JULY
1 July 2004 Thursday
We have a member in our yahoo group...”egdixie”...
(Evergreen of Dixie) he is running the
anti-gay hate yourself and feel shame group. As he may need our support down the line, for
now I am going to allow him to remain a member, unless he begins sending emails
to those in the group encouraging self-hatred, or putting any of us on
Evergreens mail list. If anyone has any thoughts regarding this, please feel
free to respond.
In nine of the 70 countries where
homosexuality it a crime, the punishment is death. In 2002 "Saudi Arabia
condemned 44 people and executed four for the crime of homosexuality.
I heard Past Emperor XII Donny Eastepp died
after a long struggle with AIDS. He was the "All American Emperor"
from 1987-1988 of the All American Fire Rose Court. His partner Bobby Dubray preceded him having
passed away Sept 18, 1990 age 42. They were co owners of the In Between Bar
from 1986-1990.
This was the cover story for the SLC Metro
July 2004 LAW OF ADOPTION by Ben Williams A disregarded practice of early
Mormonism that went into the dustbin of history along with Blood Atonement, the
United Order, Plural Marriage, Slavery, Racial Inferiority based on skin color,
Adam being God the father, and ZCMI is the sealing of men to men in sacred
temple rituals. Brigham Young in a talk given February 16th 1868 proclaimed,
“The ordinance of sealing must be performed here man to man, and woman to man, and
children to parents, etc., until the chain of generation is made perfect in the
sealing ordinances back to Father Adam; ….until the earth is sanctified and
prepared for the residence of God and angels" (JD 12:165). The sealing of men to men was not an LDS
connivance for Gay marriages in the 19th Century as some would like to believe
however it was a means for men to increase their “kingdom” through adoption as
being sealed to a woman would increase a man’s kingdom by sexual reproduction.
The sealing of men to men was a non-sexual way for a Mormon male to multiply.
The practice of sealing men to men was instituted by Joseph Smith before the
Mormons left Nauvoo to come to Utah. An article concerning the law of adoption
appeared in the Mormon Church's publication The Latter-Day Saints' Millennial
Star, June, 1843, Vol. 4, pages 17-19. LDS historian Gordon Irving, stated that
while, "No consensus exists with regard to the date when the first
adoptions were performed... It is certainly possible, perhaps probable, that
Joseph Smith did initiate certain trusted leaders into the adoptionary order as
early as 1842." (Brigham Young University Studies, Spring 1974, page 295)
Mormon historian Michael Quinn believes that Joseph Smith was not hostile to
male to male intimacy as are the modern LDS General Authorities today. In an
article published in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought entitled, Male-Male
Intimacy among Nineteenth-century Mormons: A Case Study, Quinn suggest that at
the funeral address for Lorenzo D. Barns, the Mormon prophet hinted at a
special relationship between “friends” in the eternities. (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought,
Winter 1995, page 110) Antonio Feliz, one of the founders of the Restoration
Church of Jesus Christ and author of “Out of he Bishop’s Closet,” wrote a paper stating that Smith’s funereal
address for Barnes as a coded endorsement for
homosexuality among the Saints. Joseph Smith's History of the Church
records the speech given on April 16, 1843, at the funeral of Lorenzo D. Barns. "It has always been considered a great
calamity not to obtain an honorable burial... If tomorrow I shall be called to
lie in yonder tomb, in the morning of the resurrection let me strike hands with
my father, and cry, 'My father,'... When we lie down we contemplate how we may
rise in the morning; and it is pleasing for friends to lie down together,
locked in the arms of love, to sleep and wake in each other's embrace.... when
the voice calls for the dead to arise, suppose I am laid by the side of my father,
what would be the first joy of my heart? To meet my father, my mother, my
brother, my sister; and when they are by my side, I embrace them and they
me...." (History of the Church, Vol. 5, page 361) Mormon apologist George L. Mitton horrified
that Quinn interpreted this passage to have anything to do with homosexuality
wrote a letter to the editor of Dialogue, claiming that “The 'arms of love' is
a scriptural allusion -- the imagery of godly love as the Lord extends it at
the resurrection and otherwise...."
(Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Winter 1996, pages v-ix.). Modern Mormon apologists always claim that an
embarrassing anachronism from Mormon history such as Blood Atonement, as
practice during the Mormon Reformation, were only literary devises. Not so. The early blood and guts Mormons were
straight forward and said what they meant, leaving it to their namby-pamby descendants
to white wash their words. However the passage “friends to lie down together,
locked in the arms of love, to sleep and wake in each other's embrace....” is
long stretch for an endorsement is a sexual orientation that is outside the
norm but still it is often cited by optimistic Latter Day Homosexuals as proof
of Smith’s intentions of sanctify a union for homosexuals if he would have
lived longer. There is no support for
this conclusion except for the anachronistic Law of Adoption or the practice of
sealing men to men. There is no evidence that the sealing of men to men was a
backdoor attempt to sanctify homosexuality but as a writer suggested, “the
practice certainly could have opened a door for those predisposed to homosexual
temptations.” The augment is that “men who were sealed to one another were
likely to have closer contact with one another than those who did not enter
into the practice,” and therefore more open to an intimate relationship much
like “some missionaries who were
constantly in close contact with their companions (have) yielded to homosexual
activities. What then was the purpose of
sealing men to men? The noted Mormon historian Juanita Brooks wrote: "If
the prophet Joseph were to become a God over a minor planet, he must not only
have a large posterity but able assistants of practical skills. Brigham Young
had been 'sealed' to Joseph under this law; now he in turn had some
thirty-eight young men sealed to him." (John D.
Lee:Zealot--Pioneer--Builder--Scapegoat, page 73) Brigham Young's grandson,
Kimball Young Ph.D., as chairman of the Department of Sociology at Northwestern
University wrote of the male to male dynamics in Brigham Young's time: "To understand the role and status and
the accompanying self-images of men and women in polygamy, we must recall that
Mormondom was a male-dominated society. The priesthood--which only men could
hold--was in complete control and celestial marriage, either monogamous or
polygamous, exemplified the higher status of men. Women were viewed as of
lesser worth, to be saved through men holding the priesthood.” Historian Hubert
Howe Bancroft wrote of the Law of Adoption: "The father may be either younger or
older than the son, but in any case assumes the character of guardian, with
full control of the labor and estate of the adopted son. Many young men give
themselves over to the leaders as 'eternal sons,' in the hope of sharing the
honor of their adopted parents." (History of Utah, page 361)
Interestingly, adopted sons in the sealing ceremony of men to men were
sometimes older than the men who adopted them. Gordon Irving revealed a case in
which two men “could not agree on a sealing ceremony because they both wanted
to be the father: " Albert K. Thurber’s autobiography mentioned that in
1850 Mormon Patriarch Benjamin F. Johnson approached him and 'in a round about
way proposed for me to be adopted to him.' Thurber put him off by telling him,
'I thought it would be as well for him to be adopted by me.' " (Brigham
Young University Studies, Spring 1974, page 304) The word “proposed” as used by
Thurber conjures up many scenarios. On
April 6, 1862, President Brigham Young claimed that the practice of sealing men
to men was "a great and glorious doctrine." "By this power men
will be sealed to men back to Adam, completing and making perfect the chain of
the Priesthood from this day to the winding up scene. I have known men that I
positively think would fellowship the Devil, if he would agree to be sealed to
them. 'Oh, be sealed to me, brother; I care not what you do. You may lie and
steal, or anything else, I can put up with all your meanness, if you will only
be sealed to me.' Now this is not so much weakness as it is selfishness. It is
a great and glorious doctrine, but the reason I have not preached it in the
midst of this people, is, I could not do it without turning so many of them to
the Devil. Some would go to hell for the sake of getting the Devil sealed to
them." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 9, page 269) The sealing of men to men
actually was a more sacred principle than Celestial marriage according to
Brigham Young. In a discourse Young gave on September 4, 1873, he said , "we
can seal women to men but not men to men, without a Temple." (Journal of
Discourses, Vol. 16, page 186) A sermon by Brigham Young, reported by John
Read, in a letter to one of his wives, revealed that Young referred to some
future time 'when men would be sealed to men in the priesthood in a more solemn
ordinance than that by which women were sealed to men, and in a room over that
in which women were sealed to man in the temple of the Lord.' Wilford Woodruff, the fourth president of
the LDS church, wrote in his journal that he "officiated in Adopting 96
Men to Men." (Wilford Woodruffs' Journal, edited by Scott G.Kenney, 1985,
Vol. 9, page 408) Kimball Young
PhD.stated that the sealing of men to men was evidence “of deep, psychological
Brüderschaft (brotherhood)” and of “obviously latent homosexual features”. He compares “ the Mormon system, with all its
ecclesiastical trappings and military controls,” like similar organizations
which had “strong homosexual components.”
He maintained, “This is true of armies; it is true of priestly orders in
all religions; and certainly in many aspects of the occupational guides of the
Middle Ages." (K. Young, Isn't One Wife Enough? The Story of Mormon
Polygamy, 1954, pages 278-280) Brigham Young as we all know had many wives. No
one knows for sure the exact count but twenty-seven seems to be the official
number. However he did not respect or enjoy their company and society.
"There are probably but few men in the world who care about the private
society of women less than I do." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 5, page
99) He had numerous offspring but had
little interaction with their growth or development seeing them more an
extension of his property. He had no great fondness for men either, using them
or abusing them always for the building up of the Kingdom of God of which he
was the chief benefactor. He had 38 men sealed to him including John D. Lee who
was acting in behalf of Young as an adopted son at Mountain Meadows. In fact
the only person with whom Young seemed to have developed a deep emotional
attachment was the Prophet Joseph Smith. Brigham Young recorded several visions
or dreams he had of the slain Smith wherein Young would throw his arms around
his mentor, embrace him and cover him in kisses and tears. Young’s last words
on his deathbed were neither for his wives nor children but for his beloved
Joseph his adopted father from whom he maintained he received the “keys” to
become a lord and king on earth as well as in heaven. Today the LDS Church has
“modified” passages in the Journal of Discourses eliminating most references to
the seal of men to men. One such passage
has been changed to read: "The
ordinance of sealing must be performed here [son] to [father], and woman to man
. . . instead of “man to man”. Modern
homophobics in high authority did not
want Brigham Young's comments concerning men being sealed to men to be even a
mild endorsement of same sex unions. Another example of the “same type of
cover-up” is found in the passage where Brigham Young stated: "Then man will be sealed to man until
the chain is made perfect . . . (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 15, page 139). It
now reads "Then [children] will be sealed to [parents] until the chain is
made perfect . Present-day Mormon
temples are used exclusively for individual sacred ceremonies and genealogies
where one must prove legal documentation of familial relationship before a
“sealing” is performed. Present-day Mormon temples are matrimonial factories
churning out thousands of heterosexual weddings daily in which they seal women
to men for time and all eternity. Interesting men are never sealed to women.
Their children are also sealed to them for eternity. The ceremony known as
"the law of adoption, " wherein a man could have any number of men adopted to
him as sons for eternity has been
completely abandoned.
July 1 – Marlon Brando, American actor (b.
1924)[121]
2 July 2004 Friday
A former UTA bus driver born Michael R.
Etsitty but is becoming Krystal S. Etsitty sued the Utah Transit Authority
claiming the agency fired him because he failed to conform to stereotypical male
behavior.
3 July 2004 Saturday
Pamela Manson of the Salt Lake Tribune reported
Transgender Sex change leads to lawsuit against UTA
A former bus driver who was born a man but is
becoming a woman sued the Utah Transit Authority on Friday, claiming the agency
fired him because he failed to conform to stereotypical male behavior.
Krystal S. Etsitty, who was born a biological
male named Michael R. Etsitty and is planning to undergo a sex change
operation, contends UTA officials said they had to let him go because he looked
like a female and they were afraid of what the public and other employees would
think. In addition, they expressed concerns about which restroom he would use,
Etsitty alleges in his lawsuit.
The legal action, which was filed in U.S.
District Court and accuses the UTA of sex stereotyping and gender
discrimination, seeks unspecified damages. It uses male pronouns because the
claims are based on Etsitty's biological sex.
Justin
Jones, a UTA spokesman, said Friday that the agency has not seen the lawsuit.
However, he said, "We cannot comment on current litigation but UTA does
have policies in place that ensure we are in compliance with the equal
opportunity laws."
The suit says the 41-year-old Etsitty has
been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder and decided in the late 1990s to
begin a transition to female, which he considers his true sexual identity. It
says he changed his name then and began hormone therapy under the direction of
his physician.
When he applied at UTA, he put down
"Krystal Etsitty" on his application, according to the suit. It says
that at his job interview, Etsitty had medium length hair, wore minimal makeup
and was dressed in gender-neutral clothes, a pair of khakis and a shirt.
Etsitty, who began work in December 2001, said he put Krystal on his name badge
and slowly began to make his appearance more feminine by wearing more makeup
and acrylic finger nails.
After UTA officials heard about the changes,
an operations manager and human resources officer told him they were unable to
accommodate him, the suit claims. He was forced out in February 2002, it says.
The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, where
Etsitty first filed a complaint, issued a report last year saying there is
"reasonable cause" to believe his civil rights were violated.
"The Commission has previously determined that employers may not
discriminate against an individual because he or she fails to act in the way
expected of a male or female," the report says.
Utah
Transit Authority (UTA) hired Krystal Etsitty as a bus driver in 2001. Her work
record was spotless. After telling her supervisor that she was undergoing
gender transition and would be appearing more feminine at work, Etsitty
gradually began to wear makeup and jewelry.
Soon after, her supervisors decided that
Etsitty’s transition created an “image issue” for UTA, and they terminated her.
Although UTA acknowledged that no one had complained about her performance or
appearance, it claimed that the public would see Etsitty as “inappropriate.”
The U.S. District Court for the district of
Utah ruled against Etsitty, holding that Title VII does not protect transgender
employees. Lambda Legal filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Tenth Circuit
court of Appeals in Etsitty’s support, pointing out that many courts have
affirmed Title VII’s application to transgender employees and arguing that
customer prejudices are not a legitimate basis for employment decisions.
5 July 2004 Monday
The Southern Utah Gay& Lesbian Community
Center was approved to have a link on SouthernUtah.com
A wake for Donny Eastepp was held at the
Trapp
Obituary
of Donny Eastepp in Deseret News Donald Eastepp. Age 43 passed away July 1,
from complications of AIDS in Salt Lake City with his mother Mercy and brother
Scott at his side.
Born February 19, 1961 in New York, N.Y. to
Charly and Mercy Eastepp. Donny was raised in Houston, Texas.
He worked in the hospitality industry most of
his life and tended bar in both Houston and Salt Lake where he owned and
managed the In-between Tavern.
In 1988 Donny along with the Royal Court Of
The Golden Spike Empire established a fund to help people with AIDS at
Christmas time. This fund has since helped thousands of PWAs.
Donny is survived by his mother Mercy,
brothers Chuck, Scott and Kenny; nephews, nieces and many loving friends.
Preceded in death by his father, grandparents and longtime companions Bobby
Dubray and Randy Bird.
His family would like to thank the hospice
staff, and the U of U Medical Center staff and his friends in Salt Lake.
A wake celebrating his life will be held
Monday at 6:00 p.m. at the Trapp.
6 July 2004 Tuesday
Gordon Storrs elected president of Utah Log
Cabin Republicans.
7 July 2004 Wednesday
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints' endorses Amendment 3's ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions. .
Cathy Martinez of the Idaho Statesman reported
Larry Craig Appeals Guilty Plea Ruling
“Senator Larry Craig, R-Idaho, in his mug shot after being arrested at
the Minneapolis Airport Minneapolis — Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, filed a notice
the morning of Monday, Oct. 15 with the Minnesota Court of Appeals that he will
appeal a lower court decision that upheld his guilty plea to disorderly
conduct.
Craig
pleaded guilty to the crime after his June 11 arrest in the Minneapolis airport
on charges he solicited sex from an undercover police officer. Later, he filed
an appeal, seeking to withdraw his guilty plea.
On Oct. 4, a Minnesota judge turned down
Craig’s attempt to overturn the plea, saying that Craig’s claim that he didn’t
know what he was doing when he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct was
“illogical.”
Craig’s filing with the Minnesota Court of
Appeals is the first step in a lengthy legal process. Craig’s appeal was filed
at the court in St. Paul less than two weeks after Hennepin County Judge
Charles Porter refused to overturn the guilty plea, saying it “was accurate,
voluntary and intelligent, and ... supported by the evidence.”
The four-page filing did not detail the basis
for the appeal. Craig’s lawyers must first order and file a transcript of his
Sept. 26 hearing. Once that has been filed, his lawyers have 60 days to file a
brief outlining his appeal. Then, prosecutors have 45 days to file their
response to his appeal. Once those are filed, the court sets a date for oral
arguments — which often occurs about six to eight months later. Ninety days
after the oral arguments, the judge will issue a decision.
Billy Martin, the lead attorney representing
Craig told the Idaho Statesman the senator has maintained his innocence from
the outset. "Senator Craig has a right to appeal and we believe that it
was a manifest injustice not to allow Senator Craig to withdraw his guilty plea
entered in August," Martin said. “Like every other citizen, Senator Craig
has the constitutional right to make every effort to clear his name. Senator
Craig is hopeful that the Court of Appeals, after reviewing our arguments, will
reverse or vacate Judge Porter’s decision denying his motion.”
In an interview Oct. 14 with KTVB-TV in
Boise, Idaho, Craig repeated that he will not resign his post in the Senate and
said he had the right to pursue his legal options. “It is my right to do what
I’m doing,” said Craig. “I’ve already provided for Idaho certainty that Idaho
needed — I’m not running for re-election. I’m no longer in the way. I am
pursuing my constitutional rights.”
"What’s the likelihood of success? Even
less likely of prevailing in the appeal than he had in prevailing before
Porter,” Steve Simon, a legal defense expert at the University of Minnesota Law
School, told the Associated Press. The appeals court must find there’s been an
“abuse of discretion” by the trial judge before overturning a ruling — in other
words, that some aspect of the ruling was decided improperly.
Ron Meshbesher, a longtime Minneapolis
defense attorney, said earlier this month that the standard for an abuse of
discretion is vague but that such a ruling is fairly rare. “It’s not frequent,
let’s put it that way,” Meshbesher said. “It certainly is a steep hill to
climb.” It would most likely be well into 2008 before the Court of Appeals
rules on the case.
The process by which both sides prepare their
legal briefs alone usually stretches to more than 100 days. A heavy caseload at
the Court of Appeals has slowed down both the scheduling of oral arguments and
the release of rulings, according to court spokesman John Kostouros. It has
been taking at least three months after briefs are filed for arguments to be
scheduled, he said, and at least another three months before a decision is
reached. Craig’s Senate term ends at the end of 2008.
8 July 2004 Thursday
I sent Charline and mom a gift subscription
to Netflix the movie subscription service.
