Autumn 4th Quarter Journal 2002 October-December

 

OCTOBER

1 October 2002 Tuesday

Craig Miller to Chad Keller: A Threat, or a Promise? For ease of reading, I've also written this as an attachment. Utah Pride will happen again.  Is that a threat, or a promise?  Well, it's looking like our evaluation and party aren't going to happen.  How's that for stating the obvious two months after everyone already knew it?  Nevertheless, in order to progress, we need to get some sort of closure to Pride 2002 from the organizing committee. Here's a letter with four separate parts: First, a brief thank you with my own personal reflections Second, a request for a brief summary of your coordinating area Third, a request for recommendations from you to improve your area for next year (financially and programmatically)Fourth, a request for you to tell us your vision for Pride Also, please gather your notes/binders for 2002 and prepare to hand them in to the co-chairs, Sherry Booth or Craig Miller.  Whether or not you are returning to coordinate Pride events for next year, these records need to be available for future organizers.  We need to know your contacts, the steps you took in preparing for the event, and your schedule of tasks.  You all know how hard it was this year having virtually no records from the past.  Please make it easier for others who follow in your footsteps. First: Thanks to you and all who participated in coordinating and presenting Pride 2002.  It was a monumental and great event thanks to each of you. It was dramatic (in the real and emotional senses); it was controversial (check the Deseret News/Tribune/Pillar articles and the Gayvoteutah.com letters); and it was a success (check the following observations that I've listed below):  We experienced gridlock on the festival grounds after the parade finished, with crowd estimates equaling last year's numbers despite the unseasonably cold weather. Our operating budget surpassed $106,000! Sponsorships and grants totaled $39,000 in cash, more than double last year's amount. We had a record numbers of vendors and exhibitors. We presented wonderful new components: grand marshal reception, 5 K Run, and more. Grant money is already coming in for next year. Could things have been better? Damn right.  We are still struggling to break even.  Due to the cold weather, beverage sales (our greatest earned income source) were barely half of what we expected. Cost over-runs and unnecessary expenditures were common.  But nearly four months later, we are climbing to the break-even point.  We have negotiated with some of our creditors; we have been selling bottled water; and we still have money owed to us from advertisers in the 2002 Pride Guide and money for 2003 is already coming in. Perhaps even more severe than facing a financial deficit, is the emotional toll Pride continues to take on its volunteers- us.  Once again there were many conflicts, disappointments, mistreatment of colleagues and hurt feelings.  I think each of us regrets this, but despite all our best attempts, we did not manage to lift Pride out of that quagmire.  This has to change.  We owe it to ourselves, to each other, and to the community. Second: As I wrote earlier, short of a full evaluation (which is now unlikely), would you please put together a brief analysis of your area.  Really, brief is beautiful.  Only a sentence or two would help a lot.  Here are a few ideas of how to break down your reporting information: List & describe the components you organized Describe the numbers and description of participants (number of volunteers, vendors, venues, separate parade entrants, etc., children's activities or youth activity games, etc.) Describe your major areas of concern in pre-pride organizing and on the day of the event. Provide any other evaluation that is appropriate. (Please avoid criticizing the attitude or wardrobe of other volunteer- that's a joke.....) Third: Please give an honest assessment of your area and how you would recommend it could be improved or how costs could be streamlined. Please point out what you think were unneeded expenses, and present any options you would consider for accomplishing your individual goals.  Fourth: Please take a moment to write down your vision for Pride, both for your separate area and for Pride as a whole.  Some of you might not have thought too hard about that yet, so don't go to too much trouble trying to come up with something.  You've already done enough by just working on the event and seeing it through to the end!  (One of my

favorite realizations recently is that I don't have to have an opinion about everything! And you don't either.)But some of you might feel if we focused on specific concepts or concrete goals, we could greatly improve the event.  Do feel free to talk in specifics, or in broad idealistic terms-- with short-term goals for next year, or with ideas for long-range growth of an event you've always dreamed of having in Salt Lake City. Thanks for taking at least a few moments to respond to this email.  Your replies could be used for future reports both internally to the Pride board and to the media.  Craig

 

Chad Keller to Craig Miller: I can no longer, nor will I afford the time to be bothered in helping the Alpha-Social-Working-Lesbians create their ultimate Utopia, weeded free of what they and obviously members of the Pride committee feel are acceptable. Best of Luck, obviously the represented AL and her eunuchs know how to do it all, and are free to proceed in a manner which suits the agenda of the elite. Please convey to her and the Center my deepest of Appreciation of calling me a drunk at the Merger meeting.  This will now be an issue, and will not go away to easily for both her and the Center.  It was uncalled for and low brow, if not plainly inappropriate.  Odd how I have not made personal attacks of that sort, yet I’m sure it is well justified in some dysfunctional manner.  I would have expected that you would have not allowed comment like that to be made, then again you are the silent type.  I fear that it was not me that tossed our friendship out the window.  I will not be treated like Chaise was treated, so reign her and the others in ASAP. As for my thoughts, It was the pride committee, in a move as dysfunctional as ever that determined where the ideas would be offered and bestowed. Those ideas have been forwarded on to other community organizations That will use them respectfully, and will seek my comments honestly.  Many of them are already in the works and will be wonderful fundraisers and Gay Pride Month activities for those organizations. As for anything that I may have had, it met with the shredder last week, to make room for new and better projects which were previously mentioned.  As there was no respect or integrity in the previous decision, I felt it was just time to move on. Thanks! CK

 

2 October 2002 Wednesday

Mark Swonson wrote- Hey Guys- I was thinking why don't we come up with a Youth Advisory Committee. It will be from the Forum and these leaders can advise and help set up the interns for the organizations that they want to join. The Pillar can have a full page on The GLBT Youth and I have talked to one youth (he) that would like to write for the Pillar on a regular basis. We also might get a lesbian youth as well or transgendered youth to write also. So they can write about what they are doing and what they see and feel as GLBT Youth. We can have many Youth Organizations like: RCGSE Youth Court GLBT Political Action Committee UGRA Youth Group Sports/Fun Activities Group Career/Education Committee and create Youth groups from other Organizations that they might want to participate in. I think it would be a good idea if some of us sat down together and invite others who would like to participate in this as well. See what they think? But we also need to hear and listen to our Youth and ask them if this is what they would like from us? Great ideas, we have had but if this isn't what the GLBT are looking for then it’s no good to them.  Mark 

 

3 October 2002 Thursday

Chad Keller Re-Kmetko Fees: I have had several of the Youth Council come to me over this past week rather upset that they have been told that by Pride and the Center they will not receive the $2000.00 cash in lieu of Kmetko's regular fees.  Is this so? The $2000.00 was a definite must be paid item.  He allowed this to happen to assist us due to the Russo problem, and because sponsorships were not in at that time. I also provided to him a tax benefit.  Then when we did not buy first class as promised due to cost, he upgraded, and it definitely was not an option that Pride could opt out. All of this was made quite clear in several committee, and in board meetings.  I personally do not appreciate me looking really bad over this situation due to Sherry and Darrin’s mismanaged unchecked spending spree. And it more than upsets me as this has flung a bucket of mud directly at me and my reputation. Kmetko announced it to the youth in the Conversations with Youth that he had given his fees of $2000.00 to them.  He is waiting for not only the receipt but a letter from the youth council as to how they intend or have utilized the funds.  All of that can be forwarded either to me to be sent to him (so I know that Pride didn't weasel out of it) or Someone other than anyone involved ( i.e. Sherry, Darien, you, Paula, or any Pride or Center Board member)  I'm sure those adults gathered in the room to listen like Alicia Suazo, Mike Piccardi, Trevor Johnson, Ryan Shippers, Trent Romijn to name a few will definitely take issue with this also. By not keeping the agreement this will definitely have an effect on the future participation of national public figures.  It shows sadly Prides true commitment to youth, and to the community.  Cash flow or not it is owed, and they will not be brushed aside.  I would hope that in an very upcoming edition of the Pillar, that Pride uses this available gay public forum, if they do not have the funds, to lay out a comprehensive plan to the community and to the youth on how they will not only keep its obligation to both of their Grand Marshal's, but how they plan and what the pay schedule will be to keep that commitment.  Otherwise, I am prepared and will assist in helping the youth in bringing this to the forefront.  And the rumor of trading the water for the fees had better be just that, a rumor.  CK 

 

From Teinamarrie to Craig Miller: Craig, It's nice to finally hear something as to Pride happenings.  It would have been nice to have an evaluation/wrap up meeting.  I will do my best to get you the information you've asked for as soon as possible.  At this point in time I cannot give a definite answer as to when I'll be able to give you the information.  I have more important things happening in my life right now.  Pride is not a high priority at the moment especially since I keep hearing rumors about the Center taking Pride over.  So what is happening?  By the way I volunteer told me that Pride has filed for bankruptcy.  Is this true?  Also I've had youth come to me asking about their $2000 from Kmetko.  I explained that I've been kept in the dark and they needed to ask someone from the board. Best, Teinamarrie

 

Craig Miller to Teinamarrie Nelson: Hi, Teinamarrie, Thanks for the note.  I'm getting ready to leave town for the next 10 days, so there's no rush in compiling your notes.  I'll start putting everyone's collected thoughts together when I return.  You had a crucial role this past year, so I'd really like to include your views.  If you don't have time to write anything down, maybe we can just talk over the phone.  I think I can say for everyone that you and your committee did a great job organizing the volunteers and seeing your duties through to the very end, the volunteer party.  I'd like to be certain all the work you did this year will help to make a stronger Pride next year.  At the very least, I hope we can maintain all the contacts for this year's volunteers so we could invite them to participate again next year. An evaluation meeting certainly would have been nice.  That's an understatement, I know.  I kept expecting we would have one, and that's what I thought our August meeting was to have been.  None of us  expected all the crises that arose this summer- the death of a family member that resulted in Billy's resignation, illness and surgery of another board member, scheduling conflicts, and the loss of jobs, not to mention the energy lost to drama and rumors- but then that's Pride..... I've taken a more aggressive role now, trying to help get things back on track. There are still a lot of rumors out there, I know.  Basically, we are very close to breaking even after 2002.  The whopping $106,000 cost for Pride this year took a lot of us off guard.  Like I mentioned in the earlier email, we are working hard to get in the black and I think we're just a few hundred dollars short- but we've got lots of liquid assets (water!).  We are still waiting for checks to come in from some of our Pride Guide advertisers.  We've been selling water wherever we can.  (A big thanks to Angles for their purchase!- need any more yet?)  Bankruptcy isn't even a word I've heard yet.  Who told you THAT? We are entering into negotiations to see if it would be beneficial for the Center to take over the administration of Pride.  We've had a  couple of task force meetings and in the next couple of months we'll be preparing a report to take back to both boards and they will make a  decision on how we will progress from there.  Dominique might be submitting an article about this for the October Pillar.   Despite what you may have heard, we are looking at a lot of options including staying the same.  Other options include a merger with the Center, contracting with them to do administration and oversight, or becoming an affiliated arm of the Center, in a way that we would keep our accounting completely separate and maintain our own 501 ( c)  3 status.  Despite any administrative changes that may take place, I think we will plan to keep the same committee structure with the same sorts of tasks. The good news is we are getting a jump on fundraising in comparison with previous years.  We have started preparing Sponsorship packets to send out by the end of this month and have already begun receiving money for Pride 2003. Having last year's records has made a big difference! I appreciate your writing, Teinamarrie.  I'll be in touch when I return to town after the 14th. Craig.

