OCTOBER 1975
October in Provo is always a dramatic change
from September’s warm days and cool days
to cool days and colder nights. All the foliage changes from green to red and
then to brown as leaves depart and we start wearing jackets and sweaters even during
the day hours.
I
did not make any entries for the entire Month of October in my journal except
one. I have no idea why now; except that work and classes may have overwhelmed
me. I didn’t even record any of the talks from October General Conference.
October 4th was Mike Allred’s 24th birthday and I know we
would have done something special to celebrate it and of course the end of the
month was Halloween.
I
probably was going through changes myself as I was really weary of being at BYU
and being loveless. Most of people I knew in my Branch were immature or really
into the BYU college scene while I was becoming less enthusiastic. I think I finally realized also that Mike
Allred and I would never be more than people who had shared some experiences
living together while in college.
I
also suspect I was becoming more active in exploring my homosexual nature by
spending time in the college men’s rooms in the Wilkinson Center which were a
hot bed of clandestine Gay encounters and my ‘sinful” nature kept me from
detailing my daily life.
1
October 1975 Wednesday
Additional
Material
- Robert Blattner of LDS Social
Services (which was tasked by the church to treat homosexual members in
1972) gave an address titled "Counseling the Homosexual in a Church
Setting" at the first annual conference of Association of Mormon Counselors and
Psychotherapists (AMCAP) annual conference. Blattner served as a special
assistant to the LDS Commissioner of Personal Welfare Victor Brown Jr. In
the address Blattner states that the causes of homosexuality in men are a
"disturbed family background" of an "absent father"
and "usually" a "controlling mother" and a "lack
of relationship with peers", while for women he only says "we
don't have much information". He also says homosexual behavior and
alcoholism are similar. He is asked what "the church's feelings are
about electric shock ... behavior modification" and answered the
church had "never made a statement on it" but that "most
people coming to us can be helped by it" in reference to aversion
therapy research happening at BYU
- “Opening 1975” printed in The University
of Utah’s Daily Chronicle on page
38 LOW DOWN ON SLC BARS-Salt Lake City is actually a smoking place in its
own way. There are night clubs,
beer bars, motorcycle bars, supper clubs, gay bars, country bars,
intellectual bars, ethnic nooks, disco houses, and belly dancing clubs,
theater clubs, athletic bars, and roof top bars. .. If your wrists are too
supple for violence and you love to dance, The Sun 1 South 400 West is
probably the best place to get drunk and have a good time in the city. But
sometimes they get too exclusive and they bar the door to any of the poor
straights who can’t stand dancing next to jocks.
- The GAYZETTE has new editors
Executor Editor Gene Patten who must have replaced Jim C. Temporary Editor was Bab de Lay.
Previous editor resigned and “left us holding the bag.”
- PERKY’S CLOSES Interview by Babs De
Lay. After five years of dedicated service to the Gay community Perky’s
closest her door and sold out. In an exclusive interview with Perky, she
had the following to say about her bar. “Five years of the bar business is
enough for me. It takes a lot of hours and time to run a bar. I grew up
without having a Gay bar to go to. We had to go out you people’s homes to
socialize. When I opened up the bar we had a fantastic group of girls that
were all very grateful to me. We really had a good time, but there were
two groups of girls; the ones who started out with me, and the younger
girls that came out in the past few years. For the older girls it was
harder being Gay. We had to be
cautious about our selves. Originally we couldn’t dance in the bar, but
after a few months the police let us alone. The younger kids have it a lot
easier with the attitudes changing and the new bars. They don’t have the hassles we used to
have. The spirit of the neighborhood bar isn’t felt anymore. I enjoyed
both group of girls. They were in two different ball games. The young ones
kept me young. The whole five years was a really neat experience. The kids
were good to me it was a good living, and we had a lot of great times together.
I believe that the only way to go out is to go out on top.” Perky is
planning to spend more time with her family. She also stated, “I’ve got
some pokers in the fire, so I can’t really say what I plan on doing. Let
the young one’s take over. People will
always be good to me.” The Gay
community regrets the loss of Perky and her bar. We all wish her well with
her future plans. Perky’s is now a straight bar for your general
information.
