15 July 15-
1882 Ogden Standard Examiner page
3 A filthy brute In the justices court this morning a brute in the shape of a
man named Chas. Goldon, was charged with committing an assault on the person of
a boy about ten years of age with intent to commit an unnatural and infamous
crime on the person of the child. P J
Barratt Esq. prosecuted the case. The prisoner had no counsel. It appears from
the evidence that the villain inveigled the child into an outhouse in this city
and gave him five cents with a promise of more money if the boy would submit to
the lust of the brute. The boy refused to
accede and commenced to cry. A woman
hearing the conversation went near and listening at the door suspected what was
going on. She called another woman who
went and demanded that the child be given up to her. Goldon then opened the
door and the boy came out. Goldon also came out with his habiliments
disarranged and went away. A complaint was soon after made to the police
officers when the fellow was arrested on the above named charge. When arraigned
this morning he waived an examination and was bound over in $1000 bonds to
appear for trial before the first district court in default he was locked up in
the county jail
1905-Matt Johnson Case No. 1404 & 1426 Third District Judicial
Court Matt Johnson of Bingham Canyon was charged with two accounts of “Crime
Against Nature” for having attempted to rape 27-year-old Charles Kelley and not
succeeding attempted to have sex with a sow. Charles Kelley who filed charged
against Matt Johnson was age 32 in the 1910 Census of Utah and lived in Bingham
Canyon. Complaint On the Seventeenth day of July A.D. 1905 before me, Geo. E.
Lee, Justice of the Peace within and for the Tenth Precinct, Salt Lake County,
State of Utah, personally appeared Charles Kelley who on being duly sworn by
me, on his oath did say that Matt Johnson on the Fifteenth day of July A.D.
1905 at the county of Salt Lake, State of Utah, did commit Sodomy and as
follows to wit: That the said Matt Johnson at Bingham Canyon, Salt Lake County,
Utah did go to the slaughter grounds owned by Jerome Bowgard and did then and
there attack one Chas. Kelley and did by force try to have sexual intercourse
with the said Chas Kelley. (The following Struck Out) “and did forcible try by
force to get sexual intercourse with one certain Sow pigs.” Proceedings Files
affidavit of Chas Kelley, July 17th 1905, charging the defendant with the
sexual “Crime Against Nature”, on the 15th day of July 1905. Issued warrant of
arrest July 17th 1905 to John L. Forbes deputy Sheriff, filed warrant on return
July 19th 1905 with the defendant in custody, defendant arraigned and entered a
plea of not guilty, case set for hearing July Thursday the 20th 1905 at 2,
O’clock P.M. Case called at the time set
Job P. Lyon Co Atty, present. Chas Kelley sworn for the state. After hearing the
evidence of the witness for the state the Court deemed the evidence of
sufficient importance to justify the Court in binding the defendant over to the
District Court and he the defendant is hereby bound over to the said District
court of Salt Lake County
in the sum of Five Hundred Dollars. ($500.00) to appear before said district
Court at such time and at such place as the said District Court may
direct. The defendant being unable to
procure the necessary bonds, he the defendant is hereby committed to the
Sheriff of Salt Lake County, Utah subject to the orders of the said District
Court. Given under my hand this 20th day of July 1905 Information for Case 1404;
Matt Johnson having been heretofore duly committed to this court by George E.
Lee, a committing Magistrate of said county, to answer to this charge, is
accused by Frederick C. Loofbourow, District Attorney for the Third Judicial
District of the State of Utah, Salt Lake County, by this information, of
assault with the intent to commit the infamous “Crime Against Nature”,
committed as follows, to wit: That the said Matt Johnson at the county of Salt
Lake, State of Utah on the 18th day of July, A.D. 1905, unlawfully and
feloniously in and upon the body of Charles Kelly forcibly and violently did
make an assault by then and there with his hands taking hold of the body of
said Charles Kelly and by force then and there and thereby attempting to
restrain the said Charles Kelly of his liberty, with intent him the said
Charles Kelly then and there contrary to the order of nature carnally to know and
then and there unlawfully and feloniously to commit with said Charles Kelly the
“Crime Against Nature”. Contrary to the form of the statute of the State
aforesaid, in such cases made and provided and against the peace and dignity of
the State of Utah.”
Information Case 1426; Matt Johnson having been heretofore duly committed to
this court by Dana T. Smith, a committing Magistrate of said county, to answer
to this charge, is accused by Frederick C. Loofbourow, District Attorney for
the Third Judicial District of the State of Utah, Salt Lake County, by this
information, of the crime of an attempt to commit the infamous “Crime Against
Nature”, committed as follows, to wit: That the said Matt Johnson at the county
of Salt Lake, State of Utah on the 18th day of July, A.D. 1905, unlawfully and
feloniously and with intent then and there to commit the infamous “Crime
Against Nature” with a certain sow pig, did then and there expose the private
parts of his person and lie down upon said pig, and attempt to have a venereal
affair with the said sow pig: Contrary to the form of the statute of the State
aforesaid, in such cases made and provided and against the peace and dignity of
the State of Utah.”
 |
| Randy Wicker |
1962 Early in 1962 WBAI, New York’s listener-supported progressive radio station, aired an hour-long special, “The Homosexual In America.” It featured a panel of psychiatrists who described gay people as sick and in need of a cure — a cure that they could provide with just a few hours of therapy. Gay Activist and founder of the “Homosexual League of New York” Randy Wicker was livid, not only at the ignorance of these so-called “experts,” but also because, once again, there was a panel of straight people talking about gay people they didn’t even know.
Wicker went to the WBAI studios and confronted Dick Elman, the station’s public affairs director. “Why do you have these people on that don’t know a damn thing about homosexuality? They don’t live it and breathe it the way I do. … I spend my whole life in gay society.” Wicker demanded equal time and Elman agreed, provided Wicker found other gay people willing to go on the air as part of a panel. When plans for the program were announced, the New York Journal-American went ballistic. Jack O’Brian, the paper’s radio-TV columnist, wrote that the station should change its callsign to WSICK for agreeing to air an “arrogant card-carrying swish.”
The broadcast titled “Live and Let Live,” featured Wicker and seven other gay men talking for ninety minutes about what it was like to be gay. They talked about their difficulties in maintaining careers, the problems of police harassment, and the social responsibility of gays and straights alike. The program’s host guided the programs with questions to the panel. “Is there harassment?” he asked. One panelist described some of the police harassment he had experienced, when one officer “roared up, jumped out of the car, grabbed me, and started giving me this big thing about ‘What are you doing here, you know there are a lot of queers around this neighborhood.’ He said, ‘You know, there’s only one thing worse than a queer, and that’s a nigger’.” (Remember this was 1962.)
