's senators have been flooded with phone calls and correspondence over the past week, overwhelmingly in support of the measure. Utah Republican Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch both support the proposed amendment. But as they prepare to debate the measure this week, they'll receive stacks of postcards from constituents with a different point of view. "It wouldn't be right to write in something that limits people's rights, rather than expands them," said Joe Norman of Salt Lake, whose tote bag carried a sign reading "straight not narrow." Some of those filling out the cards said they doubted they'd be able to change their lawmakers' minds, but felt it was important to have their say anyway. "It's such a conservative state," said Sara Simmons. "If I'm going to live here, I need to at least have a voice." Unofficial counts for Pride Festival attendance weren't yet available late Sunday, but organizer Jere
Jere Keys
Keys said the event had grown since the previous year, when 15,000 people attended the festival. As Pride attendees made their voices heard, so did those who support the amendment. Members of the conservative issues group Utah Eagle Forum called their senators last week in support of the measure. And the LDS-targeted
Meridian online magazine and the Family Leader Network sponsored a nationwide petition drive which had received more than 15,000 signatures as of Friday. President Bush is expected to speak in favor of the Amendment today. "We've certainly received increased correspondence this week from Utahns," said Bennett's spokeswoman MaryJane Collipriest. "The vast majority of those contacting our office are in favor of the amendment." Hatch, a co-sponsor of the amendment, had received at least 12,000 calls, along with 2,400 faxes and letters, as of Friday, said spokeswoman Heather Barney. About 98 to 99 percent support the amendment, Barney said. To become law, the proposal would need two-thirds support in the Senate and House, and then be ratified by at least 38 state legislatures. Despite overwhelming support in Utah, where same-sex marriage is already banned by a state constitutional amendment, the federal measure stands little chance of passing the Senate, where proponents are struggling to get even a simple majority for a preliminary vote. "We just need to show our
Maryann Martindale
support with our phone calls, asking not only for them to vote for it, but to stand up and speak out," said Gayle Ruzicka, president of the Utah Eagle Forum. "It's going to be a lot of hard work to get those votes." Meanwhile, those opposed to the amendment realize that Bennett and Hatch, both members of the
LDS Church, won't likely change their votes. "It's a given they'll vote for it," said Maryann Martindale, political co-chair of the Human Rights Campaign's Utah chapter. "The point is it's our job to show them that not everyone does think that's OK. In Utah we have a lot of allies."

2006 Invigorated gay community shows pride By Sean P. Means The Salt Lake Tribune Utah's gay and lesbian community enjoyed fun under the sun at the annual Pride Day parade and festival Sunday - along with a good-sized dose of politics. Amid the floats, community groups and drag-queen royalty going up State Street and down 200 East in downtown Salt Lake City, a dozen current or would-be
Scott McCoy
officeholders walked or rode in the parade. State Sen. Scott McCoy, a Democrat from Salt Lake City and one of two openly gay members of the Utah Legislature, said it shows the growing clout of Utah's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) community. "Candidates realize the LGBT community is politically active and politically engaged," McCoy said. "We represent a good chunk of votes." And several candidates, all Democrats except for a handful of third-party office-seekers, tried to sway a few votes from the estimated 15,000 people enjoying food and music on Library Square and Washington Square after the parade. "It's about getting out into the community," said Sim Gill, Democratic candidate for Salt Lake County district attorney. "It's a good way to interact, and get the message out and be a part of a community celebration." Jim Winder, the Democrat running for Salt Lake County sheriff, said, "Every community in Salt Lake deserves representation, and most importantly they deserve public safety." For some politicians, the LGBT community isn't a group to visit - it's their base. Christine Johnson, a real estate agent running in this month's Democratic Party primary for the District 25 House seat, said she's out to show voters that the gay community's issues are also their issues. "I can be gay, but my constituents care about the fact that I'm for everything that we're all for, because there are certain things that are gender nonspecific, like health care and clean air and quality education," said Johnson, whose primary opponent, Josh Ewing, also was campaigning Sunday. Jane Marquardt, board chairwoman for the political advocacy group Equality Utah, said the politicians' turnout "shows me that people are listening" to the LGBT community. "As political leaders meet articulate citizens who want to talk about various issues, who also say, 'and I'm gay' . . . that will start to change opinions," she said. The political awakening of Utah's LGBT community started, McCoy said, with the 2004 passage of Amendment 3, which placed a ban on same-sex civil marriage in the Utah Constitution. "That was the point at which the gay community said, 'That's it, that's enough,' " McCoy said. With groups like Equality Utah organizing to fight Amendment 3, "it allowed us to have meaningful conversations with our straight neighbors. . . . And all that is now focused on the political process." Much of that focus Sunday was on President George W. Bush's drive, including a White House event today, to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage. Patrick Guerriero, national president of the Log Cabin Republicans, a group of gay members of the GOP, urged festival attendees to call the White House switchboard and their senators to tell them to "stop wasting time in Washington, and messing with my family and my constitution." Boyer Jarvis, the 83-year-
Boyer Jarvis
old human rights activist who served as the parade's grand marshal, delivered a message to "my fellow heterosexuals": "It is up to us to come out and tell everyone that we know - our neighbors, our families, the people that we work with -that we are gay-friendly, and we are in favor of gay marriage, the sooner the better." Some chose to show their support of gay marriage symbolically. One of the festival's more popular booths, run by the Utah AIDS Foundation, gave dozens of couples the chance to take part in a simulated wedding ceremony - complete with veils, top hats, plastic 
bouquets, wedding photos and a certificate pledging commitment "as long as Pride Day lasts." One such couple was Lindsey Lee, 20, and Ashley Dennis, 17, both of Holladay. They did it, Dennis said happily, "because I love this girl to death, and I don't care what anybody thinks."

