Winter First Quarter Journal 2000 January-March President Clinton's last year

 

YEAR 2000 A New Millenium

1 Jan 2000 Saturday

Well I didn’t party like it’s 1999 and so far no planes have fallen from the sky due to the YK2 glitch that was supposed to crash computer systems. So it’s the first year of the new millennium or the last year of the old one. Nerds are debating it. It’s just going to be really weird writing 20 instead of 19 and by life dates will begin with 19 and end with 20.

            I did stay up to watch the clock turn officially into the new year but not  for long as Oscar was already a sleep on the bed. He’s the only one of my critters who sleeps with me and I have to help him up onto the bed. Priscilla, Saffy, and Smokey usually stay upstairs and sleeps either on the couch or in their doggy beds.

            Mike of course didn’t even wish me a happy New Year which I didn’t expect him to but still kind of hurt.

            So here I am 48 years old going on to be 49 in April. I live at 1633 Fernleaf Street in Salt Lake City in the northwest quadrant of the city off of Redwood Road and the Jordan River and 1700 North. I have lived here with Mike Romero now for a little more than 3 years. I like it here because its convenient for us both to  get to work but I miss being downtown sometimes and feel rather isolated out here from most of my friends who don’t have cars  as tehre’s no bus routes this way.

            I am teaching 4^th grade at Orchard Elementary after switching from 5^th grade to get away from Elaine Day and her Christmas pageants. I have been at Orchard since 1989 when I transferred from Sunset Elementary where I worked just one year.

            Fourth grade is really difference as the kids come in during the fall still like 3^rd graders and me being their first male teacher I scare them I think with my louder teacher’s voice. Oh well.

            Personally I feel almost like when I was married to Fran, in an unhappy relationship with Mike. I know he doesn’t love me anymore and sometimes I think he feels trapped living with me but he also knows that I put a roof over his head and keep the place up. I feel obligated to Mike’s parents who loaned us some of  the down payment to get into this house which is the only home I have ever owned. I have since paid them back but I liove them and are grateful to them because they treat me as a member of the family. Faye is such a good person but Mike I think still holds on to some resentment towards his family as he thinks they mistreated him when Howard broke up with him.

            School starts back up on Monday. I am so grateful I have the Sonoma Truck now to take to work instead of all the times I had to take the bus. Ugh. 

            I really don’t know if I will keep up with this journal except keep a records of articles in the newspaper for the archives I keep on my computer. I don’t know why I bother it must be the historian in me as I am not involved in the Gay community in the least and all my friends are just memories now.

            I remember the time that Kathryn Warner had the Sacred Faeries do this about 8 years ago.

The Salt Lake Tribune Utahns Gather at U. for Predawn Celebration of Peace Advocates gather at University of Utah to sing hymns, meditate on theme: 'Peace Begins Unconditionally With Me.' BY HILARY GROUTAGE   THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE    Fewer  than 100 people braved the wee hours of New Year's Eve morning to attend the annual World Peace Celebration at the University of Utah.    "The people who needed to be here were here,'' said organizer Barbara Simper, who has helped her sister, Robyn, put the event together for the past 14 years. The idea is to get as many people as possible to meditate for world peace simultaneously at noon Greenwich Mean Time  5 a.m. in Salt Lake City, where one of the hundreds of worldwide  meditations took place. Two-year-old Emma Johnson was the youngest mediator and managed to hug her bear and keep quiet while the grown-ups thought and prayed about turmoil across the globe.  "Let us take care of the children,'' said Ellen Vlasic, the retired minister  of the Inner Light Center who led the group meditation. "They have a long way to go.'' University of Utah law professor Ed Firmage spoke about his travels to Geneva last summer as part of the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Rights. "We're really not as different as we think we are,'' Firmage said about the peoples of the world. "We're brought together by different shades of metaphor.'' Firmage spoke of two young African boys who fled Guinea by crawling into the wheel well of a Belgian jetliner. The boys froze to death, but stitched into the lining of their jackets was a message to world leaders that outlined the horrors of their short lives. "These two young boys shouted with a voice clearly louder than they had in life,'' he said. On a local level, Firmage cautioned the crowd to be careful about the way youths are treated in our own community. "Look what we do to young Gay and lesbian children in Utah, at East High School, for example,'' he said. Members of the advocacy group JEDI Women handed out ribbon banners at the celebration. The banners were pinned across the chest of every person in the audience and read "Peace Begins Unconditionally With Me.'' "It's about commitment,'' said Heather Buchanan. "For a lot of years I've thought about being here, but this year I'm here. It's about commitment to this path of peace.'' he crowd may have been small, but there was no shortage of goose bumps when Leraine Hortsmanhoff played the didgeridoo  while Kathryn Warner belted out "Amazing Grace."    "It's not like this is a bunch of hippies getting together to do peace and love,'' Simper said. "It's peace and love, but we're not hippies."

 

Mary and Cela, in South Jordan, hosted their third annual "New Year's Day Rainbow Buffet" for the men and womyn of Affirmation and their friends. Bring a potluck dish to share and wear something the same color as your food.

 

2 January 2000 Sunday

New Year's Pot Luck Social at Sara's place, in Salt Lake. Drinks and utensils will be provided. Please bring a dish to share if you can, but in any case bring -yourself. The social will end a few minutes to 5:00pm . . . so everyone can go over to MCC for the workshop. . . . .  Workshop on love and personal spirituality, facilitated by Margo Hope, at Metropolitan Community Church,

Vegan First Amendment Rights Should Be Recognized By Utah Schools BY RACHEL DECKER In Utah Schools, the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States seems to change somewhere around 66th South, or maybe it changes between courtrooms at the federal courthouse. Recently in a suit concerning Gay students in Salt Lake City Schools, Federal Judge Bruce Jenkins called the First Amendment "sacred ground."  Salt Lake City school officials agreed that all students, including Gay students, have First Amendment Rights, and school officials publicly promised to respect those rights.  In contrast, Federal Judge Dee Benson recently seemed to rule literally that vegan students have no First Amendment Rights in the Jordan School District. In Salt Lake City, Gay students may choose to present their point of view in all extracurricular activities. That's their First Amendment Right. School authorities have promised to respect those rights and the federal courts stand behind them.

 

3 January 2000 Monday

Leavitt Says Qualification, Not Race or Gender, Is His Top Priority for High Court Appointments Though federal law prohibits Leavitt from considering religious preference, at least 10 of the 13 candidates are active or inactive LDS Church members, boosting the odds for an all-Mormon bench. That predominance could be significant if cases reach the court involving issues such as same-sex marriage, which the church strongly opposes. A lawsuit currently in 3rd District Court that likely will find its way to the high court challenges the state's prohibition of Gay couples from adopting foster children. 

 

4 January 2000 Tuesday

SLTribune Appeals Court Overturns Kidnapping Conviction of Former WSU Administrator Tuesday, January 4, 2000 BY GREG BURTON THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The Utah Court of Appeals has overturned the conviction of a former       university administrator for using a gun to proposition sex from a  20-year-old hitchhiker. Phillip O. Austin, in prison today on a parole violation, was charged in1994 with first-degree felony aggravated kidnapping, although investigators never produced a weapon. Prosecutors subsequently persuaded 2nd District Judge Stanton Taylor to instruct jurors that if they could not find sufficient evidence to  convict on first-degree kidnapping, they could find Austin guilty of simple   kidnapping, a lesser felony, which jurors did.   In a brief opinion issued Thursday, Appeals Court Judge Gregory K. Orme ruled that kidnapping was not "a lesser included offense" of aggravated kidnapping, and jurors were wrongly advised that they could find Austin guilty of the uncharged crime. "In convicting defendant of kidnapping, the jury necessarily acquitted him of aggravated kidnapping," Orme wrote in a unanimous opinion. "It follows that defendant's conviction must be, and it hereby is, vacated." Austin, then director of Weber State University's student advising center, was sentenced to 1 to 15 years in prison. While awaiting appeals, which delayed imprisonment for three years, he was fired by WSU. While Thursday's ruling appears to have cleared Austin's conviction, it has yet to untangle his life. After spending two years in prison, Austin was paroled in March. He was sent back three weeks ago for allegedly refusing "sexual deviancy therapy," according to parole records. He remains in prison and is scheduled for a Jan. 25 status hearing before Utah's Board of Pardons and Parole. William Daines, deputy district attorney in Weber County, said it is unclear whether prosecutors, even if they could, would refile charges since the appeals court did not remand the case for a new trial. "I'm not sure where we'll go from here." One of Austin's appeal attorneys said she did not believe new charges could be filed, although the lead appeal attorney, Earl Xaiz, was unavailable for comment. At trial, and on appeal, Austin fought the inclusion of evidence he had propositioned other men, claiming he was the target of homophobia.   "Because I'm Gay, the jury found me guilty of kidnapping,'' he said then. "I'm Gay, not a criminal . . . I'm not here to advance Gay rights, I'm seeking justice."  Regardless of how Weber County proceeds, Austin has been "technically acquitted", one appeal attorney said.  The appeals court based its ruling on an earlier decision by the Utah Supreme Court which affirmed a dismissal in a similar, unrelated case.  In that case, the appeals court in December threw out a misdemeanor joyriding conviction against Jeffrey Lynn Carruth, who was initially charged with felony joyriding. As with Austin, jurors in Carruth were told they could choose to convict on the lesser offense. In both cases, the appeals court ruled the crimes charged were demonstrably different from the charged convictions. To prove kidnapping in Utah, prosecutors must present evidence that  a person was detained against his or her will for a "substantial" period of time. Aggravating kidnapping has no time standard, but it does require proof that a weapon was used or there was an intent to commit an additional crime. "I was a little disappointed in Carruth, but once Carruth came down, I knew what the outcome of Austin would be," said Asst. Att. General Thomas Brunker, who handled appellate arguments for the state.)