The New York Times’s called the program “the most extensive consideration of the subject to be heard on American radio” — Newsweek called the program “96 minutes of intriguing, if intellectually inconclusive listening.”
At least one group of listeners launched a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission to challenge the station’s broadcast license. After a lengthy investigation, the FCC unanimously agreed to renew the stations’ licenses. In doing so, the FCC issued a statement which said, in part: We recognize that as shown by the complaints here, such provocative programming may offend some listeners. But this does not mean that those offended have the right, through the Commission’s licensing power, to rule such programs off the airways. Where this the case, only the wholly inoffensive, the bland, could gain access to the radio microphone or TV camera. Commissioner Robert E. Lee addressed the specific complaints made about the WBAI broadcast. While he felt that a panel discussion featuring physicians and sociologists might be informative, “a panel discussion of eight homosexuals discussing their experiences and past history does not approach the treatment of a delicate subject one could expect from a responsible broadcaster.” While the FCC stressed that the ruling did not mean that the commission endorsed the broadcasts, it nevertheless was regarded as a landmark decision upholding the broadcaster’s right to determine the kinds of programs that it wishes to air.
*Source: Box Turtle Bulletin
1975-Santa Cruz County
California became the first county in the nation to enact a law prohibiting
discrimination against Gay's in employment.
 |
| Rock Hudson |
1985-An obviously
ill Rock Hudson appeared on television to promote his new cable series with
Doris Day. His publicist explained his appearance by saying he was just getting
over the flu.
1986 Tuesday- Alan Jense Lovell died at the age
of 36 of AIDS. He was born 16 April 1950 in American Fork. Buried in Pleasant Grove
1990 After lunch we gathered around the
flag pole, and I thanked everyone for coming to Beyond Stonew '90. Rod Shepfner had Ben Barr and I
each say something. I said that I wanted
to mention how that without, John Reeves who can't be here this year but is
here in spirit, there would never have been a Beyond
Stonewall. I said that he
truly is the father of Beyond Stonewall but while we must not discount the
past, we must not live in it and must celebrate the here and now. Rod has done
a wonderful thing this year and while last year's Beyond Stonewall may not have
been as successful, in my opinion, as the first one or this one, without it
there would not have been this third one. Ben Barr remarked on the heroes he
has met here at the camp, those people who are willing to take a chance and
come out side of the city to learn new ideals. Then we sang "Song Of The
Soul" by Chris Williamson, hugged each other, and cheered. As one last
unexpected gesture, Robert Austin held my hand and said some kind things about
me and my love of community and with having said all that Ben Barr and others
snuck up behind me and sprayed me with whipped cream! What a mess! I guess I am
loved! ha! [Journal of Ben
Williams]
 |
| Margarethe Cammermeyer |
1991-Col.
Margarethe Cammermeyer was informed by a military board that she was a great
American, a great asset, a superb leader, that her many outstanding
accomplishments have been admirable, that her 27 years of service had been of
great value, and that she would be discharged for being a lesbian. She was the
highest ranking person to be discharged for homosexuality.
1993--Cindy Kidd of the People With AIDS Coalition sued the
state of Utah for invalidating her marriage to her husband because she has
AIDS. A law passed by the 1987 State Legislature prohibited and invalidated
such marriages. “Two months after her marriage, Cynthia Kidd learned she was
infected with AIDS. She also learned that under state law the disease annuls
her marriage.” On Wednesday, Ms. Kidd filed a federal lawsuit challenging the
1987 law that bans marriage with an infected partner. She argues the statute
violates her rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Some 6,500
Utahns are infected with HIV, according to Robert Austin, the Utah Aids Foundation’s. director of
administrative services ``This law was passed out of fear,'' said Austin. ``We're seeing
more and more married people who are living with HIV. Lawmakers know now that
those who suffe rfrom this epidemic need their compassion, not rules that
restrict their quality of life.'' (07/15/93
Page: A1 SLTribune)
1994-Friday- Bryant Scot Park, age 36 died after living many years
with AIDS. Bryant's wish is that people will become aware and learn about HIV
and AIDS because too many people are dying from this disease. Buried in Peoa Utah
1995- John Bennett executive Director of the Utah Stonewall
.jpg) |
| John Bennett |
Center
resigns due to salary conflicts with the Board of Directors. Moves to San Francisco California [Journal of Ben Williams]
1996-Utah Stonewall Center’s Board agreed to let Alan Seegmiller’s
Men’s Group meet at the center. Board member Ben Williams objected because of
Seegmiller’s Evergreen background which made his being at the center
controversial. Williams removed his rejection after hearing Seegmiller renounce
reparation therapy. Stan Penfold resigned from the board of directors. [Journal of Ben Williams]
1999-A 1897
letter written by Oscar Wilde to novelist Henrietta Stannard fetched 11,500
pounds (about $18,745) at a Sotheby's auction.
1999 UTAH
UTAHNS FOR FAIRNESS TO MEET ON THURSDAY JULY 15 The next meeting of
Utahns for Fairness is scheduled for Thursday July 15 at 7 p.m. at the ACLU
building (355 N 300 W) in Salt Lake.
Anyone interested is invited and urged to attend the meeting and to get
involved in this new organization formed to combat the anti-gay efforts of the
LDS (Mormon) church. WHAT IS UTAHNS FOR FAIRNESS? On Thursday July 8 a meeting
was held in Salt Lake City to discuss ways that
people in Utah can act to respond to the
anti-gay efforts of the LDS (Mormon Church) in California.