2006  Gay marriage ban short of votes in Senate By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP)--President Bush and congressional Republicans are aiming the political spotlight this week on efforts to ban gay marriage, with events at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue-all for a constitutional amendment with scant chance of passage but wide appeal among social conservatives. "Ages of experience have taught us that the commitment of a husband and wife to love and to serve one another promotes the welfare of children and the stability of society," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "Government, by recognizing and protecting marriage, serves the interests of all." The president was to make further remarks Monday in favor of the amendment as the Senate opened three days of debate. Neither chamber, though, is likely to pass the amendment by the two-thirds majority required to send it to the states - three quarters of which would then have to approve it. Many Republicans support the measure because they say traditional marriage strengthens society; others don't but concede the reality of election-year politics. "Marriage between one man and one woman does a better job protecting children better than any other institution humankind has devised," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. "As such, marriage as an institution should be protected, not redefined." But Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he will vote against it on the floor but allowed it to survive his panel in part to give the Republicans the debate party leaders believe will pay off on Election Day. Specter has chosen a different battle with the Bush administration this week - a hearing Tuesday on the ways the FBI spies on journalists who publish classified information. As that hearing gets under way, debate on the marriage amendment will enter its second day on the Senate floor. All but one of the Senate Democrats - the exception is Ben Nelson of Nebraska – oppose the measure and, with moderate Republicans, are expected to block an up-or-down vote, killing the measure for the year. Democrats say the amendment is a divisive bow to religious conservatives, and point out that it conflicts with the GOP's opposition to big government interference.

Brandie Balken
2008 5 Spot | Brandie Balken, organizer of SLC’s 2008 Dyke March By Jerre Wroble SaltLake City News- Brandie Balken is a longtime local activist heading up this year’s Dyke March which starts at 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 7, at City Creek Park at the corner of State Street and North Temple. After a rally, participants will march down State Street at 4:30 p.m. to the Utah Pride Festival at Washington Square. 

  • Why does Salt Lake City need a Dyke March? 
  • All cities need a Dyke March—and we are proud that our community is furthering the tradition of this event that promotes visibility, empowerment and solidarity among our LBTQ participants. 
  • How is the Dyke March different from the June 7 Utah Pride Parade? Why don’t they happen together? 
  • So many things about it are different. The parade is first and foremost a celebration—it also features local politicians, businesses, corporate sponsors. The Dyke March is much more a demonstration—hence the title march and not parade. We have no corporate sponsors; we feature no businesses or “celebrities.” We are showing up to been seen as exactly who we are—individually and as a group. The march is not about marketing to a demographic, it is about being acknowledged as a demographic. 
  • What are some of the biggest challenges local lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women and men face? 
  • Visibility, solidarity and autonomy—I think that about covers it. 
  • The organization behind this march is sWerve, known for its great parties. Does that mean the march will be like a party? 
  • SweRve is the organization that started this march. In some ways, you could say the march is very much like a party—people are energized, excited and having fun! It is also very different in that the goal is much bigger than just having a great time: This is about the visibility and acknowledgement of women’s issues. 
  • Is the Dyke March only open to lesbians? 
  • We invite everyone who orients as a dyke to come join us. We are not in the business of exclusion; that said, this march is all about making queer women visible—along with the specific issues that they want to highlight. 
  • Isn’t “dyke” an offensive word? Is it now OK to call lesbians dykes? 
  • I can’t tell you how many times I have fielded this question. I identify as a dyke, and I’m proud of the term. I know, however, that there are a lot of people who don’t agree. Personally, I see it as a term that has been “taken back,” and that queer folks no longer allow it to hold negative connotation. I think, as with any term, the best idea is to let a person self identify, then respect their choice and use the terminology they choose. 
  • You’re a longtime activist. What happened to make you one? 
  • So many things—my mother and her passion for social justice, my studies in botany and the natural world and my coming out as a queer person. When I began to see the difference between the world that is and the world that I think should be, it was impossible not to be activated. 
  • How do you avoid burnout and remain passionate about your causes? 
  • Wow, I’ll let you know when I figure out that delicate balance. I think it has everything to do with seeking diversity in your causes, as well as building strong friendships and support networks. There are some amazing folks here, doing brilliant work—they inspire, nourish and sustain not only their causes but also each other. 
  • What is the dress code for the Dyke March? 
  • Come as you are, come as you want the world to see you—just come! Signs and dogs and kids and parents and musical instruments encouraged.