9 July 2004 Friday
I felt well
enough to go see Mom in California. Mike Romero said he would look after
Priscilla, Saffy, and Smokey while I am gone.
I stopped for gas in St. George but
drove straight through Las Vegas and in Palmdale by 6:30. The truck handled
well but it was really hot by Barstow and had to pull over a few times to let
the engine cool down.
10
July 2004 Saturday
2004 Deseret
Morning News, Saturday, Gays say they grapple with pain, LDS policy By
Clay Essig
Deborah
Bulkeley Deseret Morning News Clay Essig says he lives the chaste life required
of a devout Latter-day Saint. He says he attends church, complies with Mormon
doctrine and hopes to someday fall in love and get married. I'm thrilled to be
gay," says Clay Essig, who says he's active in church. But Essig will
likely never marry in a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. That's because he's looking for a husband, not a wife. Being gay was
for years a struggle that would depress and discourage Essig. At one point he
left a boyfriend to "go straight," an effort that didn't succeed.
"But now I'm thrilled to be gay, I'm grateful to be gay," he said.
"I'm also grateful for the truth that I've gained as a Latter-day
Saint." But Essig admits it hurt when the church's First Presidency issued
a statement this week saying it "favors a constitutional amendment
preserving marriage as the lawful union of a man and woman." It didn't
come as a surprise. LDS doctrine is clear on the matter that acting on
homosexual urges is a sin. And Essig copes by seeing his relationship with his
church and with his God as separate. "Certainly there's a conflict between
the church and what I am," Essig said. "There is not a conflict
between what I am and God or the gospel. "The church kept saying I was
wrong, even when I was with my boyfriend, and I was incredibly happy and at
peace," he said. "I said, 'I guess I'm not supposed to be happy with
my life.' . . . Gradually (God) helped me understand that what I am is perfectly
fine with him as long as I lead a good life. That includes having a happy
family in my creation as a gay man." The church's statement doesn't favor
any specific legislation but clearly supports both federal and state efforts to
constitutionally ban same-sex marriages. Utah is among 11 states where voters
will decide on such proposed amendments this November. In Utah, the amendment
would also forbid recognition of other types of unions, such as civil unions.
Debate on the federal constitutional amendment started Friday and could be
voted on as early as Wednesday. Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV polls conducted
before the church's statement have suggested that most Utahns would vote in
favor of the proposed state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
Support for such an amendment was especially strong among LDS Church members,
who comprise about 66 percent of the state's population, according to a 2000
report by the American Religion Data Archive. Life of loneliness But for those
who are homosexual and LDS, the church's stand creates a conflict for them as
well as for their families and friends. Gary Watts of Provo and his wife
co-chair Family Fellowship, a
Mille and Gary
Watts
support group
for LDS parents of gays and lesbians. The group's mailing list includes about
1,700 families. And it can be difficult for those with homosexual loved ones.
One woman, who asked not to be
identified, said she is "generally alarmed" by the church's position
on the issue. Watts said the church unfairly expects gays to live a life of
loneliness, "one that isn't as meaningful as one that's enriched by a
companion." "There is no place in the Mormon Church for gay people,
there is basically no place," said Watts, who has six children, two of
whom are homosexual. "Our gay kids are terrific." Watts and his wife
are no longer active in the LDS Church, and he has daughters — some married in
an LDS temple — who now aren't sure if they want to raise their children in the
church because of its stand on homosexuality. In 1998, LDS President Gordon B.
Hinckley issued a statement that said, "We love (gays and lesbians) as
sons and daughters of God. . . . We want to help these
Gordon
Hinckley
people, to
strengthen them, to assist them with their problems and to help them with their
difficulties. But we cannot stand idle if they indulge in immoral activity, if
they try to uphold and defend and live in a so-called same-sex marriage
situation." President Hinckley has also said gay marriage is a moral
issue, not one of civil rights. In a 1999 talk at the church's general
conference, he described the church's duty of "defending this sacred
institution." "God-sanctioned marriage between a man and a woman has
been the basis of civilization for thousands of years," he said.
"There is no justification to redefine what marriage is. Such is not our
right, and those who try will find themselves answerable to God." But
Watts described the church's position of separating its opposition to gay
marriage from civil rights as "double speak." "It's about my gay
kids' civil rights," he said. "It just makes my blood boil."
Learned or genetic Church therapists do, in general, have sympathy for
homosexuals, but they also contend that sexual orientation is learned and can
be changed. David Pruden, executive director of Evergreen International, a
resource, education and referral program for those who have
David Pruden
unwanted feelings of same-sex attraction,
believes that no one is born gay. Pruden
said Evergreen's anonymous help line receives about 300 calls a month, and many
of those calls come from married men. Most of Evergreen's clientele are LDS
Church members. He said the first step is to make sure everyone who contacts
his group knows their feelings are normal and they are not alone — he believes
about 2 to 3 percent of the LDS population has had same-sex attraction
feelings. "This is very difficult," he said. "We are all called
upon to live the same doctrine, the same standards. . . . The question is how
are you going to cope with those very difficult feelings." Pruden said a
good portion of people never make any attempt to change their orientation. For
those who do decide to remain in the church and seek therapy, there are ways to
cope. Some people choose a life of celibacy, others may eventually lose their
sexual feelings altogether, and he said some do eventually become
heterosexuals. Pruden said when homosexuals fail at their attempts to change,
"I do honor the idea they believe they've done their best. I can believe
that and love them. . . . I can't believe theologically that God meant them to
be gay." However, many therapists believe sexual orientation is a genetic
trait and can't be changed. Kay Packard is a marriage and family therapist, her
husband, Ted, is a counseling psychologist. They believe their son, Mark
Stanfield Packard, was born gay. Mark Packard, 41, of London, gave up on the LDS
Church when he was 16 and left Utah at 18. "It was like eating glass every
day," Mark Packard said. "The pressure I felt growing up was very
very difficult, very very painful. . . . I grew up with a strong sense I was
going to burn in hell for something I could do nothing about . . . I knew there
was some problem between me and the Mormon Church years before I could figure
out what it was." Packard's parents, who raised all their children LDS,
said the church's strong stance against homosexuality is detrimental not only
to themselves but to their patients. Kay Packard said some of her clients are
married couples with one homosexual partner. Some were advised to get married
as a way to change sexual orientation, while other couples thought they could
work together and pray for a change. "It's excruciatingly painful for
them," she said. "The heartbreaking thing is it doesn't work. Five,
10, 15 years down the road — the heartbreak comes sooner or later."
Speaking from her own experience, Kay Packard said, "it has been difficult
at best," with women in a church group often making derogatory comments
about homosexuals. She said official church support for the constitutional
amendment "is going to make it even harder." "It just seems
discriminatory," she said. "It would seem that if we truly love them,
then we would want them to have as close and warm and loving a relationship as
they can."
2004- Hi, Ben, this is Susan
Killfoile, (Jimmy's friend, Susie.) I
have had a hell of a time getting your address.
I'll tell you about that later.
I'm having a reception for Jimmy [Hamamoto] and John [Reeves] at my
house on this upcoming Saturday, July 10.
Obviously, the happy couple won’t be here, and I’m hoping the video we
make will surprise and delight them. I’m
asking all friends of Jimmy and John come to my house and wish them well on the
video or by writing in the book I got.
Please feel free to pass this message on to anyone else that Jimmy and
John may know here in Utah. I sent an
email to all users at KRCL and have contacted Carolyn Person and John's
grandson, Chris. Any way, if you have
questions, call me on my cell. This
soiree will begin around 5:00 and will end when people stop coming. Please bring an appetizer or a beverage of your
choice. I hope to see you sometime on
Saturday. Susan K.
Many people
who know Jimmy Hamamoto know that he moved to Boston in 1996. The KRCL family
may not know that he and his partner, John Reeves are planning to be married on
July 23 in Boston. I am hosting a reception at my home on Saturday, July 10th
from 5:00 pm - on. We will have a videocam set up so people can record good
wishes and thoughts for Jimmy and John. People can call me at 463-2673, or just
show up at 623 E. Garfield Ave. on Saturday, July 10, after 5:00 p.m. Bring an
appetizer, salad or dessert to share. I hope to see you there Susan K.
I
responded “Dr. John Reeves was Vice Chair of the Gay and Lesbian Community
Council of Utah in 1988, and co founder of Beyond Stonewall a Gay and Lesbian
Weekend Retreat held at Camp Rogers. He now teaches sociology courses at Bunker
Hill College in Mass. Jimmy Hamamoto was vice president of Lesbian and Gay
Student Union at the U of U in 1979 and was a member of the Sacred Faeries from
1990-1995, a Gay men's spiritual path founded in SLC in 1989. He was a host of
several obscure music programs on KRCL for over 10 years. Jimmy is heavily
involved in reanimating the Radical Faerie movement of Boston.)
10 July 2004
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Utah hosted 2nd GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER Town Hall Meeting with 50 attending.
Isabel
Sanford, American actress (b. 1917)
11
July 2004 Sunday
Lisa
Welte York wrote: Hello,How are you doing? My mom said you stopped by and she
was very surprised to see you!! She said it was a GREAT surprise!!!!! I live in
Alaska now. I have been here 5 years in Nov.
How
is everything with you? If you would like to see a pic of me all grownup you
can look at my profile on yahoo. I was sorry to hear that your dad had passed!
I hope that June is doing good. How are your sisters doing? It is crazy how
time gets away from us! Well I just wanted to touch base with you. I hope to
hear from you soon!!!! Take Care and Be Good!!!!
I
replied: Hi Lisa I hope life is treating you good. Alaska must be fantastic.. I
am living in Salt Lake City and teaching school. Dad went really fast. Had a
stroke he was gone before he hit the ground. He was 79 yrs. old.
Your
Mom and Dad are exactly 10 yrs. younger then Mom and Dad. Mom is still trying
to adjust. She has back troubles like your mom.
Charline
is staying with her in Palmdale. Donna is living in Yucaipa out by San
Bernardino. It was good to see your Mom and she didn't recognize me I had to
say I was Jr. Williams LOL
Well
I am 53 years old and don't think I've seen your folks since I moved away in
1973. I have a few old pictures of Cathy and Frankie when your folks lived on
Dale Street. When I get home I will email copies to you.
I
met April. She's a pretty girl and could
tell by looking at her she was Cathy's dau.
Just
wanted to let your Mom and Dad know about Dad. Please keep in touch even if
just in your email address book to let me know how your Mom and Dad and your
kin are doing. Take care Ben (Junior) Williams
12
July 2004 Monday
Mike Cronin
of The Salt Lake Tribune reported; 'Queers
Kick Ash' campaign loses state funding- The Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender
Community Center of Utah has distributed a variety of incentives at activities
promoting anti-smoking awareness among the gay community. The program recently
lost government funding.
For
eight months, the "Queers Kick Ash" campaign hummed along, spreading
its anti-tobacco message to Utah's gay and lesbian community with help from a
state grant.
During
that time, records show the Utah Department of Health routinely approved and
funded promotional materials -- posters, banners, T-shirts, newspaper ads, even
a Web site -- for the campaign by the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender
Community Center of Utah.
Then,
in mid-May, several students were disciplined at Hillcrest High for wearing
"Queers Kick Ash" T-shirts. A few weeks later, the Health Department
yanked the funding – an expected $200,000 over the next two years -- and the
anti-tobacco campaign fizzled. Ever since then, the community center has
wondered why it lost the funding.
"We've
made phone calls, mailed letters and sent faxes – and nothing," said Tami
Marquardt, the center's acting executive director. "They haven't had the
courtesy or the public decency to give us an answer. I don't know why they
won't talk to anyone if this is all aboveboard. This is nothing but a
homophobic cover-up. It's discrimination, pure and simple."
For
its part, the Health Department -- in a June 1 letter from Heather Borski,
manager of the department's Tobacco Prevention and Control Program -- maintains
that it opted not to renew the center's grant to "prevent the anti-tobacco
health message from being overshadowed by unrelated advocacy activity."
Richard
Milton, the department's deputy director, and two department spokeswomen would
not define "unrelated advocacy activity." "Our statement speaks
for itself," Milton said Friday. "It's a question of
interpretation."
In
a statement released June 11, department officials said the anti-tobacco
project's "use of sexually related messages . . . was inconsistent with
the department's general approach to addressing tobacco use."
Again,
Milton could not provide specific examples of "sexually related
messages" used in the center's campaign. He did say, however, that
"the whole issue is sexually related because the group represents a
certain sexual preference."
Milton
conceded that the controversy caused by the center's "provocative"
messages has Health Department officials re-examining why they initially
awarded the center the first of three potential $100,000-a-year grants. "I
can't get into that," he said. "I can just say there's a discussion
going on about why it happened."
Through
a records request, The Salt Lake Tribune obtained hundreds of documents about
the relationship between the Health Department and the center.
Spokeswoman
Jana Kettering said the department could not provide at least three months of
pertinent e-mails because they had been destroyed -- a possible violation of
Utah's public records laws.
Even
so, the records released show that many department officials knew precisely how
the center was spending its anti-tobacco funding. Quarterly reports and expense
reimbursement forms dating back to October specifically mention "Queers
Kick Ash" as the name of the anti-tobacco campaign. Documents also show
that department officials routinely approved not only the "Queers Kick
Ash" moniker but also the expenses incurred for materials and events using
that name. In one entry, a Health Department official praised the campaign's Web
site: "I checked out the site, queerskickash.org. It looks great."
Some
documents depict visual representations of various ways the "Queers Kick
Ash" logo would be used, how it would be displayed and what it would look
like. Not once in the documents did department officials object to or suggest
changes to the center's anti-tobacco approach -- until mid-May.
Milton
said staff members below the executive level had approved the campaign slogans
and materials during the eight months without upper-level officials' knowledge.
Marquardt
maintains the "Queers Kick Ash" name became a problem only after the
Hillcrest incident made headlines. Milton acknowledged the incident contributed
to the department's policy revision, but also said that the attention was not
directly responsible for the change in department practices. He added that, to
his knowledge, the gay-lesbian center is the only one among roughly 20
organizations receiving anti-tobacco money from the state that did not earn a
grant renewal.
That
frustrates Marquardt and her staff. "We offered to recraft our message and
do whatever they wanted, but it was a no-go."
13
July 2004 Tuesday
I
drove back home from Palmdale today. I left early in the morning and was hope
by 8 this evening when I read this email exchange.
2004
Brandon Burt to Mandy Racer: I was thinking Ben could talk about different gay
enclaves or "ghettos" that may have sprung up in Salt Lake's past --
I think the idea is that unlike in other cities, Salt Lake has never had a
real, thriving gay ghetto, but there have been small enclaves where gay people
have started to gather which have quickly become gentrified or in which a lot
of new, small businesses have sprung up. There is still some controversy
regarding how the Mormons will lock gays and lesbians out of downtown. Why is
the city council not using one of the best tools it has at its disposal to
revitalize the downtown area?
There
is a philosophical component to the piece as well, though – is
"ghettoization" a good thing or a bad thing for the community? In
some ways, it looks like a stage that gay/lesbian communities go through in
other cities, and then later (as in SF) the community leaves the ghetto and
becomes more dispersed throughout the general community. Still, forming those
gay-borhoods represents a gathering of power, and often concentrates
gay/lesbian voting power enough that the community finds representation in local
governments. Keeping gays divided up throughout the entire valley is really
kind of a gerrymandering of the gay vote. Could there even be a conspiracy
afoot to keep us from forming a real, vibrant ghetto here?
Mandy
Racer wrote to me : Hi Ben, Brandon [Burt] gave me your name in connection with
a story about "gay ghettos." He thought you might have some
historical information about gay enclaves in neighborhoods in Utah's past. The
angle is "where are our ghettos?" and would we want them? I've pasted
Brandon's idea about the article below. Let me know what you think. My schedule
is good only in the evenings, and Brandon is giving me until Thursday to pump
this sucker out. If we can do this by email, that is fine also, but phone is
good as well. This is my work email address; if you reply, please cc to my home
address: MandyQ@comcast.net. Let me know what you think... Thanks so much!
I
wrote back to Mandy Racer, regarding a Metro Cover Story. “I was in California
when you emailed and just returned today. Certain areas of Salt Lake City
always had higher concentration of Gay men especially Third East and 1st South
where the Blue Mouse and Cosmic Aeroplane were in business. Some apartment
buildings downtown often became predominantly Gay by word of mouth.
The
Ben Albert Apartments is a good example of that. The SLC Gay ghetto in the
1970's to late 1980's was from the lower Avenues to about 5th South, 2nd East
to about 7th East. After 7th east you were in the University area.
Gays moved into the Lower Avenues in the mid
70's when it was mostly drug and hippy and began to gentrify the area much like
the Marmalade area of the 1990's. 9th and 9th became a Mecca in the mid 1980's
when Cahoots opened and the Tower had Rocky Horror Shows.
Many
Lesbians bought homes in the south Salt Lake area and often on the same street.
Milton Street was very Lesbian. Women being nesters often bought homes while
Gay men lived a more transient life style moving from Apartment to Apartment.
The
Ghetto was mainly an area in which you could walk or ride your bike. We were
not a real Ghetto with Gay Businesses but merely a concentration of a Gay
populace.
The
Rodeo Association of course lived out in rural SL County.
SLC
tenant laws before the 1990's stated that only one single individual could
occupy a one bed room apartment. Gays lived in fear of being kicked out their
apartments if two were caught living in the same apartment.
I
noticed in the late 1980's the beginning of an outward migration as Gay and
Lesbian couples began buying houses in West Valley and such because they were
so cheap. Also as more apartments were built that were two bedrooms or more
outside of downtown there became a mass exodus as people could now have room
mates.
We use to debate the concept of Ghetto in
various support groups during the 1980's. Those who read Mayor of Castro Street
and understood the importance of the Castro for Gays in SF to achieve political
power supported the Ghetto concept. In the mid 1970's there was even a movement
to take over Alpine County in California as a Gay county.
Gay
communes and Lesbian Communes were important for building self-esteem and
creating an identity. The Lesbian community identified with 20 Jacob Rue on 8th
South and I think 4th East for much of the early 1980's. It was a bookstore,
coop, and feminist support center.
I did a lecture on Building Community at the
Mountain and Deseret State Conference in 1989 and the concept was that
empowerment came in the form of identifying with and supporting a community.
We
use to talk in terms of the Gay Community. I don't think the term has any
relevancy anymore. Many younger people
hardly identify with being Gay let alone being included in a community.
Metrosexual and all that.
When
I lived at the Juel Apartment on 6th East from 1986-1989 there were 18 apts and
12 of them were filled with Gay men. We use to run up the stairs in underwear
like we were in a dorm rather than an apartment building. LOL I should be home
in the morning if you need some specific info phone Sincerely Ben Williams
Ben,
You're fantastic. Thanks so much for taking the time to send me such a thorough
response. I do have a couple of questions (and I will call you later when I get
off work to save you from typing another essay if you'd rather not): You
mentioned the name 20 Jacob Rue and called it a coop. What's a coop? And this
was in SLC? Are the Ben Albert apartments still in business and still mainly
gay? Also, what do you think about the negative connotations associated with
the word "ghetto"? I've talked to some people within the community
who hate the term and refuse its use. What do you think?