4 October 2002 Friday

The Advocate: The high court considers lesbian case Teacher Wendy Weaver was in class with her students on Thursday while lawyers argued in front of the Utah supreme court whether Weaver should be barred from the classroom  because she is a lesbian....

 

Justices Hear Gay Teacher Arguments BY ELIZABETH NEFF
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE     Five years after a Spanish Fork High School teacher first confirmed to a student that she is gay, a group trying to oust her from her job pleaded its case Thursday before the state's highest court.
    Attorneys cast the Utah Supreme Court appeal as a legal litmus test for whether Utahns can challenge teachers in court rather than through school districts and state agencies. Wendy Chandler, who changed to her maiden name from Wendy Weaver, still teaches psychology at the school.      "At stake is whether citizens can sue teachers when regulatory agencies have decided to take no action against the person," said Dani Eyer, executive director of the Utah branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Chandler.
    "Community members motivated by their own personal prejudice are seeking to circumvent decisions boards have made. It's the 'open season on any teacher we don't like' concept."  But attorney Matthew Hilton argued before the justices that parents, taxpayers and former students from the conservative Utah town deserve to be heard.     "Students who are directly impacted, taxpayers who are directly impacted and parents have the right to be in court," he said. "There isn't a right of referendum for school districts. We have the right to be heard and the right to challenge illegal conduct."  The state's Board of Education took no action against Chandler after parents and students filed a complaint against her, Hilton said. A 1997 lawsuit filed in 4th District Court claimed Chandler was unfit to teach on moral grounds because she is a lesbian. The suit asked the court to find she had violated state laws in her classroom.  The lawsuit alleged Chandler violated the Utah Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the Psychology Licensing Act, the Constitutional Freedoms in Schools Act and Utah's teacher certification requirements.
    Among other issues, the complaint cited Chandler's administration of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to students without parental permission, "inappropriate" comments about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during class discussions, and her sexual orientation as disruptive to school activities. Judge Ray Harding Jr. dismissed all but two of the nine counts in the suit in 1999. The remaining two counts were voluntarily dismissed, allowing the ruling to be appealed. On Thursday, the justices peppered Hilton with questions. Chief Justice Christine M. Durham asked why citizens should be allowed to independently enforce laws state agencies are already bound to enforce. "That's opening a pretty wide door, don't you think?" Durham asked. Justice Leonard H. Russon asked why disgruntled community members could not simply vote out school board members. And Justice Michael J. Wilkins questioned whether courts were better equipped to make decisions about teachers than state agencies more familiar with the issues. The 4th District lawsuit was the second suit involving Chandler. She first filed and prevailed in a U.S. District Court lawsuit after Nebo School District officials told her she could not coach the girls volleyball team or discuss her sexual orientation with students.
    Judge Bruce Jenkins forced the district to offer Chandler her coaching job again, which she declined, lifted the district's gag order, and ordered the district to pay nearly $62,000 in legal fees Chandler accrued. Utah Board of Education attorney Carol Lear said the board has no record of any formal complaint lodged against Chandler that would have prompted an investigation. She said she also recalls a conversation in which Hilton and she agreed it would be best to defer any state board investigation until after the federal lawsuit and a school district investigation were over.  "We heard nothing further [from Hilton]," Lear said.  Chandler's partner, Rachael Smith, attended Thursday's hearing. She called the lawsuit an action "motivated by a small segment of individuals who would like to dictate how the rest of us live our lives." ACLU cooperating attorney Stephen Clark, who argued before the court Thursday, said the suit would in part determine whether gays and lesbians who teach and attend Utah schools can participate as "full members of the community."

 

5 October 2002 Saturday

Ben Williams to David Nelson: David- If the Pride Day Inc files bankruptcy- it’s because its board is Bankrupt from ideas and influence within the community.  Perhaps it is time for the community to take back Pride Day from those whose see the festival as just another marketable commodity. As a former Kristen Ries Awardee I have been dismayed for years at the direction Gay Pride Day has been going. My main concern has always been "Where is the accountability of the board to the community?" Perhaps it is time to revive the OLD GLCCU. Even with all its  squabbling, Bitch fights, intrigue, and hurt feelings, at least everything was above board and there never were "secret meetings", "closed meetings" and reneged promises. Who are the people on the board of the so called Gay and Lesbian Community Center now? Besides having deep pockets and connections to deep pockets are they truly representative of Utah's Gay Community? I was the last “elected" member of the board of the old Stonewall Center. Once the board closed its board to open membership the center collapsed. The Stonewall Coffee Shop is indeed an asset to this community but why is it considered a community center anymore than any other establishment? Is it truly the center of our community? The Old Stonewall Center had a help line, an information and reference desk, a library, and archives that was used by such notables as historian Michael Quinn and the Law Firm of Spence, Moriarity & Schuster of Jackson Hole. The volunteers at the center felt like they were providing valuable service to the community and except for the executive director no one received a dime. Why is the center always closed on days such as Pride Day and holidays when people in crisis need it the most? Where are the volunteers? If I am arrested who could I talk to at the center: if I was contemplating  suicide who could I talk to: if I was a middle age man or woman coming out of a marriage who could I talk to; if I was being sexually harassed who could I talk to; if I was attacked who could I talk to? At the new center I suppose it would be the coffee shop manager when not busy serving up lattes. Ben Williams

 

David Nelson to Gayvoteutah.com: Consideration is reportedly being made by some to renege on the $2,000 speaking-fee agreement made between the Utah Pride Inc. leaders and gay E! Network anchor Steve Kmetko who served in June as the pride- celebration national grand marshal. The fee was promised to be paid to the pride youth council as a contribution from Kmetko who otherwise waived his normal fee. Continuing talk of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah Inc. acquiring the pride group emphasized this week that  an acquisition was necessary because of pending bankruptcy by the pride group. The Kmetko fee could be included legally in any bankruptcy by the pride group, but the written receipt of his in-kind contribution to the group would need to be nullified. Who among the center and pride leaders wants the job of telling him, not to mention the youth council members? Corporate acquisitions like this usually acquire the debt as well as the real and intrinsic valuables. A bankruptcy by the pride group before an acquisition, however, would erase the debt and leave the intrinsic value for the center group to take freely. It's also been suggested that the still-unused pride-label water be given to the youth council instead of the promised cash. It's worth about $2,000, and could be sold by them to raise funds. The damage, however, extends well beyond simply stiffing some gay and lesbian kids in the name of a television celebrity, and making them earn what was given to them. Make no mistake that gay and lesbian speakers talk to each other and share war stories about the communities they visit. Our youth will also learn from this experience. Do we really want national gay and lesbian leaders to know that our promises aren't kept? Do we want our youth to see bankruptcy as a way out of promises? Meanwhile, recent certified letters published by the pride group bear the return address of the center. It would seem that the acquisition is already underway, or, as one pride leader called it, a "fait accompli." I hope that our center and pride leaders dismiss the idea of stopping payment on their $2,000 promise quickly BEFORE this damage is done. If the center group follows through with its acquisition of the pride group, let them acquire all of it, lock, stock and barrel, debt included. That's the honorable way to do it. David Nelson

 

6 October 2002  Sunday

I really need a break but school isn’t out for UEA until another week. It looks like Paula Wolfe and Darrien Hobbs are going to take over Gay Pride. Times they are a changing.  It’s all being done without any community input. 

7 October 2002 Monday

"Geoff Partain" wrote: Utah Pride Inc. does NOT plan to renege on or nullify a commitment to LGBT youth. Nor is Utah Pride Inc. planning to give the youth bottled water in lieu of a financial donation.” I hope I won't have reason to regret posting to this group. Here are some facts to quell rumor: Utah Pride Inc. is NOT filing bankruptcy! Utah Pride Inc. does NOT plan to renege on or nullify a commitment to LGBT youth. Nor is Utah Pride Inc. planning to give the youth bottled water in lieu of a financial donation. If I am the Pride leader to whom you refer as calling a proposed merger with GLCCU a "fait accompli", please have the integrity to put the quote in its proper context, to do otherwise is misleading. I said the proposed merger is "NOT a fait accompli". Geoff Partain Board Member Utah Pride Inc.

 

David Nelson to Geoff Partain:  That's very good to learn, Geoff. Has Utah Pride Inc. made the $2,000 contribution? If so, when? If not, why not? If soon, when? It's been almost four months since the pride-celebration events. I hope that all financial obligations are accomplished before the end of the pride fiscal year. I presume that would be Dec. 31. -

 

Dominique Storni  to David Nelson of Gayvoteutah.com:  -I am really beginning to wonder about the integrity of the owner of this thread. What is your motivation? Please be circumspect about ALL sides of an issue before posting. It is really getting quite ridiculous. Have you noticed how many posts there are lately??? Almost none ... except yours ... and the ones you let through. You cry about being censure from the Log Cabin Republicans, but then you censor postings that don't fit into your mission. Is the mission to educate? Or to get blind followers? Puh --- lease.