2008  Utah Pride marks fight for acceptance Decades-old festival expected to draw 25,000 gays and lesbians to state's second-largest parade BY JENNIFER W. SANCHEZ THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE It started with a kegger. In 1975, about 300 people, mostly gay men and lesbians, drank beer and enjoyed hot dogs in City Creek Canyon near downtown Salt Lake City. Local organizers called it "Gay Freedom Day," and the event was a chance for the gay
Ron Hunt
community in Utah to gather - in public. 
Ron Hunt, then 23, read a tiny ad about the event in his college newspaper in Logan. So he hitchhiked to the gathering because "I'd never been around other gay people in my entire life." Hunt, now 55, recalls the picnic as " an extremely uplifting and energizing experience." More than three decades later, the event now known as Utah Pride is expected to draw more than 25,000 people during its three-day weekend celebration, which starts Friday and features what has grown into the state's second-largest parade. Still, as popular as the festival has become, and as ecstatic as they are that the event continues to grow, Pride veterans says they don't want the younger generations to forget the event's history and the years that it has taken for the gay community to be acknowledged in Utah. "Pride is more than a party," said
Ben Williams
57-year-old Ben Williams, the state's unofficial gay community historian. "It shows we want equality. We want rights. We're not second-class citizens." 
When he moved here in 1963, Joe Redburn, a gay activist and businessman, said he remembers that men were not allowed to dance with each other at the city's only gay bar, Radio City Lounge. Nikki Boyer, a 65 year-old lesbian who came to Utah in 1970, said the only places she could openly visit with gay men or other lesbians and feel safe were at a
Nikki Boyer & Joe Redburn
handful of bars, including the Sun Tavern that opened in 1972. 
"It was the only place we could meet without getting the [expletive] beat out of us," Boyer said. Pride originated in New York City in 1969 as a protest against discrimination and violence against gays, evolving into gay pride festivals that are now held worldwide. At that first Utah event in '75, there was no stage, no entertainment. A crowd laughed over beer, burgers and dogs, then moved to the Sun Tavern to keep the party going. In the ensuing years, the event was held at various parks around Salt Lake County and has steadily attracted more people, including and began to lure national gay activists. But Hunt, one of the inaugural participants, recalled that people were also terrified of rallying because they feared the repercussions of attending Pride if their boss, co-workers or neighbors saw them. "We knew we were being discriminated against, and it was at least up to us to stop discriminating against ourselves," he said. During a Pride celebration in the late '80s at a Murray a park, Boyer remembered about a dozen men showed up chanting "queer" and "die fagot die." But, the crowd turned its back to them and the group finally left. But beyond that incident and the occasional verbal insult, she says Pride has been a safe event. "The more we are out and people see we are people too, it helps us gain acceptance," Boyer said. "We were definitely making inroads." Historian Williams moved to Utah in 1973 to attend Brigham Young University. After marrying and later divorcing, he became openly gay on Feb. 4, 1986. A few months later Williams attended his first Pride celebration. His was one of just six booths at that festival, selling what he called "whole-wheat fagot cookies" to raise money for a gay Mormon support group. "It [was] like a family reunion," he recalled. "You knew everybody." This year, the Utah Pride Center, the nonprofit group that runs the festival, is expecting 160 vendors. Williams says the event has become too big for his taste; he stopped going six years ago. But Boyer says she's proud of how much Utah Pride has grown. There was a time when she couldn't have imagined that Salt Lake City would have a gay center with a coffee shop, or a place where lesbians could walk down the street holding hands. That's what she wants younger Utah gays to keep in mind. "They're very fortunate," Boyer said. "It's important they know whose shoulders they stand on." For Hunt, this weekend marks 33 consecutive years of going to Utah Pride. "It's my Christmas and my New Year's," he said. "It's truly an experience where none of the vindictive and dehumanizing things that have happened to me in my life have any power.