 

One-Time Utah Whiz Kid Makes Waves With a Unique Magazine Gay Publisher Struggled With His Sexuality BY DAN EGAN WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. --    In a freshly painted office that used to be a pornography studio, just down the street from a pastry shop with a Ferris wheel-size fiberglass donut on the roof, former Utahn Sam Francis has an ambitious plan for his 15-month-old magazine called Hero.     Francis, Utah's former junior entrepreneur of the year, who was nominated by Sen. Orrin Hatch to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, wants to redefine what it means to be Gay in America.  "When I was growing up in Utah, my perception of Gay life was that Gay men were promiscuous, anti-family and that it was all about Gay bars and cruising," says the 25-year-old graduate of Judge Memorial High School. "When I finally 'came out' to myself, I realized there was a whole lot more to being Gay than the stereotypes. I realized I didn't have to change any of the values or beliefs that I held about families, relationships and commitments just because I was   Gay." Francis, who is in a monogamous relationship, contends there are more homosexuals who hold his traditional values than people realize, and says the success of his latest business enterprise will prove it. Hero, he says, targets a demographic -- well-educated Gay men in committed relationships -- instead of an urge. Inside its slick pages, readers won't see pinups of beefcakes wrapped in little more than dental floss, or explicit stories about sex.  Recent features include the Gay-marriage battles in California and Hawaii and a story about a young man who turned to his college fraternity brothers when he "came out" to his family. There is a monthly column called " Hot Monogamy," which gives tips on how to keep relationships steamy. The column " Boy Toys" updates readers on the latest high-tech gadgetry, such as radar detectors and watches that double as pagers.  At its raciest, Hero's content would barely earn a PG rating. And, largely because of that, it is making a splash nationally.  "Hero burst onto the scene this year with a fresh idea: a magazine for Gay men more interested in healthy relationships than sex and partying," says magazine industry analyst Samir A. Husni, who lauded Hero as one of the top 30 magazine launches of 1998. "[The magazine] distinguishes itself from the competition by addressing popular culture from a Gay perspective rather than focusing exclusively on Gay culture." Good PR: The magazine's mainstream focus has caught the attention of The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and Chicago Tribune, which noted that "[Hero] is an example of the profound changes reshaping the magazine world." Circulation for the bimonthly publication has quickly doubled to 35,000, and Francis says the operation already turns a profit. He predicts circulation will double again by the end of 2000. More importantly, the magazine is gaining popularity at a time when vicious fights are under way across the country over homosexuals' rights to legal benefits that come with marriage. Read Hero, The San Francisco Chronicle told its readers in

a front-page story, "if you want to know where the Gay and lesbian civil rights movement is headed." But the magazine also has a lot to do with where Francis has come from. 'Golden Boy': A self-described "golden boy," he opened a Davis County candy store when he was 13.  Year after year, Utah reporters told how the "teen tycoon" earnestly exploited our collective sweet tooth to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually; they told us how Francis hired adults to staff his shop during school hours so he could shine in his "first career" -- bringing home A's; they noted how he had enough Beehive buzz to join the Bountiful Chamber of Commerce before he could drive. Gov. Norm Bangerter got a chance to bask in the boy's glow when he proclaimed Francis Utah's 1991 Junior Entrepreneur of the Year, for which the youth received a $10,000 award.    "The candy store image was such an easy story [for the media], almost too easy," says Francis. "But what would the story have been if I told them I was Gay?" He kept his sexuality a secret as he graduated with honors from high school in 1992 and headed to Spokane, Wash., to attend Gonzaga University, a private Catholic college. He majored in journalism, served as editor of the student newspaper, joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and worked as a security guard. All the while, he waged an inner war. He did not want to be Gay.  "I was so overcompensating [for my homosexuality]. I had to be this macho guy, lifting weights, working out." But pumping iron couldn't flush the feelings he felt for other men. Francis figured the only way to deal with his affinity for the same sex was to bury it. "But the end of my senior year I decided, 'OK, I'm Gay. But I can't be Gay, so I'm going to be a priest.' “He was accepted to the University of Notre Dame, where he intended to spend five years in seminary studies before joining the priesthood. He backed out after a priest -- the first person he told of his homosexuality -- counseled him to come to terms with his sexuality before taking a vow of celibacy and devoting his life to God. Francis, who says he remains intensely spiritual but not too Catholic, took a job as a reporter at the Spokane Spokesman Review in fall 1996. He moved to Los Angeles less than a year later after meeting his partner, Paul Horne, via the Internet. Horne, Hero's editor, says the two enjoy a strictly monogamous relationship. They have given each other rings and hope to be married someday.    Francis now wants to spread his story as eagerly as he shared all that taffy a decade ago.  "We want to be the largest magazine for Gay men in the world," Francis says.  But he and Horne, 35, also are not far from criticism from fellow Gays. "There is some hostility in the Gay community about what we're trying to do, because Gay people have always been pictured, or have positioned themselves, on the edge or the fringe," says Francis. "And what we're trying to do is bring them into mainstream America. I hate to use the word 'mainstream,' but it's true." The resentment is centered on fears that people such as Francis and Horne are trying to gain mainstream acceptance for homosexuals at the expense of those who choose not to subscribe to the traditional values espoused in Hero's columns and stories. "I'm glad monogamous men are organizing their own subcultures and own magazines, and they should," says Eric Rofes, a Gay author and professor of education at California's Humboldt State University. "At the same time, they should not be putting down other people who choose otherwise." Rofes said his initial concern was that Hero would come across as "puritanical or judgmental." That hasn't been the case, says Rofes. "It feels to me like a Gay version of a women's magazine, like Cosmopolitan. Without the sex."    Even though Hero bills itself with the trademarked phrase "the magazine for the rest of us,"  make no mistake – this publication isn't for everybody. Francis, sporting army fatigue pants, Adidas running shoes and pile pullover, holds up Volume 1, Issue 5 of Hero. On the cover are two comely, conservatively dressed young men -- GQ types, were they not posed snuggling on a couch.    "This is almost more threatening to people than drag queens," says Francis. Straight culture, Francis argues, prefers to keep homosexuals out of the mainstream because that makes demonization easier. "It [Gay monogamy] is more threatening than a Gay pride parade with drag queens because straight people can laugh at that and say: 'See, those queers, they're all like that.' But when they see these guys [portrayed] as best friends, athletes, jocks -- just regular guys, it's just very confronting." It also is why he named the magazine Hero. "A hero doesn't beg or plead for rights," he says. "A hero says we are equal to everyone else."

 

5 January 2000 Wednesday

A Ban in Nevada? A proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages will kick off the political year in Nevada. A group called the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage intends to file an initiative petition with Secretary of State Dean Heller to place the issue on the November election ballot. Gay and lesbian organizations are already discussing strategy to combat the coalition 's effort, which they see as an attack on equal treatment. Nevada law already specifies that marriage is between male and female, said Richard Ziser, chairman of the coalition seeking the ban. But his group wants to "solidify it in the constitution." The concern, Ziser said, is that courts in other states may allow same-sex marriages. Under the "full faith and credit clause" of the U.S. Constitution, Nevada would be required to recognize such marriages, he said. *EXTRA**  "This keeps a judge from another state from telling Nevadans how to define marriage," said Ziser, who formerly owned a casino token manufacturing business in Las Vegas. His organization will have to gather 44,009 signatures of registered voters by June 20 to get the issue on the November ballot. The petition must contain 10 percent of the registered voters in 13 of the 17 counties. If the initiative passes in November, it would go on the ballot again in 2002 before it becomes part of the state Constitution. Gay and lesbian groups are beginning to plan a response, said Lee Plotkin, a political columnist for the Gay publication Las Vegas Bugle. An anti-Gay petition in 1994 failed to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, he said, predicting that the same thing will happen this time. "The reality is this is a fund-raising gimmick by some people who don't have the desire to protect existing marriages but rather prevent others from creating marriages of their own," says Plotkin. "If they were truly concerned about protecting marriage, they would be doing something to improve on their own divorce rate of 50 percent. "What's truly remarkable are these are the same people who said Gays and lesbians were incapable of maintaining relations. Now they want to prevent us from having equal treatment under the law." Plotkin says Ziser is a failed political candidate for the Clark County School Board who was beaten in the primary election by a Gay Republican. "He may be smarting from that loss," Plotkin said. "The reality here is they are trying to gather tens of thousands of signatures to build a mailing list to perpetuate their causes," Plotkin said. "Anybody who is conned into signing this petition can expect a mailbox filled with right-wing material." That won't be the only petition organizers hope to get on the ballot. Neal said he will file an initiative petition to raise the casino tax as soon as it's been checked to ensure it is in its correct legal form. Neal's petition calls for imposing a new license fee of 5 percent on all gross gaming revenue that exceeds $1 million per month. The new fee would be added to the present tax is 6.25 percent. The gaming proposal would amend the Nevada law, not the constitution. Neal would still have to gather the same number of signatures as a constitutional amendment, but he would have until Nov. 14. If successful, the gaming petition would be presented to the 2001 Legislature. The Legislature would have 40 days to approve or reject it. If it is not passed, the issue would go on the 2002 election ballot for the voters to decide. The Legislature could also pass an alternative plan but the Neal petition would still be on the ballot.

 

LDS Church Asked to Review Anti-Gay Marriage Position  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Religious leaders from more than 70 California churches are asking The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to reconsider its support for an anti-Gay marriage initiative. Proposition 22, titled the "Limit on Marriage" act, won't solve problems facing families, said the church leaders, who planned to release a copy of their letter to the  LDS church today. Religious leaders who oppose the ban, which include Catholics, Unitarians, Jews, Episcopalians and Methodists, want to hold a round-table discussion with LDS church officials to discuss their support for it.    "If they are really concerned about supporting marriage and families, there are many other things that are a threat to marriage and families," said the Rev. Ed Hansen, pastor of the Hollywood United Methodist Church.  "That includes wages too low to enable both parents to be home as much as they need to be. It includes a lack of good child care, a lack of a support system for troubled families and many others," he said. "Why spend all this time and money to support an initiative that does literally nothing?"

 

6 January 2000 Thursday

Robert (Bob) Carl Skelton, born Nov. 3, 1949 died at his home in Murray, Dec. 30,1999.   Bob was a kind, thoughtful and generous person. He was a jack of all trades, and he took pride in that he always "gave110%" in everything he did. He was a compassionate person and donated hundreds of volunteer hours to various charities dealing with the developmentally disabled and persons with AIDS. He will be missed.   He is survived by his friend and long time companion, Ron. It was his wish that he be cremated and that no formal funeral or viewing be held. A private memorial service will be held in the spring as per his wishes.   "Be at peace, Bob, knowing that we will never stop loving you."