Coming,
as you seem to do, from a political history and a personal association with the
word (was the word "ghetto" itself used in these support groups
during the 80's?), I would love your opinion on this. Again, thanks so much. I will call later
today if I don't hear from you. ~Mandy Racer
14
July 2004 Wedesday
Don't Amend
Alliance held first Volunteer Training
16
July 2004 Friday
the Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Utah reopens after a
temporary closure. All
employees
were told to reapply for their positions.
18 July 2004
Club Try-Angles celebrated its 2nd anniversary.
22
July 2004 Thursday
The House will
vote TODAY sometime between 1 - 2:30pm, Thursday July 22, on H.R. 3313, the
so-called "Marriage Protection Act."
This is a sneak attack on the GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER community - proponents of the bill think that
nobody is paying attention, since the Federal Marriage Amendment failed so
spectacularly last week in the Senate.
It is crucial that we show Representatives that we ARE paying attention
to their vote. PLEASE call Representative Jim Matheson RIGHT NOW, before you do
anything else today - and then send this message to others in your community.
Rep.
Matheson's phone number is: (202)
225-3011 Here's what you should
say: "My name is <YOUR NAME>
and I am a constituent of Representative Matheson's. I am calling to urge him/her to vote AGAINST
H.R. 3313, the Marriage Protection Act.
This bill would undermine the Supreme Court as well as other federal
courts - it's simply un-American to try to deny an entire group of citizens
their day in court. Can you tell me
how Representative Matheson will vote?"
Then
e-mail field@hrc.org to tell us how the staff member says Representative
Matheson will vote on the Marriage Protection Act. Thank you for your immediate
action!
23 July 2004
Friday
Former SLC
activists to marry in Massachusetts Many
people who know Jimmy Hamamoto know that he moved to Boston in 1996. The KRCL
family may not know that he and his partner, John Reeves are planning to be
married on July 23 in Boston.
24
July 2004 Saturday
SU
GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER CC held a Days of '47 BBQ fundraiser to
raise money for 501c3. SU GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER CC Board
members are. Aimee M. Selfridge (also known as Little Aimee), Amie M. Whipple
(also known as Momma Amie or Amie Marie), and Lisa Lake (formerly Lisa Barney).
2004
The Amie's of Southern Utah Gay and Lesbian Community Center held fund raiser
to raise money for registering their 501c3. “We have a lawyer who will do it,
but we have to pay all the filing costs...about $300, so we have to come up
with it somehow.”
2004 Dr. John Reeves PhD former resident of Utah
and cofounder of Beyond Stonewall married Jimmy Hamamoto, former KRCL disc
jockey and member of Utah’s Sacred Faeries are married at Boston City Hall, Massachusetts
on the 23rd with a reception on July 24th in the backyard of the
"Oldest House in Cambridge", Massachusetts. “I am hosting a reception
at my home on Saturday, July 10th from 5:00 pm - on. We will have a videocam
set up so people can record good wishes and thoughts for Jimmy and John. People
can call me at or just show up on Saturday, July 10, after 5:00 p.m. Bring an
appetizer, salad or dessert to share. I hope to see you there Susan K.” (USHS
Note-Dr. John Reeves was Vice Chair of the Gay and Lesbian Community Council of
Utah in 1988, and co founder of Beyond Stonewall a Gay and Lesbian Weekend
Retreat held at Camp Rogers. He now teaches sociology courses at Bunker Hill
College in Mass. Jimmy Hamamoto was vice president of Lesbian and Gay Student
Union at the U of U in 1979 and was a member of the Sacred Faeries from
1990-1995, a Gay men's spiritual path founded in SLC in 1989. He was a host of
several obscure music programs on KRCL for over 10 years. Jimmy is heavily
involved in reanimating the Radical Faerie movement of Boston
26
July 2004 Monday
From
Elaine Clark of KUER : Dear Ben, Craig Miller suggested I speak with you about
the history of the gay community in Utah. RadioWest would like to focus on this
topic tomorrow, July 27. Craig suggested that you have written on the topic,
and would be able to give us a lot of great information about the past. Please
contact me as soon as you get this e-mail. My phone number is 801-581-7781.
Subject:
KUER to do talk show on Utah Lambda History
RadioWest will be presenting The History of the Lambda Community in Utah
tomorrow at 11:00 and replayed again at 7:00. Among those invited to
participate is Ben Williams director of the Utah Stonewall Historical Society
and columnist for The Salt Lake Metro.
'KUER
presents RadioWest weekdays live at 11:00am and replayed 7:00pm.RadioWest is an
hour-long conversation about ideas ranging from arts and culture to history and
politics. The interview format allows host Doug Fabrizio to explore topics
in-depth with local and national experts. Listeners are invited to join the
conversation by phone or by e-mail.
KUER
FM 90 is a public radio station licensed to the University of Utah in Salt Lake
City. KUER is affiliated with the two major public radio networks in the U.S.,
National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Radio International. We broadcast 24
hours a day, with news and jazz throughout the week, and a range of information
and entertainment programs on the weekends.'
26 July 2004
The
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Utah hired Chad
Beyer who has an extensive social justice background as the new Executive
Director.
2004 Subject:
KUER to do talk show on Utah Lambda RadioWest will be presenting The History of
the Lambda Community in Utah tomorrow at 11:00 and replayed again at 7:00.
Among those invited to participate is Ben Williams director of the Utah
Stonewall Historical Society and columnist for The Salt Lake Metro. 'KUER
presents RadioWest weekdays live at 11:00am and replayed 7:00pm. RadioWest is
an hour-long conversation about ideas ranging from arts and culture to history
and politics. The interview format allows host Doug Fabrizio to explore topics
in-depth with local and national experts.Listeners are invited to join the
conversation by phone or by e-mail. KUER FM 90 is a public radio station
licensed to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. KUER is affiliated with
the two major public radio networks in the U.S., National Public Radio (NPR)
and Public Radio International. We broadcast 24 hours a day, with news and jazz
throughout the week, and a range of information and entertainment programs on
the weekends.'
27
July 2004 Tuesday
My cousin John
Johnson wrote me: “hi there- sure made for some interesting reading appreciate
your sending it to us. mom and dad read all too. i sent it all on to Chris too.
really thought the tidbit about the dna passed on thru the male heirs was
something i had never heard. hope you are back up to speed after the flu? guess
it won’t be long till school starts again-think it starts here about the middle
of august. well better git mom bout has
lunch ready. bye—john
2004 UTAH GAY
NEWSLETTERS AND PAPERS 1975 The Gayzette editor- Babs de Lay 1976-The
Gayzette's name to The Salt Lick editor Babs DeLay 1977-1978 The Open Door -
Editor Ray Hencke 1978- 1979 The Open Door (Rocky Mountain Open Door),
publisher Joseph Dover bought The Open Door for $500 from the board of Trustees
of the Gay Service and used the appellation of "R. Spike Joseph".
1979-The Open Door editor- Michael Perry 1979 -1985-The Women Aware Newsletter
published anonymously by Lesbians although most noticeable were "Marilyn,
Nancy and Terri." 1979-1981-The Open Door editor Rev. Robert Waldrop,
pastor of MCC 1981-1982-Gay Community News editor Michael Aaron 1984-1985 The
Salt City Source Editor "Shar", and publisher Laura L. Ferreira 1984-
1985-The Up Front a project of Gay Community, a non-profit Utah Corporation
incorporated David Nelson Editor 1985- The Community Reporter, published by Gay
Community Inc. with Michael Aaron and David Nelson, editor and publisher
1985-The Best Source, published by the Utah Community Services Center and
Clinic. Editor "Michelle Cheney " whose real name is Michelle
Beauchaine 1986-1987-Triangle Magazine Editor-Scott Dunn 1987- 1990-Triangle
Community Digest-Editor & Publisher Satu Servigna 1989-Angles-editor Chad
Kellar and Bobby Childers 1990-1993 The Bridge -Publisher and Editor are Alice
Hart and Becky Moorman 1990-1991 Queer Fucker's `Zine- Publisher Queer Nation
Utah 1991-1995 Womyn's Community News' - publisher and editor Kathy Worthington
1991-1993 The Salt And Sage, publishers Sacred Faeries 1992-1993- Out Front
Review publishers Ron Shelby and Randy Richardson 1993-The Pillar of the Mehn's
Community, Uranian Publishers-editors Ben Williams; Brandon Creer 1993-1995 The
Pillar, Uranian Publishers -Brandon Creer, editor 1993-1997 The Center of
Attention, publisher The Utah Stonewall Center 1995-1996 The Pillar, Uranian
Publishers- Kim Russo, editor 1995-1997-The Labrys, Publishers Dina and Whitney
Hannah 1996-1997 The Pillar , Uranian Publishers -Todd Dayley, editor 1997-2000-
The Xchange-Kim Russo editor 1998-Present- The Pillar, Publisher and editor
Todd Dayley 2003 Women 4 Women Publisher, Happy Mediums-editor Janice Eberhardt
2004 The Salt Lake City METRO Publisher Michael Aaron Editor Brandon Burt
Hi Historians,
I would like to offer one spelling correction to the Utah Gay Newsletters and
Papers. The 2003 publication is correctly spelled Womyn 4 Women. Thank you for
keeping our history. Best regards, Janice Janice Eberhardt, editor/publisher
Womyn 4 Women
28 July 2004
Wednesday
2004
De-Classified FBI Records; A Treasure Trove for Gay Historians By John Emery
Reading thru the 150 pages of de-classified FBI surveillance records of the Gay
Activists Alliance, I have been able to learn who some of the major players
were in the early gay rights movement. My research involved finding the earlier
origins for the First National March on Washington in 1979. These efforts have
been hampered by the absolute lack of historical records in some cases and the
lack of on-line archives in others. Some of the best sources have been recorded
interviews with the few remaining survivors (bless you IN THE LIFE) and FBI
records. The karmic payback of J Edgar Hoover's homophobia and obsession with
the "radical" homosexuals who insisted on "coming out", was
the exhaustive records left for today's gay historians. Perhaps J Edgar and Roy
Cohen are rolling in their fire pits of hell, knowing that we have hundreds of
documents laying out who, what, where, how and why of our early gay history.
For the makers and keepers of these early activist records, came possible
consequences comparable to today's kiddy-porn collectors. Many of the 1940's
and 1950's gay activists were Marxists. The 1950's McCarthy witch-hunts cleared
the ranks of these "pinko commie fags" and it wasn't until the mid
1960's that the socialist gay movement picked up steam again. The activists
need for secrecy combined with J Edgar and Roytoy Cohen's obsessions gave us
heretofore missing gaps in our history. Thanks to the efforts of the FBI, we now
know of more people deserving of honor, in the gay annals of history. Amongst
others, the COINTELPRO surveillance programs in the 1960's and 1970's included
the Black Civil Rights movement, the anti-war movement and the women's
movement; including the efforts to pass ERA. These investigations followed the
women who later served in the post-ERA lesbian and gay movement, who were our
experienced backbone from the mid 1970's. The FBI was concerned that the defeat
of ERA would cause a radical backlash. This backlash, they feared, would
manifest thru the lesbian and gay movement, in the form of riots and domestic
terrorism. Their fears are laughable in today's perspective and are worthy of
an epic comedy, or at least a Mad-TV skit (visualize J Edgar Hoover in Islamic
drag, spying on drag queens and lipstick lesbians for make-up tips, pretending
it's for Homeland Security). In 1965, a tradition started of lesbians and gays
marching on July 4th in Philadelphia, the city of love. These peaceful,
respectful and quick marches were some of the early roots for the first
national march on Washington. It was at these marches where people risked
arrest, incarceration and hospitalization for their courage; not to mention
jobs, homes and family. July 4th of 2005 will mark the 40th anniversary of
these early first marches. These more known events are contrasted with the
FBI's intelligence, which include later obscure events, including a little
sit-in on July 30, 1971. According to FBI records, 170 people demonstrated at
City Hall in Bridgeport Conn., a soiree organized by the Kalos Society-Gay
Liberation. Personally, I probably would never have heard of this little ACT-UP
grandpa, if it weren't for J Edgar's obsessive need to know what his fellow
gays were wearing after Memorial Day.
Another little factoid revealed in the de-classified records, concern the FBI's
worries that gays would try and disrupt the Republican and Democratic National
Conventions in 1972. Imagine all that time wasted in 1972, following gay
activists while G Gordon Liddy and his gang from CREEP (their own acronym for
the Committee to Re-elect the President), were breaking into nearby Watergate
offices. Makes you wonder how much time the FBI is wasting on simliar
"Curve Balls" of intelligence in 2004; with the gays all in a twitter
over constitutional amendments banning their basic human rights and all. What
laws, currently being violated by today's CREEP, are being ignored while the
FBI worries obout gays disrupting the 2004 Republican and Democratic Conventions?
Perhaps the de- classified files 20 years from now will be able to fill-in gaps
in our present sloppy recording of gay history. Today, the Christian-hate
mouthpieces in Congress warn of "The Dangers to National Security of
Homosexuals Destroying the Sacred Institution of Marriage" while Rep.
Nancy Pelosi points out the immediate and real threat to national security, the
Bin Laden network. Yet again, our country's surveillance systems are given
backseat to Christian-hate politicians. Meanwhile, the hate- Christians are
probably slipping by the incompetent FBI, once again. For these and other
tid-bits, the Freedom of Information Act official website is a treasure trove
of gay history. To J Edgar Hoover, wherever you're rolling, my wigs and heels
are off to you. It's too bad they didn't bury you in your favorite drag outfit;
because every good drag queen, worth her tips, ALWAYS wears flame retardant
wigs and pantyhose - dahling.
© John Emery,
All Rights Reserved
USHS Note:
http://foia.fbi.gov/ is the website for Freedom of Information Site...for all
you radical Lambda activists from the 70's and 80's check out if you have a
file on you. A former co founder of the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of
Utah always insisted that he did. The LDS Church uses a lot of ex-FBI agents in
their Church Security headquarters (formerly known as the DANITE Den- I am only
joking! Don't kill me). For those who only read this site for some dirt, the
first FBI agent convicted of treason was a Mormon who was committing adultery
with a Russia Spy. I thought it was suppose to be only Gays who couldn't be
trusted for security clearances because they might get black mailed HA! All is
Well!
29
July 2004 Thursday
Utah Bear
Alliance Meeting tonight All, What a great thing is happening here. The Utah
Bear Alliance is well over 50 members now and continuing to grow. We hope more
would like to come and join us in some great activities and service
projects.
I
would like to stress that YOU DONT HAVE TO BE A MEMBER to come to our meetings
and activities. We invite you ALL. We just hope that once you come and see the
fun we are having, you'll want to join the group and help contribute to a great
organization.
Why
Join...you ask? Well many positive things come from being a member of the
U.B.A. Being a member shows your driven to building unity within a group of men
that represents building of brotherhood and service to the gay community. So
many great things are to come from the group with activities, participation in
the gay community at large through service and co-sponsoring of events as well
as helping build the international brotherhood of Bears.
We
are having our Monthly Membership Meeting at 7 pm at the Black Box Theatre at
the Gay & Lesbian Center ( GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER Community Center of Utah) and invite you all
to come and help us grow stronger. Afterwards, we have our Bear Growler, and
great meet and greet, at Club 161 (a private club for members). Another great
time to be spent by all. So Come Join US!
AND
A GREAT BIG THANK YOU...to all the Bears who have joined and
made our group
such a success. YOU ARE ALL GREAT! Take Care and see you soon, The UBA Board.
30
July 2004 Friday
I wrote my
neiece Denise Wachs: Denise, I have paid your delinquent fee of $358.01 so you
are current. Your next payment is due August 13 for $92.67. The lady said you
have not made a payment since December.
I
am very, very upset. I would never have co-signed your loan if I knew that I
was going to be responsible for it.
I
had to pay to bring James home from that fiasco and with the $100 I gave him
that was nearly $300 I am out. I helped you out last year by paying the loan
until you were settled. Gave you money to move to
I
was happy to do that but enough is enough.
I wanted to send your mother some money in August but that is not
possible now.
Denise
I am not going to pay another dime on your loan. It is not my responsibility
but yours. If you default on it the loan will attach itself to my house and I
will be responsible for it. I don't know
where you are spending your money but $95 a month does not seem unreasonable
for you to pay for your education.
I
want you and Cody to secure a loan to pay off Sallie Mae and take me off as a
co-signer. I know what hard times are. I have been through plenty of them and
while now I am getting by I am not made out of money. Disappointed Uncle Jr.
2004
Glen Warchol, Salt Lake Tribune Business Desk reporter, did a nice write up on
Salt Lake Metro. The print version has a great picture of Michael Aaron holding
the blow-up of the inaugural issue.
Ogden
historian Val Holley wrote me: Dear Ben, You recently posted your year-by-year
queer history of Utah, which included the 1974 opening of the first gay bar in
Ogden, Sweetwater, by Helen Runnels. In Thursday's (July 29) Ogden
Standard-Examiner, there was an obituary for 47-year-old Jay Dee Runnels, who
is survived by his mother, Helen. The
family apparently now lives in
31
July 2004 Don't Amend Alliance's "Out Against Amendment 3" Kick-
off
Party. Volunteers on hand to educate and inform people about the
August
1
August 2004
Utah's
delegation to the Democratic National Convention had one of the highest
participation levels in the nation of openly Gay and Lesbian members. Utah was
identified as one of only three states with more than a 10 percent Gay
delegates. Three of the 29 Utahns were Gay or Lesbian.
2
August 2004
Club Panini
and Salt Lake Metro presented Gay Speed Dating Tonight, 7pm at Club Panini Do as many 5-minute dates as
you can. Complete a form of who you would like to spend MORE time with. If you
both match, you'll get each other's contact info.
Great
fun at a great new space. Club Panini is at the Wells Fargo Building above the
KUTV Studios, 299 South Main Street. Free appetizer from the bar. Separate
smoking room. Indoor and outdoor seating. $2 Drafts Come on by and snag a
boyfriend!
6
August 2004
A joint press
release from all Utah Attorney General candidates opposed Amendment 3 "
because proposed Amendment 3 goes far beyond simply defining marriage and would
prove unnecessarily hurtful to many Utahns and their families, we oppose the
amendment."
9
August 2004 Monday
Donald Steward
announced a training session for people interested in learning how to use
Benefits Check Up (an online program created by the National Council on Aging
for seniors/low income folks that checks information against 1500 federal,
state and local entitlement programs).