A California ballot measure aimed at
prohibiting same-sex marriage will be voted on March 7, 2000 and the church has
been urging and pressuring members of the church in California to support the initiative. Reports have come in indicating that bishops
and stake residents are directly contacting members to pressure them to donate
money to the initiative effort. Those
same reports indicated that leaders of California
wards, branches and stakes have even been given quota amounts they are expected
to raise for the anti-gay side of the ballot measure fight. At the July 8
meeting in Salt Lake,
it was decided to form a new organization called Utahns for Fairness, a name
that imitates 'Californians for Fairness', the organization that is fighting
the California
measure. Jared Wood was elected the new
organization's chairperson and then five committees were formed: a
letter-writing committee, a 'message' committee, a general organizing committee
and a media committee. One of the key goals is to draw media attention to what
the church is doing in California. A lot of people who would disapprove of what
the church is doing are very likely unaware of what is going on and the media
can help get the word out. Among ways that were discussed to let the church
know how many of us disapprove of their actions and how angry we are: writing
letters to the editor; holding public demonstrations or actions about the
issue; and writing letters to the
church. DEMONSTRATIONS BEING PLANNED Demonstrations are being planned for
Pioneer Day (July 24), at the Days of 47 Parade, and for the October General
Conference of the church in Salt
Lake. More details on
those actions will be sent out via email as they become available. PHONE TREE
Utahns for Fairness will also be using a phone tree to get the word out about
things that are happening in California and
about actions and efforts in Utah. If you would like to be on the phone tree
(you may not check your email in time to hear about something), send your name
and phone number to Kathy at KathyWUT@aol.com or call it in to her at
801-963-7922 or call THE CENTER with it at 539-8800. Be sure to give your name and number and say
you want to be on the Utahns for Fairness phone tree. 'RESIGN FROM THE CHURCH'
CAMPAIGN One of the campaigns to send the church a message had begun even
before the July 8 meeting. People who
are members of the church but who want to have their names removed from church
records are urged to do that now, especially as part of a campaign to send a
message to church headquarters. (the easiest way to get your name removed from
the church is with a notarized letter) Kathy Worthington of Salt Lake
is coordinating a letter writing campaign, collecting letters or copies of
letters from people who are asking to have their names removed from church
records. As of July 13, THIRTY NINE people had pledged to write those letters,
and Worthington
says she's hoping to get 60 to 100 letters before she goes public with them. Sometime in late July Worthington and other activists will go
public with the letters, to let the media and public know how many people are
so unhappy with the church that they no longer want to be connected to the
church in any way. Most of the people
writing letters to have their names removed from church membership rolls live
in Utah, but there are also people from California - San Jose, Richmond, San Francisco and
Oakland - and from other areas: Boise,
Tulsa, and Possom
Trot, Kentucky!
1999 Police seek rapist in attack on a man By Amy Joi Bryson Deseret News staff
writer You are outside in front of your
home in the afternoon on a hot July day. You'd think you'd be safe. One homeowner wasn't last week. A man walked
by around 1:30, struck up a conversation and walked into the home. He demanded
money, assaulted the resident with a beer bottle, inflicted as many as four
stab wounds, then raped his victim. Most people assume this sort of crime
happens only to women. Only this time, it was a man who was victimized. Last
year, as best Salt
Lake police can tell, 12
men came forward in the city to make a complaint of sexual assault. In all
cases, the suspect was a man. Many were homosexual encounters gone awry or
date-rape situations that escalated. In a scattered few, the victim was preyed
upon because of a mental handicap. The
attack Friday, near 200 South and 800 East, has police puzzled at the brutality
and anxious to catch the culprit. "We're not sure if the intent was a
home-invasion robbery that happened to include a rape or if the sexual assault
was the intent and it happened to turn into a robbery," said Salt Lake
police detective Dave Timmerman. Fortunately, the attacker had made a purchase
at a nearby convenience store and he was caught on video tape. Timmerman has a
pretty good idea of what the man looks like but no definitive information
linking him to a name. "This was a very opportunistic criminal who was
able to take advantage of the situation," Timmerman said. The attack with
the beer bottle made reconstructive surgery on the victim's eye necessary. The
repeated stab wounds also nearly killed the man. Timmerman said a neighbor
heard the attack and called for help. "The guy is very lucky he wasn't
killed. If the neighbor hadn't called, it would have been a homicide." The
man left "very close" to the time officers arrived, Timmerman said.
To have a rape in conjunction with a robbery is rare, the detective said. It is
even more rare for that crime to be committed against a male victim. As
reluctant as female victims have been to come forward after they've been
sexually assaulted, rape specialists estimate that hesitancy more than doubles
when the victim is a man. "It is underreported by a tremendous percentage,"
said Dave Debner. Although the assault
is forced sex, it is more than anything else an issue of power and control for
the attacker, Debner said. That doesn't change regardless of the gender of the
victim, he said. Timmerman said the
victim recovered from Friday's attack enough to be discharged from the hospital
Wednesday for in-home recuperation. Police hope anyone with information on the
attacker will either call Timmerman during daytime hours at 799-3749, or
dispatch at 799-3000. The man is
described as dark-skinned, about 25, 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with a muscular
build, shaved head, goatee beard, brown hair, wearing a black sleeveless shirt
and baggy black shorts. © 1999 Deseret
News Publishing Co.
 |
| Add caption |
2003 Tuesday Subject: Utah Male Naturists naked events -Hey guys,
thought those of you not on the group may want to know about some of our outings: Last weekend's events were
well attended and VERY fun. Let's keep the summer ball rolling!!! Friday, July
18, noon - 1:30pm NAKED _ LUNCH Backyard deck of JeepNekkid *** I put up the
awning so we have more shade *** Bring: Lunch if you want it, suntan lotion if
you need it, something to drink Expect: About a dozen guys lounging about,
eating lunch, hot tubbing (the temp is turned down), sun tanning, BBQing,
hammocking, and general BS-ing. Address sent under separate email on Thursday
morning. Sunday, July 20 - Noon - 4:00pm BURMESTER _ BEACH _ OUTING Meet at
Saltair parking lot if you haven't been and want to follow us on in. If you
know where it is, look for the white Jeep and rainbow-colored kite surrounded
by a bunch of naked guys. Bring: WATER, suntan lotion, something to eat if you
want, a towel, anyone have a volleyball
net and balls? WATER, a kite? Expect: a few dozen guys lounging, playing,
tanning, BS-ing, eating, laughing, tooling around in the back of JeepNekkid's
Jeep terrorizing the natives, etc. Thursday, July 24 - Noon - 1:30pm P I O N E
E R _ D A Y _ NAKED _ L U N C H For those who have to work on Pioneer day, or
those who have it off and want to lounge naked in Jeep's back yard, we're
having a Thursday Naked Lunch. See Fri. July 18 for details. Address sent under
separate email Wednesday morning. Saturday, July 26 - Sunday July 27 BEACH
OVERNIGHTER Let's camp out at the beach. We have fireworks, a twister board,
torches, music, and a campfire. If you can't stay over Saturday, you are more
than welcome to meet up with us on Sunday. You may want to come earlier than
normal, since we'll have been there all night. Bring: WATER, a sleeping bag, a
tent if you want (suggested), food, games, light-naking devices.Expect: the
unexpected. Acutally, this is the first overnight. We have no idea how many
will come, who they will be, etc. As it gets closer, we'll try to gauge better.