2009 Pride Fest seeking allies in fight for rights Culture » Event typically draws thousands downtown for parade, parties and politics. By Rosemary Winters The Salt Lake Tribune
Cleve Jones
Cleve Jones, founder of the AIDS quilt project. (Al Hartmann/The Salt Lake Tribune)The Utah Pride Center wants attendees of this week's pride festival to bring more than rainbow flags and sunblock. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender revelers have an assignment: Bring a straight friend. "Our allies are very important to us," says Michael Westley, spokesman for the pride center. "Blacks didn't get equal rights until whites took action. Women didn't get the vote until men voted to give them the vote. We need our allies now." Riding a surge of activism after the passage -- and last week's California Supreme Court validation -- of Proposition 8, the Golden State's voter-approved, gay-marriage ban, organizers of the Utah Pride Festival are placing extra emphasis on political action in the event's 26th year. The theme: "Pride. Voice. Action."  The three-day gathering draws close to 20,000 people each year and boasts a parade eclipsed in attendance only by Utah's iconic Days of '47 festivities, heralding the arrival of Mormon pioneers in 1847. On Sunday, renowned activist Cleve Jones will lead the pride parade as grand marshal. Jones served as an intern in the 1970s for Harvey Milk, the slain San Francisco city supervisor and first openly gay man to hold a major elected office. Jones, founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, was played by Emile Hirsch in the 2008 film "Milk." The pride center and other advocates encourage Utahns who are gay or transgender to be "out," both for the individuals' well-being and as a way to propel greater acceptance of LGBT people and support for their civil rights.  An Equality Utah poll released earlier this year found that 70 percent of Utahns know someone who is gay or transgender, and 83 percent support at least basic legal protections, such as hospital visitation and inheritance rights, for same-sex couples. "Politically, [coming out] is the single most important step that any of us can take," says Jones, who will spearhead a political rally on Saturday amid the usual pop concerts and dance parties of the festival. "When we reveal our true nature, it becomes much harder for our friends and families to take away our rights." For the first time at the festival, a giant map will be used to illustrate where, in Utah, attendees hail from. On the "Pin Me Out" map, one color pin will be for out, gay Utahns, another for those who are not out and a third for straight allies.  "This tells us three things: Who we are, where we are and how we live," Westley says. "It will show us where we need to do some work." Matthew
Matthew Burbank
Burbank, a University of Utah political science professor, says pride festivals provide the gay-rights movement with at least one important asset: visibility. "One of the things that helps with any kind of political movement is that indeed there's a human face to it," Burbank says. "To the extent that this becomes an issue about friends and family and people that you know ... it becomes something that has a more direct impact on people than if it is seen as something that involves people you don't know."  Jon Rosky waited until he was 30 years old to come out to his siblings and parents. But doing so created an activist in the family: His straight brother, Cliff. Cliff Rosky, a University of Utah law professor who serves on a legal advisory panel for Equality Utah, plans to do the reverse of the pride center's request. He's a
Cliff Rosky
straight ally who will bring his gay brother to the festival. The pair plans to march in Sunday's parade together. Rosky was 19 when he learned his older brother is gay. He quit his Amherst College fraternity and later attended Yale Law School, developing a focus in sexuality and family law. "I was surprised that I was participating in a fraternity that made anti-gay jokes every week," Cliff Rosky recalls. "It was a wake-up call that treating everyone with dignity doesn't always come naturally. It takes work." After law school, Rosky practiced in San Francisco before becoming a research fellow at the UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute, a think tank devoted to LGBT legal matters. He filed an amicus brief in the California Supreme Court case that, temporarily, legalized gay marriage in that state last year. "We always think it's kind of funny that in the family [Cliff's] the straight one, and he grew up wearing pride flags and living in the Castro," Jon Rosky says. "I'm living in a semi-rural place [in New Jersey], where the nearest gay bar is 50 miles away." Both brothers have promised, at different times, to be there for each other. "It's a very emotional and rewarding feeling to have someone almost dedicate their life's work to helping me in an indirect way," Jon Rosky says. "He certainly could have helped me in many ways and gone on to be a patent attorney or a tax attorney. He chose to make this his life's work." The pride center hopes this year's festival creates a few more such allies.

2009 Utah Pride Festival & Parade Friday, June 5-Sunday, June 7 By Jacob Stringer Salt lake City weekly Contrary to popular conservative beliefs around these parts, Utah has quite a large GLBTQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer) community. In fact, Utah’s GLBT population is so industriously out-and-proud that it has developed one of the premier pride celebrations in the Western United States—known as the Utah Pride Festival, held annually since its humble beginnings back in 1983. Pride weekend typically gets underway with the pageantry of the Grand Marshal Reception and very happening after-party. This year’s marshal is human-rights activist, author and lecturer Cleve Jones, recently portrayed in the film biography Milk. Jones is lucky enough to reign over all things Pride ’09, including the multi-day festival itself with performances by the Sister Wives, Debbie Graham and comics Karen Bayard and Paula Poundstone. There will also be several marches, like
Paula Poundstone
the Dyke March and the Interfaith March, not to mention the big parade with floats and celebrities and dignitaries to boot. Even outgoing Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is getting in on the fun as the recipient of this year’s Pete Suazo Political Action Award for being, among other progressive things, Utah’s first governor to openly support civil unions for same-sex couples in our state. Although it’s likely that Huntsman will be nowhere near either event, where else can you count on experiencing the thrill of a public karaoke competition alongside a drag show competition that should definitely put the “fun” back in “funtastically fabulous?” Utah Pride Festival @ Washington Square, City & County Building, 450 S. 200 East, 801-539-8800, June 5-7. Grand Marshal Reception 6 p.m. & After-Party 9 p.m., Friday, June 5; Parade starts 10 a.m., Sunday, June 7;