 

David Thometz to Dominique: Which messages do you claim have been censored? While David Nelson is the owner and operator of this group, I am one of the moderators. Checking our posting activity, I see only 3 instances where an attempted post failed to post; two today, and one on October 2. In all three cases, the error was recorded as "Bounced post: Not subscribed" -- which means that the three attempted posts were made by individual e-mail accounts not registered as subscribers of GVUNewsTalk. I can't speak for David, but I suspect he would agree with me that group moderators welcome all input from responsible individuals. I have never known a post to be rejected based on the content or opinion reflected in its message. Requiring posts to come from subscribed accounts helps protect all group members from unsolicited advertizing and viruses, and provides a means to protect from other forms of abuse. Please continue to contribute to the dialog in this forum, but, in your own words, "Please be circumspect about ALL sides of an issue before posting" -- especially before making serious and mistaken accusations such as this. David Thometz

 

Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Schedule October 7th and 8^th Forward Widely Wednesday, October 7th, Union Theater Noon, Big Eden, Big Eden is a uniquely American Fable about home and Family. It Hits upon the universal longing and hope we each have for finding a place where we are loved, and the Unconditional desire to see those that we love find happiness. 2:30 PM, Johnny Greyeyes Johnny Greyeyes is a powerful story of a native American woman  struggling to maintain strength, love, and spirit. Since the  shooting of her father, Johnny spent most of her life in prison.  There she forms a new family with her cellmate Lana. With her  release date near, she valiantly strives to keep her two worlds  together. 5:00 PM, L.I.E, Long Island Expressway,  Fifteen-year-old Howie loses just about everything and everyone  in the space of a single week, but ends up finding himself in the process. His mother has just died. His father, a corrupt building contractor, can barely keep tabs on his young girlfriend, let alone his own son. Thusly, the teen must navigate his adolescence virtually unsupervised. Floating towards an ill-behaved existence, Howie and his crowd begin robbing houses in the middle-class neighborhoods off the Long Island Expressway. Together, he and his best friend Gary break into a place belonging to an old guy named Big John, a local man who is a respected pillar of the
community. When Big John fingers Gary for the crime, Howie learns that his pal has been leading a secret, dangerous but also alluring double life. Subsequently, we also discover that Big John has secrets of his own. 7:30 PM, No Dumb Questions, Uncle Bill is becoming a woman! This lighthearted and poignant
documentary profiles three sisters, aged 6, 9 and 11, struggling to understand why and how their Uncle Bill is becoming a woman. These girls love their Uncle Bill, but will they feel the same way when he becomes their new Aunt Barbara? With just weeks until Bill's first visit as Barbara, the sisters navigate the
complex territories of anatomy, sexuality, personality, gender and fashion. Their reactions are funny, touching, and distinctly different. This film offers a fresh perspective on a complex situation from a family that insists there are no dumb questions.8:00 PM, Southern Comfort, Southern Comfort follows the final year of Robert Eads' life. Beginning in spring, he falls deeply in love with Lola, a
male-to-female. That summer, his mother and father drive ten hours to visit their "lost daughter," a trip they know may be their last. His final dream is to make it to the Southern Comfort Conference in Atlanta, the nation's preeminent transgender
gathering. Beating the odds, he addresses a crowd of 500 and takes Lola to "The prom that never was."

 

8 October 2002 Tuesday

Union Theater Noon, Chutney Popcorn Reena and Lisa are young, happy and in love. But when Reena agrees to become a surrogate mother for her childless sister, the cultural divide between Reena's Indian family and their lesbian lifestyle hits home. Chutney Popcorn is a delightful and heartfelt comedy about the cultural struggles between immigrant parents and their Americanized children and the strength of family ties. Ultimately, Chutney Popcorn offers a refreshing look at one contentious and loving family reinventing itself.2:30 PM, Breaking the Surface Seoul, 1988: Greg Louganis, while plunging towards the water, hits the diving board cutting his head open. Splashing into the water Greg begins to have flashbacks: Being ridiculed by the other neighborhood children and his own unaccepting, overbearing father; winning the silver medal; the 1982 world
championship; two gold medals in Los Angeles; the struggles of an abusive relationship with Tom Barrett; his father's terminal cancer; Tom's losing battle with AIDS and Greg’s own HIV positive status. After doctors in Seoul stitch Greg's head wound, he returns to competition and picks up two more gold medals. After his dad's death and Tom's lost AIDS' battle, Greg courageously decides to go public with every aspect of his life.5:00 PM, The Laramie Project Selected as the Opening Night Premiere at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, The Laramie Project is a groundbreaking HBO Film event that recreates the efforts of a New York theatre troupe to shed light on a western town's loss of innocence following a hate crime perpetrated on a 21-year-old University of Wyoming student. Adapted from the acclaimed play of the same name, the film features an all-star cast.7:00 PM CLEAN (5 min.) Utah Premiere A missionary finds that he is falling in love with his companion. PASSENGER (4 min.) Utah Premiere On a snowcapped mountaintop a cowboy lets a passenger into his pickup truck. Adapted from the poetry of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi who said that love requires surrender in order to be true.PROTEUS POINT (18 min.) Utah Premiere Jason wants to please his girlfriend, Michelle, but she grow increasingly jealous of his fervent male bonding with his roommate. Finally, she requires him to make a choice. Love, sex, and friendship are confusing. Sometimes we want someone to give us all the answers, but the only real answers come from within ourselves. 7:30 PM, Speedway Junky, Every dream has its price . . . >From Executive Producer Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester) comes another  compelling story of a teenage dreamer. Johnny (Jesse Bradford, Clockstoppers) has run away from home to pursue his fantasy to race cars - but he runs into trouble and out of money in Las Vegas. Gay street hustler Eric (Jordan Brower, Teen Angel) befriends Johnny and introduces him to his gang, including brash Steven (Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Home Improvement) and charming Wilma (Tiffany-Amber Thiessen, Beverly Hills 90210). Johnny also meets Eric's surrogate mom Veronica (Darryl Hannah, Splash). As the two boys become close, they are confronted with a life-threatening situation involving drugs, money and betrayal, and Johnny must decide if he has what it takes to follow his dream. Hope that you can all attend some of these films. Charles Milne
Interim Advisor lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center University of Utah

 

Chad Keller wrote Ben Williams: Do you have the old bylaws of the GLCCU before it closed down?? I have a plan, but want to see if it will work before I say anything. CK. 

 

Ben Williams" to "Chad Keller" Subject: Re: GLCCU:  By Laws are all up at the Marriott Library. Chuck Whyte may have a copy. He, Neil Hoyt, and myself were the ones who filed the incorporation papers.

 

Olympic Diver Louganis to Speak at Kingsbury Hall     Former Olympian Greg Louganis speaks at the University of Utah's Kingsbury Hall Thursday, headlining a week of activities commemorating National Coming Out Day. Considered by many the greatest diver in history, Louganis won his first silver medal at age 16 at the 1976 Olympics. He went on to take the gold in platform and springboard events at both the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. He also has won five world championships and 47 U.S. National Diving titles. In 1994, Louganis publicly stated that he is homosexual. A year later he revealed he has AIDS. Louganis lives in Southern California and spends much of his time speaking to youth groups about coming out, self-esteem and the dangers of drugs and alcohol.  He will deliver his keynote address Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at Kingsbury Hall. The event is free and open to the public. A fund-raiser dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. at the I.J. and JeannŽ Wagner Jewish Community Center, 2 North Medical Drive, in Salt Lake City. Tickets are $25-$50. Proceeds will go to the U.'s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center. For reservations, contact Becky McKean at 581-8151.

 

9 October 2002 Wednesday

Chad Keller to Ben Williams:-Oh on the Dominique thing...Found out last night why the 100% turn around on the issue. A few Weeks ago while a court meeting we realized that they [Pride] was  up in a meeting, well she stormed up there, and then sat and listened as the as she realized she was in a task force meeting for the merger. Well when it was over she tried to let them have it, on running people

Off the board, keeping the community in the dark, forgetting trannies, and

What not. This was the meeting that Sherry Booth and Paula refered to me as the community's most creative drunk....(wasn’t that a Rusty Tack Award...and if

in the right party mood I do take it as a compliment)When I left her to go to court meeting she was mad as heck, then when I called her after the meeting....the savage beast was soothed, and she was telling me to watch which battles I choose to start....and that I had better just let it go and sit quite. Few days later the Center called and offered her the Month of November as Transgendered Awareness Month....(feed right into her biggest desire) and asked her to do an Art show, select the films for the series, organize the candlelight vigil, panel discussion,  la la la la la la and apparently handed her a good sized budget. This all surfaced last night in court meeting as she took 30 minutes to go on and on about Transgendered Month. I think is it a good thing, but they silenced her with cash  and dream fulfillment

 

Chad  Keller to Ben Williams: :-she sold out......see  note from another email written by me on the Dominique thing..... It gets better......yesterday I get a note from Teinamarrie....I guess I got her in a little bit of trouble......apparently Darien Hobbs sent her a note asking her why and whom she told about the Task Force Meeting.....apparently they are not happy about that leak....Of course they are accusing her of telling me who told you....what’s great is that when she denied it....and told them that she and I don’t talk pride, they beloved it....but if you don’t want something out to the masses....keep it a secret..I will bet that they close the meeting...And all signs in the community when I am confronted on my attitude about Pride and the Center...they are bringing in the big names....two work in the office upstairs.... The following is totally off the off the record.... cause I need CG later this month and in January to quote "In this trying time the merger is the best thing.......It is just like the symphony and the opera, and will be a good match....you should be happy for the community...