We'll have a bbq, shade structures, fireworks, some munchies. More details as
it gets closer. See you in the Nudes! –JeepNekkid
2003 Tuesday USHS Membership Ben Williams to Toni Johnson Dear Toni, We
are now requiring membership dues for membership in the historical society.
However the board decided that members of PWAC coalition should be reduced to
either $10 or less (free) considering the circumstances of each individual.
Since it is none of our business what a person's HIV status is, it was proposed
that you be our intermediary with members of PWAC. Chuck Whyte is our treasurer
and his ability to keep a confidence is beyond question. If any of your members
wish to join or remain a member just contact Chuck and he will inform me who
has become a member. I am the moderator of the Yahoo group site so I monitor
the membership list on that site only. I won't know who is a paid member of who
is free. Only Chuck will. Would you be willing to support this decision of the
board and act as an intermediary with Chuck and inform your members? Sincerely Ben
Williams
- "Toni Johnson" Re: USHS
Membership Ben, I would be more than happy to be an intermediary with
PWA's. I can put a blurb in our
Positive Press and in our September Pillar article. Have a great day! Toni
2003 Tuesday, Subject: Gay Freedom Day Ben Williams to USHS Board=- Per
board instruction I have checked out the Salt Lake City Park web site. Attached
is their list of city parks and reservation requirements. It appears that one
cannot reserve a park until March. However I will go to the city county
building tomorrow and find out what business license or permits would be
required to hold a picnic/festival in
the park for the last weekend in June to commemorate Stonewall Rebellion and June
26th 2003 Freedom Day. I know, way premature, but Mike [Romero] and I were
thinking: Local performers only ie RCGSE, CyberSluts, SLC Men Choir, Saliva
Sisters etc. Only Craft and art booths (no corporate booths) of local Utah
artists Gay and Gay friendly. Simple Picnic Fare ie hot dogs, hamburgers,
potato salads, BBQ Beans, pies, ice cream, snow cones etc. Key note Speakers:
Historical figures from the community, organization and information booths limited to
Lambda nonprofit organizations only: ie-Affirmation, Reconcilliation, Quac,
Swerve, etc. Sound system playing tunes from Disco Era. Soft ball and Volley
Ball games. Keeping it simple and fun
- Subject: Gay Freedom Day Chad Keller to
Ben Williams This is a perfect concept. The first Gay Freedom days were a
celebration of us, no commercialism.
I would ask that we consider some gay artisians in an small area or
games hosted by other organizations. CK
- Subject: Gay Freedom Day Mark Swonson to
Ben Williams and Mike Romero- Ben and Mike-I think this is great idea! Let’s
bring back Pride Day or Gay Freedom Day how it was many, many, years ago.
Small, simple, and without commercialism! I will be on board for
this......
- Subject: Downtown Alliance Chad Keller
to Ben Williams and Bob Childers- Ben Hey Brad Baird is going to send an
email regarding the review of the City Ordinance regarding events, and
park reservations to the USHS group site. Farmers Market is laying in
ruins because of The Mayor, and other events are going to be definitely
effected, including Freedom Day. If
anything just forward it to me Bob, This would be a great chance to take
the lead and get many groups gay wise teamed up to with the Arts Festival,
Living Traditions, And others throught the CLF CK
2005 The Utah Bear Alliance has formulated a list of
Friday-night bar crawls. It can be found on the Bear Alliance website
(www.utahbears.com) by clicking on Fridays on the Calendar. Informally, the
bears will be visiting the Friday bar on Saturday nights as well. For example,
this coming Friday the 15th (and Saturday the 16th) the bears will be giving
Try-Angles a visit, meeting at the bar around 9:30. For more details, check the
Bear Alliance website.
2005 Center Clean Up: Friday, July 15th from 10am – 2pm
followed by a BBQ lunch. Come help us clean
and organize the Center and stay for lunch and cold drinks to enjoy together
after we are through! We will get in
crews and jam through it, leaving our community Center looking fabulous!
2006 Salt Lake Metro Feature Lost
Boys by Ben Williams Lost Boys, Homosexuality, and Polygamy "The people
grew so evil, the men started to marry the men and the women married the women.
This is the worst evil act you can do, next to murder. It is like murder.
Whenever people commit that sin, then the Lord destroys them." Prophet
Warren S. Jeffs Last summer in Las Vegas, I visited an unsavory adult video
bookstore. So much for Las Vegas’ motto: “What happens here, stays here”. It was 3 in the morning, when getting back
into my truck; I was approached by a young hustler. He was very scruffy, about
18 I suppose, and awfully young to be looking like a street person. When I told
him I was not interested he asked me if I was Mormon because of my Utah plates.
I said no and he sounded disappointed. I
asked him if he was from Utah and he said he was from Hildale. Because it was
late and I really was not looking for company I didn’t want to spend much more
time talking to him but now I wish I would have. It would only dawn on me later that Hildale
is the Utah half of Colorado City, the polygamous community of the
Fundamentalist Mormon Church in Arizona. I
have some experience with polygamists. In the mid 1970’s a man by the name of
Musser ran a copy print shop in the basement of the Union Building at the
University of Utah near the bowling alley. He was a polygamist with ties to
Colorado City. In 1976 he had tried to convert a U of U co-ed into being one of
his wives and she even went with him to visit Colorado City. I married this co-ed in 1977 and learned a
lot about this secret society from her. I was not really interested in
polygamy, not really wanting to be married to one wife let alone two or more,
but over the years I met many who were of that persuasion. I once met some sons
of Alex Joseph, founder of Big Water’s polygamous enclave, while enjoying the
luxury of the sauna in the U of U’s locker room. They told me of their lives and beliefs
while soaking in our own sweat. They were cute enough to make me want to
convert but I didn’t. In the mid 1980’s after I came out of the closet I met
many more polygamists through my flirtation with the Libertarian Party of Utah.