If
you work with GLBT seniors or are interested in GLBT senior issues, this is an
important no-cost training opportunity. It will be held at the AARP office at
6975 Union Park Center in Midvale, Suite 320 from 6.30PM to 8.30PM. Please RSVP so we can
tailor the catering and numbers of materials needed. If you need information,
contact Donald Steward.
My
name is Chris Wharton and I am the Volunteer Coordinator for Rep. Jackie
Biskupski's Re-election Campaign. We are looking for volunteers to help us walk
door-to-door all over her district starting next week on this schedule
Aug. 9-Monday:
5:30-7:30 p.m.
Aug.
11-Wednesday: 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Aug.
12-Thursday: 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Aug.
14-Saturday: 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
If
you do not know Jackie, here is some information about her: She is the State
Representative for the area around Westminster (Legislative District 30) She is
a Democrat, an environmentalist, and is the only openly-gay legislator in the
state. I have known her for a while and she has been given numerous awards for
public advocacy, open government, education, GLBT issues, women's rights, etc.
2004 FAY WRAY
King Kong's 'queen', Fay Wray, dies at 96 August 9 2004 In Answer to Dr. Frankenfurter's question in
The Rocky Picture Show, "What Ever Happened to Fay Wray, that delicate
Satin draped dame?", here is the sad news. King Kong's 'queen', Fay Wray,
dies at 96 The actress initially resisted, but then embraced the attention she
received for the role By Claudia Luther Los Angeles Times Fay Wray, who
screamed her way into movie history as the apple of King Kong's eye, has died.
She was 96. Wray died Sunday night at her home in New York City, according to
Rick McKay, a close friend. No cause of death was reported. ''She was fairly
active up until the end,'' said McKay, who directed the documentary ''Broadway:
The Golden Age,'' which included an interview with Wray. Her last public
appearance was at the New York premiere of the film in June. Wray was already a
silent screen and talkie star when at age 25 she was cast by director Merian
Cooper as Ann Darrow - aka ''the girl'' - in the 1933 film ''King Kong.''
Although she made about 80 movies, her fame as a co-star to a giant ape - she
referred to her unrequited lover simply as ''Kong'' - far outlasted the
notoriety she got from her films with the pantheon of Hollywood's leading men,
including Gary Cooper, Ronald Colman, Cary Grant and Spencer Tracy. For many
years, Wray resisted the attention that came to her for her role opposite her
''tallest, darkest leading man.'' But Wray eventually embraced ''King Kong''
with good humor. ''I'm liking it better now than I did in the beginning, when
it seemed to me that it was not Shakespeare,'' she told an interviewer in 1994.
She called the movie ''my greeting card'' and said that everyone - even
Shakespearean actor Laurence Olivier - grilled her about how one of the
greatest special-effects movies was made. Well into her later years, Wray
continued to travel to film events here and abroad where she was feted as the
''scream queen,'' although she remained surprised by the accolades she got for
a performance that she hardly considered acting. ''I yelled every time they
said, 'Yell,' '' she said of the role, for which she was paid 10,000 for 10
weeks' work -- good pay for Hollywood in
the
Depression. RKO Pictures got more than its money's worth - the movie grossed
nearly $90,000 in its first four days, a fortune at a time when movie tickets
were 15 cents. What's more, Wray recorded some of her sensuous moans and
shrieks for the studio, which were later used in other horror films. After
''King Kong'' found a new generation of fans when it became regular fare on
black-and-white TV in the 1950s, Wray cheerily succumbed to her fate and even
made a tribute to the lovesick gorilla in her 1989 biography, On the One Hand
(the title is a playful tribute to the film in which Kong clenches her in his
paw). In an open letter to King Kong, she said, ''To speak of me is to think of
you. To speak to me is often a prelude to questions about you.'' The book party
for her autobiography was held at the Empire State Building, the skyscraper
that the ape scaled in order to rescue his writhing beauty from the flash-bulb
popping crowd of journalists who were chasing him. His great power weakened by
love, unable to swat away the pesky airplanes that were attacking him, King
Kong finally falls to his death. ''The final scene is really moving, where Kong
is shot as he stands on the Empire State Building, and clutches his breast, but
then stretches out his hand to where I am,'' she told an interviewer 1998. ''A
great piece of acting from that little fellow.'' And Wray did mean little -
although King Kong was several stories high in the film, he was in reality 18
inches of cloth, metal and rubber brought to life by special-effects genius
Willis O'Brien. The only part of the monster that actually was big was the
6-foot- long arm and paw.
Confessions of
an old queen. When I was a little boy I wanted to be Fay Wray when I grew up
and have some hairy ape maul and adore me too! Okay I know I have a fixation
with Fay Wray who just recently died, but according to a SLTribune reporter she
did have a Salt Lake City Connection. Vulture: Wray's SLC roots, a misspelling
hoot and Mitt's bare-naked truth By Brandon Griggs Salt Lake Tribune Columnist
Wray's pre-monkey days: Did you know that original "King Kong"
actress Fay Wray, who died Aug. 8, spent much of her childhood in Salt Lake
City? According to her 1989 autobiography, On The Other Hand, Wray lived in
Utah with her family from about 1913 to about 1922, when the then-14-year-old
moved to Hollywood. The book even lists two of Wray's Salt Lake City addresses.
Being curious, I checked them out last week. Nobody was home at the
small,wood-frame house at 814 Sherman Ave., which Wray's family rented for $12
a month. So I drove over to the brick bungalow at 236 Hampton Ave., where Wray
once rode a pet horse up and down the street. Current resident Isaac Wolfe had
no clue a famous actress once lived in his home. Nor did he know exactly who
Fay Wray was. "She does sound kind of familiar," said the young man.
I had better luck with next-door neighbor Eve Serenko. "She's the one with
the gorilla? On the Empire State Building? That's something," said the
elderly woman. But Serenko seemed miffed at the boorish suggestion (mine) that
she might remember seeing her famous neighbor. "That's before my
time," she sniffed. "And I'm 80."
2004 Dear All,
On Monday August 9th, there will be a training session for people interested in
learning how to use Benefits Check Up (an online program created by the
National Council on Aging for seniors/low income folks that checks information
against 1500 federal, state and local entitlement programs). If you work with
GLBT seniors or are interested in GLBT senior issues, this is an important
no-cost training opportunity. It will be held at the AARP office at 6975 Union
Park Center in Midvale, Suite 320 from 6.30PM to 8.30PM. Please RSVP so we can
tailor the catering and numbers of materials needed. If you need information,
contact Donald Steward at 597-9844.
2004 We need
to do all we can to make sure Jackie get's re-elected!!! Mike Picardi. Hello,
My name is Chris Wharton and I am the Volunteer Coordinator for Rep. Jackie
Biskupski's Re-election Campaign. We are looking for volunteers to help us walk
door-to-door all over her district starting next week on this schedule Aug.
9-Monday: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Aug. 11-
Jackie
Biskupski
Wednesday: 5:30-7:30 p.m. Aug. 12-Thursday:
5:30-7:30 p.m. Aug. 14-Saturday: 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. If you do not know
Jackie, here is some information about her: She is the State Representative for
the area around Westminster (Legislative District 30). She is a Democrat, an
environmentalist, and is the only openly-gay legislator in the state. I have
known her for a while and she has been given numerous awards for public
advocacy, open government, education, GLBT issues, women's rights, etc. For
more info, you can visit her web site. If you can't or don't want to, that's
cool. But, if you are interested, please call me or e-mail me ASAP and I will
give you the details. I hope to hear from you soon! Thanks, Chris Wharton P.S.
Please forward this to someone who may be interested.
13
August 2004 Friday
A memorial
service for Jay Bell, Gay LDS historian, was held as part of the Sunstone
Symposium. Affirmation has Jay's research and published articles on a CD for a
minimum donation of ten dollars.
August 13 –
Julia Child, American chef (b. 1912)[142]
14
August 2004 Saturday
Willy Marshall
2004 Utah Stonewall Historical Society
Community Forum-“Strange as it may seem, the little polygamous founded town of
Big Water has the only openly Gay mayor to my knowledge in the Western States.
Willy Marshall, a native of Bountiful, is a member of the Libertarian party and
in the late 1980's or early 1990's converted the community founded by Alex
Joseph to Libertarian principles. Big
Water is north of Page, AZ near Glen Canyon Dam, just inside the Utah
border.-{Ben Williams] –
“A big Howdy
and hugs to Ben and everybody at USHS, Yep, strange but true. I hope to get up
to SL sometime when you are having a meeting. I don't mind small town life so
much, but I do miss being around gay people! So I get out of town as often as I
can to go to SL or Phoenix or anywhere! A reporter was here from the SL Tribune
yesterday and is going to do a story on me and the town, so watch for that in
the Trib within the next week. Actually, I'm not the only gay mayor that I've
heard of in the West, but I haven't met any of the others yet. The recent mayor
of Tempe AZ was openly gay, named Giuliano, I think. He didn't run for
re-election. And I've heard the mayor of the little town of Mancos, in
southwestern Colorado, is gay, but I haven't been over there to meet him yet.
[Willy Marshall]-
“In the
"western states"??!? California, Oregon, and Washington have several
LGBT mayors, including my own town of Santa Cruz; our mayor is a very out
bisexual woman. John Laird, who lives two blocks from me, was the first openly
gay person to be elected mayor in the US, here in Santa Cruz in the early 80s.
John is now in the House of Representatives, doing a great job fighting for
Queer rights. And he's about the nicest, most honest person I've ever met!
[Connell O’Donovan]
“By Western
states I meant the Desert and Mountain States as in the old Desert and Mountain
Conference: Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho and Utah. I believe
Oregon Washington and California are considered as part of the Pacific
Conference. Thanks Willy for clarifying that there are indeed more than just
you! [Ben Williams]
16
August 2004 Monday
My Aunt Marie
Williams wrote: Hi how are you feeling?
Have you started school. Our
schools opened for the students last Wed.
This lady I know has 29 in her class and was going to get more so she
will have 34 0r 35. I think that is a
lot of kids. She only has one troubled
kid.
I
was glad to hear that your mom is doing good.
I would like to see her soon...Time will only tell. I have been so busy. Maybe in Sept. Take care and don't let the kids get to
you....Love Marie
I
wrote back to Marie Williams: I start back this Wednesday and the kids will
next week. So far I have under 30 kids but that could change. Actually anything
over 25 you aren't teaching but are doing crowd control and dealing with
behavior issues because of the crowded classrooms.
It's
been a very nice summer. We have had no temperatures over 100 this year. The
highest was 97. I had a bumper crop of apricots and nectarines. My peach tree
is loaded also but they won't be ripe for another 2-3 weeks.
I
talked to Mom last night. She decided not to have her colonoscopy which I'm
glad. She's tired of being poked and prodded. She is getting a better mental
attitude. She said she wax and polished the kitchen cabinets and wants to do
something in the backyard.
Donna's
son Ken [Jones my nephew] and his wife are expecting a baby in March. I haven't heard much from anyone. I guess
everyone is well. Love Jr.
17
August 2004 Tuesday
The school
year began officially today with a faulty meeting so that the new principal
Merry Fussleman can get to know us and us her. I suppose she will be alright
but it just not seem the same without Pam Park.
Tomorrow we have to be in the
classroom getting our rooms ready.
18 August 2004
Wednesday
2004 Bryan
Jordan Smith (1983-2004) Bryan Jordan Smith was born March 27, 1983 in Salt
Lake City, Utah. He graduated from American Fork High School and LDS Seminary.
He was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and
served an LDS mission in Omaha, Nebraska. Bryan was a loving son and brother
who enjoyed the outdoors, scrap booking, animals, and gardening. He loved cars
and especially, his white Ford convertible Mustang. Bryan worked for Alpine
School District at the Pony Express Elementary School. He planned on attending
Joseph Patrick Academy of Hair this fall. Bryan committed suicide on Wednesday,
August 18, 2004 in American Fork. He left a suicide note stating that he could
not handle the fact that he was gay and that was at least one of the reasons
for his suicide. He is survived by his mother, sister, brother, grandparents,
and numerous other relatives. Funeral services were held August 24, 2004 in the
American Fork LDS West Stake Center (700 East 500 North). Bryan is buried in
the American Fork Cemetery.
Bryan
committed suicide leaving a note stating that he could not handle the fact that
he was Gay and that was at least one of the reasons for his suicide.
20
August 2004 Friday
An Art Against
Amendment 3 auction featured local artists including Trevor Southey, Steven
Sheffield, Sandee Parsons, Karen Brinkerhoff, JoNell Evans, Schelleigh Stott,
Christina Schmidt, Greg Ragland and others.
The
GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER Public Safety Liaison Committee and the Salt
Lake City Police Department held the first ever workshop on Same Sex Domestic
Violence Issues at the Pioneer Precinct (1040 West 700 South).
2004
Dear Folks, The GLBT Public Safety Liaison Committee and the Salt Lake City
Police Department will be holding the first ever workshop on Same Sex Domestic
Violence Issues on Friday August 20th at 7PM at the Pioneer Precinct (1040 West
700 South). The workshop will be conducted by Lt. Melody Gray and Dianna
Goodliffe of SLCPD, and will cover issues such as police sensitivity in police
investigation and arrest procedures, advocacy resources, restraining orders,
child custody issues, and so on. I highly recommend the presentation to anyone
in the GLBT community, especially social service providers, educators, and
persons working with GLBT folks at risk of violence. Questions? E-Mail me.
Donald Steward.
Connell
Rocky O'Donovan
2004
Ben: Thank you so much for all the information on the AIDS epidemic in Utah and
also for allowing me to use your journals from BYU. I'd like to basically put them all online as
a link from my main history page. I'll
let you know when that's set up so you can approve it before I "go
live" with the website. So how are the Sacred Faeries these days? I believe the circle is still listed in each
RFD, although I haven't seen an RFD in a few months. SCARF (Santa Cruz Area Rad Faes) is
supposedly putting together an entire issue soon. I know I've volunteered to write a piece, but
haven't heard any details since then....Silly Faeries! I love SCARF! We totally rock! While Santa Cruz only has about 50,000
people, there are easily more than 50 Faeries here, so one per every thousand,
which is GREAT! We're very active and
vocal in the community (both Queer and mainstream) and we are totally loved and
embraced by the city. Two years ago we
received a City Proclamation from the Mayor and City Council that every time I
read it, I cry, because it's so beautifully written and so perfectly captures
the glamour and magick we spread here.
I'm very involved in youth issues.
Nell Newman (Paul's and Joanne Woodward's daughter) is my neighbor and
is best friends with another Faerie here (they went to their Senior Prom
together decades ago!) and she gives SCARF $5,000 a year to put on a fabulous
Queer youth camp. So the Faeries take 30
Queer youth (ages 13-20, all genders) out into the woods each summer for five
days and we have our way with them. We
have heart circles and full-moon rituals with them and they love it!!! I've led "Wanding Workshops"
(teaching the youth how to make their very own Faerie Wands), Safe Sex
playshops, Ritual 101, etc. We also hold
a huge annual Queer Youth Leadership Awards banquet at the Boardwalk in which
we give out five $500 college scholarships to qualifying Queer youth in Santa
Cruz county. Many end up sticking around
with the Faeries after the graduate from high school and have gone to Wolf
Creek and Zuni Mountain for large Faerie Gatherings. It's really exciting to see the bonds between
us old fogies and the youngsters strengthen and blossom. After leaving Moab UT
in 1994, I went directly to Wolf Creek to stay for two weeks. It just happened to coincide with a Daisy
Chain Sex Magick Workshop that Harry Hay and John Burnside were putting
on. I didn't do the workshop (I didn't
know about it and hadn't signed up) but
I got to hang out with everyone after their days' activities were over. I got to spend a lot of alone time with Harry
the Duchess, [ Harry Hay] haarguing deconstructionism vs. essentialism, the
value of Queer history, Mormonism, etc.
He was a cantankerous, lovable old fool and I miss him dearly. (I was an usher at his HUGE funeral in
SF.) We even went skinny-dipping
together and ended up doing an impromptu bathing/baptismal ritual for each
other in Wolf Creek itself. Lovely! He also gave me a blessing the day I left
Wolf Creek to move to Santa Cruz, and that blessing has stayed with me,
strengthened me through many difficult challenges in my life. However, I've always said while Harry was the
Mind and Soul of the Faeries, John Burnside is our Heart. Now that Harry is
dead, John Burnside has BLOSSOMED like you cannot believe! No longer hidden behind the very large shadow
that Harry cast, John is finally free to be.
He comes down here or I go up to SF every 2-3 months to give him
magickal body work. I'm the only masseur
he trusts! He LOVES how I work him over,
and I LOVE working him over. I always
have mystical experiences whenever I massage him. Can you tell I adore John? You know I tracked
down Billy Bikowski about two or three years ago. I got his parents' number back East and they
gave me his home number in Slick City.
Bizarrely enough, when I called him, he was JUST on his way out the door
to go to some big Evergreen meeting. He
was shocked that I called right at that moment, and I could tell he was trying
NOT to make it significant. I just let
him know that I thought he was a wonderful, creative person just as he is and
didn't need to change anything in my book.
Not something he wanted to hear.
I worry about him and keep him in my "prayers" often. He said he's been doing Everqueen for quite
some time and I asked if it was "working" and he grudgingly admitted
not really. Fuck, I wish he'd pull his
head out of his ass and BE the magical person he is! I'm sure you know FAR better than I do about
that....Well, Happy Friday - I'm a work and ought to actually do some work... :
) Best,Connell the Barbarian (my Faerie name)
21
August 2004 Saturday
Swerve held a
Garden Party event at Cactus & Tropicals, 2735 South 2000 East, SLC rafling
off a trip to the Bahamas. Tickets are $15, and each admission will receive one
complimentary raffle ticket as entry to our drawing.
Will you be
the lucky winner of the Olivia 4 night cruise for 2 to the Bahamas? Come to the
sWerve Garden Party and find out!
Grand
Prize: A FREE four night cruise for 2 to the Bahamas, courtesy of Olivia!FOUR
NIGHTS IN PARADISE WITH THE WOMEN OF OLIVIA JAN. 29-FEB. 2, 2005
Treat
yourself to a mid-winter burst of sunshine and relaxation with our four-night
cruise through the Bahamas. We're joined by knock-down, drag-out funny comedian
Elvira Kurt. Her unscripted hijinx will keep you rolling with laughter. And,
back by popular demand, Halcyon rocks the ship. Escape the winter doldrums with
the women of Olivia. Olivia is a proud sponsor of sWerve.
Sure,
the Grand Prize is awesome, but there are other cool give-aways. Like two
massage packages generously donated by a local massage therapist!
Come to the
event, where you could win big!
The
money raised at our Garden Party will go toward the establishment of a
scholarship fund to further the learning opportunites for post High School
women in Utah.
Live
music by Honey, food, beer, wine, margaritas! Come dressed in your favorite
cruise attire and sail the seas with sWerve!