 

7 January 2000 Friday

So glad it was early out as the kids were hyper coming back after the Christmas Break. We are starting out Indians of Utah unit and doing snowman art  using white crayons and water color.  Fran and I were married on thus date in 1977 which was also a Friday.

 

14 January 2000 Friday

Oscar doesn’t like going down the stairs from the patio anymore. I think the steps hurt his hips. It’s a three day weekend with Monday being off for Martin Luther King’s birthday. The school year is half over now.

16 January  2000 Sunday

Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons! present a discussion on "When Good People Do Nothing" at Metropolitan Community Church, Educator George Henry, a native Utahn of African-American descent, will speak on issues related to civil rights as they relate to racial, gender, sexual orientation and religious freedom

 

ACLU Attorney Relishes Fighting For the Underdog BY DAN EGAN Ogden native Stephen Clark has a knack for sticking his neck out and his head into some of Utah's stickiest issues. For two years, the 40-year-old attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in Salt Lake City has been on the unpopular side of emotional legal tussles ranging from lesbian high-school teacher Wendy Weaver's fights with the Nebo School District to Salt Lake City's sale of a block of Main Street to the LDS Church. This is not what the Brigham Young University graduate and one-time LDS missionary had in mind after earning a degree from the University of Utah Law School in 1985. But after spending the first decade of his career as a jet-setting corporate attorney based out of New York and later Italy, Clark felt a tug for home. He returned in 1998 and turned his focus from dollars to defending principles he holds dear. Clark said he returned to Utah to reconnect with family and friends, and when the ACLU job became available, he figured it was a natural fit. "I've always been somebody who roots for the underdog. I value compassion. I value fairness. I value justice – these kinds of things -- more than I value money and travel that was associated with my partnership in this big law firm," he says. And who is the underdog? "I think of Wendy Weaver, who really, against tremendous odds, decided she was going to fight for her rights. Not to do anything outrageous or unusual, but just to do what the rest of us sort of take for granted -- to live her life, to raise her family, to do the job that she was so good at doing, without the fear of losing her family, of losing her job," he says. Weaver lost her Spanish Fork High School coaching job and was told not to talk about her personal life with students because she answered "yes" when a student asked her if she was Gay. Weaver filed suit against the school district for taking those actions and, with Clark's help, won.  "I'm not going to convince everybody, or even a majority of people, no matter where I am, that what we are doing is right in some ultimate sense. But if I can do anything, it would be to keep the discussion focused on the principles so people can sort of reasonably agree to disagree and not sort of assume that somebody is motivated by malice or that somebody is evil intrinsically," he says. "I don't think of people on the other side of issues from me that way, and I hope they don't think of me that way."

 

21 January 2000 Friday

Wednesday was dad’s 75^th birthday I sent him a card last week and some money. I called him and talked to mom some. They said it’s been cold in Palmdale and Charline and Dennis are coming up tomorrow from Stanton. The actress Hedy LaMarr died on dad’s birthday

            I sent out report cards earlier this week. I was more generous than most deserved. Ha!

Testimony: Jordanian Woman Feared an 'Honor Killing' BY STEPHEN HUNT   THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Months before Muna Hawatmeh was allegedly beaten and kidnapped by four family members who planned to take her back to their native country of Jordan, she feared her brothers might kill her because she is a lesbian, Hawatmeh's lover testified Thursday. At a preliminary hearing for the family members, who are charged with assault and kidnapping, Leticia Rivera said she and Hawatmeh had used the Internet to research the Middle Eastern practice of "honor killing," in which women who have premarital sex are slain by male relatives to preserve family honor.  Yet, despite Hawatmeh's apparent fear, and protective orders filed by the couple against Hawatmeh's brothers, she returned to her family's Sandy home the night of the alleged beating. Defense attorneys say Hawatmeh's voluntary return shows she did not really fear her family, and supports their claim that she has falsely accused them of kidnapping and assault. Even assuming that Hawatmeh is telling the truth, the defense insists, there was no kidnapping, and the lawyers moved for dismissal of those counts during the hearing in 3rd District Court. They cited a recent Utah Supreme Court decision that kidnapping cannot be charged unless it is separate and distinct from the underlying crime.   Defense attorney Earl Xaiz said the underlying crime in the Hawatmeh case is the alleged assault and that any detention suffered by Hawatmeh was a necessary part of that assault. Additionally, he noted that Hawatmeh family members willingly aborted their trip to the airport and returned to Sandy when police called Muna Hawatmeh's brother on his cell phone.  "There was no kidnapping," Xaiz said.     Judge William Barrett asked attorneys to submit legal briefs and said he would not decide until March whether to bind the family members over for trial.    Hawatmeh's brothers, Iehab Hawatmeh, 32, and Shaher Hawatmeh, 33; her father, Jamil Hawatmeh, 64; and her mother, Wedad Hawatmeh, 54, are charged with first-degree felony aggravated kidnapping and third-degree felony aggravated assault. A first-degree felony is punishable by up to life in prison; a third-degree felony by up to 5 years. Family members have said they were taking Muna Hawatmeh to visit her sister in San Francisco on Oct. 14, 1999, not to Jordan. They also contend she has been "unstable, confused, depressed" and, at one time, suicidal. Brothers Iehab and Shaher Hawatmeh last year filed court documents to gain guardianship over their 23-year-old sister, but later withdrew the petition. Defense attorney Walter Bugden suggested there was a tug of war over Muna Hawatmeh between her family and Rivera, 29. Attorney Edward Brass suggested Rivera increased the tensions by making the younger woman's decisions for her. Rivera insisted Muna Hawatmeh has made her own decisions during the year they have been living together. Muna Hawatmeh came to America about four years ago. Her brothers have been in this country for 15 years. Hawatmeh and Rivera are now living outside Utah.

 

28 January 2000 Friday

I am glad this month is nearly over. I have always hated January in school as it’s a left down after December and seems so long and dreary.  Yesterday President Clinton gave his final State of the Union Address saying that the economy is in good shape and that Americans should use their prosperity to help the poor.

Saw this message about arrests “Provo Paul Ream's Wilderness Park. "Cops have been showing up more and more in marked cars but tonight cops hit the park in marked patrol cars, with lights flashing. There were about four or five guys in the park but absolutely no action was happening, just cruising and not even much of that. After investigating a car that had just pulled up to the park fence (on Independence Street) the cops ran through the park with extremely bright spotlights. There are drug dealers, rapists, child molesters, drunk drivers, robbers, murderers and the like on the streets, but the cops in Provo are worried about some homo's possibly touching each other in a very dark wooded park. This amazes me! When will this hatred towards Gay and bi men stop?"

 

30 January 2000 Sunday

Panel Raises Funds to Create Matthew Shepard Scholarship THE ASSOCIATED PRESS GDEN -- An independent committee including students and faculty at Weber State University have raised more than $50,000 to create the Matthew Shepard Scholarship fund. The endowment will provide $2,000 a year to a homosexual, bisexual or transgender student with a minimum 3.25 grade point average. It was organized in reaction to the 1998 Laramie, Wyo., murder of Shepard, a Gay college student who was severely pistol whipped and left to die. Scholarship applicants must be at sophomore level or higher, taking 12 credit hours per semester. A 500- to 750-word essay, describing the applicant's needs, academic performance, goals and involvement with or service to the Gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender community is required. Organizers are working to finalize details of the scholarship endowment with the university.  "There are sexual minorities. And this is just saying, 'There's a scholarship here,' " said Weber State President Paul Thompson. "We support this." But some students disagree. "I don't see how that really qualifies as a minority," said Weber State student Niki Holbrook, 24. "Minorities are more like something you're born into with culture and race, stuff like that

 

 

 

FEBRUARY 2000

4 February 2000 Friday

Well it’s February already and I put up all the Valentines bulletin boards after kids were dismissed for early out and down came all the January art. The Chinese New Year starts tomorrow as the year of the dragon so I had the kids color some dragons to cut out and put together with brads.

            This is always the anniversary I celebrate coming out of the closet in 1986. Seems like a lifetime ago and I hardly seem like that person anymore.   It’s been warming up into the 40’s and should be nice weather for next week.

 

6 February 2000 Sunday

Sounds like the Morality Police are harassing Gay down in hateful Utah County. “Provo Paul Reams Wilderness Park. "The woods adjacent to the railroad tracks where everyone used to go off Independence Street now has a very tall fence that completely blocks access to the woods. This makes it very easy for a couple of cop cars to block off the exit, and then roust everyone. Provo Police raid the park every other evening now and if you even look remotely like you are cruising, they bother you."

 

Affirmation Spiritual Journey - Spiritual Reconciliation. At Metropolitan Community Church, in Salt Lake City.  Professor David Knowlton will lead an interactive workshop the first Sunday of each even month. (February, June, August & December--remember  April & October are our annual and semi-annual Conference Sunday  Firesides with a special guest speaker.

 

10 February 2000 Thursday

Actor Jim Varney best known for playing the iconic character Ernest Worrell and as Jed Clampett and in Toy Story died. He was my sister Donna’s age so young.

 

11 February 2000 Friday

Tomorrow is Fran’s birthday when she will turn 55 years old. I haven’t heard from her since I lived at the LeFrance Apartments but I heard that she is living in either Orem or Provo working as a nurse.

 

12 February 2000 Saturday

Peanut’s cartoonist Charles M. Schulz Considered one of the most influential cartoonists ever. He was 77 years old.

 

13 February 2000 Sunday

Affirmation Dr. Kathryn McKay at the Viking Villa Club House, in Ogden. Dr. McKay will speak about cross-cultural  gender studies.

 

14 February 2000 Monday

We had our Valentine’s party this afternoon and had the kids pass out their treats and cards. The room mothers brought in cupcakes and cookies for everyone. I got a lot of loot this year and took most of home to Michael. He thinks he may lose his job at Big A auto parts because its being taken over by a company that its running it into the ground.