I swear that at once time every delegate to the state convention was either
Gay, a pot head, or polygamous. Talk about strange bed fellows. A brief sojourn with the Restoration
Church of Jesus Christ also had me knowing the first Lesbian Polygamists. While
many predicted that it would be the men who would first form polygamist unions
in the church it was actually the women! This arrangement of four women living
together worked for about a year before they split and partnered off two by
two. I am the first to admit that I don’t believe homosexuals need to parrot
the actions of heteroes and march onto an Ark two by two. I think Gay people
should be on the fore front of pioneering innovative relationships. But then I am from a hippie generation that
believed in communes, open relationships, free love, and Jonie Mitchell’s
anthem, “we don’t need a piece of paper from the city hall keeping us tied and
true.” But I digress. There are
many, many, many Restoration Churches based on the teachings of an early 19th
century man who used his charisma to convince people that men could have as
many sexual partners as they wished as long as he gave them the authority to do
so. This man was Joseph Smith Junior and in December we will hear over and over
again ad nauseum his virtues as people celebrate his 200th birthday. No matter what one’s personal feelings are
about Smith’s character, it can not be emphasized enough that he was a
genius. For good or bad. You
decide. Anyway many of the good citizens
of Utah are here today because their grannies were convinced that God wanted
their husbands to spread their seed from pillar to post so that they could
become Gods and exalt their wives as baby making Goddesses. Okay. Eventually
with the full weight of the Federal Government ready to confiscate all the
Utah’s church property, the church leaders caved and said God really didn’t
mean that every one had to be a polygamist to get into heaven after all. Some Mormons objected to this line of
thought and today Utah, well okay most of Western North America, contain
splinter groups each with their own authentic prophet interpreting Joseph
Smith’s revelation on Celestial Marriage. I once knew one of these authentic prophets,
from the LaBaron group, that lived in a trailer park. A Gay friend of mine was completely convinced
that this man had the true keys of the kingdom to seal and bind on earth in the
name of God. People were and often are
killed for less. Think Rulon Allred. Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah
were established by the largest fundamentalist Mormon group to avoid lawmen
from each state jurisdiction.The Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) sect
like most of its counterparts except for the Community of Friends (formerly the
Reorganized LDS Church), and the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ, (formerly
the Church of Jesus Christ of All Latter Day Saints) frowns on homosexuality as an impediment to
God’s desire to have humans procreate for all time and eternity. Strange then
that homosexuality and male homosexual prostitution is often a common outcome
for many of those ostracized from the FLDS faith. In 2002 Warren Steed Jeffs, no doubt name after the
Southern Utah Judge Warren Steed who lately has found himself in hot water for
having three wives too many, claimed to be the Prophet Seer and Revelator and
holder of the keys to the kingdom of God, when he inherited the mantle from his
father, Rulon Jeffs, after the old man's death. Jeffs immediately married many
of his father’s young wives (his step mothers), began to purge the church of
dissenters, and its excess male population. Born
in 1956, Jeffs has 56 known children by 40 wives, but court records reveal that
his sexual appetite goes beyond celestial heterosexuality. In July 2004 Jeff’s nephew Brent Jeffs filed
a Battery Lawsuit, a Child Molestation Lawsuit, a Conspiracy Lawsuit, a Fraud
Lawsuit, and Sodomy Lawsuit against the
prophet. In another suit, filed in
August 2004 in a Utah state court, more than a dozen young men allege that
Warren Jeffs and FLDS leaders forced them to leave town to reduce competition
for wives in that polygamist society. The suit alleges that Jeffs and FLDS
leaders reduced the male population in the communities by "systematically
expelling young males" from Colorado City and Hildale. Estimates of how many young men have been
forced out of the communities range between 400 and a 1000! Warren Jeffs, in
order to avoid the lawsuits, ordered the transfer of valuable Church communal
assets (the United Effort Plan) to FLDS insiders to shield the land and
property from possible monetary judgments, according to pleadings filed by
lawyers representing Brent Jeffs and the young men expelled from the enclave. Brent Jeffs, now 21, maintains in his July
2004 suit in a Utah state court that his uncle Warren Jeffs began to sodomize
him when he was 5 and 6 years old. He accuses Warren and two other uncles,
Blaine Jeffs and Leslie Jeffs, of raping him repeatedly in the basement of Alta
Academy, an FLDS school in Salt Lake City where Warren was then the principal.
The suit alleges: "On repeated occasions the Jeffs Brothers would enter
the basement room where the children were located, find [Brent Jeffs], and
instruct him to come to a nearby lavatory. While in the lavatory, the Jeffs
Brothers confronted [Brent] and instructed him to remove his clothes. After
[Brent] undressed himself, one or more of the three defendants told him that it
was God's will that he submit to them. The Jeffs Brothers would take turns
forcing their erect penises into [Brent's] anus. Warren Jeffs told [Brent] that
these sodomizing activities were a way for [Brent] to become 'a man.' Warren
Jeffs admonished [Brent] that it was God's will that [Brent] not tell anyone --
particularly his parents -- about said activities." In fact, Warren Jeffs
said Brent would be cast into hell if he revealed what was going on, the suit
contends. Despite Warren's admonitions, complaints that Warren and his brothers
were raping young boys did reach FLDS leaders, including Warren's late father,
Rulon Jeffs, FLDS Prophet at the time. The suit says these complaints were
ignored, thereby allowing Warren to portray himself to the community as a
"chaste" and "honorable" religious leader. According to the
suit Warren Jeffs had been committing assaults on young boys since he was 14
years old. Brent Jeffs, the suit states, decided to break his silence in the
aftermath of the January 2002 suicide of his brother, Clayne, who also was
sexually assaulted by the three Jeffses. Boys who grow up in Colorado City and
Hildale are also victimized in other ways according lawsuits filed the
following month. They have come to be known as the “Lost Boys”. Apparently,
since the polygamists have trouble attracting new female recruits to their
lifestyle, they have a demographic problem. There are not enough young women
around to marry therefore the men who are richer, more powerful, or with more
standing within their church are being placated by Jeff. To secure wives for
these "better" FLDS polygamists, teenage boys are being forced out of
the community for offenses such as watching movies, talking to girls, and
celebrating national holidays. Lawyers for six of the Lost Boys accused Warren
Jeff of conspiracy to purge surplus males from the community, Many of these
"Lost Boys", some as young as 13, have simply been dumped on the side
of the road in Arizona and Utah, by the leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), and told they will never see their
families again or go to heaven. The L.A. Times featured a story of the Lost
Boys, these teenagers who are ostracized on trumped up charges from the
culturally isolated FLDS polygamist sect because they provide competition for
wives of older sect members. The Phoenix Republic even ran a story back in 1999
of young boys from the FLDS community coming to Phoenix to work as male
prostitutes, a few rundown blocks from downtown. In an area, known as ''Boys
Town, around Margaret T. Hance Park, young men, 14 to 21 or so, mostly
homeless, perform sexual acts in alleys and back seats for as little as $5.” It
seems that a lot of male prostitutes in Las Vegas are former members of
polygamist communities. This news has made media outlets in the Las Vegas area,
because with few skills that are marketable in the 21st century, the Lost Boys
gravitate towards Las Vegas (the closest metropolitan area) where many devolve
into prostitution. Warren Jeff has freed although very traumatically at least
400 teenage boys, some say closer to 1,000, to create an artificial shortage of
mates for the teenage girls that the older men resolve to have through multiple
marriages:Named as a defendant in these 2004 suits, the Prophet Warren Jeffs
did not respond to their allegations. His Salt Lake City attorney, Rodney
Parker, withdrew from the cases last December. Jeffs' failure to defend himself
led to his removal as president of the United Effort Plan trust last June. That
is when the Utah state court appointed Bruce Wisan as special fiduciary of the
trust. In June 2005, the Mohave County Attorney's Office of Arizona obtained
indictments against Warren Jeffs and seven Colorado City men on charges of
sexual misconduct for marrying underage women to much older men spiritual but non-legal
marriages. Warren Jeff's was stripped
from the board that controls more than $100 million of property in Colorado
City and neighboring Hildale, Utah, and has been kept on the run by FBI agents.