22
August 2004 Sunday
UAF held
annual Aqua AID: Fun in the Sun soiree, courtesy of Mark Chambers and Joe
Pitti. Entertainment by Queer Utah Athletic Club and Salt Lake Men's Choir
2004 This
Sunday, August 22nd at the Trapp Patio. At 4:00 p.m. there will be a BBQ hosted
by our reigning Monarchs, Syren Vaughn (Scott Wilson) and Mike Sperry. Then at
5:00 the gambling will begin! This is for sure the event NOT to miss this
summer as we have been provided with some very nice prizes for you to win. We
also have some of your favorite live performers ready to entertain you! The two
of us are looking forward to seeing you all there! In love and Service...
Michael Vaughn Childers From HELL! ===== "When you wish upon a star, your
dreams come true."
Syren Vaughn
Syren Vaughn
aka Scott Wilson has been a professional live entertainer for 30 years, but 15
years ago, the creation of “Syren Vaughn” was born and in that time, Syren has
won such titles as Miss Gay Utah, La Femme Plus Salt Lake City, and Empress 29
of the Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire. Syren has won “Entertainer of
the Year”, “Vocalist of the Year” and “Emcee of the Year” as well as being
named “Sexiest Drag Queen in Las Vegas” by the Q Vegas readers for 2
consecutive years. She has been involved in many venues as a host, emcee or
performer such as: Entertainer for the 2002 Winter Olympics, opening act for
Melissa Manchester in 2003, Night of a Thousand Gowns in New York City and
Rainbow Festival in Sacramento, CA. She has performed around the country and
you can see her every Thursday night at KRAVE in Las Vegas.
Joe Pitti Mark
Chambers
2004 Aqua Aid Plan to join UAF for our annual
Aqua AID soiree, courtesy of Mark Chambers and Joe Pitti. $40 per person, wine
and food, entertainment by Queer Utah Athletic Club and Salt Lake Men's Choir
and the opportunity to support the Utah AIDS Foundation - all for only $40 per
person! RSVPs aren't absolutely necessary - the more the merrier. See you
Sunday!
2004 New Yahoo
Group Queerevents There
Mark Swonson
is a new yahoo
group created called Queerevents@yahoogroups.com which will be for all social,
political, recreational, and spiritual groups or individuals that reside in
Utah. This yahoo group is setup to be clearinghouse for all events and parties
that happen throughout the year and where you can invite the Queer Community of
Utah to attend and all those that support us. All groups, organizations, and
individuals are welcome to post to this group site so that your event or party
well be listed immediately to all those who need to know. Queerevents welcomes
and encourages all non-profit and profit groups or organizations to post there
events and parties throughout the year. Mark Swonson
24 August 2004
Chad Beyer
2004 The Gay
and Lesbian Community Center hired Chad Beyer as new director. The Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Utah has hired a new
executive director, Chad Beyer, who is spearheading efforts to launch a new
strategic plan using feedback from surveys and focus groups. "We're
seeking community input," Beyer said. "What is it we can do that
nobody else does?" Beyer said feedback will be collected through
September, with an organizational meeting in early October. He said that
meeting will help create a solid mission plan for the nonprofit community
center. The center, established in 1991, provides a meeting place, youth
activity center, library and coffee shop. It also sponsors the annual Utah
Pride celebration. Beyer said the center, 361 N. 300 West, acts as a resource
for youths, and several groups use it as a meeting place, including the Don't
Amend Alliance, which opposes a proposal to write a ban on same-sex marriage
into the state's constitution. Beyer replaces interim director Tami Marquardt.
Executive Director Paula Wolfe resigned in April after 4 1/2 years at the post.
At the time, Wolfe said she stepped down, in part, to spend time with her
children in Seattle and because of the recent legislative session, in which
lawmakers approved the proposed marriage amendment, which will be on the ballot
this November. Beyer said the state's political climate isn't new to him. He's
from Grand Rapids, Mich., an area with similar dynamics to Utah, in terms of
its size and religious conservatism. Beyer is a graduate of the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor and has a master's degree of social justice education and
advocacy from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Deseret News
26
August 2004 Thursday
Utah Gar Rodeo
Association’s Grand Marshall Reception was held at Paper Moon.
2004 UGRA
RODEO 2004 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS THURSDAY- AUGUST 26,2004 GRAND MARSHALL RECEPTION
PAPERMOON-7:00 P.M.. 26th The Utah Gay Rodeo Association kicks of its 2004
rodeo with a Grand Marshall reception Thursday evening at the Paper Moon
beginning at 7 p.m. From a field of five nominees one person will be selected
as Grand Marshall for the weekend, which runs through Sunday night. The rodeo
kicks off Saturday morning at the Davis County Fairgrounds in Farmington. The
reception will feature a light buffet as well as special drinks. A
representative from the Mayor's office is expected to attend the reception. The
rodeo association has been working for over a year now in preparation for the 2004 show. Everyone is
invited to attend the reception and make plans to attend the rodeo Saturday and
Sunday.
27
August 2004 Friday
Utah Gay Rodeo Association’s Rodeo Bar Crawl
2004 Friday
Games a hit at Salt Lake mall By Jenifer K. Nii Deseret Morning News Published:
Mell Bailey thought she had retired from the Olympics business, mostly. As
owner and operator of "Spirit of the Games" stores, she had a good
run selling 2002 Olympic Winter Games merchandise in malls throughout Utah. But
runs have a way of ending, and Bailey was prepared. However, as the Athens
Summer Games drew near this year, Bailey started getting phone calls. Lots of
phone calls. "They (Fashion Place mall) kept calling us and calling us,
saying there's really a need out there for it," Bailey said. And so the
"Spirit of Athens" was born, keeping the Olympic spirit — and
merchandise — in Utah. This time, as a kiosk in the center of Fashion Place mall.
Weston Blaney, spokesman for Fashion Place, said the mall was pleased with the
success of the "Spirit of the Games" store and believed customers
would support an Athens store. "The mall is always looking for products
and services that consumers would be interested in," Blaney said.
"The Spirit of the Games store was very successful, and we thought that
there would be some interest in Athens 2004. We saw it as an opportunity that
would be successful." At first, Bailey said she was "skeptical."
Would enthusiasm for the Salt Lake Winter Games translate to a demand for
merchandise from the far-away Athens Summer Games? Apparently, the answer is
yes. Sales at the kiosk have been better than expected, Bailey said. Items
available include T-shirts, pins and (recently "smuggled" directly
from the Games) stuffed 2004 Athens Games mascots, along with discounted
merchandise from the 2002 Games. "It has done 20 times more (business)
than I thought it would," she said. "I expected we'd do a couple of
hundred (in sales) a day, because of its uniqueness. But it has gone way past
uniqueness. Olympic fever has hit a fevered pitch since Salt Lake." The
"Spirit of Athens" kiosk is one of only a handful of stores dedicated
to Athens 2004 merchandise, Bailey said. The others are located at Olympic
training facilities like Lake Placid, N.Y., and Colorado Springs, Colo. Other
vendors like the Roots retail stores sell Olympic merchandise, though not
specific to Athens. Utahns love the Games, Bailey said. And
Greek-American-Utahns really love this summer's extravaganza. "I'm half
Greek, but even I didn't realize there were so many Greeks in town,"
Bailey laughed. "Gus Paulos alone has bought like $1,600 in items."
Paulos, owner of Gus Paulos Chevrolet, estimated that he's spent $7,500 at
various Olympic-related retailers, including Bailey's stores and Roots.
"We did such a good job with the Olympics in Salt Lake City," Paulos
said. "I was so proud, and I was proud to try to support anybody I could.
These people put a lot of money into their stuff. I know that Roots did, and
the gal at the mall did." Paulos said he has given Olympic memorabilia to
thank employees for helping him through an illness, to provide encouragement to
children pursuing their own athletic dreams and to support people fighting cancer.
"This was just one way I could tell my employees, 'Thank you,' and it was
my way of saying to these people, 'I want to support you,' " Paulos said.
The Athens kiosk will be open until Sept. 8, but Bailey is already looking
ahead to Torino in 2006. "The Greeks really didn't have a good pin program
going," she said. "Hardly anyone wore or traded or bought pins like
they did here. The pin companies really didn't see the potential. But I'm in
contact with the Italian pin companies, and they want to implement any and
every pin concept they can. They see it." [Mell Baily was a community
activist]
28
August 2004 Saturday
Utah Gay Rodeo
Association’s Grand Entry began at noon
. Saloon Night held at the Trapp and Trapp Door free to contestants with badges
all others $5.00 cover.
29
August 2004 Sunday
Utah Gay Rodeo
Association’s Grand Entry began at noon. A cocktail Pary was held at the Trapp
Door followed by the Award Ceremony
The
Salt Lake Metro and Utah Gay Rodeo Association hosted Gay Day at Lagoon.
The
quarterly Family Fellowship Forum was held in the SLC Public Library Auditorium
with BYU law professor Lynn Wardle and Lesbian activist Jane Marquardt
discussing the pro's and con's of Amendment 3.
Steven
Mark Baxter, community supporter and businessman died today. In 1980 he opened
"The Deerhunter Club" and was the proprietor of it until it was
destroyed by fire in 2001. Steve also helped start Club Try-Angles.
2004
Steven Mark Baxter 1949 ~ 2004 died of AIDS. Born to Art and Joan Baxter on May
10, 1949 in Portland, Oregon. He grew up in the Oregon/Washington area.
Enlisted in the US Navy in 1968-1972 and served during the Vietnam War.
Employed by Bausch & Lomb and transferred to Utah where he started an
optical store in Sandy. In 1980 he opened The Deerhunter Club and was the
proprietor until it was tragically destroyed by fire in 2001. Survived by his
son Michael A. (Karen) Baxter of Salt Lake City, UT; four grandchildren, his
parents Art and Joan Baxter of Sun City, AZ; brother David A. Baxter, Sun City,
AZ. Preceded in death by his sister Susan Jo Bunnell (6/21/04). He also leaves
behind companion Dan and close friends Santos and Gene and a whole community of
friends. Steve passed away in Arizona on August 29, 2004, it was his wish to be
cremated. We will miss his laughter, his listening ear, his energy and drive.
It is with great sadness that we note the
death of Steve Baxter, who has long been a familiar and beloved face in our
community. Steve passed away Aug. 29 due to AIDS complications. Steve was born
in Oregon to Joan and Art Baxter. He is survived by his son Michael Baxter, his
sister Suzie, and his brother David. He grew up in the Oregon/Washington area.
He served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War in San Diego, alifornia as a
supply officer. He later moved to Salt Lake City and, in 1980, opened the popular
gay club The Deerhunter on 300 West. The bar operated continually until,
tragically, it burned down in August 2001. Earlier this year, Steve moved to
live with his mom in Arizona, where he eventually passed away. Steve was known
by many and loved by all who encountered him and will be greatly missed in our
community.
[ September 6, 2004 Have known Steve since the
mid 80's when the Deerhunter was just a small house, been there throughout the
remodeling and then the devastating fire. Became awesome friends and even
roommates for a while. Even if Steve didn't remember your name he still walked
up and grabbed your hand and asked "How have you been Buddy?" To me
he will remain an awesome and dear friend. I will miss the many times we all
got Jagermeistered together. May peace be with you Steve.
Dennis Rowley (Salt Lake City, UT )-September
6, 2004 Condolences to Steve's partner Dan and extended family. I knew Steve as
a patron of his business from the early years until the early 1990s. Always, he
was cordial, warm and easy-going, regardless of how pressured he might have
been. I will always remember Steve as being just one heck of nice guy. It was
at the Deerhunter that I would eventually have the opportunity to meet my
partner and husband of (now) 12 years. Sadly, I never thanked Steve for the part
he played in that serendipitous meeting. I thank you now, Steve. Verne
(Minneapolis, MN )-
September 5, 2004 I only knew Steve as a
patron but he was always so happy and treated everyone with respect. Steve
Baxter's business endeavors provided a great time for a great many people in
SLC. He will be in our memories forever. Ben Williams (SLC, UT)-
September
14, 2004 I WOULD LIKE TO THANK JEN, BOB, DENNIS,VERNE, BEN. I ENJOYED READING
THE MESSAGES YOU ALL LEFT. They remind me of the good old bar days. I still
feel that Steve is looking out for me like he always did. He had the biggest
heart, I miss him every day, and think about him just as much. My family has
been a great part of his and my life- helping us out when we needed it the
most, including Gene, Santos, and everyone of the Deerhunter's members. Both
Steve and I crave to hear the laughter from all of you and to be able to call
YOU a friend. YOU were the biggest and best part of his life and will never be
forgetable. Please feel free to email me Dan Baker (Sandy, UT ) September 9, 2004 For the last 10 years Steve
has been my friend. I will miss him every day. To Steve's family and especially
Dan, I feel your pain. Please remember he will always be with you. Jennifer
Evans (SLC, UT )
September
7, 2004 I worked for Steve as a bartender at the Deerhunter when he had just
opened the place. He was always a great guy and a wonderful boss. I moved away
before the fire. I always just assumed the place was still there, with Steve
behind the bar with a wink and a smile for everyone. My condolences to Dan and
all the guys who knew Steve. Bob Paolino (Albuquerque, NM )
Deerhunter
Provided Cherished Memories by Brandon Burt By the time I started
Brandon
Burt
sneaking into bars, the Deerhunter was already
an institution in Salt Lake’s gay community. Back in those days it was the
closest thing we had to a Levi/leather club. At age 19 I would present my fake
I.D. — which, to tell the truth, was as convincing as the GOP’s recent pretense
at inclusiveness — and somehow the doorman would let me in. Most nights, having
successfully negotiated the tight squeeze up to the bar, I would be greeted by
a handsome, jovial, bearded man. I’d plonk down my dough for a dollar draft
and, as he gave me my change, Steve Baxter would briskly tap the bar twice — a
friendly, trademark gesture — and say, “Thanks, buddy!” I don’t think he ever
learned my name. But it was enough for me, at that tender age, to be his
“buddy.” Eventually I turned 21, and, as it turned out, half of Salt Lake’s gay
male community was Steve’s buddy. But somehow he always made each of his
customers feel special, and whatever profits he made — on the narrow margin
that any bar business earns — he invested back into the business. City Cab
dispatchers, with cynical wit, would call it “Bambi’s.” It had a reputation for
attracting a somewhat more butch clientele than many straight people were
willing to associate with a gay bar in those days. To begin with, it was a
quirky and somewhat cramped place — just a bar and a tight spot with a pool
table — but Steve kept expanding and adding onto it. The game room was
notorious, but then a front bar was opened, and with it enough space for
multiple pool tables. Tournaments started up. The summer the patio appeared,
with its quaking aspen and ponderosa pine, was glorious. The Wasatch Leathermen Motorcycle Club
adopted it as their home bar, and would regularly hold fundraising beer busts.
Steve himself would offer weekly two-for-one specials, and in odd compliance
with DABC regulations, would present customers with a “wooden nickel” — a pine
slug exchangeable for a draft beer — with each purchase. Only last week I was
going through a box and came across a few of those beer tokens. One of my fondest memories was the night
I was blindfolded, handcuffed, and carried bodily out of the Deerhunter by the
WLMC. My pledge period was finally over and it was time for the big initiation.
When I, along with the rest of my new club brothers, returned, I was a changed
person. Suddenly, I was part of something larger than myself — something that
often freaked out a lot of other people. In some ways that was the best part —
the shock value — but, no matter how far we went with our raucous, somewhat
perverse fun, Steve always made us feel our presence was valued. In some ways
we were the floorshow, and on the bright side, nobody ever lost an eye. For
many of the Deerhunter’s customers, the beginning of the end came with the
addition of the dance floor. A friend of mine, John Martin, mainly objected to
the inclusion of a Confederate flag along with all the other banners hanging
from the ceiling. (After complaints were met with little response, John’s plan
to get rid of the flag was to bring a bullhorn and begin to agitate the crowd
against racism. During the ensuing brouhaha, another friend would just “happen
by” carrying a gas can. John would run into the bar, tear down the flag, grab
the gas can and engage in an “impromptu” flag burning. For better or worse,
this bit of street theater never actually took place.) For the rest of us,
however, the dance floor simply changed the dynamic of the bar. It brought with
it a flood of people we would derisively refer to as “the Sun crowd” — twinks,
sweater queens. I’m pretty sure now they were not much different from the rest
of us, but at the time it marked a distinct change in the Deerhunter’s
clientele. After the Sun blew down during a freak tornado, the change was
complete — the Deerhunter would never be the same. Later, the Deerhunter itself
burned down and Club Blue was closed by the DABC Gestapo. It was a bad period
for gay clubs in Salt Lake City.
There’s more to life than going to the bar, of course. But Steve Baxter
provided a comfortable, friendly place for us to meet, and without him, Salt
Lake’s gay community wouldn’t have been the same. And for that, all I can say
is, “Thanks, buddy.”
Jane
Marquart
Lynn
Wardle
2004
LDS FAMILY FELLOWSHIP QUARTERLY FORUM Aug 29, 2004 2:30 p.m. SLC Main Library
Building Bridges - Healing Relationships - Loving and Serving All The quarterly
Family Fellowship Forum will be held on Sunday, August 29th at 2:30 p.m. in the
Salt Lake City Public Library Auditorium. The forum will begin at 2:30 p.m.
rather than our customary time. We have invited BYU law professor Lynn Wardle
and practicing attorney Jane Marquardt to discuss the pro and con
considerations of the proposed state constitutional amendment, Amendment 3. As
you are probably aware, that amendment would change the state constitution by
defining marriage as "the legal union between a man and a woman," and
further stating that "no other domestic status or union, however
denominated, between persons is valid or recognized or may be authorized,
sanctioned or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect as a
marriage." Each presenter will be given 15 minutes to present their pro
and con perspectives to be followed by a question and answer session with the
audience. The forum will be open to the general public and seating will be on a
first-come, first-served basis. We will not have our usual light buffet
following the meeting as it is too difficult in the library setting. Family
Fellowship
is a volunteer service organization, a diverse collection of primarily Mormon
families engaged in the cause of strengthening families with homosexual
members. We share our witness that gay and lesbian Mormons can be great
blessings in the lives of their families, and that families can be great
blessings in the lives of the gay and lesbian members. We strive to become more
understanding and appreciative of each other. We seek to put behind us all
attitudes which are anti-family or which threaten loving relationships. All who
can support these goals are welcome to contribute. The Salt Lake City library is on the corner
of 2nd east and 4th south. Sincerely, Family Fellowship
My
Aunt Marie Williams wrote me: Hi what’s up?
Hope you are back into the swing of things. I have a friend who is teaching here in
Sedona the 5th grade.
Going
to have the house painted but needed some work before that was done. New door and some of the roof repaired. Always something. Those are the times I miss Milton [My Uncle] since
he took care of those things. Really I
miss him for other things not just what he did around the house.
Did
you ever get over your cough? Mine
disappeared just as quick as it started up.
Well take care and write when you can.......Love your auntie Marie.”