 

 Vermont Offers Gay Couples Benefits -- But Not Marriage Proposal's distinction adds to the firestorm  BY ELIZABETH MEHREN   LOS ANGELES TIMES   MONTPELIER, Vt. --    With Valentine's Day upon us, Lois Farnham was moved to wonder, "Have you ever seen a romantic song written about your registered partner?"    The question has special meaning for Farnham, a school nurse who for 27 years has lived with Holly Puterbaugh, a lecturer in mathematics at the University of Vermont. Puterbaugh and Farnham want to get married, a civil rite that they believe is their civil right.  Along with two other same-sex couples, the pair filed a lawsuit that in December produced the state Supreme Court's landmark ruling ordering the Legislature to enact a law granting Gay and lesbian couples the same rights and privileges as heterosexual married couples. Acting on the court's mandate, a legislative committee Wednesday unveiled a 22-page proposal that skirts the term "marriage" in favor of a far-reaching domestic partnership system for Gay and lesbian couples. The carefully crafted document only added fuel to the firestorm that has vaulted Vermont into the center of a passionate debate on the subject of same-sex marriage. As Vermont appears poised to become the first state to enact such sweeping same-sex benefits, outsiders have descended on the Green Mountain state to lobby for both sides. Gay organizations see Vermont as leading the charge for an effort that failed in Hawaii and Alaska. Presidential candidates find themselves fielding questions about what will happen if Gay marriage, or some variation, is legalized here. Christian-right radio talk-show host Randall Terry is so appalled that he has set up shop just a few hundred feet from the gold-domed state Capitol. "This is an assault on the institution of marriage," said Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, the anti-abortion group based in Binghamton, N.Y. "It's their Normandy Beach. It's the immoral victory that they – the homosexual community -- have been looking for." Many cities have extended certain benefits to couples who are not married, including Gay and lesbian couples. But the scope of the effort in Vermont, said T.J. Tu of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a New York-based Gay-rights group, is "clearly a watershed that could push the Gay-rights agenda in a direction we never thought possible even 10 years ago." For better or for worse, as they say in the marriage trade, national urgency is of scant concern in a state that prides itself on tolerance and individualism. "Most of us have a philosophy of live and let live," said Tom Little, a Republican who chairs the Judiciary Committee in the state House of Representatives. Among Vermont's 548,000 residents, there is no evidence that the homosexual population is greater or smaller than elsewhere. Still, said Little, "the reality is that in Vermont, there are a lot of families where the model is not a so-called traditional nuclear family. There are a lot of single-parent families and a lot of families where two adults of the same gender are raising children." In many ways, said state Rep. Bill Lippert, a Democrat who serves with Little on the committee that drafted the proposal for same-sex partnership, Vermont is "essentially one community, with many small communities within it." Lippert, a psychologist who for seven years has lived with a male partner, said the state's heritage of tolerance has helped Gay and lesbian residents to "bring our stories to our neighbors, to our towns, to our communities."    Yet Lippert was one of three members of the 11-member committee who voted against legislative wording that chose partnership over marriage in the draft legislation. The wording pleased Democratic Gov. Howard Dean, who stated repeatedly that he was uncomfortable extending the term "marriage" to same-sex couples. For his part, Lippert said he was disappointed that rather than amending the state's conventional marriage statute, the committee sought parallel legal status.    Middlebury psychotherapist Stannard Baker, also a plaintiff in the original lawsuit, shared that sentiment. " Being a registered partner is a little like being a person of color during apartheid in South Africa," Baker said. "No matter how good they make it, it will still be second-class." Little said he expected the state House, made up of 67 Republicans, 77 Democrats, four Progressives and two Independents, to vote on the measure by mid-March and the state Senate by mid-April.  The domestic-partnership proposal applies exclusively to same-sex couples. Just as heterosexual couples obtain marriage licenses, Gay and lesbian couples would obtain domestic partnership licenses.

 

16 February 2000 Wednesday

Same Sex Marriage Debate at UVSC A debate on same sex marriage between ACLU Attorney Stephen Clark and BYU Law Professor Lynn Wardle will be held on Feb. 16th from Noon to 1PM in the Ragan Theater at Utah Valley State College in Orem Utah. Clark and Wardle will each speak for 10 minutes, then have 3 minutes to respond to each other, followed with answers to audience questions. There may also be a luncheon afterward, so you can join students at UVSC and have some institutional food with us afterward. The debate is being sponsored by the Gay (GLBT) student organization at UVSC.

 

18 February 2000 Friday

It’s a three day weekend because school is out on Monday for President’s Day. Mike wants to go to Rawlins this weekend for his mom’s birthday is on the 20^th.  She will be 64 years old

 

19 February 2000 Saturday

Amendments To Adoption Bills Axed; Without them, unmarried couples not allowed to adopt Amendments To Adoption Bills Get Axed BY HILARY GROUTAGE   THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Discussion over what makes a couple fit to adopt children in Utah raged in dual debate Friday before lawmakers concluded that the answer is a married man and woman. In a House committee and on the Senate floor, Rep. Nora Stephens and Sen. Howard Nielson sold their fellow legislators versions of two bills that exclude unmarried, single adults who live together from adopting -- despite earlier agreeing to make a provision for them in the law. "Adopting a child is not a right," said Stephens, R-Sunset. "The state has compelling interest and responsibilities to protect children. The issue is not what adults want.''  Debate over the adoption bills started even before they were drafted. After hearing rumblings about them, Rep. Mary Carlson, D-Salt Lake City, held a news conference in January to voice opposition. Sponsors Stephens and Nielson, R-Provo, seemed willing to compromise earlier this week. They met with House leadership, attorneys and the state's only openly Gay lawmaker and agreed to amend the nearly identical bills, Senate Bill 63 and House Bill 103. The amendments would have allowed single, unrelated adults who cohabitate to adopt children under two circumstances: if the child was a grandchild, niece or nephew, and if there were "clear and convincing" evidence of a previous relationship between the adopting adult and the child. Single adults who live alone still are allowed to adopt. Nielson's bill glided unanimously, amendments intact, through the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. But on Friday, the amendments were gone when the bill passed out of the Senate 23-4. Nielson said he sent the bill to the Senate without the amendments because “neither party was happy" about them. He also said he found convincing a legal argument that homosexuals would use the provisions to argue for the right to marry, as happened in Vermont. "We want to make it clear that we do not approve of homosexual marriage in this state," said Nielson during debate Friday. Stephens' bill appeared minus the amendments on Thursday in the House Judiciary Committee; it passed in that form on Friday, 8 to 2. "We had a tentative agreement, but we were not fully informed about the implications of the amendments,'' Stephens said. If both measures receive final approval by the House and Senate, the governor still must sign them into law. The bills are designed to codify an adoption rule already approved by the Board of Trustees of the state Division of Child and Family Services. The rule, which applies only to children in state custody, prompted a lawsuit from the Utah Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the child advocacy group Utah Children. The legislative action goes even further and extends the restrictions to private adoptions. After Friday's events, ACLU Executive Director Carol Gnade said the "unnecessary and mean-spirited legislation will likely draw legal challenges for years to come.'' Attorney Laura Milliken Gray, who testified in favor of the amendments and against the bill on Friday, said Utah's Constitution is different from Vermont's and Gays would never be allowed to marry under Utah law. "The chances of that occurring here are slim to none. And none just left town,'' Milliken Gray told lawmakers and onlookers in the packed committee room. Rather, Milliken Gray said, the amendments would give children the right to a parent's partner's insurance benefits and assets, just as other children have. Milliken Gray said she has completed several adoptions for same-sex couples so that in the event of a parent's death, the children would not become orphans. One family, the Jensen-Wysingers, attended all the committee hearings. On Wednesday, 9-year-old Makenlie told lawmakers all about her two-mother family, her baby brother Noah and how much she loved them.    "These children are going to stay in these homes whether you like it or not,'' Milliken Gray said Friday. "Why do you want to hurt Makenlie? Why do you want to hurt Noah?'' In the same meeting, Heidi Morrison of Springville spoke in favor of the restrictive bill and told lawmakers growing up with a lesbian mother left her with issues that lingered into adulthood.  "I'm the poster child for this bill. I don't affiliate myself with any group, I just feel obligated to speak,'' she said. At 25, married with three children, she said she is well-adjusted, but for years she felt that she and her sister were keeping their mother's sexuality "a dirty little secret.''  Stephens said she did not ask Morrison to testify. In fact, Morrison contacted her and the two had never met until moments before the committee meeting.  "What she said verifies what the bill tries to do,'' Stephens said, which is to place children in traditional, two-parent homes when possible.  Stephens said she has received an unprecedented amount of hateful mail and telephone calls regarding the bill. "I expected a lot of letters, but I've been appalled at the venomous and abusive nature of the letters I have received,'' Stephens said. Serena Carlson contributed to this story.

 

22 February 2000 Tuesday

The Salt Lake Tribune Senate OKs Ban On Adoptions By Unwed Couples BY ROBERT GEHRKE   THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Utah Senate passed a bill Monday that would ban adoptions to non-married couples, including prospective parents who are Gay, a move opponents say could cost the state millions in legal fees. The state already has rules that prohibit officials from placing children with unmarried couples who are living together. The proposal from Sen. Howard Nielson, R-Orem, would make that rule law and extend the ban to private adoption providers as well. Proponents argue that traditional families provide more support and better role models for children. They have also said the ban would block any chances that Utah courts could follow Vermont's courts, which used legal same-sex adoption to justify Gay marriage. Gay advocates argue the bill is targeted at preventing homosexual couples from adopting since they cannot legally marry in Utah. "Proponents of this bill are dead set in dragging Utah through one of those moral, legal battles that just tends to cost Utah millions of dollars and we just end up getting our heads handed to us," said James Gonzales, a lobbyist against the bill. "If things keep going the way they are  . . .  we're going to end up in the courts again."     The bill passed 17-9 and will go to the House for consideration. A nearly identical bill sponsored by Rep. Nora Stephens, R-Sunset, has been approved by a committee and is awaiting consideration in the House.