3
October 1975 Friday
Additional
Material
The
145th Semi General Conference of the LDS Church began today.
President Spencer W Kimball opened the conference warning against abortion,
divorce, and “free sex.” The main theme was urging the members to be
anti-choice on reproductive rights.
- The Imperial Court of Utah is
founded to show case drag performers and to fund-raise for the Gay and
Lesbian Community. The ICU Evolved
into the Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire the oldest Gay
fund-raising organization in Utah. Emperor Pepper Prespentt was the first
female emperor in any of the imperial courts. Other members of the first
court were Empress I Deanna who moved to Alaska. It was he who picked
Pepper to be her Emperor. Terry J was
Princess Royale, Gordie (Gordon Winklekotter) was Czarina, Jay was Grand
Duchess, Mary was Queen of the Realm, and Bruce was Prime Minister. Pepper as Emperor I picked Chad as
Prince Royale, Larry White as Czar and Ron as Grande Duke. The Imperial
Court of Utah eventually received
its charter from the Royal Court system of Denver.
4
October 1975 Saturday
Additional
Material
Marion
G Romney claimed Christopher Columbus was divinely inspired and led to America,
- It was revealed that J Edgar Hoover
ordered the FBI to spy on and disrupt the anti-war movement starting in
1968
- "Fame" by David Bowie was number 1 song for the
week
5
October 1975 Sunday
Additional
Material
Elder
Gordon B. Hinckley spoke in the October general conference of a
"tragic" young man involved in "deviant moral activity"
leading him to a bleak future without hope and preventing him from ever having
a son. Hinckley described asking the homosexual young man about the influence
of the media he consumed and of his male friends "in similar
circumstances".
- Spencer W Kimball warned that the
Devil will attack the institution of marriage first.
- Elder George P Lee was selected as
the first native American as a General Authority in the Quorum of 70’s. He
later would be excommunicated for pedophilia.
6
October 1975 Monday
Additional
Material
The
Gay Consciousness Raising Group was formed by Paul Larson as part of the Campus
Christian Center. Paul Larson started the Gay Consciousness Raising Group at
University of Utah. A very valuable contribution, group permitted Gays to meet
each other and discuss their concerns away from the bars. Prefers to be a low
keyed activist. To Utah Gays Paul has this to say, “As a native Utahn and
ex-Mormon, I feel I have weathered the worst possible social environment for
Gays. I have nevertheless come out for my own values and the choices I made.
Other Gays can come through the same obstacles to a greater sense of personal
worth just as I have. Most important has
been the growth of consciousness of the SLC Gay community and the strength I
have gained at the Gay Consciousness Raising which has been shared with other
Gays. Together we can continue and expand the foundations that we have laid
together. But it will take energy and commitment.
7
October 1975 Tuesday
Additional
Material
The
Club Baths and The Sun have something for fighting inflation. Each Tuesday
night after the bar closes you can get into The Baths for only $3.00. You must
present a card to the Baths that is available at the Sun every Tuesday night.
So far it’s been a big success with the Sun Staff there in “full bloom”. Roger Turvey was made general manager of Club
Baths. Ray Andrews, manager since the opening in December 1972, has been
transferred to Club Baths in San Francisco.
10
October 1975 Friday
Today
was BYU’s Founder’s Day so there was no classes on campus with all the events
planned to celebrate 100 years. I still had to go into work at 2 and clean the
Wilkinson Center so I didn’t attend any of the big to do.
President Spencer W Kimball spoke at a Devotional in the Marriott
Center.
Additional
Material
The
Centennial Carillon Bell Tower was constructed as part of the BYU’s centennial
celebrations in 1975 and was dedicated in October by President Spencer W.
Kimball. The bell tower is meant to serve as a symbol of the dedication and
sacrifice of the early founders of Brigham Young University. The bell tower
contains 52 bells that range in size from twenty-one pounds to over four
thousand pounds.