I
replied: I am much better than last June...had pneumonia so that was no fun.
School started for the kids on the 25th but I started a week earlier. I have 28
students which is about average.
I
talked to Mom on Sunday. She fell last week getting into the car and bumped her
head. Called Paramedics but didn't go to the hospital. She said she is okay
just a sore bump.
She
said Donna [my sister] might become a grandma in March. Don't have much
news just trying to stay on top of a new school year. Love Jr.”
September
4
September 2004 Saturday
Southern
Utah's 2nd Annual Pride festival was held over Labor Day Weekend in Springdale,
Utah. All funds raised went to the Southern Utah GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER Center. Softball and a dance was part of the celebration.
Southern Utah PFLAG, Family Fellowship, Southern Utah University Pride,
Affirmation and a host of vendors promoted the gathering of 800 people. Lucie Blue Trembley, a Lesbian Singer Song Writer
from Quebec performed.
2004 Thank you
for your interest in this year’s Southern Utah's pride festival. This year we
will be holding the festival September 4th & 5th, in Springdale, Utah. This
year we have many different events to make this year’s festival for everyone
who either attends or participates in it. All funds raised during pride will go
to the Southern Utah GLBT Center, so that they may continue to stay open, and
hopefully open a building in the Southern Utah area. The Calendar Of Events are
as follows: Saturday September 4th: Southern Utah Pride Film Screening,
presented by Technophiliax....Location TBA "Experiment" 6:00pm &
Max" 8:00pm Southern Utah Pride
Launch Party, presented by New Wave Entertainment.... Location TBA, Doors open
10:00pm till 1:30am With DJ Dega & DJ Boi, $5.00 Cover (Proceeds will go to
the Center) Sunday September 5th Southern Utah Pride March, 10am - Zion Park
Blvd in Springdale. We will start at the park and march to Springdale Town Park
Pride Softball Game Presented by the Southern Center.... 11am - 2pm Springdale
Town Park Softball Field, Southern Utah Pride Festival..... 3pm - 9pm
Springdale Town Park,9pm - 1am Pride Dance - Dance is Free Admission, in the
center of pride.... with DJ Dega & DJ Boi This year we are offering FREE
Booth Space at the park... We ask that everyone is set up and ready to go at
least by 2:30 pm Sunday Afternoon. The City has given us limitation on how soon
we are able to set up at the park, we can start setting up as early as 6 am and
everything must be gone by 3 am monday. If you need help finding anything for
your booth, please let me know... Please Don't Park in the Parking Lot of the
Park, we will be using that space for the stage and dance area. Please park
along Zion Park Blvd, or the empty lot west of the park. Also if you are
planning to attend Pride, we suggest that you make hotel/campground
reservations ASAP!! It is a holiday weekend, and we will be holding pride in a
National Park Resort Town, so they may run out, the closet towns to Springdale
are: Rockville, Virgin, La Verkin, and Hurricane, St George is 45 miles
away..... We suggest Red Rock Inn B&B, Desert Pearl Inn, which are gay
friendly hotels.... New Wave Entertainment will also possible be renting
charter busses from Salt Lake to Springdale/Hurricane. For this to happen we
would need to know ASAP, so we can make sure we rent, or schedule the correct
amount of buses. The cost per person would be $32.00 per person (Round Trip
Service), if you a (Round Trip Service), if you are also interested please let me
know, ASAP.... Thanks Again, We Hope to see you there.... Thank you,
Christopher Bradshaw, Southern Utah Pride "Stonewall was a riot. What we
need now is a revolution!" I saw it on a sign at the Portland, Oregon
Pride Parade
Springdale,
Utah
ARE YOU READY
FOR SOUTHERN UTAH PRIDE 2004? ROOMS IN SPRINGDALE ARE NOW SOLD OUT! WHEN:
SEPTEMBER 4TH AND 5TH, 2004 WHERE: SPRINGDALE, UT CALENDAR SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER
4TH, 2004 6pm — OPENING NIGHT WELCOME FILM ($6) “THE EXPERIMENT: GAY &
STRAIGHT” with short “FOXHOLE” 8pm — ($6) PIXIE FLIX WINNING FILM: “MAX: A
CAUTIONARY TALE” with short “FAIRIES” 10pm — OUT IN THE PARK dance party,
Springdale Park SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2004 Morning? -3PM — TAILGATE RELAY
MARCH!!! Route (by car): Kayenta, Ivins, Santa Clara, Green Valley,
Bloomington, Bloomington Hills, River Rd, Bluff Street, St. George Blvd, Red Cliffs Dr, Tonaquint Dr,
Washington HWY 91, Hurricane HWY to La Verkin, Springdale to Riverside Park, BY
FOOT: to Springdale Park. 3pm-9pm — PRIDE IN THE PARK, Springdale Park. 9pm -
1am — PRIDE FOAM PARTY, with special performance by U S of A drag winners, Springdale Park.
Hey everyone,
Southern Utah Pride Festival is just around the corner, so I wanted to let
you know we
have a website for you to look at that gives the rundown of what is happening
for pride. Also, for those of you who don't know...Lucie Blue Tremblay Amie
Marie, and many others will be performing for our Pride!!! Also, I just read
this "letter to the editor" in the deseret news, and think we need to
reply...here is the link to the letter...let's do research and make our
responses good!!!
Aimee
Selfridge
My name is
Aimee Selfridge. I am the Chairperson of The Southern Utah Gay & Lesbian
Community Center, and I would like to thank those envolved in The 2nd annual
Southern Utah Pride Festival. This years organizer was Chris Bradshaw and his
company New Wave Entertainment, and I would like to offer a huge Thank You to
him for all of his hard work to make this years Pride come together. Last years total numbers for the event was
150 attendees and this years total for both days was about 250. I do not want
the numbers to be over exaggerated as I
would like honest representation for our community. Each year we will only get
bigger and better and I am proud of our numbers so far. I would like to thank our sponcers, The
Hampton Inn of Cedar City, Technophiliax, ERA Brokers of St. George, The Town
of Springdale, The Springdale Police Department, Q Vegas, Out Las Vegas, The
Pillar, Salt Lake Metro, Womyn4Women, Griffin Design Studio, PlanetOut.com,
Gay.com and the many others who supported us. If I missed anyone, please let
Nova Starr
me know so
that I can fix it. I would also like to
thank our performers for coming to such a small venue to do your stuff, Kelexia
Davenport from TX, Dena Cass from Iowa,
Nova Starr from Salt lake, Kitty Litter from Las Vegas and the other
girls, DJ's Dragon Boy and Jester. Also a big thank you to acoustic
singer/songwriter Amie Marie, and to French Canadian singer/songwriter Lucie
Blue Tremblay, you both hypnotized us with your sultry voices and sweet
guitars. Thank you to all who
attended and to all the non-profits for coming both years, and thank you
everyone for your patience, your friendships, your pride, and all your love. We
are already planning for next year, so to be involved, sponsor perform or have a booth, please contact Aimee
via email at suglbtcc@yahoo.com or call #'s below, I would love next year to be
a celebration of our diversity, so I want our artists to come and have booths,
and our musicians to come perform. I would like to see this pride to be a
music, movie, and art festival, as well as having all the non-profits and print
media's there!!! We need volunteer's to be on the planning committee we will have a meeting at the end of this
month to start organizing for next year, so if you want to help, please call.
5
September 2004 Sunday
The Southern
Utah Pride March paraded in Springdale. Last year’s total numbers for the event
was about 150 attendees and this year's total for both days was about 250.
9
September 2004 Thursday
The Salt Lake
Metro sponsored a four day Gay Wendover Weekend at the Rainbow, Peppermill, and
Montego bay Hotels and Casinos.
2004 Gay
Wendover Weekend- Huge Parties, Theme
Parties, Gaming Tournaments & Classes all at Rainbow, Peppermill, and
Montegobay Hotels and Casinos. For packages available contact Salt Lake Metro
for more details
Ben Williams
posted on Utah Stonewall Historical Society Group Site wrote: Gay Bars never
were and never have been about getting an alcoholic beverage. Those who are
upset that Gay culture is so identified with tavern life have no concept of
history, and often are individuals who are the first to say being
"homosexual" is only a part of me-i.e. "What I do" as opposed
to "What I Am." Those who hold on to the former have never truly come
out and often identify with the more fashionable bisexuality and Log Cabinism.
(There you have seen my prejudices revealed.)
Homosexuality,
until 2003, has mainly been an illicit behavior and until the 1970's an illicit
state of being. Homosexuals were not simply arrested engaging in sexual
behavior in public, but they were spied on, pursued to hotels and motels, sneak
peaked on in park cars, and even arrested in their own homes- ask Michael
Hardwick if you don't believe this.
Often
in public places, police officers initiated sexual behavior to make an arrest,
using enticing young cop decoys to entrap people.
Heterosexualistic
society pushes homosexuals into the far reaches of conventional sexual
practices, then points to these practices as examples of homosexuals being
perverted. The Bastards!
Rumors
and innuendoes of being homosexual ended careers, and often drove people to
despair, self-loathing, and suicide. Lillian Hellmann's 1930's classic, The
Children Hour was made into a Hollywood movie where Shirley MacLaine is driven
to suicide simply because of her desire for Audrey Hepburn. "I feel so
damn dirty!" Homosexual lust alone,
especially for the angelic heterosexual Audrey, was justification for Shirley
to kick that chair out from beneath her.
It's
a good thing that LuVerne never told Shirley how much she enjoyed sharing an
apartment with her in Milwaukee, or the Sitcom "Shirley and LuVerne"
would not nearly have been so funny, with Lenny and Squiggy pulling LuVerne
down from the rafters. We all knew that the L was not for LuVerne but for
Lesbian!
While
Gay Bars were never safe, due to police raids, blackmail, or assault by
guilt-ridden heterosexuals, they were wellsprings, where the beginnings of
homosexual consciousness bubbled up. In these places we were not alone; were
not an aberration. There were too many of us to be simply freaks of nature.
Also the bars were the only semi-secure place homosexuals could meet even if
discreetly. Even there we had to speak in code. "Do you have a
light...dear?", "Do you know Dorothy?", and “I have a red tie at
home just like yours," and more.
Gay Friendly bars were mostly associated with
the red light districts of Commercial and Regent Streets, and later Second
South in Salt Lake City. Ogden being a railroad town was wide open. Gay
friendly bars were the only safe places where Utah homosexual transvestites
could cross dress.
Heterosexual
males made little distinction between "loose women" and Sissy Men and
used each for personal sexual gratification. Often Sissy men were preferred
because they didn't charge and would perform oral sex which women are sometimes
loathed to do.
I
was told this in 1975 at Pioneer park by a cross dressing Gay man who said
hetero-men had no problem with him being Gay as long as he was in a dress.
(Don't ask why I was hanging out at Pioneer Park.)
In
fact to many older homosexual men the word Gay always had a semi-sexual
connotation. The term "Gay
Blade" in England was not to connote a happy fellow but rather a person
who was "Randy", and usually one who frequented houses of
prostitution. Remember, for most police officers before Stonewall, the words
homosexual, whore, and prostitute were all synonymous.
In
Utah a fortunate few homosexuals had cliques that functioned as a social
gathering place outside of the bar, but unless initiated into such a group, you
were out of luck. These cliques jealously guarded their privacy knowing that
exposure could destroy lives.
When
in 1986 I started a self-help therapy support group for homosexuals leaving
heterosexual marriages, called MAD-GAL "Married and Divorced Gays and
Lesbians,” I was approached by a prominent man who asked me to screen men
coming to my group for him. He had a private homosexual circle of married
lawyers, doctors, bishops, and other professionals who were seeking others in
similar circumstances. Needless to say I did not acquiesce. I was too
self-righteous and full of GAY PRIDE after years of self-deception. I should
have though, for who am I to judge?
Having
talked to several individuals who were “practicing homosexuals” prior to
Stonewall, much of the "Gay" scene was conducted at such private
parties, at private residences, much like what is still happening today in Utah
County.
A
message sent to a Utah group site recently proves this point. It said:
"Since moving to Provo 8 months ago, I have found there is no safe place
for gay men in Utah County to play. No gay bars, no sex clubs, no saunas, OR
safe cruising places. So, I'm hosting two parties. I have had 3 parties since
July 30th & they were phenomenal visual & sensual experiences for
all."
While
the homosexual gentleman, hosting these Utah County parties, in a private
residence, is more democratic by posting such an invite to the general public,
prior to the electronic mail age, and the Supreme Court's 2003 decision on
sodomy, such affairs were impossible- except for small secret homosexual
cabals.
Invitees
often brought acquaintances or "initiates" to these top-secret
parties which were very much middle class soirees, only with the curtains drawn
and the shades pulled down. People dressed up, coats and ties for men, dresses
and makeup for women. Drag was not even a remote possibility. Cocktails were
served, and small talk made. These parties tried to imitate the cosmopolitan
air of similar chic parties on the east and west coasts.
Lesbians
had their softball leagues and could be more "Tom Boyish", but at
these residential parties, it was required that a more formal attire should be
worn. However the Butches were allowed to wear sporty men clothing, with
slicked back or short cropped hair, to distinguish themselves from the fems who
were in party dresses.
If
one had not "come out" and did not consider themselves homosexual,
which was considered one step worse than being a Communist in the 1950's and
60's, then the dangerous world of illicit sexual encounters in semi-public
places were all that was available. Quick anonymous sex was also sometimes
addicting as an adrenaline rush; as was the fear factor of being caught.
But
anonymous sex afforded the luxury of returning to whatever "normal"
life one was leading. It wasn’t really sex after all just fooling around.
The
1960's Bohemian Free Love movement never caught on in Utah. Utah was not a
place to "Drop Out, Tune In and Turn On." Hippie Communes, and such
radical concepts as sexual freedom, control over one's own body- were just
plain "crazy talk." Utah hippies and advocates of free love generally
decided that California or Oregon "Was The Place" not the barren
Great Basin.
I
always had a theory that Utah descendants, of Mormon polygamous families,
inherited a "horny gene" from their stud ancestor. The more a man
copulated, the more children he had, and therefore more likely to pass on his
ability to have prodigious amounts of sex.
Those Mormon men, who were not as potent, or were not driven by a desire
for copious amounts of sex, obviously had fewer descendants. Someone should do
a study on the Mormon Sex Gene. After all these were the days before Viagra.
Some
others proposed a theory that socialized homosexuality was dominant in Utah
because of the lack of a sexual outlet for males with females. While the ratio of males to females was
pretty similar in polygamy days, access to the female population was limited to
the whims and dictates of Brigham Young as holder of the keys of who could
marry and who could divorce. When one
man married 26 women, it is obvious that 26 other men went without connubial
sex.
Penalties for straying from marriage vows were
severe in Mormon Pioneer Utah. Adultery was a capital offense. Many a pioneer
journal recorded that heads of women were found in Utah ravines, cut off for
this very offense. Wayward men, however, were more likely to be simply
castrated by bowie knife or primitive tourniquet. Ouch!
Nothing
happened to Mormon aficionados of male on male sex, generally. The most common
practices, group and dual masturbation, was a perennial pulpit denouncement,
but one could live, (and keep ones balls), with that. Gay Gentile men were left
alone, unless they diddled with underage Mormon Priesthood holders, then they
were often assassinated.
Masturbation,
frottage, and vaginal and anal intercourse were, before the days of better
penile and vaginal hygiene, the preferred sexual practices over that of oral
sex. Crotch odors from people who bathed infrequently and generally wore temple
undergarments until they rotted off of them, made keeping ones nasal organs and
taste buds away from such a pungent region paramount. Oral sex is a by-product
of modern plumbing. It was a matter of taste.
When
I first moved to Utah I was amazed how easy it was to have sex here with nearly
any man as long as you did not talk about it or kiss. You don't kiss until
"over the altar" but pretty much anything else went. Perhaps it was
because so many temple-going elders did not feel they were violating their
oaths of chastity by having sex with men because the oath only, at that time,
pertained to not having sexual intercourse with the "daughters of
Eve". I guess the sons of Adam were fair game or so it seemed.
And
of course Lesbian sex was not even sex in Utahn Patriarchy. Where's the Penis?
No Penis no sex. Simple. Besides women
were more naturally sensual and inclined to fleshly pleasures. Can't be trusted
to be hard. Real men -Priesthood men may
have sex but don't go getting mushy. Going soft is bad....
When
I attended BYU, from 1973 to 1976, there was nary a bathroom stall that did not
have some homosexual graffiti on it. I remember one in the Smithfield House
that pleaded, "I really need a BJ. I am so desperate." In fact once I had barely sat down on a stall
in the Jesse Knight Building when a hand came under wanting to grab a intimate
part of me. I was so shocked! I was a naive convert from Southern California,
so I rushed out of the bathroom, and was trailed by this young fellow sniffing
my trail. I guess he thought I had entered the stall for sex and he was
sooooooo desperate. I had no idea that, that particular men’s room was a
predominant cruising epicenter. Perhaps my Gay instincts led me there.
LOL.
It
would be several months before I broke down and decided to let myself be "seduced". As they say-When in
Rome. I soon learned what was meant by the ditty, "BYU, BYU where the
girls are girls and men are too!" or the joke "You know why the man
eating lion starved to death at BYU?" I think you know the punch line.
I
also developed a sexual fetish for male one piece Mormon Temple Garments from
time spent at BYU. Now that's perverted.
When
I was cast out into Outer Darkness in 1976 (kicked out of BYU and moved to SLC)
I soon discovered a local phenomenon and it wasn’t Gravity Hill. The closer one
got to Temple Square the cruisier the bathrooms became. There was a direct
correlation between the amount of homosexual bathroom graffiti and the distance
from Main and South Temple. Maybe it was
gravity hill after all. LOL But that's another story.
Prior
to 1970 only the Radio City Lounge was openly identified as a Gay Bar, although
its owners were straight, however in 1970 a Lesbian bar called Perky's opened
on 3rd West.
Connell
“Rocky” O’Donovan wrote: Actually there were many Gay bars in Salt Lake prior
to 1970, some so identified, others "undercover". This is all from memory, so excuse the lack
of details.... The first was the Keystone Saloon. It was open in the 1890s, and was located in
the "red light" district of Commercial Street. It featured a backroom where men could go for
sexual assignations. Some Mormon men
were arrested there in 1896 for having anal sex in the backroom while a crowd
watched them! In the 1920s, a Greek family owned Beehive Confectionary (a
sandwich and sweet shop downtown on
State Street), and their Lesbian daughter (whose name escapes me, Maria
something maybe?) was a waitress there. Her Lesbian friends began to congregate
there and eventually the family secured a liquor license and the place became
the Beehive Lounge. It had a mixed
clientele, mostly Lesbian though. When
the Beehive Lounge moved to its current
location, it became a straight bar. For men in the 1920s, there was the Opera Bar
(I think on State Street). In the 1940s, besides Beehive Lounge, there was the
Windsor Lounge, the Blue Angel, and eventually the Radio City. The Windsor Lounge was most popular with the
BYU crowd. Earl Koefed and his circle
from the Y frequented there (1946-48) when they could get away from school.