He has gone underground, last seen in Texas at his reclusive ranch. Warren Jeff
is a slippery fellow because of the physical similarities among the many men in
the Jeffs family. FBI agents in Salt Lake City thought they had Jeffs cornered
at the city's airport but it turned out to be one of his nephews. Later a surveillance photo shot at a Lehi, Utah,
sporting-goods store appeared to be a dead ringer for Warren Jeffs. But it
turned out to be his brother. However the arrest of Seth Jeffs, brother of
Warren in October marks the biggest break for law enforcement since the FBI
placed fundamentalist Mormon Prophet Warren Jeffs on its most-wanted list in
August. Three O’clock in the morning on October 28, a Colorado citizen
telephoned the Pueblo sheriff's office to report a suspected drunken driver
traveling in a car straddling two lanes. A deputy responding to the tip spotted
the late-model Ford Excursion going slowly through a stop sign and coming
almost to a stop on U.S. 50, and Interstate 25. The deputy thought the driver
might be lost and pulled the car over. The two men in the car, Seth Jeffs in the
passenger seat and Nathaniel Steed Allred driving, told the deputy conflicting
stories about where they were going. Now here comes the weird part. After
questioning the occupants, Jeffs and Allred were cited for solicitation of
prostitution and prostitution and were arrested! While no account confirms that Jeffs and
Allred were having sex while driving the inferences are clear that they were!
While the pair was initially stopped on suspicion of intoxication, Allred
quickly told the deputy that his uncle Jeffs was the vehicle owner and had paid
him $5,000 to provide Jeffs with "sexual services." The deputy had probably caught them in the
act which probably explains why the car was weaving but why Allred admitted to
accepting money for sex is mystifying.
However Ben Bistline, Colorado City historian referring to Jeffs and
Allred, stated, "It's not like we're talking the brightest bulbs here.” Both
Jeffs and his nephew Allred were 31 and 27 years old respectively. An anonymous
FLDS member after hearing that Nathaniel Allred was accused of prostitution
wrote on an email site, “I knew
Nathaniel Allred to be a fine young lad– one to be decent and responsible. It’s
hard to imagine that he would wind up in something like that.” After the pair
was taken to jail, the Ford Excursion was impounded in Pueblo, Colorado where a
dog trained to smell narcotics indicated the presence of drugs in the car. The
Sheriff office released the pair with a summons and no drugs were found. What
was found, excited the sheriff even more. Inside the vehicle, police found
$142,000 in cash, seven cellphones and several envelopes containing thousands
of dollars of prepaid credit cards and phone cards, and a cash-filled donation
jar bearing Warren Jeff’s picture with a label that read, "Pennies for the
Prophet." It was the same photo used on wanted posters circulated by the
FBI. (Duh!) When the sheriff realized they had just let go the brother of a
wanted fugitive from jail they contacted the FBI to assist in the investigation
and obtained a warrant to open Prophet Warren Jeffs' personal records. Several
hundred letters addressed to Warren from church members "relating to a
variety of personal and FLDS matters," were recovered. Several hours after his release, Seth Jeffs
telephoned the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office regarding the vehicle and its
contents. He agreed to return to Pueblo from Castle Rock, Colorado, to discuss
the status of the investigation When Seth Jeffs arrived at the sheriff's
department to talk about retrieving his car, Jeffs consented to a voluntary
interview with the FBI and was subsequently arrested on the federal charge,
according to an affidavit filed by Special Agent J. Andrew Stearns. Jeffs
admitted to the FBI that he is Warren Steed Jeffs' younger brother and that he
is well aware that his brother is a federal fugitive. He claimed, however, to
have no knowledge of Warren Jeffs' whereabouts. Seth also told officers he did
not know where his brother was and that neither he nor other church members
would assist the search because, "It would be stupid to tell anyone where
he is because he would get caught." Seth Steed Jeffs was arraigned October
31 in U.S. District Court in Denver and charged with concealing his older
brother, the prophet of the fundamentalist Mormon Church, from arrest. The
charge could bring a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The
local prostitution-related charges still stands. Seth Jeffs' lawyer says his
client was just taking the items in the car to a bishop of the FLDS church his
brother heads. Seth later told officers that he was taking the materials from
the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints headquarters in
Colorado City and Hildale to the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, Texas, where members
of the church are building a huge, four-story temple. As for the Lost Boys,
legislation billed as a way to help youths evicted from polygamous homes died
in a Utah Senate logjam last year. However on November 9, 2005 Utah Attorney
General Mark Shurtleff told Utah
lawmakers that a bill, which would allow a judge to emancipate a minor
at age 16, is among his top priorities. Shurtleff told of hundreds of young men
needing help after being cast out by their polygamous families in the towns of
Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. "I've had kids in my office who
have been kicked out of the community on trumped-up charges," Shurtleff
told Utah lawmakers. Rep. Roz McGee,
D-Salt Lake City, stated that these youths have no way to finish school, get
medical care, or live and work independently without permission from parents,
who often refuse it. While
archconservative Madam Medusa Gayle Ruzicka said her conservative Eagle Forum
group is concerned the bill to emancipate teenagers might allow youths across
the state to sever ties with their parents at times when they need parental
guidance, the bill passed out of the committee anyway. Sources: John Dougherty- Prophet's Kin Arrested: The
younger brother of fundamentalist Mormon Prophet Warren Jeffs is charged with
concealing Jeffs' whereabouts Thursday, October 27, 2005 Phoenix New Times John
Dougherty-Under Siege Polygamists are barricading their homes in the midst of
mounting legal assaults by authorities 22 September 2005 Phoenix New Times Patrice
St. Germain-FBI Arrests Warren Jeffs' Brother St. George Spectrum 1 Nov 2005 .com
Mark Shaffer- Republic Flagstaff Bureau
Nov. 7, 2005 “FLDS' JEFFS LIVING WELL ON THE RUN Karen Abbott Rocky Mountain
News: Fugitive's brother held Feds accuse sibling of hiding polygamist Warren
Steed Jeffs JORDAN SMITH FLDS- First Family Update The Arizona Republic
"Gathering Puts Focus on Polygamy's Lost Boys". The Arizona Republic
LOST IN 'BOYS TOWN' MOSTLY HOMELESS YOUTHS SUBSIST IN POCKET OF DRUGS, PROSTITUTION
November 30, 1999 June 01, 2004 at 02:22 PM in Current Affairs, Polygamy – FLDS
Polygamy and Male Prostitution SL Tribune Jeffs is reportedly spotted in Lehi 10/26/2005
“Cops get tip, pull over vans, but fugitive Jeffs isn't inside” 11/14/2005 Was
Jeffs' brother hiding him? 11/01/2005
Jeffs kin will be allowed to post bail 11/04/2005 Shurtleff
helps revive 'lost boys' bill 11/11/2005
2006 Saturday Improve your quality of life through positive
thinking. Date: Saturday, Time: 1:00 thru 3:00 p.m. Location: People With AIDS Coalition of Utah 175 W.