11
October 1975 Saturday
Additional
Material
"Bad
Blood" by Neil Sedaka was the number 1 song for the next 3 weeks
- NBC airs the first episode of
Saturday Night Live. George Carlin is the first host; Billy Preston and
Janis Ian were the first musical guests.
14
October 1975 Tuesday
Additional
Material
Ted
Bundy the 28 year old University of Utah Law Student serial killer was in a
Salt Lake Jail arrested for the attempted kidnapping of 17 year old Murray Girl
at Fashion Place Mall
15
October 1975 Wednesday
Additional
Material
The
Freedom Trail Train arrived at the Union Pacific Depot in Salt Lake City
pulling 25 cars of American heritage of all types of artifacts as part of a
prelude to the Bi-Centennial.
- The Rusty Bell located on Redwood
Road in Salt Lake City held a 1950’s Party to raise building funds for the
Lesbian centric Grace Christian Church.
16
October 1975 Thursday
Additional
Material
Gloria
Steinem spoke at the University of Utah
sponsored by the Women Unlimited Conference. Concerning Women’s Rights
in Utah Steinem said the Mormon Church has hindered the feminist movement
because most Utah women have grown up with limited ideas how to exist. She said the Mormon Church involvement
against the ERA should make people “recommit themselves to separation of church
and state. Steinem called organized
religion the “most patriarch society of all. Religion is devoted to the
perpetual glorification of the ruling class.
It enshrines sexism, and racism.
(10/17/1975 Utah Daily Chronicle page 1) Gloria Steinum, editor of Ms
Magazine and a national figurehead in the feminist movement spoke at the Women
Unlimited Conference in front of an audience of over 5,000 about the Gay
Community Service Center. Ms. Steinum flew from NYC to address the conference
on various aspects of the feminist movement across the United States, including
the ERA, discrimination, rape, and the church versus the state. Speaking about
Utah programs, Ms. Steinum mentioned that Gay Community Service Center offered
a 24 hour help line, and that a new consciousness raising sessions were soon to
be initiated by a Lesbian counselor associated with the center. (Babs De Lay)
Consciousness Raising Groups are becoming increasingly popular in the United
States. This popular fad has become a steady need in Gay circles and will soon
be established at the Gay Community Service Center by social work Bab de Lay. The purpose of the Consciousness Raising
Group is to help members understand themselves better and to realize how they
interact with their partners, associates and family.
17
October 1975 Friday
Additional
Material
BYU
President Dallin Oaks files a challenge to portions of Title IX of the
Department of Health, education, and Welfare. He claimed BYU should be exempt
from certain regulations on grounds of religious belief of “God-given
differences in the sexes.” He stated “We
cannot believe HEW would be so absurd as to require men and women restroom
facilities contain identical sanitary fixture or that they will not permit us
to continue providing booths showers for woman and gang showers for men.”
- Simply Stunning Male Wins Beauty
Contest – Mr. Alaska took top honors Friday in the Little Boy American
beauty contest in the University of Utah’s Olpin Union Ballroom. A standing room only crowd made up of
mostly women whistled its approval of more than thirty contestants who
were assigned the names of states in the noontime contest, Warren Farrell,
author of the “Liberated Male” emceed the contest part if the two day
conference “Women Unlimited”. Focusing on Women’s Rights. Dr. Farrell
conducted the contest around the county as part of his speech on sexist
roles in society. Women in the audience were asked to pretend they were in
a bar to judge male contestants solely on their physical endowments. Men young
and old, skinny and fat, bald and hairy, sometimes shirtless, showed their
attributes one at a time. Six finalists picked by the audience with its applause
donned gym shorts for the bathing suit competition. The finalists were asked
“moral questions” such as “Your 19 year old girlfriend is leaving for the
Army and wants to have sex with you before she leaves. What do you do? Dr.