 

24 Feb 2000 Thursday

House Approves Bill Banning Adoption By Gays, Unmarried Couples BY DAN HARRIE   THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE In one of the most powerful speeches of the 2000 Utah Legislature, the state's only openly Gay lawmaker pleaded with colleagues Wednesday to defeat a proposed ban on homosexual or unmarried couples from adopting children. But the oratory skills of Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake City, failed to move the Republican-dominated House. Representatives approved first substitute House Bill 103 by an overwhelming 49-19. A similar bill already has cleared the Senate, and Gov. Mike Leavitt supports the restriction. Biskupski urged lawmakers to get beyond labels and consider the people who would be affected by the legislation. "I can tell you that the lesbian some see is not me," Biskupski said. "The stereotypes that people use to justify their hatred for me are not me. I am not all those negative things you have been taught to believe about me. "I am not less than human and therefore do not deserve to have my liberties taken away from me," said Biskupski, who is serving her first term in the Legislature. Most legislators looked down or away from Biskupski as she spoke. At one point she said that declaring Gay and unmarried couples as unfit to be adoptive or foster parents was a throwback to past acts of discrimination. "This is truly reminiscent of the days when the Jews, the African-Americans and even the Mormons were categorized and persecuted unjustly," she said. About 90 percent of Utah legislators are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which teaches that homosexuality is a sin. Rep. David Zolman, R-Taylorsville, approached Biskupski after the floor speech to request a copy of the remarks, calling them among the most eloquent he had heard on the House floor. But Zolman, like all but two of his Republican colleagues, voted for HB103. Just two Democrats supported the bill. Six Republicans and one Democrat were absent for the vote. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Nora Stephens, R-Sunset, said the proposal simply would place into state law what already is in effect by rule in the Department of Child and Family Services.  "Nonmarital cohabitation is a high-risk environment for children," said Stephens. "These nonmarital relationships are

dangerous to children." Stephens said her bill does not illegally discriminate against unmarried couples because "adoption is not a constitutional right." "This is not a bill about the rights of adults or the agenda of adults," she said. Instead, it is a measure intended to protect and safeguard the best interests of children.    Legislative attorneys said the bill raised no obvious constitutional questions. But private attorneys have told opponents that the measure is illegal and that a lawsuit already has been filed against the state for its regulation against placing children for foster care or adoption in the homes of unmarried couples.

 

25 February 2000 Friday

I heard through the grapevine that a Gay Mormon named Stuart Mathis committed suicide on steps of a Mormon Church in California to protest LDS involvement in Proposition 22. Being Gay and Mormon is suicide.

 

27 February 2000 Sunday

Family Fellowship Quarterly Forum at the University of Utah Social Work Auditorium. Robert A. Rees, former LDS bishop in Los Angeles who wrote 'No More Strangers and Foreigners: A  Mormon Christian Response to Homosexuality', will be the guest speaker. A light buffet will follow the meeting. Robert A. Rees, Ph.D., will be the speaker. His talk is entitled, "In a Dark Time the Eye Begins to See: Personal Reflections on Homosexuality and the  Mormon Church at the Beginning of the New Millennium." Dr. Rees is a  scholar, teacher, university administrator, and educational entrepreneur. He taught and worked in administration at UCLA for twenty-five years before taking early retirement in 1992. Following his retirement, he and his wife Ruth (a musicologist and choral musician) served as humanitarian service and education missionaries in the Baltics for nearly four years. They moved to the Santa Cruz area in 1996.

 

Intolerance on Adoption -The 21st century is not starting off as a new era of tolerance in Utah, not after the Senate and House last week passed bills banning adoptions to Gay and lesbian couples and to unmarried straight couples. These bills, spurred by an overwrought concern that lack of such restrictions could hurt the state if it is ever sued over same-sex marriage, are mean spirited and misguided. Assuming the Gay-adoption ban is signed into law by Gov. Mike Leavitt, Utah will join a very short list of states that officially discriminate against homosexuals on the matter of adoption. While four other states are debating legislation on the issue this year, only Florida has a statute outlawing Gay adoptions; it reads, "No person eligible to adopt under this statute may adopt if that person is a homosexual." Of course, Utahns are not quite that direct. The two bills would outlaw foster and adoptive placements of state-protected children, and adoption through private agencies, to cohabiting couples whose relationship is not recognized by the state, which by definition means any homosexual couple. The bills would codify a ban already enacted last year by the Division of Child and Family Services board, a rule which is currently being challenged in court. Utahns can thank the majority Republicans for the expected legal fallout from this legislation, since the votes in both chambers broke mostly over party lines. On Monday the Senate passed S.B. 63 by 17-9, and on Wednesday the House passed H.B. 103 by 49-19. Of the 28 dissenting voters, only two of them -- Reps. Lloyd Frandsen and Jordan Tanner -- were Republicans. Other than Rep. Jackie Biskupski's emotional speech on the House floor Wednesday, which correctly put a human-rights focus on the legislation, there was not much clear, logical thought put into this by lawmakers. Take, for instance, the rationale of Rep. Nora Stephens, the sponsor of H.B. 103. In a House committee hearing on H.B. 103, a Springville woman testified to the difficulties she encountered while growing up with a lesbian mother. Rep. Stephens said that this woman's unfortunate tale "verifies what the bill tries to do." Say what? If Rep. Stephens and her GOP colleagues want to make law on the basis of that anecdote, no matter how moving, then would they also want to line up the hundreds of children in the state's beleaguered child-welfare system and listen to their tales of abuse and neglect at the hands of their married parents? Would such testimony inspire a ban on adoptions to married couples? Of course not. The real issue here is that in Utah's climate of Gay intolerance, it might be unavoidable for a child to grow up with shame for a lesbian mother. And legislation like the Gay-adoption ban only exacerbates that environment.

 

Battle Lines Drawn on Gay Adoption Bills  Opposing sides debate proposed legislation that would ban cohabiting couples from adopting BY ROBERT GEHRKE   THE ASSOCIATED PRESS On the heels of a Mormon crusade against same-sex marriage in Hawaii, California and Alaska, Utah's predominantly Mormon Legislature is poised to stamp out a nagging reminder of homosexual lifestyles at home. A pair of bills would ban all adoptions by sexually involved couples living together. The ban is broad enough to cover heterosexual and homosexual partners. But Gay couples say they are squarely in the bill's crosshairs. "Although it's aimed at morality -- it's aimed at Gay and lesbian couples and it's aimed at couples living together -- the people it's hurting is kids," said Hazel Jensen-Wysinger. She and her partner adopted each other's biological children. But Scott Clark, chairman of the board of the state's Division of Child and Family Services, said the sole purpose of the ban is to protect children, not deny homosexuals adoption rights. "They've hijacked the dialogue and talked just about same-sex couples," said Clark. Clark said the change was brought about by cases where live-in boyfriends abused adopted children and a 1991 case in which the state placed the children of a deceased polygamous wife in the home of her fellow wives. The placement was challenged in court.    Regardless of the intent, the debate is clearly focused on the same-sex issue.    "I think [legislators] have this firm-rooted religiously based conviction and it is disingenuous to say [the law] is not aimed at Gay people," said attorney Laura Milliken Gray.  Gray's office wall is lined with pictures of some of the roughly 20 same-sex couples -- including the Jensen-Wysingers and Robert Austin and his partner Bradley Weischedel-- whom she helped with adoptions. Austin and Weischedel have a 10-year-old son they adopted from an abusive married couple in October 1998. "We are working on a daily basis fixing the damage that was done to a child in the home of married couple," said Austin. "We know firsthand that marriage is not the deciding factor." Under existing Utah law, marriage is not the deciding factor. Instead, social workers screen for a criminal or child abuse history, then go before a judge who decides if the adoption is in the child's best interests. Gray argues the bill usurps judicial screening. But Brigham Young University law professor Lynn Wardle, a proponent of the law, said Gay couples have secretly taken advantage of the law, their ultimate goal being legalizing same-sex marriage. He said studies of cohabiting couples who would be affected by the bill show a child in a same-sex household is more likely to use drugs and alcohol, be exposed to sex, contract sexually transmitted disease, fail at school and exhibit criminal behavior. But while research on Gay and lesbian parenting is scarce, it shows Gay and lesbian biological parents are as good as heterosexual couples at raising children, said Devon Brooks, a social work professor at University of Southern California. Utah's bills, sponsored by Rep. Nora Stephens, R-Sunset, and Sen. Howard Nielson, R-Orem, would codify existing administrative rules prohibiting adoptions by cohabiting couples and a proposed rule against such foster placements. The law would allow child placements in single-parent homes.

 

MARCH 2000

1 March 2000 Wednesday

It was an indoor recess day due to the rain. It was surprisingly warmer this week and will be in the 50’s next week. Seems like March is coming in like a lamb.  The UEA was able to get us a 6.7 percent raise after nothing for years . In the news George W. Bush is ahead in the Republican primaries over John McCain and it’s pretty certain Vice President Al Gore will be the democratic nominee.

 

2 March 2000 Thursday

UTAH FAMILIES TO PROTEST BAN ON ADOPTIONS: 'Because of election-season political pandering, children could suffer,' warns NGLTF's Kerry Lobel

 

3 March 2000 Friday

Down comes all the hearts and cupids and up goes all the shamrocks and leprechauns. Nothing really new at school and I am starting to get spring fever with all this warm weather but it’s too early really to do much yard work. Mike is pretty sure Big A is going under and both he and Rich Butler will be let go.