2009 Comedian Paula Poundstone headlines Utah Pride Festival Comedian uses observational humor, offbeat dress and self-deprecation to reach audiences.By David Burger The Salt Lake Tribune Paula Poundstone Comedian Paula Poundstone, noted for her working-class wit and the masculine suits she wears, will headline this year's Utah Pride Festival, a weekend long celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their allies, capped by a massive Sunday morning parade. Poundstone, who turns 50 later this year, is noted as a road warrior on the national stand-up circuit and well-known for her panelist stint on National Public Radio's news quiz show "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me." Poundstone's humor, rather than overtly political or topical, often draws from her observations of raising children on her own. She has adopted children and was a foster mother until 2001, after a widely reported conviction of child endangerment for driving under the influence, which she often ruefully mentioned in public appearances. In a Tribune interview, Poundstone answered some questions about her work.  On shows in front of GLBT people and their allies: The shows that I've done, I think there's been a pretty strong "gay community presence." Oftentimes I find that states that would be considered red states, conservative states, I have really great shows in those states because the [audiences] that are there are a little more forward-thinking -- they're so happy to be together. It makes for really fun shows.  On her career: I'm on the road mainly to pay the rent. It works out to a couple of days a week. Ideally, I'd go out two days a week and then be home for a whole weekend every month, but instead, it's like so many jobs where you'll have a couple of weeks where you go, "Uh-oh, we're not going to eat," and then there's other times when it's busier. It works out. Somehow we manage. People are losing jobs that weren't that much fun to begin with. I consider myself very lucky. When I'm on the road, I don't spend any money, besides food. When I'm home, I have to do all the errands, and you're just like anyone else on their weekends. Believe me, I'm being nothing but patriotic [by stimulating the economy].  On vacation plans this summer: I'm taking some of my kids backpacking, you have to buy so much stuff and crap, like for a baby. When you have a baby and go somewhere, you basically bring the same amount of junk. It doesn't matter whether you're spending a week or one day, and darned if you don't have to feed the thing. So you still have to bring all the junk. And it's the same thing for backpacking. It takes a lot of stuff. And the truth is, we could stay at a fancy hotel for less than we pay to stay outside. I hope my daughter photo-documents me being eaten by a bear.  On recent projects: I wrote a series of math workbooks with my high-school math teacher. Lord knows, I'm no mathematician, and now I suppose you're not supposed to brag about that. They say it's part of [women's] problem in the area of mathematics that we tend to brag that we don't know stuff, whereas no one would say, "Boy, I can't read."  On the glamour of Hollywood: I think that I might have had a fantasy about that possibility [when I was younger]. There's an illusion created. When you go to something like "The Tonight Show," it's like you're in a warehouse. It's kind of dirty and gruffy and it's not fancy and nice at all. This little set kinds of looks that way, but it really is the magic [of Hollywood]. I can't tell you how many times I've done shows like that. Just before I ran out to go there, I was shifting the litterbox, and I would always think to myself, this is just not what I had in mind. I thought this would lift me above all that. 


2011 twenty-eight thousands assembled in downtown Salt Lake City on Sunday, June 5 to attend the Utah Pride Festival and parade in celebration of community and equality. Miss City Weekly 2011, Nikki James, graced the crowd with her presence atop the hood of a black Cadillac as the parade wove it's way through the city. Michael Aaron Green, editor of the QSalt Lake was the Dr. Kristen Ries Recipient and Roseanne Barr was the Grand Marshal. Her brother Ben Barr recieved a life time achievement award at the Grand Marshal reception held at the Jewish Community Center the friday before Pride. Live Love and Pride was the Festival's Them