Farrell asked the questions to illustrate the sex role reversal aspect of
the contest. Mr. Alaska won the competition over runner up Mr. Georgia
partly on the strength of a rousing rendition of “Oh! Susannah”. After being declared the winner, Mr.
Alaska received flowers, a box of detergent, a black robe, and a crown.
Dr. Farrell ended the program by leading the contestants and the female
audience members in a discussion of their feelings about the reversed sex roles they had played (Salt
Lake tribune 18 Oct 1975 B-1)
20
October 1975 Monday
Additional
Material
The
United States Supreme Court ruled that spanking is legal in public schools.
22
October 1975 Wednesday
Additional
Material
An
article called “Gay Mormons Talking Back” appears in The Advocate Issue 175
23
October 1975 Thursday
Judge
Paul G Grant sentenced Lee Harper, proprietor of the Palace Theater at 65 East
Broadway for showing Deep Throat. Harper
was sentenced to 6 months in the city-county jail 5 and a half months of which
was suspended by fined $299, another $240 in court costs, and a $5000 “public
restitution”. Ted Cannon prosecuted
Harper. Harper said “it’s a shame the city prosecution office is being run by
Maurine Brimhall.” She was
the founder and director of the Utah Citizens for Decency, working with the
national organizations (Morality in Media, C. D. L., The American Family
Association and the LDS Church) in her crusade against pornography. Her
organization was influential in the passage of strong anti-pornography laws in
Utah and other states. Viva Maurine Jones Brimhall, died at the age
86, in Orem, Utah, on May 5, 2001
27
October 1975 Monday
Additional
Material
Delegates
at the 8th annual conference of the National Organization for Women
held in Philadelphia voted overwhelmingly to work for equal rights for
Lesbians. Karen McCrow a 37 year old lawyer from Syracuse, New York elected
President of NOW. Over 3000 women attended the conference to make the Equal
Rights Amendment a top priority.
- Billie Hayes resigned as director
of Salt lake’s Gay Community Service Center.
28
October 1975 Tuesday
Additional
Material
Dr.
Reba Keele, head of the department of General Education services at BYU named
Utah Outstanding Young Woman of the Year for 1975. She was a closeted Lesbian
while at BYU.
- The Equal Credit Opportunity Act
took effect prohibiting credit discrimination based on sex or marital
status.
- The Girl Scouts of America voted
not to allow boys to join the female scouting program.
29
October 1975 Wednesday
Additional
Material
The
National Women Strike Day organized by the National Organization for Women
held. Salt Lake City participated with 250 protesting at the Federal Building
at 125 South State. In Utah, Women United organized by Eileen Hanson organized
the strike also known as “Alice Doesn’t Day” christened by Gloria Steinem for
the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Yellow Armbands with the words Women
United were worn by women who couldn’t attend the strike.
31
October 1975 Friday
Additional
Material
Rev.
Bob Darst Pastor of Grace Christian Church for the past two years gave his
resignation to the Board of the Church. Bob stated he resigned for his
“physical and spiritual welfare”. The
membership of the church has risen to fifty since Bob started as active pastor.
The Reverend Laverl Harris is expected to fill the vacancy temporary.
NOVEMBER1975
I
was a little better in recording in my journal in November but mainly just the important
events in my life like finally being ordained an Elder. I was becoming
increasingly sexual active so the spirituality of the occasion was dulled as I
knew I was not “morally clean” when I received the Melchizedek Priesthood. But
whether I was willing to admit it or not I had figured out that most of the
hoops I was required to jump through were a type of a game that no one was helping
me achieve except on my own initiatives. I knew that to have any status within the
church I had to become an Elder or I’d always be considered second class and
suspected of not being worthy. If it was better that one man perish so that a
nation could survive as the Book of Mormon taught I reckoned that situational
ethic also deemed that it was okay to me lie for the better good of my
progressing within the church hierarchy. Just don’t get caught.