 

James P Hicks wrote: Hi everyone! I know this is completely unrelated to any of the current discussions going on. However, I've been giving a lot of thought to our Gay Pride Day celebration. I'm wondering how others feel about us as a GLBT community celebrating Pride Day on a Saturday as opposed to a Sunday? I'm wondering because I'd like us to actually show that we can be more mainstream and fit into society. "This is what we would like everyone to believe, is it not?" I read comments about our community fitting into mainstream society in Out Magazine and the Advocate, I also hear this statement from our own community here in SLC. Actually, it is related and certainly relevant. I am sure that there are members of the current Pride Committee on this list. Perhaps you could more directly solicit some feedback from some of them for your ideas. It's my belief that if we want to show the world that we can fit into "mainstream society" then let’s show that we can be mainstream by holding a parade on Saturday and not on Sunday. Most of us belong to some type of church or at least have some religious or spiritual background. Yet we hold Gay Pride on Sunday. Some of us parade around with our church groups and profess to be religious, or Christian, rather than attending those churches. What does say to outsiders "the straight community" about our GLBT community? Does it show that we are really serious about fitting into mainstream society? I for one would like to be accepted as a part of society and have the same equal rights as everyone else? I'm not saying that perceptions will change overnight, but why give the straight community any more reasons to criticize us by holding a parade on Sunday? Think about it this way. What better way to gain support from the straight community then by holding Gay Pride Day on a Saturday when everyone is out and about downtown and not at church. If nothing else, at  least I wouldn't have to take Monday off to re-coop from my late night at the bar! I'm certain I'm going to get people pissed off by my comments but seriously isn't that what a good discussion is all about?  Any thoughts on this subject? Jim Hicks

 

Ruadhan O'Sheridan to James Hicks: I don’t think that all of us care to show the world how mainstream we can be or already are. Nor do I really care that society accepts me (or us). That is really not the point of things like Gay Pride Day. First of all Gay Pride Day is about how we accept each other and ourselves and to show THAT to the larger society. What I want from "mainstream" society isn't so much acceptance (which is really nothing we have any business demanding from anyone about anything) but tolerance and equal rights. Further, if all that mainstream society had to criticize us about was what day of the week we held our holidays on, then I think we would be in pretty good shape. There are much larger issues that LGBT people and their allies have to worry about than what day of the week a festival and parade are held on. Discrimination in housing, adoption, employment as well as anti-LGBT violence are much more important topics for dialogue and resolution with mainstream society than what day we party on. Also, more internally, issues about intercommunity relations, funding for our projects and community centers, networking and supporting each other in our individual and community goals are much higher on the list of problems we face than worrying about what others think about what day we come together to celebrate. Finally, I think there is the issue of access and attendance of the day's events themselves that I would say, argue against moving the day off of a Sunday. Precisely because our state has such a strong religious/spiritual tradition, Sunday is usually the day that most of us are off work and able to participate. Remember, the day is about celebrating ourselves and our community and being proud of who we are, not about coming together to fret about what outsiders think of us and wringing our hands or developing ulcers over what others think we should be doing or when. If the majority of the LGBT community thinks it is an important enough issue and make their opinions known, I am sure that the Pride Committee, whoever they may be in the future, would listen to that and respond. Finally, not everyone in the LGBT community is religious or Christian. Although I am religiously affiliated, I am not a Christian. I think you would be very surprised to find out how many folk in the community are not. There are also Christian and other religious sects that do not observe the Sabbath on Sunday. What about them? Support from the straight community is nice, sort of the icing on the cake, but support and acceptance from within the community is more important to me and a lot of friends of mine, and the point of Gay Pride Day. Remember, it is Gay (LGBT) Pride Day, not Gay Pride if the Straight Community Approves Day. There is a huge gap between the flavors of the two. Going to the bar late at night is a matter of choice. Usually people's work commitments are not, and that is a big reason why I disagree with Saturday becoming the day for the parade and festival events. So many people work on Saturdays, particularly people in retail and service industries. Without the same Sunday demand locally, many of those people have Sunday's off and are able to participate. The more who can participate the better since, for me, Gay Pride Day is all about inclusion of everyone who belongs to the LGBT community and our friends, but not a bit about worrying about "mainstream" opinions. No, certainly not pissed off at all, James. I am glad that you brought up the subject because I had to think about this for awhile to best voice why I disagreed with you, not only about why I disagree with the Saturday notion for purely practical reasons, but also why I disagree with your thesis on ideological grounds. BTW, may I contact you off list about a personal matter? Best Regards, Ruadhan O'Sheridan

 

10 October 2002 Thursday

Justice will be served if the Utah Supreme Court decides to end the reprehensible harassment of a Nebo School District teacher because of her sexual orientation. Some parents in the district have claimed for years that Wendy Chandler is an unfit teacher because she is a lesbian who lives with another woman.  The sheer bigotry that has driven this case through the state courts is indefensible and should spur all fair-minded Utahns to stand up for the rights of all, regardless of sexual orientation, to work and live free of harassment.     The rough outlines of the case are well-known. In 1997, when Chandler's sexual orientation became public, the Nebo School District sent her a memo barring her from speaking to anyone about her sexuality and from continuing to coach the Spanish Fork High School volleyball team she had led to four state championships. Chandler, who was Wendy Weaver then, sued the school district and won the right both to speak and coach. She refused the coaching position but stayed on as a teacher. The parents promptly went after Chandler in court.     The justices heard the latest wrinkle in the case last week. After several unsuccessful attempts to force Chandler out of her profession, these self-appointed morals watchdogs are challenging the State Office of Education's decision not to take action against her teaching license. They also assert that parents have the right, independently through the courts, to seek a teacher's ouster.  Chandler's supposed "crime" was truthfully answering a student's direct question about her sexual orientation. The parents raised a few other issues, none of which would have forced Chandler out of teaching, but have appeared all along to be seeking her dismissal primarily because she is a lesbian. The state Office of Education, which is very familiar with the legal precedents upholding the rights of gays and lesbians to teach, rightly chose not to endorse the crusade against Chandler. Clearly, this is a witch hunt. Fortunately, the laws of the land do not support use of the courts to perpetuate such tactics. Numerous federal and state court rulings uphold the right of experts in state education departments and local school districts to make judgments about teacher qualifications, and alleged transgressions.     Courts typically uphold administrative decisions, even when parents are upset, unless the agency has acted arbitrarily. The state office's decision not to prosecute Chandler for living in a committed same-sex relationship was not arbitrary. It is the only acceptable legal outcome. The parents are not required to approve of Chandler's, or any teacher's, lifestyle. They are not required to encourage their children to accept people for who they are. But they should be required to end their relentless harassment of Chandler, whose only crimes appear to be wedged entirely in the narrow minds of her pursuers.

 

Ben Williams wrote to James Hicks: James I can't see any reason why your proposal can't be presented before the Pride Day Committee. Many others over the years have wondered why we can't have it on Sundays. As a side note, the only Pride Day I ever missed was when it was held on a Sunday in Murray Park. Since buses did not run on Sundays back then and I didn't have a car and  I had no way to get there. I personally would like to see Pride Day held the last weekend in June to commemorate the Stonewall Rebellion which was held over the weekend of June 27 1969.  PS-By the way Gay Pride is about self acceptance not straight acceptance. Ben Williams

 

Ben Williams to GayUtahVotes: I am beginning to doubt the integrity of Ms Storni after trying to understand why she won't post an explanation of what the center and pride are up to. It seems that Jeff Partain is the only one who respects the community at large enough to address the issues. Why haven't the "powers that be" posted on Kathy Worthington's List, written an article in the Pillar, or an explanation at this site. It seems that public scrutiny is something with which elitists in the community have trouble dealing. I thought "Don't question Us" was the refrain only of the patriarch.  Ms Storni I would really like to hear your side. How about stating it? Ben Williams

 

"Dominique Storni to Ben Williams: What I was referring to was answered by 2 people so I didn't think I needed to respond.  I am also very involved planning a Transgender Awareness month for November and my plate is rather full. What frustrates me is that certain items seem to see the light of day on this thread, but others don't.  Also, people are misquoted, quoted out of context, and downright misrepresented.  I.E.. ... Geoff was quoted as saying that the merger was a "fait accompli".  What he actually said was that it was NOT a fait accompli.  His words were misrepresented to give the appearance that there is nothing more to be said or no way to stop a speeding train wreck.  In my opinion, he was misquoted on purpose to justify a personal agenda. I see this way too much in the Salt Lake Gay & Lesbian community.  There is way too much separation and way too much fictionalizations.  Too many with personal agendas who seem to only help if there is some personal gain. United we stand, divided we fall. Does anyone wonder why we fall all the time when it comes to legislation???  Redneck states like the Carolinas and Texas are getting better protection than we are and they fight the born again right wing Christian Italian.  Those guys make Mormons look like a bunch of pansies. (pun intended)  Yet .. the G's and L's have joined with the B's and the T's and with other fractionalized minorities and have raised a united voice. They win because they aren't so concerned with personal agendas and personal gain as they are with protecting all people. As for Pride and GLCCU.  I still stand against the merger.  However, I DID attend the first task force session and wrote a piece for the Pillar. I don't know if it was published as I haven't seen an Oct. issue yet.  The public meeting will be on the 23rd of Oct.  I think it will be at the GLCCU and probably 7pm.  I have spoken with Darin and Paula briefly about the merger as I've discussed the upcoming events during TG month.  I have also spoke briefly with Geoff and Sherry from Pride.  I have voiced my concerns and they have discussed them with me.  I'm sure that anyone will be welcome to attend, but if one desires a voice in the meeting, I think it would be prudent and appropriate to request to be part of the agenda to either GLCCU board or Pride board as I believe these meetings, as most board meetings, are open to public, but not open for open discussion unless it is on the agenda. I also know that there has been some discussion about both boards  posting their comments, mission statements, and progress of the task force discussions on respective web sites.  I advocate strongly for this.  As I told them ad nauseam in the meeting I attended and in person since, "If there is nothing to hide, bring it into the light."  I advocate that for the entire community.  IF there is nothing to hide; if there are no hidden agendas; if you truly seek the higher good for the community at large and there is more than a simple desire for personal gain ... then make your thoughts and feelings public.  Stand up and be counted. I have seen SO many willing to bitch and moan, but few willing to stand up, get involved, and take the heat. Hope that clears this up my gripe Mr. Williams. Respectfully,> Ms. Dominique Storni

Community Leadership Forum Gaining Strength and Momentum The Community Leadership Forum is set for October 10, 2002 at All Saints Episcopal Church in St John's Hall. The Salt Lake Men’s Choir will act as the Organization Host. The address is 1700 So Foothill Boulevard. The hall is located downstairs with doors that open to the parking lot located on the west side of the building. The Community Leadership Forum will begin at 7:30 p.m. Following the meeting leaders of the community will be treated to a mini concert by the Salt Lake Men’s Choir and refreshments. "We are off to a great start in getting the many organizations of our communicating and working together in a community building effort," Stated Chad Keller Forum Facilitator. The meeting has grown over the past months and now features over 50 groups represented. In this meeting we will address effective web design from a panel of professional web designers in the education segment. In Service will address Fundraising Basics. Per the request of the many participants the Forum will now include a Community Dialog segment. The Dialog segment will be an open discussion where organizations can not only make announcements, but where those gathered can brainstorm ways to improve our community and address issues facing our community. "Dialog is a positive addition to the Forum," stated Keller, "there is a great deal of frustration about paradigms in the community. We hope to break though them and strengthen the foundations of the community through different thought processes and open communication."  As benefits to participate the Community Leadership Forum provides assistance to those organizations that ask help in distributing information to the mainstream on upcoming activities and fundraisers. All organizations also that attend regularly also have all of their activities included in the Pillar Community Calendar. Organizations will also be able to access the Online Calendar that will be online by November. The Online calendar will also allow members of the community to subscribe to a weekly reminder of community meetings and activities. Those organizations interested in participating in the Community Leadership Forum, but have not been able to because of schedule conflicts are encourage to be in attendance at the October Meeting, as we will determine the permanent date that the Forum will be held each month. The newly selected and agreed date will go into effect starting with the November Meeting.  The issue of the date will be addressed in the first part of the meeting October 10, 2002 so that they may return to other duties with their organizations that evening.  All community organizations are encouraged to have representation in attendance The Pillar will host in December the boards of the many community organizations in a Holiday Open House to be held December 5, 2002. We will suspend the regular agenda to enjoy the holidays with each other. Members of each group’s board are encouraged to attend. More details will be provided in the Next Pillar.  Come join us in working together to build a strong Utah GLBT Community!