2011

Welcome to the 2011 Utah Pride Festival By Valerie A. Larabee, Utah Pride Center Executive Director Each year the Utah Pride Festival celebrates the diversity of our community in Utah and throughout the region. Attended annually by an estimated 25,000 people, the Utah Pride Festival is recognized not only as the premier LGBTQ event in Utah, but also as the state’s second largest festival. The origins of Pride in Utah date back to the early 1970s when a small group of people gathered in a Salt Lake City park to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. In the decades since, the Utah Pride Festival has grown to become Utah’s largest LGBTQ visibility event, providing an opportunity for the greater Utah community to experience and learn more about the LGBT community through a weekend of wonderful events and happenings. The 2011 Utah Pride Festival, themed “Live. Love. Pride.” is set to be the largest pro-LGBTQ event ever held in the state. Touting a stellar line up of headlining performers, including Roseanne Barr as the 2011 Grand Marshal, Kat Deluna, Expose and a fantastic cadre of food vendors and exhibitors, this year’s event promises to deliver on its mission – to build awareness and celebrate our community, our families, our allies and our steady movement toward equality. This year’s Utah Pride Festival parade, the second largest parade in Utah, also promises its own surprises! Jumping off on Sunday, June 5 on a new parade route, entrants are registering from far and wide to demonstrate their pride and support of the LGBTQ community in Utah. You’ll want to get your spot along the new route early so you won’t miss a moment of the celebration! As in years past, hundreds of volunteers and dozens of sponsors came together to bring our 2011 festival to life. It is only through the passion, dedication and commitment of our volunteers and sponsors, that this Festival is made possible. Please help us thank them when you see them on the grounds supporting the event. On behalf of the Utah Pride Festival, we hope to see you at this years event! If you’ve never been to our Festival, we know you’ll be amazed at what this Utah community can do when we put our minds to it! For more details on festival related events visit utahpridefestival.org. The Utah Pride Festival is a program of the Utah Pride Center.


2014 Thursday Q Salt Lake Utah AG, governor appeal same-sex marriage ruling Gary Herbert and state Attorney General Sean Reyes filed notice today [June 4] in federal court that the state will appeal U.S. District Judge Dale A. Kimball’s May 19 order that the state must recognize the marriages of same-sex couples who were legally married in Utah after a federal court struck down Amendment 3. Members of Utah’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and ally community were dismayed that the attorney general filed the ruling, particularly on the eve of the annual Utah Pride Festival. “We can’t believe

John Mejia

Governor Herbert and Attorney General Reyes are choosing to defend discrimination and persecute Utah families. 1,300 couples were legally married, and now the state wants courts to invalidate those marriages. Taking away the rights and protections lawfully granted to these couples and families prolongs the uncertainty they have been forced to endure. Federal judges across the nation, including two of our own local judges, have all spoken with one voice; discrimination is wrong. It’s time for our Governor and Attorney General to share that sentiment,” the Utah Pride Center said in a statement. The plaintiff couples, represented by John Mejia of the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, were also saddened by the filing. “We had hoped that they would stop on their unprecedented and ill-advised campaign, which we believe is a big waste of taxpayer dollars, to fight recognition of these marriages,” Mejia said. “It’s really causing a lot of disruption and interruption in the lives of real, married couples and their families.”

2016 Belinda Carlisle to headline Utah Pride Festival, June 5 Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go’s performs By Sean P. Means The Salt Lake Tribune Heaven is a place on earth — and the Utah Pride Festival will be a bit closer to that place. Singer and ‘80s pop icon Belinda Carlisle will headline the annual festival, with a performance on Sunday, June 5, at 5:30 p.m. in Library Square, in downtown Salt Lake City. Carlisle rocketed to fame in 1981, as lead singer of The Go-Go’s. The all-female pop-rock band’s first album “Beauty and the Beat” produced the hits “We Got the Beat” and “Our Lips Are Sealed.” The band released two more albums in the ’80s — “Vacation” (1982) and “Talk Show” (1984) — that yielded the hit singles as “Vacation” and “Head Over Heels.” When The Go-Go’s disbanded in 1985, Carlisle went solo. She has released seven studio albums, plus compilations — and scored with the singles “Mad About You,” “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” and “I Get Weak.” The Go-Go’s reunited briefly in 2001, and will get back together for a tour this fall. Carlisle has been an activist for LGBT rights. This week, Carlisle wrote an open letter to Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, chastising him for “making life hell on earth for many Mississippians” after he signed anti-LGBT legislation into law. In the letter, Carlisle — who chose not to cancel a performance Saturday in Biloxi — declared herself “the very proud mother of a gay child.” (Her son, James Duke Mason, is a city official in West Hollywood, Calif., and a prominent young LGBT advocate.) The Utah Pride Festival will also honor four people with Pride Icon awards (formerly known as the Grand Marshal awards), representing the past, present and future of Utah’s LGBTQ community. This year’s recipients are:

• Connell O’Donovan, who organized Salt Lake City’s first Pride marches, in 1990 and 1991, and documented LGBTQ stories for the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society and Archives of Utah.
• Christopher and Teinamarrie Scuderi, longtime allies of the LGBT community and two of the co-founders of Transgender Education Advocates of Utah.
• Jimmy Lee, a community builder and educator who self-identifies as “a 23-year-old queer non-binary person of color.”
The Utah Pride Festival runs June 3-5 at Library Square. Passes are $5 for Friday’s events, $10 for either Saturday or Sunday, or $20 for a three-day pass. For $50, one can buy an “Emerald Pass” that includes admission to the Emerald Garden VIP area, and a T-shirt and commemorative lanyard. Passes are available on the festival’s website.
On 8 May 2016 The Pride Center released this concerning the Icon Awards
Joint release of The Utah Pride Center and Christopher & Teinamarrie Scuderi regarding the 2016 Utah Pride Festival Icon awards:
"The purpose of the Utah Pride Center and The Utah Pride Festival is to unite Utah's LGBTQ+ and allied communities together because, without a doubt, our movement is stronger when we work together. The work of Christopher and Teinamarrie Scuderi has left a positive mark on many in our community. However, in the interest of uniting our community - the purpose of our work - the Scuderi's have respectfully declined to accept one of the three 2016 Utah Pride Icon Awards. Out of respect to the incredible work of the other two Icon award recipients (Connell O’Donovan and Jimmy Lee) the Utah Pride Festival will not be naming a replacement for the Scuderi's declined award"


2020  line During to the Covid19 pandemic the Utah Pride Center's Spectacular event was held onwith Kerrie Galloway being honored with a Dr. Kristen Ries Community Service Award and Kim Pederson were honored with a Life Time Achievement Award. 


2020 Kim Pederson’s Lifetime Achievement Award Nomination UPC 2020

To begin this nomination of such an extraordinary woman I would say this; just underneath the obvious layers of Kim Pederson’s considerable achievements as an activist, therapist, and community organizer, there is something perhaps even more profound. Kim is a seer. She takes the time to look and listen to all beings that are fortunate enough to find themselves in her presence. She’s always all the way in the room with you, genuinely curious to know what’s going on. When you are with her you don’t have to wonder if you matter. This is equally true for humans, squirrels, dogs, trees, and birds. Kim resides primarily in her heart. She looks, speaks, and acts from that capacious place. Despite her self-description as a Norwegian lesbian with depressive tendencies, her primary currencies are love and laughter. She shores people up by the very quality of her presence. You not only want to be a better person when you are with her, but something about Kim makes you believe you can be and naturally, you start to move in that direction. Kim has certainly changed the lives of many thanks to her lifetime’s work striving to remove rejection on both individual and institutional levels. She learned early in life, while raised on “the farm of hard knocks”, that suffering is a great teacher and compassion comes with great responsibility. Much of her work is visible. You can easily see the good she has done in her 81 years to champion the cause of LGBTQI+ community in:

● Her military service in the U.S. Army where she honorably entered as a young 18 year old to serve two years, but only a short time later was jailed for being lesbian. She was asked to betray her friends to save herself. When Kim refused, she was tracked, harassed, put solitary confinement on numerous occasions and finally discharged and declared an “UNDESIRABLE.” She went on to promote veterans rights for all members of the LGBTQI+ community.

● Her time at Morehead State College seeking her undergraduate degree in Humanities broadened her horizons and awareness to others suffering. There she stood tall for many social justice causes including protest of the Vietnam war and passage of the Equal Rights Amendment to name a few. She became an active member of the civil rights movement pushing NOW(National Organization for Women) to acknowledge the needs of all women and move to include lesbians and gays in seeking equal rights in her duties later at the University of Utah Women’s Resource Center. She would eventually march along with and encourage others for numerous causes over time. She has never been one to miss out on fighting the good fight!

● Her time as a graduate student at Eastern Michigan University was well spent and transformative. In her role as a legislative aide to Senator Pearce of Michigan. She mastered the process and developed a skill set to promote change within the political system through legislation, political action and community organizing. Which came into use on many occasions over the years.

● During her post-secondary, her education she worked for the city planning commission in Duluth Minnesota to promote institutional change for members of the community, primarily focusing on citizens with low income and those with special needs.

● During her time working with Dr. Ross Miller and the Children’s Home of Portland (Portland, Oregon) she learned she could be an “out” lesbian who was valued and supported professionally. This experience had informed and changed her as she became empowered in her efforts to fight for social justice related to war, poverty, feminism and gay and lesbian rights.

● Her service at Salt Lake City Housing promoted access to affordable housing and addressed removing barriers, confronting discrimination and promoting access for all.

● Her role as the first director of Utah’s NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness) chapter in the 1980’s helped to build and implement a tool kit statewide for Utah to reduce stigma that comes with being diagnosed with a mental health issue/illness; and then being gay was identified as a disorder in the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual).

● Her time at Women’s Resource Center at the University of Utah and the Battered Women’s project at the YMCA were no exception in the list of public service to those who found themselves both impoverished financially and emotionally. She chose to counsel people who others would not, and helped with lifting lives out of domestic violence no matter their gender or sexual orientation.

● For four decades her work as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in private practice she has been dedicated to working with marginalized populations which is not often not the norm. She successfully helped hundreds of individuals heal the trauma and pain of being their true selves, and supported them to move beyond being exiled in plain sight from their families, friends and faith.