200 S., Suite 2010 SLC,
UT 84101 Presenter: Kim Sayer of 6
Advisors Lunch will be served.
2006 EMPEROR XXXI KIM RUSSO EMPEROR XXIX OF
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA ELDON KIRBY EMPEROR XXII MICHAEL NORVELL OF PORTLAND, OREGON AND
PRINCESS ROYALE XXIX PARIS BRUNNER MONTIEL CHILDERS ALONG WITH… THE ROYAL COURT
OF THE GOLDEN SPIKE EMPIRE PRESENT “XMAS IN JULY” A BENEFIT FOR THE PEOPLE WITH
AIDS XMAS FUND JULY 15TH AT THE TRAPP DOOR* Showtime STARTS AT 8:30 pm $5.00
SUGGESTED DONATION SALT LAKE’S MOST TALENTED PERFORMERS ON STAGE FOR THIS
WORTHY AND CARING BENEFIT
2010 LGBT panel discusses need
for improved safety By Rosemary Winters The Salt Lake Tribune Law enforcement
is there to help, but members of Utah’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) community also need to work together to improve safety for one another.
That was the theme of a LGBT panel discussion Tuesday night hosted by the Utah
Pride Center and other community groups at the Salt Lake City Main Library. “I
can’t help you, if you don’t call me,” said speaker Sgt. Julie Jorgensen, a
member of the West Valley City Police Department and the inter-agency LGBT
Public Safety Liaison Committee. “Some people are reluctant to call the police
because they’re afraid ... [but] officers are required to be objective in their
investigations.” Jorgensen encouraged people who do feel they were treated
poorly by a police officer to lodge a complaint with the agency. Panelists also
included Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder, Salt Lake City Chief Prosecutor
Sim Gill and Paul Parker, chief criminal deputy in the Salt Lake County
District Attorney’s Office. A recent survey conducted by the Pride Center and
the Liaison Committee, which offers LGBT sensitivity training to law
enforcement agencies along the Wasatch Front, found many people who are LGBT
often don’t feel safe being themselves in public. “As a gay man, I feel safer
in some areas of [Salt Lake] County than others,” said actor Charles Lynn
Frost, an attendee.
.jpg) |
| Charles Frost |
Only one-third of the survey’s respondents said they
thought they would be protected from discrimination if they called police to
report an incident of domestic violence. Jorgensen assured attendees that
officers have a responsibility to treat gay and lesbian couples the same as straight
ones. Her committee includes representatives from Salt Lake City, Salt Lake
County, West Valley City, Weber County, South Salt Lake, Draper, Bountiful,
West Bountiful and Cottonwood Heights. But one attendee questioned whether the
panelists’ commitment to safety for the LGBT community was being backed up by
the actions of law enforcement. “What you do speaks so loudly, I cannot hear
what you say,” said Dominique Storni, a transgender
.jpg) |
| Dominique Storni |
woman who lives in South
Salt Lake. Storni said she called police when she was a victim of a hate crime
several years ago and was “basically ignored.” She also complained about the
handling of two recent assault cases against gay men in South Salt Lake and
Salt Lake City. “Whatever training is going on, it’s not sticking,” she said.
Still, she thanked the speakers for participating in the discussion. “Hear my
anger, but also hear that I’m really glad you’re here,” Storni told them. Eric
Ethington, a member of the panel who represented the LGBT
.jpg) |
| Eric Ethington |
community, said it’s
important for people to look out for their friends when they go out and also
not to engage in a fight if someone tries to pick one. It’s become more common,
he noted, for LGBT people to go out to mainstream bars and restaurants — not
just LGBT-specific ones. “Especially at bars and clubs where liquor is
involved,” Ethington said, “if you hear someone shouting hate speech ... the
worst possible thing [you] can do is walk up to them and start shouting.”