Gay Mormon Kills Self on Church Steps California man had expressed anguish over anti-Gay-marriage Proposition 22 BY DAN EGAN and MICHAEL VIGH   THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE A Gay California man's suicide on the steps of a Mormon church has come at the peak of a raging debate over Gay civil rights in the nation's most populous state. Police say Stuart Matis, 32, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Santa Clara, Calif., shot himself with a handgun on the steps of a Mormon church in Los Altos in the early hours of Feb. 25. The suicide occurred less than two weeks before voters will decide on California's controversial Proposition 22, which states that only heterosexual marriages can be recognized legally in that state. Matis' parents say their son's suicide had nothing to do with the fiercely debated initiative, which is supported by a number of religious organizations, including the LDS and Catholic Churches. "Adding to the tragedy of the event, there are those who would create political ramifications from this," the family said in a statement. "The family sincerely requests that the exemplary life of this good and well-respected young man not become fodder for anyone's campaign forum." Santa Clara police said a suicide note made no reference to either Matis' Mormon faith or the controversy around Proposition 22, but "he felt there was a conflict between Christianity and the Gay lifestyle," said Santa Clara Police Sgt. Anton Morec. "He said he had been in pain for a number of years." In the suicide note read at a Wednesday memorial service in California for Matis, he said he hoped some good would come from his death. "I am now free," the San Francisco Examiner reported Matis wrote. "I am no longer in pain and I no longer hate myself. As it turns out, God never intended for me to be straight. Perhaps my death might become the catalyst for some good." While Matis' parents say there is no connection between their son's death and Proposition 22, Matis staunchly opposed the initiative, writing recently to a family member about the pain he suffered because of the LDS Church's support. California church leaders have embarked on a campaign fund-raising drive, and letters have been read during Sunday services urging members to vote March 7 in favor of the proposition, also known as the Knight Initiative.  "On the night of March 7th, many California couples will retire to their beds thrilled that they helped pass the Knight Initiative," Matis wrote to a cousin. "What they don't realize is that in the next room, their son or daughter is lying in bed crying and could very well one day be the victim of society's homophobia. The Knight Initiative will certainly save no family. It is codified hatred. It is anti-family, anti-love and it is wrong." On Feb. 22, three days before his suicide, Matis wrote a letter to the student newspaper at Brigham Young University, from which he graduated in 1994, urging students to harbor more tolerance toward Gays. "I am Gay. I am also LDS. I realized the significance of my sexuality when I was around 13, and for the next two decades, I traveled down a tortuous path of internalized homophobia, immense self-hatred, depression and suicidal thoughts. Despite the calluses on my knees, frequent trips to the temple, fasts and devotion to my mission and church callings such as Elders' Quorum president, I continually failed to attenuate my homosexuality," Matis wrote. " . . . I read a recent letter to the editor with great regret. The author compared my friends and me to murderers, satanists, prostitutes and pedophiles. Imagine having to live with this rhetoric constantly being spewed at you."  It is this and other recent statements that have convinced anti-Proposition 22 activist Jeanie Mortensen-Besamo the issue "was just ripping him apart" during Matis' last days. She said it wasn't necessarily the political campaign but a culture of homophobia that troubled Matis so much.  "It's been so predominant in California for several months. You can't go anywhere in California without seeing those stupid blue and yellow signs [in favor of Proposition 22]," said Mortensen-Besamo, who began corresponding with Matis about a month ago. "For him, it was paralyzing. He couldn't handle it anymore." A spokesman for the Yes on 22 campaign declined comment other than to say, "It's a personal family matter."    LDS Church spokesman Michael Purdy expressed condolences to the Matis family, and also stressed the suicide should not be exploited for political purposes.  "We are aware of the feelings and requests of the Matis family that their grief and personal tragedy not become a matter of public discussion or political posturing," said Purdy. Gary Watts, co-chairman of Family Fellowship, a Utah support group for Mormon parents of Gays and lesbians, called the suicide "very distressing" and said an anti-Gay climate is a likely factor in Matis' death.    "There is little question that the environment in California has played a major role in his decision and his inability to cope with his homosexuality," said Watts.    Robert Rees, a family friend and spiritual counselor to Matis during the last year of his life, says the root of Matis' despair will remain a mystery. "For somebody to make such an ultimate decision, no one can know what goes on in that person's mind," said Rees, a retired professor at the University of California Los Angeles.    Burial services for Matis are scheduled for today at 11 a.m. at the Orem City.

 

5 March 2000 Sunday

Affirmation --Workshop on love and personal spirituality  with Margo Hope at Metropolitan Community Church, 823 S 600 E in Salt  Lake.

 

The Salt Lake Tribune Alan Hansen, with son Nicholas, has found himself at odds with leaders in his LDS church ward in Tracy, Calif., over his opposition to Proposition 22.; Brent Newbold, a Mormon bishop in Sacramento, Calif., says his ward supports the measure he believes will preserve the sanctity of families. LDS Bishop Brent Newbold of Sacramento, Calif., says his congregation backs a state proposition that would ban recognition of Gay marriage. For Some, Mormon Stance on Gay Issue Creates a Crisis of Conscience  LDS Stance On Gay Law Divides Members BY DAN EGAN   THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE TRACY, Calif. -- It's dinner time, and Alan and Yvette Hansen's home is a quintessential picture of Mormon domesticity. Toddlers scoot from their seats and romp about, pushing a toy vacuum cleaner and toting around dolls. "My name is James!" shouts a 4-year-old who sneaks away from the dinner table while his mother tries to coax a sibling into taking medication for an ear infection. "My -- name -- is -- Jaaames!!!" "James," replies Yvette Hansen, 31, holding an eye dropper over her squirming daughter. "Use your inside voice,

please." Inside voices. That is an admonishment Alan and Yvette Hansen have been hearing themselves. The couple have been speaking out against California's controversial "Proposition 22" -- perhaps louder than they should, according to their leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.    The Mormon church and many of its roughly 740,000 members in California are on a crusade to pass Tuesday's ballot initiative, which would ban recognition of Gay marriages in the state. The Hansens, who describe themselves as good Mormons, have a problem with that. And now they have a problem with their church. "I obviously believe God doesn't want me to vote 'yes,' he wants me to vote 'no,' " says Alan Hansen, who opposes the initiative on grounds it could lead to discrimination against homosexuals and a loss of rights for children of Gays.    He also makes it clear he has a problem with his church's support of the measure, and because of that, he says, church leaders have slapped him with an "informal probation." It is not his opposition that is the problem, says Hansen's ecclesiastical leader, Manteca Stake President Rex Brown. "People certainly are free to say whatever they'd like to say in regards to Proposition 22," Brown says. "The real issue is speaking out against the church." Brown would not comment on Hansen's status in the church, citing church policy on confidentiality. While a majority of California Mormons appear to support both Proposition 22 and their church's unabashed support for it, the Hansens do not stand alone. Many are eager to whisper to the news media that all is not well among the rank and file. Resentment, they say, roils because the church's fund-raising and aggressive campaigning for Proposition 22 are forcing them to choose between supporting their church leaders or their homosexual family members and friends. Just last week, a 32-year-old Gay Mormon man put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger on the steps of a Mormon chapel in Northern California. He was profoundly opposed to Proposition 22, though his family insists the suicide was not politically motivated. Others disagree, but hardly any who are opposed to the church's official position will allow their names to be used in newspaper stories. They say they fear repercussions and note that when documents were leaked last summer that outlined Mormon leadership's fund-raising strategies for the campaign, leaders "were all but beating the bushes to get the squealer to come out." The chill that has since spread across California's Mormon landscape has created such a bitter climate that some say they no longer feel free even to privately express their opposition to a measure they believe is discriminatory.    "The issue is so sensitive," says one member of a Southern California ward. "It's just pretty doggone touchy and people don't want to betray themselves to somebody who might report them. In ways, it's like what I imagined it was like living in Russia, where people acted as the eyes and ears of government." So they bite their lips or speak in hushed tones, and most always insist their names not be used for publication. But not 30-year-old Alan Hansen. He is practically clanging cymbals. "This is the first time I've found myself left of center. I'm a pretty conservative guy," says the marketing manager for an Internet start-up company in San Jose. The Hansens live in the little city of Tracy, located about 60 miles east of the San Francisco Bay area. "[But] many think the church is not on the moral high ground here." Hansen insists he is not attacking the church, he is simply criticizing its stance on Proposition 22. He and his wife say they are happily heterosexual, and he says this is the first time he has found himself crossways with his church, which spent more than $1 million in similar, successful ballot initiatives recently held in Alaska and Hawaii. While church headquarters in Utah reportedly has not given a dime to the California cause, local leaders have for nearly a year prodded members to write checks in support of the campaign. Their donations are not considered tithing, nor are they tax-deductible.  It's impossible to say how much of the estimated $8 million raised so far for the Yes on 22 campaign has come from Mormons because individual contributors do not list church affiliation on campaign finance forms. The Mormon church is joined in its campaign by other religious organizations, including the Catholic Church, which has given more than $300,000, and the California Southern Baptist Convention, Assemblies of God and several Muslim and Protestant denominations. Anti-Gay or Pro-Family? The LDS battle is being waged with more than money. Each Sunday, letters of support are read to California wards, and members are entreated to canvass neighborhoods and put Yes on Proposition 22 signs in their yards. "The ecclesiastical pressure has been enormous," says one former bishop, who continues to hold a high church leadership position in the Bay area. "We've never seen anything like this."    Even LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley has weighed in. "We regard it as not only our right, but our duty to oppose those forces which we feel undermine the moral fiber of society," Hinckley said last fall. "Such is currently the case in California, where Latter-day Saints are working as part of a coalition to safeguard traditional marriage from forces in our society which are attempting to redefine that sacred institution." At the same time, Hinckley says the church will continue "to love and honor them [homosexuals] as sons and daughters of God." The LDS Church rarely wades into stormy political waters. But, Hinckley and other leaders say, this is a moral issue, and it calls for political activism.    Gay rights advocates question why the church picked Proposition 22 instead of loads of other legislation – child welfare or domestic abuse laws, for example -- that could reinforce the fabric of families.    "They [homosexuals] feel like this is in their face and is really anti-Gay," says Gary Watts, a Utah Mormon and father of two Gay children. He is co-chair of Family Fellowship, a support group for Mormon parents of Gays and lesbians. "Up until I became familiar with the issue about 11 years ago, I probably would be there with everybody else [supporting Proposition 22]. Unless you . . . know someone who is Gay or lesbian, it's very easy to demean them." Gay marriage is not currently allowed in California or any other state. Proposition 22 simply ensures that California will not have to recognize Gay marriages that might someday be sanctioned in other states. Advocates of the measure note that dozens of states as well as Congress have passed similar measures, and they argue nothing will change for Gay couples. They say the initiative is merely a chance to reaffirm their position on marriage.    Opponents say there is nothing positive about a 'yes' vote. They call the issue a "wedge” intended to nudge the state's Gay population to the fringe. They contend Proposition 22 could lead to a host of lost rights, including health benefits, hospital visitation privileges, and, most importantly for the Hansens, cause harm to children of homosexuals in areas such as inheritances, custodial rights and medical benefits. It is a personal issue for the Hansens, who have been foster parents to five children. They are in the process of adopting 4-year-old Jessica so she will become legal sister to James and Nicholas, 2, their biological children. They worry Proposition 22 could push homosexual parents out of the picture at a time when California needs all the parents it can get.  "We need to protect anybody who is willing to take extraordinary steps to take care of kids," says Alan Hansen. And, say the Hansens, sexuality is not a factor in determining who is a good parent.  "As foster parents, we've seen plenty of married people in traditional families raising their kids badly. We've raised their kids for them," adds Yvette Hansen. "I don't care what [homosexuals] do in their bedroom. If it's a sin, it's between them and God." "Is it more important," presses Alan Hansen, "to call someone a sinner than it is to protect children?" Politicking at the Pulpit: The Hansens' quiet convictions bubbled into the public recently after Alan Hansen wrote a letter to the local newspaper criticizing both the proposition and the Mormon church's stumping at the pulpit. "When I attend church, I go there hoping to get close to God. I go to study the life of Jesus and to learn to live like him. I go to repent of my sins and rededicate myself to righteous living. I go to church to improve myself," he wrote in a letter to the editor that appeared in the Tracy Press. "When my church tells me how to vote or where to spend my political dollars, it takes away from my opportunity to worship and consider God in my life." While Hansen is not surprised those words ruffled church leadership, he contends they should be willing to tolerate his dissent. After all, he notes, the church has entered the political debate. And he is just debating those politics.    "The church told members we don't have to vote 'yes,' " Hansen told a reporter for the Tracy Press. "Well, that means I can vote 'no,' and I can talk about my reasons." Others are also starting to speak out. "I'm disappointed that we are supporting a proposition that is so divisive, that causes parents who have homosexual children to be really put in a situation of having to choose between the church and their family," says Richard Rands, a Mormon who lives in the Bay area. "This is such a divisive issue for families, which is very ironic because families are at the core of the church's concern here," says Rands' wife, Janet.    Other local church leaders acknowledge the issue is at the root of some discord, but they say support for the measure and the church's position on it have been overwhelming. "When the prophet [Hinckley] speaks, we listen," says Brent Newbold, a Mormon bishop and owner of a dry cleaning store in the Sacramento area. "It's caused people to make a decision -- [to state] where they stand."    And, says Newbold, nine out of 10 in his ward stand by their church. At least one woman in his ward, however, quit attending because of the church's position.  "I don't call her in and give her a hard time," says Newbold. "Hopefully, she'll come back." But a steady trickle of Californians may be leaving the church permanently because of the issue. Kathy Worthington, a Utah Gay-rights activist who is coordinating a drop-out campaign, claims she has been in contact with more than 300 people who want to stop being Mormon. A former Mormon herself, Worthington says she has copies of more than 100 notarized letters sent to church headquarters by people who are trying to sever their ties with their religion because of Proposition 22. "This [issue] seems to be the last straw for a lot of people," she says. Church spokesman Michael Purdy said he could not provide information regarding Worthington's assertion. But Janet Rands has seen enough to know that some harm already has been done. "I don't think anyone sat down with the intention of driving people away, but I do see that," says Rands, a psychologist. "The sad thing is, this affects their kids, a generation who won't be learning their Bible songs, who won't be reading the Book of Mormon." That could include the Hansen children. Alan Hansen, a lifelong Mormon who served a mission in Japan and was born while his parents attended  church-owned Brigham Young University, says he has been stripped of his teaching position in the church for being so outspoken on the issue and could face harsher penalties. "The bishop has said I need to make a public apology for my comments," he says. "I haven't said anything that is not the truth, and a person should not be punished for telling the truth." His wife frets he may be on the road to excommunication, but he's not so scared that he will stop lobbying for an issue he holds sacred. "I was asked -- if it came down to [my position on] Proposition 22 vs. my church membership, which would I choose," he says. "I'd choose both. "If I couldn't choose, it would be out of my hands. It wouldn't be my choice."