There was also a mixed (Gay and Lesbian) bar in Ogden in the 1950s the name of
which now escapes me. They had a small
record player and sound system for playing music for folks to dance to. However, since same-sex dancing was illegal,
when the red light over the bar went out, that meant the cops were at the front
door and all the same-sex couples dancing would quickly switch partners to get
into an opposite-sex configuration to avoid arrest. This bar was popular with three all-Lesbian
softball teams from Salt Lake. After
games, they would carpool up to Ogden to go dancing and drinking. While not a
"bar" per se, the Coon Chicken Inn (owned by the Graham family, whose
daughter, Dorothy Graham, was a Lesbian and manager of the restaurant) featured
drag performances on the weekends by local and national talent. For men's
cruising areas, City Creek Canyon (Memory Grove area) may have been used for
such as early as 1864, when Frederick Jones met and had sex with "the Monk
boy" in the "ravine" between downtown and Ft. Douglas, and he
was subsequently shot dead in the street for it. The Wasatch Hot Springs Bathhouse was popular
from the 1880s until it closed. And
beaches north of the old Saltair complex were cruisey from 1910 or so on. Apostle George Albert Smith (before he became
LDS President) had a cabin built there near the cruising grounds and he had a
couple dozen young men sign his journal after meeting them there on the
beach. (I am 95% positive that Smith was
homosexual, although I sincerely doubt he ever actually acted on his
desires.) For the Mormon crowd, Desert
Gymnasium was a popular cruising spot from at least the 1920s until it
closed. (Gordon Hinckley worked there as
a towel boy in the late 1920s to put himself through school at the U and
certainly must have known what was going on in the showers and steam room.)
Jack Pembroke (1913-2000), whose mother was a Kimball, told me he began
cruising Desert Gym as a young teen (about 1928) and was aware that it had been
cruisey for many years previous. While some might disparage the bars, it was
really just about the only "organized" scene in the Gay world prior
to the 1960s, especially in smaller metropolitan areas. They were important social and political
spaces where our culture, history, traditions could be transmitted safely to
those just coming out, regardless of class.
Their role as a foundation for current LGBT culture cannot and should
not be understated. Connell O’Donavan
Ben Williams
wrote: The emergence of a Gay community in Salt Lake City due to the efforts of
the radical Gay Liberation Front in the 1970’s displaced the Gay friendly bars
of Pre-Stonewall with openly Gay Bars.
Prior to 1970 only the Radio City Lounge was openly identified as a Gay Bar,
however in 1970 a Lesbian bar called Perky’s opened on 3rd West and operated
for 5 years. It was not at first identified as an openly Gay Bar but its owner
was a Lesbian. Joe Redburn’s Legendary
Sun Tavern which opened in 1973 was the most important bar in the development
of a Gay identity and community in Salt Lake City and actually all of Utah. Two
pioneer bars opened in Ogden in the early 1970’s the Sweetwater Tavern
Owned by Helen
Runnells who opened the 1st openly Gay Bar in 1974 in that city.
Sweetwater was located at 25th and Grant. Another bar called Bobby’s First
Endeavor operated on 12th St. below Wall Ave
By 1976, the
director of the Gay Community Center stated in an article:“There are five Gay
bars in Salt Lake and only two churches which will accept Gays. ” These bars
were probably the RADIO CITY, The SUN TAVERN, NAME of the GAME, PERKY’Ss, and
RUSTY BELL
In 1978- Mike
Reid of Gay Service Coalition accused the Gay bars of fighting amongst
themselves “ With only four bars here in town there is no reason to be always
fighting”- However there were at least five bars operating in SLC at the time:
RADIO CITY, THE SUN, THE RAIL, CLUB COMBACK, THE UPTOWN PLAC
One of the
main complaints in the 1970’s was heterosexuals coming to the bars to look at
Gay people. “ The general gawking public, who visit Gay bars like they would a
zoo, to stare, laugh, imitate, feel threatened, and live, and curious reporters
who confronted with 2 males and 1 female Gay, 2 of whom cannot gives names for
fear of losing employment, interview, listen and discover an oppressed
minority, one of the few remaining victims of religious persecution.”
BARS of the
1970’s
Corner of SOUTH TEMPLE and FOURTH WEST
South Temple
The ROSE BOWL
363 West South Temple, The Rose Bowl a Gay club that opened August 1977 just
east of the Sun Complex. It advertised drafts 35 cents drafts and 35 cent
mixes. Owner may have been Rose Carrier. It closed after about a year and the
place was reopened in 1978 as the RAIL
The RAIL 363
West South Temple The Rail opened east of the Sun Tavern on 21 November 1978 at
the old Rose Bowl location. It was owned by Krazy Pete. Some bartenders were
Rose Carrier, Krazy Pete, Jerry, Bill, Maxine, Gary, and Randy. On Memorial Day
Weekends Rose Carrier held her annual Pajama party at The Rail. In final league game of 1979 The Inter-Bar
Volleyball League The Rail defeated Radio City two games to none and then
defeated the Sun two games to none. The
league had the support of Joe Redburn, Susan Denny, Krazy Pete, Larry White,
and Weldon Young.
The Sun
THE SUN TAVERN
at 1 South 400 West SLC On 7 February
1973, local talk show personality, Joe Redburn opened The Sun Tavern on the
northwest corner of South Temple and 400 West. The Sun Tavern was Utah’s first
Gay bar owned by a homosexual and oriented from its opening towards a Gay
clientel in Salt Lake City. The Sun more than any other bar shaped the face of
the Gay Community in the 1970’s and was a de facto Gay Community Center. The
tavern was often the first Gay experience in the coming out process. The reputation
of the SUN was legion. The SUN was a political as well as a social
organization. It funded fledgling community organizations such as LGSU, it
provided space for the first Gay Community Center, as well as bringing top rate
entertainment to Salt Lake City. Disco Diva, Gloria Gaynor appeared at The Sun
Tavern in 1975, as well as Charles Pierce and His Star Impressions in 1977.
Pierce performed at The Theater of the Sun in the Sun Tavern, which was used
for live comedy theater. Pierce brought
his troop to Salt Lake for the first time ever engagement in the Rocky Mountain
area. One of his pieces to finish the show was a dialogue between Talula
Bankhead, and Bette Davis wearing a red
dress. The most famous celebrity associated with the SUN in the 1970’s never
performed there. On January 11, 1978, Paul Lynde, most famous for being the
center square of Hollywood Squares and guest of The Donny and Marie Show taped
in Orem, was busted outside the Sun Tavern for interfering with a police
officer. A charge of public intoxication was dismissed but the incident caused
Lynde to lose his position on the Donny and Marie Show. In 1975 the Daily
Chronicle wrote “1 South 400 West is probably the best place to get drunk and
have a good time in the city. But sometimes they get too exclusive and they bar
the door to any of the poor straights who can’t stand dancing next to jocks. By
1978 the Sun was described as the “Largest Gay Complex in the Rocky Mountain
Area. Joe Redburn as owner of the SUN put money back into the community and
supported almost every progressive movement of the seventies. The Sun was the
location of many firsts in the Gay Salt Lake City community. Rose Carrier
hosted the first of her annual Pajama Parties at The Sun Tavern. On the 5th
Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, the Sun
organized a a Kegger party to celebrate Gay Pride. Over 200 Gay men gather at
approximately 8000 West along the south-east shore of the Great Salt Lake,
commonly known as “Bare Ass Beach”, for the festival sponsored by Joe Redburn
of the Sun Tavern. This was the first public celebration of Gay Pride in Utah.
The first Gay Community Center was organized May 1975 in the Taylor Restaurant
and Grill, a building secured by Joe Reburn, and located just south of the Sun
at 11 South 400 West SLC. .The “Gay Community Service Center” held its meeting
on Mondays and established a Gay-Crisis
line 533-0927 which was in existence for nearly 25 years. The Gay Help Line was
the first listing in Salt Lake telephone book with the word Gay in its
discription. Joe Redburn served as treasurer for the center. The Salt Lick
Seagull Awards Banquet, held at the
Sunset Room, is Salt Lake City’s first official Gay awards banquet in 1976. Approximately 30 awards were given that
night including, “Best Baths
Attendants”, “Judy Garland Comeback of the Year” and “Best Advise Bitch of the
Year”. In 1978 the first Annual Mr. Gay
Utah contest was held at the Sun Showroom. It was Utah’s first entry in the Mr.
Gay America Contest. Grover Smith, a
native Utahn winner of the Mr. Gay Utah Contest. The East Room next to the Sun
was opened as Salt Lake City’s first Gay
after hours disco restaurant in December 1979. The SUN hosted many community
events outside of the bar such as its annual picnic in City Creek Canyon. The
Sun Tavern with KSXX bought out the whole Trolley Square theater for the 10
p.m. showing of The Ritz on 24 November 1976. An article written on the event
stated: “Naturally the audience was 99 and 44/100 percent pure Gay. I’ll say
this for the homosexual people, they certainly have the ability to laugh at
themselves. When Chris, the head queen said, “Oh I’m so glad I’M Gay,” I
thought the roof was going to fall in from the audience’s resounding cheer.” By
May 1978The SUN TAVERN began showing free movies every night except Mondays. In
an era before VCRs and DVDs this was a big deal. While many other bars refused
to be political, fearing an alienation of patrons the SUN always took a stand.
Joe Redburn actually ran against Jill Atwater in 1976 for a seat in the state
legislature. He lost. In 1977 The Sun
Tavern hosted a community luncheon with Sgt. Leonard Matlovich, in 1978 Joe
Redburn dedicated a night at Sun Tavern to support the anti-Brigg’s movement in
California. Shirley Pedler Ex-Director ACLU addressed a full house in the Sun
Tavern’s show room and $1300 was raised. The mid 1970’s were a time of run away
inflation as the cost of fighting the Viet Nam War came home with a vengeance.
President Ford asked Americans to wear WIN Buttons (Whip Inflation Now) as his
solution to the economic crisis. An article from October 1975 stated that both
Club Baths and the Sun had their own plans to fight inflation. “The Club Baths
and The Sun have something for fighting inflation. Each Tuesday night after the
bar closes you can get into The Baths for only $3.00. You must present a card
to the Baths that is available at the Sun every Tuesday night. So far it’s been
a big success with the Sun Staff there in “full bloom”. In 1979 the Sun Club and
Joe Redburn sponsored Denver’s Gay Pride Marching Band coming to Utah to participate in Utah’s Gay
Pride Day. The Band was called the Denver Mile High Freedom Marching Band
directed by Tom Robinson. After the march the band appeared on The Sun Club
patio in the evening. The SUN Tavern formed an Inter-Bar Volleyball League to
build a sense of community between the Gay taverns in SLC. Joe Reburn was asked
his opinion of disco in 1977 as the genre was peaking. There had been
complaints that the bars were playing too much disco. Joe Redburn of the Sun
answered: “I totally agree that disco is boring. We have had disco music at the
sun for 2 and a half years and I’m as tired of it as any one. When we try to
break out of disco we get complaints and loss of business. I understand the
boredom of disco...it is hard to dance to.”
In the late fall of 1978 several unsolved murders occurred among Gay men
in Salt Lake City. One of the more notable was that of Douglas Ray Coleman. Coleman
was shot to death in a box car behind the Union Pacific Railroad Station at 177
West South Temple was last seen leaving the nearby Sun Tavern.
THE UPTOWN
PLACE at 15 South 400 West was opened as a woman bar in 1976 after the closure
of the Gay Community Service Center. The Uptown Place was advertised as
“Serving the Lesbian Community”. In May
1977 a fund raising dance was held at the Uptown Bar for The Boise Seven. The
dance was sponsored by the Gay Service Coalition, which replaced the Gay
Community center. By June 1979 The Uptown located was known as the main women’s
bar.
SECOND SOUTH
STUDIO 8
located at 8 West 200 South was started as a straight bar but had a
large Gay Clientele. In 1979 it switched to being a Gay Bar and lasted until
about 1980/81. Studio 8 “Comes Out “ as a Gay Bar. The most fabulous Gay Bar
Salt Lake ever had.Studio 8 has benefit show for The Boise Seven “. The Boise
Seven were 7 women who were fired from the Boise Police Department because they
were alledged toi have been Lesbians. Salt Lake City being the largest Gay
community in the intermountain region west of Denver raised several fundraisers
to help with these women’s legal bills in their lawsuit against the city of
Boise.” Minor civil rights celebrities the bar advertised that several of the
women “will be present, ” at the event
STATE STREET
RADIO CITY
Lounge at 147 South State Street. Advertized all through the 1970’s as “The
Original and first Rocky Mountain Gay Bar”. It was the only Gay Bar to survive
the 1960’s.
THE NAME OF THE GAME JR. at 535 South State
Grand opening of The Name of the Game Jr was held in 1975. It began a
transition from a straight bar to a Gay Bar in December 1974. the bar was owned
by Harold and David and managed by Max. Max stated, “Our initial motive was for
purely business reasons. We would rather have an open crowd so that Gay did not
feel alienated. Gays get down a lot more and are less trashy than some of the
straight street people we get in here.”
The bar offered free drinks on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8-10 PM for
ladies, and men in drag, a first for any Gay Bar. The bar was still known as a
Gay establishment in 1976 and was listed as one of the places that distributed SLC Gay paper, The Salt Lick.
SECOND WEST
Satan’s
Playpen Lounge 1067 South 200 West Satan’s Play Pen was a Leather biker bar
where some of the early members of the Gay leather community was tolerated by
bisexuals and straights. Not openly
accepting.
THIRD WEST
Perky’s at 66
North 300 West, SLC was a Lesbian bar which opened in Salt Lake City in 1970.
The woman owner was a named Perky. Last name unknown and probably a nickname.
It was important for the development of a woman identified community within the
Gay community. The bar closed in 1975. In 1975 the Gay Community Service Center
Newsletter interviewed people at the Sun, Radio City, and Perky’s on a program
aired by KSL on homosexuality. The following comments were quoted: The KSL
series on homosexuality was conducted like so many other subjects which are
controversial-in order not to offend anyone, it must be treated with so much
caution and delicacy that it also fails to do anything substantial like inform,
enlighten, educate, or elevate people to a higher level of understanding. This
ignorance only adds to the already tremendous waste of human resources. Sorry
KSL but the attempt was somewhat impotent”. “It was good that KSL had the guts
to air this type of show, but their bigotry and hypocrisy exposed its ugly head
somewhat.” “The KSL series on
homosexuality reminds one of something called depression soup- damn little
meat-lots of water-hardly any substance- and served lukewarm in a cold bowl.” “Visions of Clock Work Oranges! I think Dr.
Card and others like him ought to be subjected to his own therapy for treatment
of his aversion to homosexuality.” When the First Gay Freedom Day was held at City Creek Canyon
in 1975 a shuttle service ran to and from the site for those who didn’t have
transportation. Pickup points were Radio City, The Sun, and Perky’s. In an
article written by Babs De Lay for the October 1975 issue of the Salt Lick it
was announced GAY BARS PERKY’S CLOSES.
“After five years of dedicated service to the Gay community Perky’s
closest her door and sold out. In an exclusive interview with Perky, she had
the following to say about her bar. “Five years of the bar business is enough
for me. IT takes a lot of hours and time to run a bar. I grew up without having
a Gay bar to go to. We had to go out you people’s homes to socialize. When I
opened up the bar we had a fantastic group of girls that were all very grateful
to me. We really had a good time, but there were two groups of girls; the ones
who started out with me, and the younger girls that came out in the past few
years. For the older girls it was harder being Gay. We had to be cautious about our selves.
Originally we couldn’t dance in the bar, but after a few months the police let
us alone. The younger kids have it a lot easier with the attitudes changing and
the new bars. They don’t have the
hassles we used to have. The spirit of the neighborhood bar isn’t felt anymore.
I enjoyed both group of girls. They were in two different ball games. The young
ones kept me young. The whole five years was a really neat experience. The kids
were good to me it was a good living, and we had a lot of great times together.
I believe that the only way to go out is to go out on top.” Perky is planning
to spend more time with her family. She also stated, “I’ve got some pokers in
the fire, so I can’t really say what I plan on doing. Let the young one’s take
over. People will always be good to
me.” The Gay community regrets the loss
of Perky and her bar. We all wish her well with her future plans. Perky’s is
now a straight bar for your general information.”
THE COMEBACK
CLUB at 551 South 300 West was opened in 1977 by Mac Hunt at with the slogan “Where the friendly Men
are”!- It was advertised as a private bar open to the entire Gay Community but
club membership was not required. “Lighted, flashing dance floor, Disc Jockey
every Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Food served. Every Sunday a Brunch. Every
Wednesday is Spaghetti Night for all you can eat for $2.50.” In an article about disco music Mac Hunt was
interviewed and stated: “I’m tired of
disco music. However most of the customers seem to request this type of music.
We comply with requests and give what is most requested. So we are forced to
play the music that customers request.” On Valentine’s Day Party 1978 the club
celebrated its first anniversary. In the
spring of 1978 controversy erupted between Mac Hunt and the Gay Service
Coalition which published the Open Door, only Gay newspaper. A GSC meeting was held discharged Cam Morrison
for his mishandling advertisement with Club Comeback. A final disposition of
small claim courts proceedings ordered the Comeback Club to pay Open Door
$96.00 for advertisements. The Comeback
Club advertised in three issues of the Open Door but was not informed by Cam A.
Morrison concerning the costs of the
ads. The Open Door arbitrated and
settled for the cost of only one ad in the paper. The Comeback Club was then
ordered by the small claim court to pay the Open Door which they did. The club as did many others, allowed
political meetings in their buildings. On June 14, 1979 the first meeting of
The Stonewall Club was held at The Comeback Club. The Stonewall Club founded as
a vehicle for Gay political action.
However to involve younger college students meetings were shifted to the
Denny’s Restaurant on North Temple which had a large Gay clientele.
REDWOOD ROAD
(1700 WEST)
The Rusty Bell
location (2013)
THE RUSTY BELL
996 South and Redwood Road In July 1975,
the Rusty Bell was opened by its owners
Paul Douglas, Mac Hunt, and Jim Beveridge. While the owners of the Rusty Bell
were Gay men, the bar soon became a Lesbian establishment. The Rusty Bell like
other early Gay Bars were community minded organizations. Some being more
political then others. In October 1975, Rusty Bell held a 1950’s Party to raise
building funds for the Grace Christian Church, a Lesbian break off church from
the Metropolitan Community Church. The following month a two Lesbian activists
Shirley Price and Camille Taratagila , after a year long engagement, exchanged
wedding vows at the Rusty Bell. Rev. Bob Darst pastor of the Metropolitan
Community Church, in a double ring ceremony, married the two. “Marty was the
best man, and Hilda was the matron of honor. Shirley wore a white satin gown of
her own design and Camille wore a baby blue pants suit. The reception was held
immediately afterwards with an abundance of champagne and wedding cake, No
marriage license was required, as the state of Utah does not recognize Gay
marriages as yet. The vows are
recognized by the church and Shirley stated that “To us the vows are as legal
to us as any other marriage ceremony.