 

11 October 2002 Friday

It’s the 15^th anniversary of the March on Washington and the 14^th Coming Out Day to commemorate that event. I doubt if anyone cares anymore just us old timers.

The University of Utah is sponsoring the a week of events in coordination  with National Coming Out Day on October 11th.  I am extending an invitation  to all of you to attend these events.  They are all FREE to the public.  Except the Dinner on the evening of October 10th.  This dinner will  generate funds for the University of Utah's LGBT Resource Center.  Please go to the following web page to access all of the information.

 

12 October 2002 Saturday

During the second weekend of October the Stonewall Coffee Company will be donating 10% of their proceeds to the People With AIDS Coalition of Utah.

 

Chad Keller wrote: Well the we have reached the end of the first Official Week of GLBT Community Service out in the mainstream community.  It has been quite interesting watching the public as we as a community step forward and settled into our mainstream civic role.  I don't think they expected it, and I'm sure they will be prepared for next year. Tomorrow is the Grand Finale, the Pinnacle of our Community Service Week Celebrating National Coming Out where we all have the opportunity to come together to do great things and move the GLBT community forward. Memory Grove Clean Up 10:00 AM Saturday October 12, 2002 Rain or Shine we will proceed! Dress warmly for, bring gloves, and come on out having fun and making a difference. See you all tomorrow..... In Pride Chad Keller  Founder/ Emeritus Coordinator 1999-2003 Utah GLBT Community Service Project Pillar Services PS Yes, What you are reading is correct.  Todd Daley and I have found a new coordinator who will be actively seeking participation from members of the GLBT community to participate in the Community Service Project Committee.  And yes I will still be around.  More to be announced later.

 

14 October  2002 Monday

My Mom finally is learning how to email and she wrote me, “Hi. How are you doing? Did you have school today? It has turned cooler here [Palmdale, Ca.]. I bitch when it’s hot and bitch when it’s cold. Can’t win for losing. I feel like I have the flu. I am tired all the time. Guess I should go to the doc. Your  Dad seems to be doing ok. Sure is slowing down. Guess we will half to get a gardener. Mike [Wachs] shut down his computer down. His school loan was denied. Don’t know what he’s going to do. I know he is down in the dumps. He may half to wait till Denise [Wachs] is out of school. Love Mom

 

Chad Keller wrote: UTAH STONEWALL HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND ARCHIVES RESUMES MEETINGS SALT LAKE CITY -- Former Utah Gay and Lesbian Historical Society Director Rocky O’Donovan said in 1989 at the state Pride celebration that "Gays and lesbians have displayed a heritage worth recovery and safeguarding."Gay- and lesbian-history leaders and supporters announced in October their plan to resume actively researching, gathering and publishing gay and lesbian history in the state as the new Utah Stonewall Historical Society and Archives. An introductory group presentation is planned for 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 27 at Angles Deli-Coffee-Gallery at 511 West 200 South. Group leaders are inviting the sexual-minority communities along the Wasatch Front to become actively involved in preserving their collective history. Ben Williams served as a co-founder of the original group and remarked at the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall revolution that "Freedom and justice must be struggled for. They're never a finality. Gays and lesbians understand this. We are extenders of freedom. We are the bravest, strongest, most courageous people I know." Williams serves now as the founder of the new group and said that "What was true then is even truer today. The struggle for civil rights in the state as a sexual minority is worthy of remembrance." "Unfortunately, the vast majority of gay men and lesbians grow up without knowledge of this struggle and, thus, are unaware of the significant contributions made by all of us in a broad range of endeavors," Williams said. "This often can develop into a strong sense of cultural isolation especially in conservative states such as Utah." "Recognizing the complex issues of the culturally and sexually diverse communities we have in this state, our group will strive to support the values and strengths of all sexual minorities and try to archive the culturally relevant, gender-specific documents and relics that will empower all of us to make positive changes in our lives and the communities in which we live," Williams said. "Our group needs help in providing accurate and complete information about our communities," Williams said. "If we fail at this task, it's probable that historical accounts of our lives now and in the past may be reduced to gossip and the unfriendly observations and prejudices of others."

 

15 October  2002 Tuesday

'Oz' Director Quits Amid Colored-Flag Flap in Draper A rainbow controversy at Draper's Historic Theatre caused director Jesse Dolce to resign from a production of "The Wizard of Oz."  Some cast members threatened to leave the show because they felt Dolce was pushing his personal agenda with a veiled reference to the Gay Pride flag, according to Draper Historic Theatre board spokesman Kevin McClellan. Dolce says he was contacted by theater board president Rhonda Nieswender on Oct. 3, opening day for the show. Nieswender told him seven cast members were threatening to leave the show because Dolce asked cast members to carry red, orange, yellow and green flags during the show's curtain call. Dolce then resigned his positions as the show's director and a member of the cast.  Dolce said his only aim in using the flags was to add color during the curtain call to the Kansas set, which was mostly black curtains. "It was not even a rainbow," said Dolce. "I only asked four members to carry them.  They are taking a simple, innocent rainbow, the theme of the whole show, and trying to see it as something that it is not."  L. Frank Baum's American fairy tale "The Wizard of Oz," especially its 1939 MGM film version, is a popular symbol within gay communities. The seven-color rainbow flag of the Gay Pride movement is connected with the show's signature song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," first introduced by Judy Garland, an icon among gay men of her generation. McClellan says the board "did not convince [Dolce] to resign. We tried to convince him to stay and work out his hurt feelings." He added that some of those who complained now regret Dolce's departure. "We felt like we made the right decision at the time. If Jesse had not resigned . . . we could have gotten to the bottom of the situation." Cast member George Parker declined to be interviewed and referred questions to the theater board. Attempts to contact other cast members were unsuccessful. McClellan said the theater board knew Dolce was inviting several gay organizations to see the show.  "We were aware of the group ticket sale that was going to happen, and we were excited for it," McClellan said. Russ Gorringe, a member of the gay organizations Affirmation and Reconciliation, invited several groups to the Oct. 7 performance. Gorringe, who attended with his daughter, was not aware of the backstage tension. "The audience was a mix of gay and straight," Gorringe said. "The two groups sat together, smiled together and laughed together. We all had fun."  Dolce says that after he heard about the cast complaints, he did not feel wanted on the Draper theater's trip down the yellow brick road. "It's nonprofit community theater working with government funds," said Dolce. "Now you are making a statement that you don't support all communities with your community theater. . . . I'm just the guy at the family reunion you don't want to talk about."

 

17 October 2002 Thursday

Becky Moss wrote Ben Williams “Thank-you.  When they called and said they had good news and would I call back as soon as possible....I really thought they were going to tell  me that a cure for AIDS had been found.  That is what I want. I saw your posting for history, month of October.  Good stuff, I remember all of it, but of course that first article about Peggy, my sister and Chance, my nephew was a real turning point in my life.  It was  fantastic to have a little sister outreach and out shine me when it came to activism.  Also thank-you for listing Ragnar's death.  His funeral was the same day as KRCL Fall Radiothon, it is the only radiothon that I have ever missed.  If you remember, Ragnar was president of the Gay Lesbian Group at the Community College and he was a great artist. I have several of his pieces on my mantel. Best, Becky

 

18 October 2002 Friday

Jay Bell to Ben Williams Re: New Historical Society:  Ben, Thanks.  Hope all is well.  Just thought you'd be interested, I've got the first draft of a book about LDS history & dealings with gays from 1945-2002 into an editor.  After the first fix up, I'd like you to look over it, if you don't mind, to see what I've left out that's important. It's amazing what you end up doing when you become unemployed for a while.  The darn thing started out as a 40 pg essay. (I should be starting a new job at the end of the month -- not what I want, but it will do for a while.)BTW I'd like to meet with you sometime and give you a copy of a GLBT Studies CD ROM I've made.  There is a lot of good (I hope) resource material on it -- including some fun things too.  Maybe I can give it to you at the meeting thanks for all your help Ben.  Jay Bell

 

People With AIDS Coalition of Utah Community Awards Reception & Silent Auction Wyndham Hotel 215 West South Temple Salt Lake City, Utah Our MC's for the evening will be Kevin Cruise from U-92 & Kramer from Power 107.9.  The Cyber Sluts will be doing our raffle and the Utah Gay Rodeo Association will be there with their wonderful jello shots. Honoring Becky Moss Community Action Program Jann DeWitt Kelli Peterson Millcreek Broadcasting Wasatch Leathermen’s Association Tickets $40 - $50 Hors 'd oeuvres and Silent Auction begins at 6:00pm Awards Presentation at 7:00pm Please RSVP by October 10^th  We hope to see you all there!

 

19 October 2002 Saturday,

People With AIDS Coalition of Utah Fourteenth Annual Living With AIDS Conference A one-day conference designed for people living with HIV/AIDS, their families, friends, caregivers and AIDS service providers. 9a.m. - 4p.m., Cost is $25.00 Scholarships are available Salt Lake Community College Metro Learning Center 115 South Main Salt Lake City, UT 84111 Workshops and Speakers Coping Skills & Empowerment Jann DeWitt & Paula Gibbs-Taylor Drug Interactions/Alternative Therapies Dr. Harry Rosado Nutrition for Positives Gina Young & Sheralee Dahle Prevention for Positives David Ferguson Medical Update Dr. Kristen Ries Please RSVP by October 11^th The following organizations will have their information available for you:  Catholic Community Services, Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah, Intermountain Harm Reduction, Health Tech, Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire, Utah AIDS Foundation and Utah Progressive Network Education Fund. The following companies have sponsored this year's conference and will also have information available for you: Abbott Laboratories, Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co. & Roche Laboratories. We hope to see you all there!