Instead, he advised, notify the bar tender, bouncer or restaurant manager. The
Utah Pride Center plans to reach out to bars and restaurants around Utah to
provide training on how to make LGBT patrons safer. Businesses that complete
the training would be certified as LGBT-friendly. “These owners are starting to
recognize we are there,” Ethington said. “They love us — or more specifically,
our money. They do not want to lose us as patrons.” Attendees also were
encouraged to participate in a neighborhood watch program and to lobby their
city or county law enforcement agencies to join the LGBT Public Safety Liaison
Committee if not members already.
 |
| Turner Bitten |
2010 Turner Bitten wrote:
Thursday, 15 July 2010 at 04:22 “If a bullet should enter my brain, let that
bullet destroy every closet door in the country”, these immortalized words of
Harvey Milk are quoted within our community with a sense of reverence. Having
been born after the days of the infamous police raids, high profile beatings,
and HIV/AIDS epidemic’s zenith, I scarcely know the horrors that the older
vanguard of our community has been through. I never underwent corrective
therapy at a “Mormon gulag” and thus I do not know the pain inflicted on those
who have. In fact, the year that Harvey Milk died was the year that my father
became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. No amount
of reading can ever instill within me the passions and experiences that the
generation before me has experienced and in many ways, my arrogance has led me
to believe that previous generations are unproductive and serve as merely an
antagonist to society. Although I was not present during the opening stages of
the battle for our rights when the bullets started flying and did in fact enter
the brain of Harvey Milk, I was born into the second phase of the war. I
entered the world when the energy of the 70’s and 80’s was dying and I have
come of age in a time of complacency. The battleground has been covered with
new grass and the scars of battles past are hidden underneath the new façade of
decent and complacent democracy. Rather than gathering in the streets and town
halls, we hide in our night clubs, cowering and waiting for a new catalyst to
send our community into action. I am as guilty as any of hiding, I’ve been
cautious and attempted to cast an quiet activist persona about me, working
behind the scenes to ‘bring about equality and provide a voice for marginalized
voices’, I have hidden behind the guise of a consensus builder when in reality
the only consensus I was building was that we are inferior and must beg for
hand outs from an outside source. I’ve been shy to protest and reserved to
express all that I am and as I have done so, bullets continue to fly. Being
naïve as I am, I have believed that they battleground changed when in reality,
the only thing that has changed is the weaponry. Now, more than ever, the
battle is raging, going to the ballot box is not enough in its own right.
Marching in anger and confused passion answer not the call of destiny but the
call of the first voice brave enough to speak. Without cohesion and unity our
community is destined to fail, all the while we continue to suffer irreparable
damage. Within the last week, I have seen firsthand as the bullets of this war
have entered the brain of two of our community’s leaders. Although they will
not be memorialized on the news or in a national magazine, these two beautiful
individuals have paved the way for a transformation of our broken community.
The assassination of these beautiful souls was not carried out by one man but
at their own hand. With one final act of self expression these two individuals
charged forward with dignity and gave their life for the cause that they so
nobly fought for. Every day, stories such as that of James Dunkley, a 19 year
old boy from North Ogden whose life ended in June of 2009 due not to
complications with faulty health, but an inability to carve out a small piece
of his destiny. In a final act of desperation, James did what many of us wish
we could do, he raised his voice and cried out against the failings of a
fundamentally sick society. Raising a voice that you fundamentally do not
understand is a near impossible task, one in which a dramatic transformation of
character can take place. I have not risen to this task, and thus I remain a
coward. With this article I hope to finally leave behind any question of the
person that lies behind the mask. I no longer hide who I am but embrace it
fully, in the utmost of sincerity I raise my voice in honor of those who felt
that theirs were not heard. Individuals such as my friends David Standley and
Tim Tilley whose lives ended this week in the battle against fear mongering and
restricted self expression. I seek not to capitalize on the loss of two
incredible individuals, but rather to honor them by expressing my sincerest of
gratitude for although you are no longer with us, the lessons you taught us
were lifelong. As I think about the sacrifice that David, James, Tim, and the
countless other causalities of our battle for tolerance have made, I cannot
help but feel a sense of purpose. In the truest of senses, the role we play in
changing our world is as simple as living our lives on a daily basis. For
although the closet door for David was opened, the world he stepped into was
not one in which he felt he could live to his potential and individual
choosing. In his death, the words signed with blood by countless individuals
ring true, “When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge
his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on
him." In David standing up for himself and being willing to stand for who
he was, his message was one of the utmost urgency. If we do not begin to raise
our voices again, we will forever be lost. David raised his voice and
unfortunately, he felt so alone in doing so that he could not bear the weight
of the world. Let Tim Tilley’s voice rouse you to action, for although he was a
soft spoken and timid boy, the message of his life will forever speak volumes
of truth. If you hear this message, wherever you stand, answer Tim’s call, show
David that we’re the generation, and we can’t afford to wait. The cause is
noble and the power of our collective voices can drown out the voices that
silenced David and Tim. Honor the memory of those who have died as a result of
an uncaring and unwelcoming society by raising your voice. Whether you are 15
or 97, the power to change your world is in your hands. By acknowledging who
you are and sharing that with your loved ones, you will reinforce the entire
front we currently fight on. The most important lesson to take away from
suicide is that you are never alone. You are never powerless and together we
will survive. The needs of our community are ever growing and before our
movement will ever have success we must first become a community. In many cases,
we are all we’ve got, even with the most liberal of statistics, 10% of the
population; we are a very small island. We are spread across all ethnic
barriers, our lives are spent in all socioeconomic classes, and we are in every
religion worldwide yet we must choose to speak and not to silence ourselves. We
will never be represented until we make our voices heard and in order to do
that we must work in all aspects of our society’s bounds. There are leaders out
there that can and aided our communities in ways we can never full know. Thank
God for those like Richard Matthews and the great Nova Starr who seek to
prevent the spread of illnesses that have wreaked havoc on our community. Thank
God for those like Michael Aaron and Salty Gossip for their commitment to save
our community from the perils of being uneducated and bored. Thank God for
those like Colton Lejeune, Trent Garner, and Berlin Schlegel who show an
unwavering desire to help the younger members of our community become
comfortable within the bounds of their own skins. Thank God for Allison Black
and those committed to aiding our friends and families. Thank God for Brandie
Balken and Isaac Higham for their unwavering commitment to working within our
democratic institutions to change our legal status. Finally, thank God for
those who work every day to bring about equality, thank God for you and I.
Remember, you are never alone, and the promise you hold, the promise of your
voice can only be achieved when you decide to raise it! It is my hope that the
next time you hear of a protest, you will go and raise your voice in solidarity
with others, in honor of those who can no longer speak, like David and Tim. The
next time there is an election, you get involved and raise you ballot to
symbolize you commitment to changing legal statuses. The next time you are
asked whether you are LGBTQ+, raise your voice loudly by stating that you are
who you are and that “I AM EQUAL”. Only through a mindset of true equality can
we ever be equal. Never withdraw from society in fear but proudly participate
because the beauty of a cultural war is that we all carry within us a piece of
the flag of victory that will be raised when the war has been won. "To be
yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the
greatest accomplishment."- Ralph Waldo Emerson
.jpg)
.jpg)