The license makes no difference to us because we take our marriage vows
very seriously. The wedding between
Shirley and Camille was the first wedding to be held at The Rusty Bell since
the bar opened. In December 1975 The Western Rustlers, a Lesbian organization
sponsored by The Rusty Bell hosted a Sub for Santa. First known Gay
organization to contribute to the Sub for Santa Charity. The Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire
held their first Coronation at the Rusty Bell on 14 January 1976. The Court was
originally called The Imperial Court of Utah.
The 1st Reign was called The Salt and Pepper Court. In the 1980's it
became an exclusive Lesbian bar known as Puss N Boots
· WILMINGTON AVE, SUGAR HOUSE
BOGARTS at
1225 Wilmington Avenue in Sugarhouse This bar had a checkered past. It was at
best Gay friendly however in December 1979, Women Aware, a Lesbian feminist
organization sponsored a Christmas Dance there
SISTERS
location unknown All that is know about this Lesbian establishment is found in
the Jan 1976 issue of the SALT LICK
where it was listed as a distribution place along with Cosmic Aeroplane,
Open Book, Club Baths, The Sun, Radio City, The Sunset Room, Rape Crisis
Center, Name of the Game Jr., The Munch Shoppe, Mother Earth, MCC, Grace
Christian Church, and Round Records.
OGDEN
Sweetwater
Tavern. Helen Runnells opened the first openly Gay Bar in 1974 in
Ogden called Sweetwater at 25th and Grant
Bobby’s First
Endeavor on 12th St. below Wall Ave. in Ogden
10
September 2004 Friday
A “Letter to
Harvey Milk” performed by Plan-B Theater
Company opened today to run for two weeks.
11
September 2004 Saturday
Lucie Blue
Trembly performed at the South Valley Unitarian Church as a fundraiser. Kathryn
Warner opened for her.
LUCIE BLUE
TREMBLAY IN CONCERT Sept 11, 2004 Salt Lake City Don't miss Lucie Blue Tremblay, a lesbian
singer/songwriter from Quebec who has an incredibly beautiful voice, in concert
at South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society on Saturday September 11 at
7:30. Utah singer/songwriter Kathryn
Warner will open. Tickets are $20, $10
for students and children 14 and under are free. No one will be turned away if they can't
afford those prices -sliding scale is available. Its a fundraiser for the South Valley Intern
Fund (we hope to be able to afford an intern minister in the by next
fall). The church address is 6876 South
2000 East. Call 944-9723 for tickets or
information
13
September 2004 Monday
Mu cousin Stephanie
Williams wrote me: Hi ya Ben, Hope you had a nice weekend & are doing well.
Did your classes start up? David's first day in 4th grade was today. I am
anxious to hear all about it.
He
has been with his dad all this last week because no day care or school so he's
had him stay with his Grandmother Mary. She's a really nice lady.
It's
been really hot here this last couple of weeks. So we went to Laguna Beach
Saturday and spent the day & evening there and had some friends come down
and had a bonfire & bbqed and it was really nice there. It's a bit cooler
and it supposed to cool down some. I am hoping that the hot part of summer is
over.
It
was really nice seeing you when you came down. Take care. Love, steph.”
I
replied: Glad you had fun at
I
talked to RL [Williams my uncle] Sunday to visit. He's doing fine.
Mom
has the flu. She is going to see if Social Services will pay Charline for
staying with Mom.
I
am thinking about attending my 35 school reunion in the first part of October
for just a quick weekend trip. Do you
know of any Motel 6's in Anaheim Hill areas on any other inexpensive places. I
guess I will get on the internet and look but sometimes locals know places that
aren't listed. I'll try and visit you then since the Reunion is either in
Stephanie
replied: Ben, there is one at
I replied: Thanks, Steph....I'll
probably change my mind a hundred times before then but I'll let you know days
before I go. Love Jr.
17
September 2004 Friday
Evergreen
International's 14th Annual Conference held in SLC over two days. Evergreen
uses the teachings of the Mormon Church to guide its members away from
homosexual "behavior."
18
September 2004 Saturday
Equality Utah
hosted its 3rd annual "Allies Dinner" with guest speaker former
Arizona State Representative Steve May. The event was held at the downtown
Hilton. Recipients were Jim Dabakis, David and Erin Litvack, and Cactus and
Tropicals. There were over 600 in attendance.
Dear
Friends and Allies: Students at Salt Lake Community College will be flying the
neighborhood around the State St campus
tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 18 beginning at 3:00 pm. They will be distributing
the Hate Free Zone flyers and a cover letter with resources (both are attached)
to residents and businesses. They would love your help! Please send this
announcement to your lists asking for people to meet at the south side of the
building near the pool/cafeteria entrance. Lorna D. Vogt Director Utah Progressive
Network
Mr.
Salt Lake Leather Competition will take place on Saturday night September 18th,
at Club 161 (161 South 1440 West). The competition actually begins on Friday
during private interviews between the judges and the contestants. On Saturday
night starting at 10:00 PM the contestants will present themselves in their
leather wear and give 90 second speeches on the reason they believe they would
be the best Mr. Salt Lake Leather. At approx. Midnight Mr. Salt Lake Leather
2005 will be announced and presented to the audience. In addition to the competition there will be
a raffle for various leather items.
Throughout the night the bar will be giving away various prizes for
"Best Basket", "Best Chest", Best Leather" and a
variety of other things our sick minds can come up with (within legal
constraints of course). On Sunday Blue Alley Fair will start at Noon and go
till 5 PM. This will take place at Club 161, the back parking area will be
fenced off so you can check out the variety booths while enjoying an adult beverage,
or two. We look forward to seeing you all there.
19
September 2004 Sunday
The 13th
Anniversary Party of the Trapp was held.
The
Wasatch Leather Men's Association hosted its annual Blue Alley Fair at Club
161. Jeff "Tiger" Rands was chosen as Mr. Salt Lake Leather 2004
Artist
Trevor Southey hosted an exhibit for the “Don't Amend Alliance”
20
September 2004 Monday
Mark Havnes of
The Salt Lake Tribune reported - Big Water mixes gay mayor, polygamists Near
Lake Powell: The libertarian town of 400 residents almost liberalized its
marijuana laws a few years ago Big Water Mayor Willy Marshall standing on one
of the streets he had paved since being elected mayor in 2002.
The
paving of the streets and reducing taxes are two accomplishments the openly gay
mayor is most proud of.
BIG
WATER - The tiny town of Big Water is not a typical Utah community. There is no
church. At least 10 percent of its more than 400 residents are unaffiliated
polygamists. It does not have a main street. The Town Council once tried to
pass more-lenient marijuana laws. And Big Water has an openly gay mayor.
Situated
in a small oasis of greenery well off U.S. 89 in Kane County just 8 miles from
Lake Powell, the south-central Utah town sprung up in the early 1960s as a
watering hole for workers building the Glen Canyon Dam. Over the years, the
town became a haven for retirees and political mavericks who were drawn to the
area by its isolation, mild winters and some of the country's cleanest air.
Mayor
Willie Marshall faces problems that many mayors do – bad roads, the need for
economic development. The fact he is gay has never been an issue. "If
people disagree with me, it's politically - not because I'm gay," says
Marshall, seated behind a desk in his window-encased office at the town's
headquarters on Aaron Burr Boulevard.
On
the walls are a plethora of newspaper articles documenting events in the town's
colorful history, including a cover story by a gay newspaper in Salt Lake City
that features Marshall.
"Whenever
I go into a gay bar in Salt Lake City now, everybody goes, 'Hello, mayor,'
" says Marshall, with a tinge of pride in his voice. Marshall said being
gay was something he never tried to hide in his campaign, and the subject never
became an issue. "It's easier for a gay person to get elected in a small
town because people know you and their biases go away," says Marshall.
"In a place like Salt Lake City, it would be a bigger issue because you
can't meet everybody and they vote their biases."
Marshall
says he was drawn to the area by his friend, the late polygamist Alex Joseph,
who led the town's incorporation efforts as mayor in 1983. "I always said
I would move here someday, so I did in 2000," says Marshall, who in
addition to mayor, works as a dispatcher for Classic Helicopter in nearby Page,
Ariz.
Shortly
after moving to the community, Marshall was appointed to fill vacancies on the
Planning and Zoning Commission and Town Council. As a councilman, he helped
defeat a measure to disincorporate the town and began pushing for a tax cut.
Then
in May 2001, Mayor Tonya Roseberry proposed an annual salary of $3,000 for the
mayor, which the council passed. Marshall voted against the measure. "I
thought that was ridiculous, especially when she said we can't afford to cut
taxes," says Marshall. "So in the fall, I ran against her for mayor,
saying that if elected I'd repeal the salary for the mayor and cut taxes."
Marshall
won the 2002 election, receiving 90 of 157 votes. "It was a good win over
an incumbent," said Marshall. "We cut taxes by 50 percent. The town
treasurer predicted it would ruin us, but it didn't. And he works with no
salary.
Roseberry, the former mayor, has little to say
about her successor. "I guess he's doing an OK job," she says.
"But I don't care to comment."
As
soon as he became mayor, Marshall successfully took care of one problem
plaguing the town. He paved the streets using state road funds, as well as with
grants and loans from the state's Community Impact Board. "They were just
washboards, and the dust was incredible," said Marshall.
His
current project is getting the town a main street along U.S. Highway 89.
Marshall hopes to convince the Utah Department of Transportation to reduce -
from 300 feet to 116 feet - its right of way on either side of the highway.
"The right of way was established before the town even existed," says
Marshall. "If UDOT traded the land with the [state's] school-trust lands,
it could then be sold in parcels." Marshall believes such a deal could
bring $20 million into state education coffers and bring needed businesses to
the town.
"Look
at Salt Lake City and Kanab." he says. "Both are what they are
because they have a main street. As it is now, people fly by Big Water at 65
mph, not even knowing we're here."
Boudicca
Joseph, one of nine polygamous wives of Alex Joseph – he died two years ago -
runs Palaquin Realty in offices converted from one of the town's former bars.
She is a Town Council member, chairwoman of the Planning and Zoning Commission
and a Marshall supporter. "He's done a great job," says Joseph.
"Prior
to his being mayor, there was a constant turnover [in town government], but he
stabilized things with a spirit of compassion and vision. We don't have the
bickering we used to."
Joseph
would like the state's help for promoting the community by taking advantage of
Big Water's proximity to Lake Powell. This would give life to Marshall's main
street vision, she said. And such a move would also bring more attention to
what the area has to offer.
"We
have the lake surrounded by open spaces, pristine nature and some of the
cleanest air in the country," says Joseph. "What we want is
high-class development - not runaway growth."
Marshall
says he is just carrying on the tradition of freedom for the individual
espoused by Alex Joseph. That tradition was exemplified in an effort in 2001 to
lessen the penalty for possession of marijuana in town from a misdemeanor to a
citation - even less than a parking ticket - and a 0 fine. The measure never
went into effect, but Marshall says it sent a message about what the town
stands for. "We appeal to the libertarian," he says. "In this
town, freedom and individual responsibility [make up] the common
attitude."
21
September 2004 Tuesday
Holly Mullen
Reflects on Feminism in Utah Mullen: Moore flap reminiscent of Steinem SL
Tribune Regarding filmmaker Michael Moore's upcoming appearance at Utah Valley
State College, will you take a little trip with me? If you would, strap on your
goggles, buckle your seat belt and hop into the time machine. Destination: the
University of Utah campus, almost 29 years ago to the day. It was fall 1975.
The Women's Resource Center at the U. was gearing up for its annual Women's
Conference, an event partially funded with student fees. Keynote speaker:
Gloria Steinem, pioneering feminist, founder of Ms. magazine and vocal advocate
of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment - a measure that died in no small part
because of the LDS Church's well-organized and aggressive opposition campaign
throughout the '70s. The parallels between the explosion created by the UVSC
student association's decision to pay Moore $40,000 for a stop along the route
of his anti-Bush, anti-war road show and the U. of U.'s invitation to Steinem
are stunningly similar. The mere mention of their names - both of them
firebrands within a particular cultural and political freeze frame - have led
smug conservative legislators to threaten snipping at state higher-ed purse
strings. People start screaming for boycotts and equal time for opposing
speakers. Then the scramble is on to round up all those brazen little college
students who are risking and experimenting and learning to think and shut them
down. "I always have found it fascinating that on college campuses we have
this pretend environment where students are encouraged to make decisions to
help prepare them for the real world. And then they get punished for it,"
says Cynthia Boshard, who was a student chairwoman of the 1975 U. of U.
conference that brought Steinem to Salt Lake City. In the framework of the
time, Steinem's appearance on a public university campus in Utah was every bit
as controversial as Moore's is today, following his rise to fame around
"Fahrenheit 9/11." The ERA had been hotly debated nationwide. The
U.S. Supreme Court had legalized abortion two years earlier. Women were joining
the workforce in droves. Title IX, passed in 1972 and requiring equal access
for females in high school and college athletics, was taking hold. Among the bedrock
right wing in Utah, feminism was a filthy word and Gloria Steinem was
feminism's guru. "We couldn't think of a more exciting speaker at the
time," recalls Boshard, who today is director of IHC's Community Health
Partnership. "Unfortunately, too many people see a university's invitation
to a controversial speaker as an endorsement of their position, and not as an
opportunity to learn more." The days leading up to Steinem's speech had
been peppered with threats from conservative student leaders to pull funding
from the Women's Resource Center. Protesters threatened to gather outside the
University Union Ballroom. Boshard remembers dining with Steinem shortly before
her speech. "We were worried about no turnout. We drove back to campus and
found the parking lot overflowing. Our first thought was, 'Oh no. They've
scheduled a conflicting event here for the same night.' '' The ballroom was
packed. Spectators lined up against the walls. If there was a boycott, no one
felt it. Boshard even heard from a few attendees, who, while still vehemently
opposed to Steinem's views, found some value in the way she challenged their
beliefs. And scary as it seems, Moore will do the same. Just as Steinem did
before him, and Ronald Reagan and Karl Rove have done in between. Because the
message to take home is never really about the speaker. It's about stretching
the mind.
23
September 2004 Thursday
Rocker Patti
Rothberg in concert at Mo Diggity's. Two of Rothberg's songs appeared in films:
a cover of "Kung Fu Fighting" in Beverly Hills Ninja and
"Inside" in The Misadventures of Margaret.
24
September 2004 Friday
Steve Fales’ "Confessions of a Mormon
Boy" was performed as a benefit for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and
Transgender Community Center of Utah at the Rose Wagner Theater
Steven Fales'
funny and moving "Confessions of a Mormon Boy" is opening this
Friday, September 24., at the Leona Wagner Black Box Theatre in Salt Lake City.
The Center will receive $15 for each ticket sold to Friday's (Sept 24)
performance. Following the performance,
there will be a reception at Baci.
Please come and bring your friends! Thanks! Chad Beyer Executive Director
GLBTCCU
Paul Rolly and
JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells Salt Lake Tribune
Columnists Rolly & Wells: Web site squelches 'Hitler' talk A speech delivered last February by Deseret
Book CEO Sheri Dew has been deleted from Meridian Magazine, an online magazine
geared toward LDS readers, after complaints that she compared the gay rights
movement to the rise of Hitler.
A
story on the Web page of Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons, says that
"two weeks after the Human Rights Campaign and the National Black Justice
Coalition called on President Bush to repudiate Mormon leader Sheri Dew for
controversial remarks posted on the Meridian Magazine Web site, the speech was
removed from the site."
Dew
had given the prayer at a session of the Republican National Convention,
prompting the groups to write to Bush that "featuring individuals on the
stage of your convention who compare a group of Americans to Hitler . . . is
divisive and irresponsible," according to the Affirmation story.
Dew's
remarks on the Meridian Web site implied that the gay rights movement
threatened the traditional family, and she warned against complacency, stating
that people ignored the dangers of the rising Nazi movement in the 1930s until
it was too late.
"At
first it may seem a bit extreme to imply a comparison between the atrocities of
Hitler and what is happening in terms of contemporary threats against the
family - but maybe not," said Dew, who had been considered by several
Republican Utah gubernatorial candidates as a possible lieutenant governor
running mate prior to the GOP state convention.
Mike
Picardi wrote “SHE COULD HAVE BEEN OUR
LT. GOVERNOR”-
Kathy
Worthington wrote- For a time Sheri Dew was a member of the Relief Society
Presidency of the Mormon Church. She is
the author of several books, including a biography of church president Gordon B
Hinckley. She has been CEO of Deseret Books for several years. Dew has never married nor had children. When she was younger, Dew had a female friend
and the two were practically inseparable; they lived together, traveled
together, were in the Relief Society presidency of their (single) ward
together, and went through the temple together.
25
September 2004 Saturday
My sister
Charline Wachs wrote me, “Hi, Mom said that you sent her an email. She still has not received the email. She is to lazy to use the computer. So I am sending this for her. Hope you are
well, we are fine here.
John
[Johnson my cousin] called yesterday. He was in Tulare delivering milk and was
going back to Clovis for another pick up.
Said he would be empty going back to Clovis. You take care do not work
to hard. Love ya, Charline.”
26
September 2004 Sunday
You're Invited
to the PWACU Barbeque Come Join Us for Our Annual SUPER DUPER - END OF SUMMER
BBQ BASH!!! When: Sunday, September 26 at 4:00 pm Where: Fairmont Park, (900
East 2400 South) Please RSVP to the PWACU by Sept. 20th 801-484-2205 Food -
Beverages and Tons of Fun! This event is for our clients, supporters and
volunteers. We hope you can join us! Toni Johnson, Director People With AIDS
Coalition of Utah
27
September 2004 Monday
USU Pride
Alliance of Cache Valley has invited Ben Williams to speak on Utah Lambda
History When : 7:30 p.m. Monday September 27 Where: Room 335 Taggart Student
Center Utah State University Logan, UT
29
September 2004 Wednesday
The Salt Lake
Tribune reported, “First, the Pride Alliance at Utah State University had a
"blue jeans day" last spring to show support for the Gay and Lesbian
Alliance. The College Republicans this month had "flip-flop Friday"
that promoted wearing of flip-flops to show how Democratic presidential
candidate John Kerry flip-flops on issues.
So
this week, the College Democrats sponsored "mislead Monday" in which
students were asked to wear pants if they believe President Bush has misled the
country on Iraq.
Apparently,
the northern Utah campus is 100 percent Democrat because there were no reports
of anyone going without pants.
Note:
Only the Gay organization was criticized for using clothing for political
reasons.
No comments:
Post a Comment