 

20 October 2002 Sunday

From: "Michael Aaron" Subject: Salt Lake Men's Choir performs Sunday Bon Voyage! A wide selection of American music that the choir will be singing in a sold-out Sydney Opera House for the Gay Games VI Sport and Cultural Festival.

 

Fellowship Building Bridges - Healing Relationships - Loving and Serving All Dear Friend of Family Fellowship, The quarterly Family Fellowship Forum will be held on Sunday,  October  20th at 5:00 p.m., in the Graduate School of Social Work Auditorium,  University of Utah, Salt Lake City.  Mark Malan, Ph.D. will be the speaker.  His presentation entitled  Preventing LDS Psychosexual Shame Suicide" will be of particular interest to everyone.  Dr. Malan did his undergraduate work at BYU and completed his Ph.D. in Human Sexuality and his Master of Public Health Degree at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco.  He is a member of the American Association of Suicidologists, the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, and the World Association for Sexology. Mark's wife Colette is a licensed psychotherapist and together they have a private practice in Ogden specializing in relationship and sexual health issues. Dr. Malan is a fifth generation Latter-day Saint.  He served a full time mission for the church in the England Southwest Mission, and has served in numerous teaching, priesthood and auxiliary callings.  Mark and Colette have five children, a cat, three pet fish and a barbecue.     As is our custom, the program will conclude at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by a light buffet.  The Salt Lake Men's Choir is performing in the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. the same evening.  This schedule will allow for those interested to attend both events. Tickets for the Choir performance are available through Art Tix, 355-ARTS. The Family Fellowship strives to encourage all family members to love, strengthen, and support one another.  We are concerned and care about gay individuals and their family members.  We do not feel compelled to agree on how gay individuals should express their sexuality or on what the official response of the LDS Church to its gay members should be.  We ask that there be no "bashing" of any person, group, or church.  Please join with us in a spirit of love and understanding. Sincerely, Family Fellowship Dear Community!

 

21 October 2002 Monday

The First Planning meeting for the Community Summit will be held at 7:00 pm at Angles Coffee shop located at 511 West 200 South.  Meeting will last 1 hour to 1.5 hours only. The Community Summit was conceived by Pillar Services to bring together all of the Boards of the GLBT and GLBT Friendly organizations to provide training, determine a collective goal(s) for the our community, build bridges, address community issues and schedules and help organizations find ways in working together to fulfill their individual mission.  The Summit is a one day event which will positively gather the UT GLBT community in an effort to build, unite, and inform the community as a whole. When successful it will become an annual opportunity to not only hear the community but give the community a collective voice.  It will currently function under the Community Leadership Forum a service of the Pillar  held monthly to address small issues and provide training to the community's leaders. The Committee will set the tone and the agenda of this one day event.  Each person that was invited to plan this event have unique and important contributions to the creation and direction of this event.   Some have not yet responded to the invitation and are still welcome to participate. Thanks! Chad Keller  Pillar Services

 

From: "Craig Miller" to Pride Committee: friends, I am collecting information from our Committee Chairs. Below you'll  find the  request I sent two weeks ago. I'm trying to prepare a report on Pride 2002 and if you can't give me all the details I asked for then, it would really help if you could just give me some numbers.  Even approximations would help- such as # of parade entries, # of volunteers in your area.  It would also help to have your ideas of what you would like to see done next year whether you are involved or not.  It will give us something to use to begin planning for next year.  With whatever changes we will be making, we need to base our plans on the vision of the people who were most actively involved. Thanks, Craig

 

Chad Keller to Pride Committee: As I said before, you all made your decision, without regard to my side Of the situation. It was easier to listen to the rhetoric of two people rather than accept my offer as outlined at the time when I would be available to meet.  And knowing that I was not available until that time, each of you allowed the meeting to be scheduled, and then allowed a vote to be called however justifies or legal it seemed.  Something, that for each of you I would have insisted on more rational thinking, above board actions, and would have insisted that it all be handled fairly and with both sides on the table. I have nothing at this time, or ever that I would be willing to offer to Utah Pride. The community is right....there is no Pride Gay or homogenized in Utah Pride. CK

 

22 October 2002 Tuesday

 Chad Keller wrote: Dear Team, I woke up bright and early yesterday and felt as if it was the best day of my life.  I came home Sunday from a long and energizing weekend of helping a good friend, and one of Utah's shining examples of community and one hell of a great GLBT organization. (BTW Congratulations Bob $7000.00 is a lot to raise.  I hope potential leaders of the future take your up front and involved lead) Enjoyed the Simpson's which I have only seen in reruns at 6:00 p.m. forever, and got a good night’s sleep. However, lurking outside my door the universe it seemed had other plans.  Yesterday it turned out was one of those days that you wished would never have happened, and that if I were only a real fairy I could sprinkle pixie dust and change the outcome.  It was just not my day.   First I must apologize to each of you who took the time to attend the first planning session for the Leadership Summit.  At 4:00 p.m. yesterday I had visitors from the Sheriff’s office here at work for issues related to my bankruptcy, and by 6:00 I was preparing to turning over what little I had left.  Seemed someone didn't get the notice of Bankruptcy, or just chose to ignore it and had filed a countersuit and a warrant was issued.   By 6:45 my attorney and therapist were trying to keep the rest of the avalanche from falling on top of me, and dig me out of what had come crashing in.   I came to work this morning thinking all will be okay as Todd would attend and would share with you the plans as we discussed.  Wrong...Todd left me a message about the time, and the email sent to him and the few I of you that had confirmed you would be in attendance was still in my out box unsent.  All I can say is when it rains it pours.  Today I have purchased an universal umbrella. Anything dealing with Utah Law is an ugly thing.  Needless to say I can recommend a cut throat attorney if any of you ever need one, and a therapist that makes house calls on off hours.  My best advice is never do a bankruptcy in Utah, and be careful about the wording collateral and the context of which it is used.  I think they would have tried to take out my brain if they thought they could have gotten away with it.  What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. In a year I will look back in some sick and twisted way and laugh...hopefully laughing all the way to the bank. With that said I hope that each of you can accept my apology and still have faith in me, but more importantly the Summit and bringing the community together through things like the Summit and the Leadership Forum.  The Summit is not about anyone of us but is about the people each  of us care about the most, the Members of our organizations and the community.  In it all yesterday I stumbled because of personal issues and let people down.  I should have cast the personal drama aside for an hour, again I am sorry. The next meeting, for those still willing to participate will be on Wednesday November 6th at 7:00 p.m. at Angles.  This is after the elections so all the political groups can be in attendance, isn't on top of any meeting that I can think of that any of you would be involved in, is one week after the 1st Meeting of Creditors relating to this situation I have gotten myself into, and the day after an appointment with the therapist, so it should be sunshine lollipops and roses for me, and should fit nicely into everyone’s schedule as there has been plenty of notice. Again to each of you I am truly sorry, and hope that you will forgive me under the circumstances. Sincerely Chad Keller  CLF The Pillar

 

23 October 2002 Wednesday

David Nelson wrote: Though not published so far by either group, a meeting is reportedly planned between Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah Inc. and Utah Pride Inc. leaders to discuss the acquisition of the pride group by the center group and, no doubt,  the financial condition of the acquisition. The meeting is said to be planned for Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. and  open to the public. I'm sure that public opinion will be important  to this meeting. The location will be published here when I learn  it.

 

 

24 October 2002  Thursday

Craig Miller to Chad Keller: Hi, Chad, I guess you've received a couple of emails from me but I only recently discovered you must have responded to them.  Honestly, I don't know why I haven't received the emails you've sent.  Geoff just forwarded your letter sent Oct. 22, and I see I was on the group address list- but I haven't received an email from you directly since late early September. Sorry you feel that way.  In setting future plans for Pride, I felt it was important to include the opinions and observations of the people who are most critical of a potential union with the Center.  If you chose not to contribute, that's an entirely different matter than not having been asked. I fear this is indicative of the main problem with Pride's organizational structure last year.  The duties of board and committee chair were too intertwined.  I regret your feelings were hurt when you were removed from the board, but I thought you would still like to report on your committee duties after the event. Many of us entered Pride 2002 without any information from Pride 2001. It would have been a lot easier to do if the records had been transferred to the new committee chairs.  If you let your own personal pride get in the way of sharing information with the organizers for next year, I admit it is largely inconsequential. There will still be a Utah Pride next year. There will be a parade.  I hope there will be a Grand Marshall reception.   Chad, you know I enjoyed working with you last year. Maybe we'll have the opportunity to do so again. No hard feelings, still friends, and best of luck with all your endeavors, Craig

 

Chad Keller to Craig Miller and Geoff Partain: Craig & Geoff, I thought that I could never really be mad at you personally but this is really trying my patience. I have a difficult time in believing that any of you really care how I feel or how the community feels.  If you did, we would have addressed the board issue long before Pride 2002. The actions of the board, if you can call it that,  speak louder than  any dysfunctional word than could be uttered.  What is sad is that as an organization you feel entitled to ask after the actions you all have taken in making it clear that not only was I unacceptable, but that my contribution was not wanted.  Just because I am don’t fit her ideal. If my thoughts were important or my contribution was important you, yes the two of you,  the rational and grounded ones, would have not allow Sherry to do as she did, by calling a meeting when I clearly stated I was not available, and you would have calmed the storm and said it is important to wait for all parties.  And by doing as you all did spit in my face.  My contribution at that point was then leveled to rubble. And exactly why would I do anything to make Madame Know It All and her cronies look good?  What is in it for me?  She professes to have 12 years experience in putting events like Pride together so she should have no problem doing any of it.  With that much experience she should have know where to find the weather forecast in the Trib.    OF course let’s not  look at the those we sought to destroy and see the experience that is in them. Yet you continue to ask, unknowing that all when all she and other members of Pride have done is make inappropriate comments in the community and  at meetings only to easy their own guilt.  What is not clear in this picture? Sherry's, as the Pride Co-Chair, comments to the GLCCU Board that I am nothing but an out of control drunk were inappropriate in any capacity of any position, and should lead to her immediate reprimand and removal, but who would dare do to her what you all did to me.  It is easier to allow her to go around pretending to be a therapist.   But I forget there is the Utopia Agenda at play. So when will Pride be satisfied that Utopia has been created?  What segments do you want to get rid of next?  Let me know so I can spare some lives, and importantly some feelings and more community fall out.  We don’t need purist like her and Darrin in any position, it is so 80's  making the determination of who is acceptable and who isn’t all to spare her stress and a headache.  The headache came with the Job, and well as the time commitment.  But Pride is quick to cut the commitment, and rather look at the bigger picture, all to stay in power. The problem with Pride was that you had two people hell bent to build a resume, fulfill an agenda, and prove something.  A co-chair and a treasure ran the show, and didn’t want any input from anyone if it got in their way. And by all means don’t politely suggest or worse confront them with  issues. There is nothing left to say.  You both let her say it all long before now. I have gone another direction, and honestly feel that you aren’t sincere when you say you’re still a friend let alone wish me well.  Had you, we wouldn’t be where we are at this point. Best of luck, CK

 

25 October 2002 Friday

Richard Harris actor, singer, director and writer died today. He began as a stage actor and later moved to films. His famous films include This Sporting Life, Camelot, A Man Called Horse, Gladiator and the first two Harry Potter films. He released numerous musical albums, published a poetry book and ventured into film direction with Bloomfield.