● Her support with the initiation of the Gay Pride efforts in Utah was invaluable. She, like others during this time, risked professional standing, financial well being and personal safety to move the discussion forward on all fronts. She has always stood firmly side by side to confront each issue before us (Aids, Parental Rights, Adoption, Marriage…) Her continued support of those efforts in Utah began in the 1980’s and has never ceased!

● In the 1990’s, Kim worked diligently teaching and inspiring a new generation at the School of Social Work at the University of Utah. She and a group of others understood that alcoholism was the major killer outside of Aids in Gay/Lesbian people. They innovated and taught a new alcohol counseling certification program intended to prepare their peers to support the growing crisis in the community.

● She is an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) celebrating 50 years of sobriety. She has sponsored, mentored and supported many people in their personal journey of recovery from substance use and addiction, and has helped educate professionals in behavioral health treatment services.

● She is a longtime member of the LGBTQ Affirmative Psychotherapy Guild of Utah. Kim was there throughout leading the fight to ban reparative therapy.

● Her engagement with advocacy and public involvement after reaching the age of 80 has not stopped her from seeking activities of compassionate action. She now serves as a member of the Utah Pride Center’s Sage Leadership Team. She presently runs the Supper Club Committee, is active in all aspects of events to seniors in Salt Lake and works to bridge youth and seniors together. Kim never misses seeing a chance to be of service or offer counsel to those who can not afford it. 
● Her ability to see the issues, work on solutions, coalesce others behind the work for a resolution(s) makes her an invaluable ally to the community. Kim has been there to support individuals and families of the transgender community listening, finding support and being a center of acceptance and well-being.

● Even as a tenant of Friendship Manor, Kim saw a need and stepped up to improve programming and housing policy. She has served as the chair of the resident council and supports management in dealing with resident crisis. Her direct experience has brought clarity to the issues and impacts of gay and lesbian seniors in seeking affordable housing and gaining access to supportive services. Kim understood and conveyed the message that our elderly LGBTQI+ community remains at risk.

 What we may never be able to quantify is how many hearts have been buoyed by her both directly and subtly, or how many people she helped pull back from the brink of despair with a smile and a joke, or a sincere inquiry. We’ll never know how many people like us have studied her ways, grateful to have found a teacher for all the things that really matter. Kim has succeeded in something extraordinary in the way she has made herself a conduit of loving-kindness. She is a testament to the greatest kind of love. She exemplifies being true to oneself and service to others in the LGBTQI+ community across her lifetime. She has been there for countless numbers and generations of us. She’s paid it forward. Kim Pederson has remarkable sincerity and devotion informed by the knowledge of self-suffering and extraordinary experience of standing tall in the long walk away from repression, discrimination, life-long trauma from being “other.”

 At her 80th birthday her dearest friends gathered to throw a birthday party to express their love and appreciation. Literally hundreds, unknown to each other, but with an intimate message of gratitude for Kim’s impact in their lives at a crucial moment. We will never know her reach but we can be assured it has been profoundly meaningful in our community. In her words, “What we have seen is a long wave of positive change, yet we grasp at the concept of acceptance. Evidence would suggest we are not yet there, distrust remains. We can however take this moment, the one right before us - not to withdraw but rather to take a breath, pause to reflect, listen and see what is before us. I would ask others to join me in being our most authentic selves. Come walk with me and you will experience your own nature in the geese, deer, squirrels, and song birds nearby.”

 Lastly, Kim has left us all with this message that she feels is important, “I would encourage you to be the person you were born to be, not the image of what others think you should be.” Yes, while most of her work has been clearly visible, the most profound aspects of it resides in the hearts and minds of those she has encountered on this life’s journey. This kind of work impacts the individual, the institutions in which they serve. It is the causative factor in personal and social change to which we should all aspire. Her colleagues, friends and family by choice believe she is simply irreducible to the page! Submitted on behalf of the greater community by, Marci Milligan, Nan Seymour, Mary Jo McMillen, Mary Eileen Lehman, Sue Evans, and Deb Hall (whom we understand submitted separately as well from the Sage Team and other UPC staff).

 Kim has been involved in the community for a long time. She is in her 80's yet still a practicing psychotherapist and a very active member of the SAGE Leadership Team. Kim supports the Utah Pride Center through volunteerism and by attending and supporting a huge number of events. Kim was in the United States Military long before the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" era. She was court martialed for being a lesbian. She has lived over a half century in sobriety and is of great support to others who struggle with addiction. Kim is the President of the Tenant Association where she lives in Salt Lake at Friendship Manor. She is a leader, a confidante to many, a writer, a comedian, a friend to all and an incredible human being.

2020  This bar closed the next day due to the economic restrictions placed on bars because of of Covid19 
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