 

6 March 2000 Monday

A candlelight vigil entitled "A Funeral for Utah Families" was held at the Utah State Capitol Building in Salt Lake City. The vigil is in protest of a bill that has passed through the Utah Legislature that would ban both same-sex and unmarried heterosexual couples from adopting children. "Because of election-season political pandering by Utah's state legislators, children could suffer," said NGLTF Executive Director Kerry Lobel. "This bill will deprive children of certain rights and privileges that derive from being part of a family - such as health benefits, inheritance rights and Social Security death benefits from the adoptive parent. And that’s not even taking into account the greatest deprivation of all - that children will be denied a place in permanent homes with loving parents." Lobel noted that there are currently hundreds of children in Utah who are currently in state custody and are awaiting adoption. "Already, there is a shortage of homes for these children," Lobel said. "Take same-sex and unmarried opposite-sex couples out of the equation and the problem will become more acute - and more painful for the children. Judges and social workers should make careful decisions about adoptions on a case-by-case basis. These decisions should not be made by Utah politicians anytime, but especially during an election season." Attending Monday's vigil will be members of the Utah Equality Network, American Civil Liberties Union and Unitarian Universalist Church. The Utah bills - HB 103 and SB 63 - have passed the House and Senate and are awaiting action by the governor. The bills state that it is not in a child's best interest to be adopted by persons "cohabiting in a relationship that is not a legally valid and binding marriage." Founded in 1973, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has worked to eliminate prejudice, violence and injustice against Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people at the local, state and national level. As part of a broader social justice movement for freedom, justice and equality, NGLTF is creating a world that respects and celebrates the diversity of human expression and identity where all people may fully participate in society.

 

7 March 2000 Tuesday

Charles Gray who played the narrator in Rocky Horror Picture Show died today. It’s just a jump to the left

 

9 March 2000  Thursday

DJ Thompson, a Gay Mormon man from Salt Lake City, took his life. His death follows that of another Gay Mormon man, Stuart Matis, who shot himself on the steps of an LDS stake center in Santa Clara, California, on February 25, 2000. Both men struggled for years to reconcile their sexuality with their religious beliefs. These suicides occurred against the backdrop of the passing of Proposition 22 in California, which outlaws marriage of same sex couples. Members of the LDS church, as directed by their leaders, contributed significant amounts of money and time to the "Yes on 22 Campaign." Over 61% of voters favored the legislation. In some LDS Families Proposition 22 forced members to have to choice between supporting Gay and lesbian loved ones and obligation to the Church. For some Gay and lesbian Mormons, the Church's involvement with Proposition 22 has resulted in their leaving the Church. Many leaders in faith communities which affirm Gay and lesbian members are supporting an education effort and are calling on LDS Officials to reconsider Church policy and anti-Gay activities. In a letter to the President of the LDS Church, an Archbishop in The Ecumenical Catholic Church wrote, "Proposition 22 was one of the ugliest chapters in the history of the modern Church. Our job as chief pastors is to spread the gospel. Supporting Proposition 22 did just the opposite. It told people they were not fully loved by God." Although there are many Gay and lesbian Mormons throughout the world, their experiences are unknown to the majority of Church members. In his suicide note DJ Thompson expressed the hope that his death would be catalyst for understanding and change. This is the reason for the Interfaith service. Members of all faith communities are invited to attend

 

10 March 2000 Friday

Nothing new at school this week. We will be practicing the Ghost of Plymouth Castle soon I suppose.

WSU Offers Scholarship for Gay Backers Controversial award, intended to promote tolerance, angers some but has trustees' approval; WSU Scholarship Will Reward Supporters of Gays BY KRISTEN MOULTON   THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE OGDEN -- A scholarship for those who serve the Gay, lesbian and bisexual communities is being offered this spring at Weber State University, angering some faculty, alumni and donors.   Students and professors horrified by the pistol-whipping death of Gay college student Matthew Shepard outside Laramie, Wyo., in 1998 came up with the idea for the scholarship. Figuring that education is the antidote to bigotry, they raised $54,000 from 192 donors and will pick the first winner of the $2,000 annual scholarship this spring. The scholarship, said WSU President Paul Thompson, promotes tolerance, just as the university's conference on hate crimes did last spring. "Matthew Shepard died because he was Gay. We at Weber State would like to say we abhor this kind of action," Thompson said. But James E. Macdonald, a business law and ethics professor, sees the scholarship as a serious misstep by a state university, one that will cost it friends and money.       "The university did something they knew would offend and alienate a large number of people," Macdonald said. "This scholarship reflects a permissiveness that not only allows but even encourages immoral and criminal behavior," he said. "It will serve as a vehicle for promoting homosexual lifestyles." Thompson concedes he has had a few alumni and donors threaten to stop supporting the university, and complaints to the board of trustees prompted him to ask for the board's endorsement Tuesday.  The board, acknowledging "some discomfort" in the community and among the trustees, said the university should accept the donations and administer the scholarship. To do otherwise could jeopardize other scholarships whose donors put restrictions on recipients, said university attorney Richard Hill. Thompson said the university has 40 or 50 donor-restricted scholarships that amount to more than $1 million. They go to single mothers, nontraditional students and other classes of students. Hill said that although the case of the East High Gay Alliance vs. the Salt Lake City School Board does not directly apply, it had a bearing on his analysis. In that case, a federal judge ruled the school board had to allow no extracurricular clubs or all of them.    Macdonald says that by that logic, the university would have to accept Aryan Nations or Ku Klux Klan money. "The university would have to say, 'Gosh, we're really happy to get your money,' " Macdonald said. "It's absurd on the face of it."

   The scholarship started out as available to students who are publicly identified as Gay, lesbian or bisexual. But the Shepard scholarship committee this winter broadened it to include other students who are involved in homosexual or bisexual issues. Macdonald says it was his pressure that brought the change, because discriminating against heterosexuals would have violated the university's policy against sexual orientation discrimination.  But Hill says it was his study of dozens of similar scholarships at universities around the country that led to his advice that the committee broaden the scholarship recipient base.    Carol Hansen, a library professor who is co-chairwoman of the scholarship committee, said she is proud of her university's willingness to take a stand for tolerance. The university's mission statement proclaims it a leader in diversity issues, she said. "We've made strides in a lot of different areas to be more inclusive. This is an extension of that," said Hansen. "The scholarship is designed to promote awareness, tolerance and understanding." Shepard's murder hit close to home for many faculty, she said. "We hear our students making homophobic remarks in the classroom or passing in the hall. It makes you want to act, to really help build awareness and encourage our Gay and lesbian students to be who they are."