 

26 October 2002 Saturday

From: "Lucia Malin"  Subject: Fwd: Utah NOW conference 10/26 Utah NOW Conference: After a two year hiatus - Utah NOW (National Organization for Women) is holding a NOW Conference! When: Saturday, October 26, 2002, 8:30 am to 1:30pm Where: University of Utah, Union Building  Featuring: Kim Gandy, the dynamic national NOW president from Washington, D.C. Hear Kim's speech, attend workshops, experience feminist comradely! We would love to see you there. Workshops on Economic Rights for Women/Pay Equity;  Feminism 101; Choice - Keeping Abortion A Safe and Legal Option; and Why Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender Rights Are a  Feminist Issue will be offered
Call 531-1845 for information or to register.  On Friday October 25, 7:00pm to 9:00pm you (and bring your  friends) are invited to a free reception and party in Kim Gandy's  honor at The Center, 361 North 300 West. Utah legislator Jackie
Biskupski will speak. Please come and help us welcome Kim to Utah. refreshments will be served.

 

28 October 2002 Monday

            My cousin Barbara Danforth Nasady emailed me: Hi, I saw Dad on Wednesday, and then again on Sunday. There was a marked improvement in his appearance, and in his attentiveness. He recognized me sometimes and not others. He made a few jokes, and knew the Giants and Angels were in the World Series and thought the Angels would win. He also told me he didn't think he had a auto accident. He said, "I think someone came up and hit me on the head."  Little by little the pieces will come back. He is in the Rehab Unit and Kaiser, Fontana, and is getting three hours of rehab per day ... i.e., dressing himself, walking, eating without help, etc. I know it will be a long, slow process. We're going to keep his boat in the slip, and keep up the rent for him. If it turns out he can't live there again, he'll still have his longtime dream as a reality. That's all for now. I'll keep you posted. Love, Barbara

 

30 October 2002 Wednesday

Being back in 6^th grade meant that Karen Fisher, Susan McAdams and I spent most of October practicing for the Halloween Monster Mash Talent Show we performed today for the entire school. We didn’t do an evening performance like we had in the past. It’s a lot of work and exhausting as I am the set designer and in charge of lights and atmosphere. I still have the wooden coffin that a boy made for me as part as a Boy Scout service project LOL.

 

31 October 2002 Thursday

We had a Halloween Party after lunch with the room mothers bringing cookies and punch. I stayed after school long enough to take down all the Halloween bulletin boards and art that the kids didn’t take with them Tomorrow is career ladder day so no school for the kids which means some will be up later trick or treating.

            In the evening I turned off all the lights so show no one was home because the dogs go crazy when the doorbell rings. Besides I had enough Halloween at school the entire month.

My Mom emailed : “hi hope you  are ok. your dad is sick and I had walking pneumonia. but we are taken  med. it seem to be working. hope you staying well. been having cool  weather. look like you might be haven snow.    Love mom. I wrote back-Getting worn down after having our Halloween Talent Show yesterday. I feel like I may be coming down with something. It's going to be a cold Halloween. Hope you get back to feeling better. Love Jr

 

NOVEMBER

3 November 2002 Sunday

My Mom emailed : hi, guess we are getting better. can’t get around to fast tho.been pretty here. haven’t talk to anybody. so don’t know any news. hope you don’t come down with  what we had. did you get a flu shot?  love mom. I wrote back-I don't think I have the flu but did catch a cold. I guess I wore myself down last week with the Halloween play. It’s been really cold here too..

 

My cousin Barbara Nasady emailed : Dad is doing much better. He in the rehabilitation unit and is getting physical therapy, including speech therapy, three hours per day. He is taken into the lounge for meals and is feeding himself. His right hand was injured, but the bandages are off and he is using his hand. The bump on his forehead is gone, but they haven't done another CT Scan so we can only assume that there is no bleeding; and that the blood and spinal fluids are being absorbed by his body. He is in and out of reality. Sometimes he knows us and sometimes he doesn't. We're having a family meeting on 11/11 to review what's happened, talk about what they expect, and about when he might be released and the kind of care he will need. There's not much we can do for now, just keep visiting and help him piece together the puzzle of his life. I'll keep you posted. Love, B

 

5 November 2002 Tuesday

University of Utah. Orson Spencer Hall, "I was just at Orson last weekend and I saw some a University police officer ticketing people in the stalls for trespassing. So be careful on weekends and also late at night."

 

11 November 2002 Monday

Veteran’s Day and even though we didn’t get it off, we had a patriotic assembly.

My Mom emailed : Hi How is things going with you? Your dad and I finally got over the flu or whatever we had. Talk to Mike (Wachs) . He has a new job starting Mon. Said he would be working five hours a night. He will get in 30 hours a week. So he will start back to school in Dec. He is real thrill to have the job. I am so glad for him. It sure is windy here. Guess it is going to be that way all this week. Did you have school today ? love mom and dad. I wrote back: We had school. This week is parent teacher conference so starting tomorrow will be working late. I am still getting over my cold but am feeling a lot better. At least we don't have the bad weather Tennessee and Alabama had. Elections are over. Everyone I voted for is lost so what else is new.

 

My cousin Barbara Danforth Nasady emailed : Hello, All. On Sunday, Dad recognized me immediately, as he has mom and Alan in recent days. We had our family meeting with the Kaiser staff this morning. There is fairly good news. Following is a report from each discipline. Since Dad was injured, there had only been minimal improvement until this past week. Using a wheelchair he was struggling two weeks ago. Last week he required minimal assistance.  In conclusion, we are much more hopeful than we had been up to now. He's lost  about 20 pounds (but that's not a bad thing). He looks much healthier and we are very optimistic for his recovery. That's it for now. Please feel free to pass along this information and have others write to me with the e-mail address so I can add them to my list. Love you all, Barbara

 

13 November 2002 Wednesday

MEIER & FRANK Charity Shopping Day Supports PWACU
COME SEE THE NEWLY REMODELED MEIER & FRANK STORE  IN DOWNTOWN SALT LAKE Join us on Wednesday, November 13, 9am - 9pm during Charity  Shopping Day The People With AIDS Coalition of Utah is participating in the Meier & Frank Charity Day to raise funds for our programs. We're  selling coupons books for $5 and the donation goes directly to
our organization and you receive the following benefits:

 

17 November 2002 Sunday

My Mom emailed: Hi got your dog pictures. I still have trouble downloading pictures maybe when Charline comes up she can find them. weather been nice low 70 in the day about 40 at night we still got a little cold love Mom and Dad. I wrote back: Still have my cold a little too. Yesterday the garage opener gave out and we had to put a new one in. Spent the weekend raking leaves and doing yard work before it snows. Had 11 bags of leaves. Cut all my roses back and put my perennials to bed for another year. Cooked our turkey dinner this weekend.. I am going back on weight watchers. They start Monday before Thanksgiving so thought just have it now. Our Halloween play is out of the way and so is Parent Conferences so should be able to get home at a decent time now. We aren't going to Rawlins for Thanksgiving this year. I think Mike's mom is mad at him for not coming but he only gets Thursday off anyway. Dogs are fine..Oscar just sits around staring off into space. He's healthy and eats well but I think he can't hear or see shapes. Mike said that if he goes blind maybe we should put him down and I said why..they don't put blind people down...he will just compensate through smell and feel. He sleeps most of the time anyway unless Smokey is aggravating him.  Priscilla is starting to get gray. She's 6 and a half already.  Saffy just hangs on in the kitchen. She's our little butterball. If I am cooking she's there. Sounds like you have nice day time weather. 50 is as high as it gets here and sure it will get colder. Did you get Barbara's email I forwarded?

 

18 Nov 2002 Monday

 From: "UPNet E-Mail Alert List" Subject: Fwd: Homophobia in Utah: public meeting 11/18 Homophobia in Utah - What is it and how can we deal with it? Public Meeting - November 18, 4 PM The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah (GLCCU) spent the past two years researching homophobia in Utah with Dr. Emma Gross of the University of Utah and the Social Research Institute. We developed and distributed a random-based survey, and held focus groups. We invite you to attend a public meeting to present our findings and talk about the implications this research has for our political/civil rights advocacy in the future.
The ultimate outcome of the research is to produce a publication/pamphlet on how to talk to the conservative parts of our community (e.g. Mormon) about gay rights or gay issues. The public meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 18th at 4 p.m at GLCCU's Gallery Room (above Stonewall Coffee) 361 N 300 W in Salt Lake City. If you are unable to make this meeting, please feel free to send someone who can represent your perspective. Paula Wolfe Executive Director, Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Utah355 North 300 West, 1st Floor, Salt Lake City, UT 84103 pwolfe@glccu.com ~ www.glccu.com

 

 

23 November 2002 Saturday

Mom emailed: Hi  We are doing ok .Dennis and  Charline are up here. Charline tried to bring the pictures up but lost them. So could you send them up again soon. Love Mom.

 

27 November 2002 Wednesday

School is out for the Thanksgiving holidays until next Monday. Mom emailed: Hi Hope you all are well .We seem to be doing ok. Charline are not coming up for thanksgiving. We were just going to eat out, but some people at church ask us to come over to their house. The wind really been blowing here, but not as bad as down below. I haven’t heard any more about Norman. So guess he is doing as well as expect. Mike is working and will start to school in Dec. As for as I know everyone else is doing ok. I wrote back: We are good. Over my cold and have the next few days off. The neighbors are treating up to dinner at Marie Callendar's tomorrow. Glad Mike found a way to get back in to school. Must really like it to make the effort. We put our Xmas lights up and a tree already. Just a fiber optic one. Did you ever find out how to pull up pictures?