 

12 March 2000 Sunday

The Salt Lake Tribune Eagle Forum Opposes Gay-Themed Grant Ruzicka calls Weber State U. scholarship 'absolutely inappropriate,' plans to lobby regents, governor The conservative group Utah Eagle Forum has set its sights on a privately funded scholarship offered by Weber State University. The scholarship would give $2,000 to a student who serves the Gay, lesbian and bisexual communities. "I certainly intend to visit with some regents and others who I know have influence on [the Board of Regents], including the governor, about this," said Gayle Ruzicka, president of the Utah Eagle Forum. "I think it's absolutely inappropriate." But the Board of Regents has no plan to address the issue at its meeting in St. George next week. "At least, it isn't on our agenda," said chairman Charlie Johnson. "Scholarships are handled by the administration and trustees of the institution." Johnson said the question of scholarship donations made with controversial strings attached hasn't ever come up in Utah before. "We don't know the answer because it's not something we've looked at before," he said. The scholarship, named by WSU students and professors in honor of Matthew Shepard, the Gay Wyoming college student who was beaten to death in 1998, was originally intended only for students who were Gay, lesbian or bisexual. But the university's legal counsel advised the availability of the award be broadened to include anyone who serves the Gay, lesbian and bisexual communities, said WSU President Paul Thompson. "There are two criteria. The first is academic excellence," he said. A 3.25 grade point average would be the threshold. The other is service to Gay and lesbian students on the campus. But Ruzicka said the scholarship is promoting sodomy, which is illegal in Utah. "And now we have a scholarship available to people who promote or serve that," she said. "Would they allow a scholarship that promoted the use of marijuana or encouraged teenagers to smoke? I don't think so." Thompson said he's fully aware the scholarship is "a sensitive issue, and it presents a lot of challenges." "But our attorney has told us the closest precedent he can find is the East High [Gay-Straight] Alliance vs. the Salt Lake City School Board case," he said, where a federal judge ruled the district had to allow all extracurricular clubs or none. "We've already accepted at least 50 donor-directed scholarships," he said. "If we were to reject this scholarship and be sued or challenged, we would put those other scholarships at risk."

 

16 March 2000 Thursday

Now that that Spring is almost here Gay men are hitting the parks after being cooped up all winter. “Salt Lake City Oxbow Park. This was taken from the Salt Lake Tribune. "Police cracked down on a stretch of the Jordan River Parkway where men engage in homosexual trysts. In the past two weeks, police have arrested 21 men in the area of Oxbow Park. The men have been charged with lewdness or gross lewdness and must take an HIV-test before appearing in court, said South Salt Lake police Officer Darin Sweeten."

 

The Salt Lake Tribune Police Crack Down on Trysts Along Jordan River Parkway BY MICHAEL VIGH   THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE    After the area appeared on a pair of alternative-lifestyle Web sites, South Salt Lake police cracked down on a  stretch of the Jordan River Parkway where men engage in homosexual trysts. In the past two weeks, police have arrested 21 men in the area of Oxbow Park, 1115 W. 3300 South. The men have been charged with lewdness or gross lewdness and must take an HIV-test before appearing in court, said South Salt Lake police Officer Darin Sweeten. The men have sex in the bushes just a few feet from where children Rollerblade, parents push strollers and people walk their dogs, Sweeten said. Undercover officers have made arrests after walking in on the encounters and after they have been propositioned. Investigators have found used contraceptives and needles along the parkway. Sweeten said the area has been known to police for several years as a place for Gay romance, but police began their crackdown after business owners and residents complained three weeks ago about increased "traffic" in the area. Many of the men -- clad in business suits and ties -- were seen milling around the area at lunch time and in the early evening. Neighbors also became concerned when they noticed the parking lots full of cars at odd hours. After one arrest, a man told police that he discovered the Gay hangout while surfing the Internet. "He told us about a couple of Web sites and we looked them [up] and they list our area -- as well as several others in Utah  -- as a place to go and engage in that activity," Sweeten said. Police have now asked the Utah Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Salt Lake City to help spread the word. Executive director Paula Wolfe said she is setting up a meeting with various police agencies and the health department to discuss the problems of public sex. But Wolfe said it is difficult for her organization to offer much help. "From my understanding, 80 to 90 percent of them would not identify themselves as homosexual, most see themselves as heterosexual," Wolfe said. Added Sweeten: "A lot of these men have wives and kids at home."

 

17 March 2000 Friday

St. Patrick’s Day and I made sure to wear green and made little paper shamrocks for kids to wear so they don’t get pinched ha! After school sown came a lot of the leprechauns and up went the Kites bulletin boards. Brenda Tau’a and I are going to take the kids out hopefully next week if the weather is nice to fly kites. The third Quarter is over next week. Last Tuesday was Bill Romero’s birthday but since we went up in February and we didn’t go to Rawlins.

 

The Salt Lake Tribune Adoption Law Faces Legal Tests Lawsuits likely on statute limiting placement with unmarried adults BY KATHERINE KAPOS and HEATHER MAY   THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE    With his signature on a controversial new law preventing cohabiting adults from adopting children or becoming foster parents in Utah, Gov. Mike Leavitt likely has moved a bitter legal battle onto the state's agenda. On Tuesday, Leavitt signed House Bill 103, which prevents placement of children in homes where unmarried adults are living together in an intimate relationship. The new law mirrors a rule adopted last summer by the board of trustees of the Division of Child and Family Services, which almost immediately was hit with a federal civil rights lawsuit. The governor recognizes the potential for a lawsuit, as with any new legislation, but he is "confident that it's good legislation and is prepared that we may face legal challenges,'' his spokeswoman, Vicki Varela, said Thursday.    Leavitt's action "shows that the board's values are consistent with those of the state," said Scott Clark, head of the DCFS board of trustees. "It may not meet the agendas of adults, but it is in the best interest of children." The DCFS rule will be modified to be in line with the state law, thus putting any future legal challenge on the state's shoulders, Clark said. The state law is slightly different than the DCFS administrative rule because it more clearly targets Gay and lesbian partners and requires DCFS case workers to determine if applicants have a sexual relationship outside of marriage. After the DCFS board passed its rule, the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, a Gay couple and a woman filed a lawsuit claiming the rule violates equal protection guarantees of the Utah and U.S. Constitutions by prohibiting a category of people to adopt.    Opponents also argue it will deny children the rights and privileges of being part of a family. Tapestry of Polygamy, a support group for women who have fled polygamous marriages, filed a friend of the court brief, saying the ban was appropriate since it would keep children out of polygamous homes. On Thursday, opponents of the plan were reviewing their options, but the legal battle will likely go forward. Several groups, including the ACLU, Utah Children, National Center for Youth Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, wrote Leavitt a two-page letter earlier this month urging a veto and warning of litigation.    The law will be "devastating" to children, particularly in cases of second-parent adoptions, Stephen Clark, legal director of the Utah ACLU, said Thursday. He suggested a hypothetical situation in which a child is denied health benefits. The child's biological parent does not have insurance. However his non-biological parent does, but isn't allowed to adopt the child.  "My fear is there's going to be a case where a child, for no good reason, is going to be denied full legal protection

simply because of the status of the adults in the home. That's going to present a compelling case," Stephen Clark said. "I'm very disappointed," added Roz McGee, executive director of Utah Children. "The governor has been subjected

to the same pressure that legislators were subjected to. He has not had the opportunity to have a full review of the implications of it."

 

19 March 2000 Sunday

Local and National Religious Organizations Join with the Gay/Lesbian Mormon Community in Responding to Recent Suicides-Concerned about the climate of misunderstanding and intolerance between the LDS Church and the Gay and lesbian community, a group of Gay and lesbian Mormons and their families are holding a memorial service to remember two men who recently committed suicide. The Interfaith Service will be held on Sunday, March 19, 2000, from 7:30 - 9:00 p.m., at The Cathedral Church of St. Mark (Episcopal) in Salt Lake City. The program is entitled, "No More Deaths, No More Silence," and will feature comments by friends of the deceased, music by the Salt Lake Men's Choir and speakers by community leaders. Organizers hope that the Service will launch a collective effort to combat future suicides and to initiate dialogue with LDS Church leaders.

 

20 March 2000 Monday

It’s the first day of Spring in the new Millennium. It’s been warm and breezy but since we have had less than 7 inches of water since October they are talking about being in a drought.  The Globe Willows are starting to leaf out an I see some crocuses around. Today is mom and dad’s 54^th Wedding Anniversary.   In Uganda there was a mass cult suicide of over 300 people the largest since Jonestown in 1978.

 

24 March 2000 Friday

No school for the kids today because it is Career Ladder Day so I can print out of the kids report cards.

 

31 March 2000 Friday

The month went  pretty fast and this last term will go even faster as we have to prepare for end of level tests in May. Yesterday we had a snow storm so March went in like a lamb and out like a lion. The snow didn’t stick around because it has been so warm but I bet it might have hurt some of the fruit trees.

The Salt Lake Tribune Weber State to Identify Donors to Gay Scholarship THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OGDEN -- Weber State University plans to release a list of donors to the Matthew Shepard scholarship fund to anyone who asks in writing for the information. The fund was created in memory of Matthew Shepard, the Gay Wyoming college student beaten to death in 1998. The scholarship program was expected to garner $40,000 but has already drawn $56,000 from 203 contributors. The scholarship will provide $2,000 to a Weber State student who serves the Gay, lesbian and bisexual communities. The first recipient will be selected this spring. The program has come under criticism from some faculty, alumni and donors. It has received so much publicity that supporters raised more money faster than they expected, creating a surplus that could be used to boost scholarships or create a second annual award. Already, two requests for a list of donors have been made, although one was withdrawn and the other, submitted anonymously, couldn't be honored. Weber State President Paul Thompson said the college must release the information under the Government Records and Management Act, but donors will be contacted for permission before their names are released. "If they choose to make an anonymous donation we have to respect that," he said.    Only 10 percent of the donors have asked to remain anonymous, said Carol Hansen, a Weber State librarian and member of the Shepard committee.     "Most of the donors are proud of their contribution," she said.