 

Barbara Danforth Nasady emailed: Hello, All. Dad is doing much better. Last weekend Alan checked him out of rehab and we took a field trip to the boat. We saw some people that were very happy to see Dad again. He didn't actually board the boat, but he was able to get close enough to remember some things. His memory still goes out once in a while, but he's clear most of the time. If he gets a thought in his head, like the phrase, "assisted living" it lasts throughout the day and comes up at inappropriate times, and in ways that are incorporated into other thoughts, or associated with activities totally unrelated. Of course, in his mind he is always "workin' on a deal", or starting a business. In reality, his business partner is closing the doors of the check cashing place. I let her know, in no uncertain terms, that even if he recovers sufficiently that he will not be going back to work there. Very soon now he will be moved into a Transitional Living Center where he will be retaught basic skills for living. He is walking much better, with only a little help. In the TLC he will be completely self sufficient with regard to personal hygiene, etc. He will be taught grocery shopping, cooking and other basic skills. Tomorrow Alan will be picking up Mom, and Dad and we will all meet at the home of one of Alan's friends for our Thanksgiving meal. I hope you all have a wonderful day with your loved ones. The importance of family has never been more apparent to us here on the West Coast. Take care, love you all

Barbara

 

I wrote to lambdafm@aol.com “Greetings from the Crossroad of the West- As a native Texan now living in Salt Lake City I thought you might like to know about a radio program that has been on the air (as queer as it might sound) since 1979 in Utah. KRCL is a public radio station that was founded by Stephen Holbrook a Gay man and social activist. As part of the radio's programming he insured that there would be a community forum for sexual minorities in Salt Lake much to the consternation of the Mormon city fathers. The program originally was called "Gayjavu" but later changed to "Concerning Gays". When Becky Moss joined the program in November 1983 the name was changed to "Concerning Gays and Lesbians". The show is lovingly produced out of Salt Lake City and Moss is currently the producer; and still co-host- probably making her one of the longest on air Lesbian personalities in the country. I was a co host on the program from 1987-1991.  Ben Williams Director of Utah Stonewall Historical Society and Archives

 

28 November 2002 Thursday

This seems really late this year for Thanksgiving. The Giles wanted us to come join them for dinner. I brought a pumpkin and pecan pie I made. Randy’s Mom and his brother and his boys were there so we didn’t stay long. I called mom and Mike’s mom today to visit.

 

 

DECEMBER

5 December  2002 Thursday

The Pillar will host in December the boards of the many community organizations in a Holiday Open House to be held December 5, 2002. We will suspend the regular agenda to enjoy the holidays with each other. Members of each group's board are encouraged to attend. More details will be provided in the Next Pillar. Come join us in working together to build a strong Utah GLBT Community!

 

7 December 2002 Saturday

Antelope Valley News - Teens will be Tried as Adults for Kidnapping Husband, Wife- Karen Maeshiro writer. Two Palmdale boys ages 16 and 17 will be tried as adults on charges they kidnapped an elderly couple at gunpoint from the couple’s home in the middle of the night. Sylmar Juvenile Court Commissioner Jack Gold ruled Friday that the two boys were unfit to remain in juvenile court based on the sophistication of the crime and gravity of the offense. “This is probably one of the most serious crimes I’ve seen abducting an elderly couple in the middle of the night, threatening them, trying to take their money, and taking them to the bank to get them to withdraw money,” Deputy District Attorney James Bozajian said.  The boys, whose names were not released, will have charges filed against them in adult court in Lancaster.  The boys were arrested by sheriff deputies Aug. 16 after deputies spotted the elderly couple’s car driving without headlights on, the boys in the front seat and the couple in the back seat.  The 16 year old faces charges in juvenile court for a July 30 home invasion robbery in Palmdale and a robbery several hours later of a delivery truck driver, officials said.  The boy and another accomplice are accused in the July 30 robbery of a couple in the middle of the night in a home on 3^rd Street East  in Palmdale, The robbers took the couples Toyota Tundra pickup truck, stereo system, money, video cassette recorder. And a wallet prosecutors said.  Several hours later the 16 year old was accused of robbing a delivery truck driver who was unloading beer at a business in Lancaster. The truck driver was robbed of his wallet and beer prosecutors said.  The 16 year old also was charged with assault with a deadly weapon for a failed carjacking of a motorist on Aug. 16 on Avenue R less than a block away and minutes before robbers forced their way into the elderly couple’s home in the 4100 block of Saddleback Road after knocking on the door.  Alerted by a motorist about the carjacking attempt, deputies were looking for the would be carjackers when they saw the elderly couple’s car driving without its headlights on at 3:20 a.m.  Investigators believe the defendants were taking the victims to a bank to make a withdrawal out of an ATM machine. Deputies said they found a pellet gun and a knife that had been used by the robbers. Investigators  said they didn’t know why the intruders picked the couple’s home.

 

8 December 2002 Sunday

My cousin Stephanie Williams emailed : Here is a link to my new web site. There you will find pic's of our family and I hope you will use it to post yours. It is for our close friends and family. There is also message boards, calendar, (so be sure to post important dates) and a chat room at this time. I would like to establish a day, time where we can get together and chat online. The site is free but you must go through a short registration process, this is to limit the site from outsiders and so you won't get spammed. See you there, Steph. Mom wrote: hi we are having trouble with our computer. hope you get this. sent mail to > jw and it come.. we are feeling pretty good. Love mom I wrote Back: Got your email Doing okay here. Just a little tired tonight. We have had a lot of inversions and I think it’s giving me a head ache. Love Jr My sister Charline Wrote: Hi, Here is the latest info on the robbery.  The more I read about the 16 year old the more I am thankful that things went down the way they did. Hope you are all well. Love ya, Charline

 

13 December 2002 Friday

Mom emailed :  Hi how is things going with you.? We are doing ok I guess. Denise been trying to get a hold of you. Something about school. So give her a call. It looks like it might rain. I hope so we sure need it.    Love mom I wrote back: Hope all is well with you. Mike's folks are coming down tomorrow. School is out in another week. I don't have Denise's phone number

 

18 December 2002 Wednesday

My kids put on the Bell That Couldn’t Ring Christmas skit for the lower grades all day to keep them busy as they are zoned out to do any real lessons.

Chad Keller to Darin Hobbs:

I am getting calls from Sue at the t-shirt place for the Bagley shirts.  Please call her immediately at 269-1282. They are asking I pay and get reimbursement from Pride, but I explained that it would not be an option, and would need to get payment from you. She wants this resolved before January 1 Thanks! Chad Keller  

 

20 December  2002 Friday

We had our Christmas sing a long assembly right after lunch for the entire school before cutting everyone loose at 1:30 for the Winter Break. I took down all the Christmas and Hanukkah art that the kids didn’t take home with them and made sure nothing remained of Christmas when we come back in January.

I read from a posting about Fremont Park. "A waste of time. It’s mostly married men that are too scared to make a move and only to jack off in cars. The police patrols at different times of day in bikes. There were lots of arrests last fall."

 

21 December 2002 Saturday

Mom emailed: I Just a line let you know we are doing ok it's cold here J W got a new computer. I can't get through to  him get his email don't know if it's my computer or his. my computer been giving trouble Snow on all around on the mountains  by us  love Mom and Dad. I wrote back: Sorry your computer is giving you trouble. Have you defragmented your computer lately? I got a Christmas Card from Ken and Jahil. Shocked the hell out of me. Even got one from Donna! I sent yours out today so doubt if you will get it before Christmas. School just got out Friday so have been really busy. I found a new Photo program that will let you see your pictures on the TV instead of the computer.  I'll send you some pictures to you to show you. This way you can enjoy them on TV using a remote rather than huddled around the computer. Love  Jr

 

25 December 2002 Wednesday Christmas

We spent  Christmas at home this year instead of going to Rawlins as Christmas was in the middle of the week and we both have been under the weather. I think I caught a cold anyway. I called Bill and Faye Romero and they went down to Fort Collins to see their grandkids. I guess Michelle and Christine went with them. Mom and Dad said Charline and Dennis came up with Michael and James for Christmas.

My sister Donna Jones emailed me : I got your card and the money you sent. Thanks but you really shouldn't have not that I don't appreciate it. Hope you have a nice Christmas. It really feels like Christmas up here in Yucaipa , it's been in the low 40's and high 30's but that probably seems warm to you compared to Utah weather. Anyway we really like it.  We had hail the other day and thunder and lightning it was kind of neat. Ken and Jehil are coming for Christmas dinner and that's about it. I tried to call mom but the line was busy so I will try later.   Merry Christmas  Love Donna

 

31 December 2002 Tuesday

I spent the past week down with the flu or a cold and only left the house when I had to. Oscar kept me company down in the basement watching programs. Mike Romero went back to work after Christmas resentful that I have had this time off but I need it to recover from the stress of teaching.  I de-Christmased the house last Thursday. I am like mom, when it’s over it’s over.  Besides it’s not like its jolly around here with Mike’s moods.

            Well another year has gone by. I am in my 50’s in an unhappy relationship but one I am contented with to keep the pups together and I am super fond of the Romeros so I take care of Mike for their sake.

            I am a little bit more involved in the community through Chad Keller’s insistence although I am still bitter and hurt over how I was treated when Alan Ahtow and his bastards shut down the Utah Stonewall Center and seized the archives before I could save anything. That’s been 5 years ago and I suppose I should get over it but I do not trust the people running the Gay and Lesbian Community Center so I stay out of that, especially after Paula Wolfe when I introduced myself to her and tried to get her interested in having a history section at the Center and she told me she didn’t care what happened before just what is happening now. That’s when I knew she and I hadn’t the same love for those who built this community. She’s just an old Dyke from Seattle with no connection here beyond the mucky-mucks who sit on the Board. Almost all the programs down there are geared to women anyway so it might as well be the Lesbian Community Center. Wolfe follows the national trends where the money is and right now it’s all about the transgendered folks and the youth. I guess too many Gay men have died of AIDS to make a difference.

            This past year I didn’t keep up my personal life in the journal much just stuff I thought interesting about the Gay community and how it’s changing in the new century. All that is really in the news is the Bush’s administration’s investigation of September 11 and what they are planning to do about. Oh well. It’s a brave new world where we are scared to fly and all Muslims are suspects by Republicans. Reminds me kind of like back in the 70’s when all Persians were hated because of the hostage crisis. Fran and I had a Persian friend going to the U who we said we would hide if they came after her.