1
November 1975 Saturday
Additional
Material
"Island
Girl" by Elton John the number 1 song for the next 3 weeks
3
November 1975 Monday
Additional
Material
With
the announcement of the resignation of Billie Hayes, former director of Gay
Community Service Center, the board of trustees of the center appointed Ken
Storer as director. Ken Storer, an organization consultant and authority on
organizational development was chosen. Storer has a degree in organizational
Behavior as well as extensive training in psychology counseling and group
training. Ken also has recently returned to Salt Lake after a year in New
England, Washington DC, and Georgia working with Gay organizations.
7
November 1975 Friday
I
had a blessing given to me by my home teachers, Floyd Eckles and Ed Ham.
9
November 1975 Sunday
I
woke up this morning still with this miserable cold that is lingering in my
chest. I do feel better but there’s still a lot of phlegm. I felt well enough
to attend all my meetings. The rains have cleared up and the skies are
cloudless. It was a cool and crisp Autumn day.
In Priesthood Bro. Dan Meacham was
released as Elder Quorum’s 1st counselor and Lee Russell was
sustained in his place. Bro. Lloyd Atherton was sustained as our new 2nd
Counselor.
Sesame didn’t attend church today.
Daisy said she caught a cold from me when she came over to visit last Friday to
help me prepare Chili for Saturday’s Special Interest Activity. Daisy was cool
to Mike Allred so must be mad at him for some reason.
In Sunday School class I taught a
lesson on New England genealogical research. Since I wasn’t feeling well
Kristine Arnold gave me a ride home but I had forgotten my keys so I had to
wait until Terry Haake came home from church.
Kamie Springer called to say she was
bringing over to me some lunch since I had such a bad cold. She is just the
sweetest nicest person.
Terry Haake had some more of his
Missionary discussions. I suppose he is still planning on being baptized on
November 22nd. The BYU influence has already changed Terry for the
better; a hundred percent.
Before going to Sacrament, Lee
Russell and I went home teaching and we taught Nyla Parsons and Carol
Clendenin. We gave them a lesson on the importance of the Priesthood.
Sacrament was longer than usual and
right afterwards at 6 in the evening there a Quarterly Stake Priesthood
Session. There I was sustained into the office of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Now I need to be set apart.
10
November 1975 Monday
I
woke up this morning still feeling kind of raunchy but I do believe my cold has
just about run its course. I called in sick at work and instead went on campus
to catch up on some of my homework. I didn’t go to Family Home Evening either.
11
November 1975 Tuesday
Additional
Material
A
Consciousness Raising Group for women was held by Babs De Lay at the Gay
Community Service Center. The group discussed problems of the Gay people living
in Salt Lake City.
13
November 1975 Thursday
Additional
Material
A
Consciousness Raising Group for men was held by Babs De Lay at the Gay
Community Service Center. The group discussed problems of the Gay people living
in Salt Lake City.
15
November 1975 Saturday
I
was so stiff and tired all day from working so late. I didn’t do anything all
day except work on some personal entry forms to submit for Temple Work.
I did go to the Sauna in the
Richards PE Men’s locker room to let the heat relax my sore muscles. They were
playing the BYU-U of U in the locker room game so I listened and we slaughtered
them 56 to 20 points.
About 6 I had to get ready to go
into work again. Mike Allred had bought Marilyn a rose corsage for Preference
but he really doesn’t want to go with her but he’s stuck since she asked him.
I let Wayne Tuck use my Pinto to
take his date to Preference so I had to have Mike take me to work. I worked from 7:30 until
11:30 and it was fun taking tickets for the dance in the Engineering Building.
It was interesting observing the couples and it made the night go really fast.
Additional
Material
The
men’s Sauna was my go to place to see naked men in the BYU locker room
16
November 1975 Sunday
It
was hard to get up this morning for Priesthood which was at 10 after having
gone to bed so late. Lee Russell gave a lesson on instructions on the proper
use of olive oil in healing blessings and Greg Mortensen gave a lesson on
simulation games.
Before the opening exercises, Lee
Russell said that Bro Spencer Palmer from the High Council will be here at 3
this afternoon so I could be set apart as an Elder, but I said no way as I
needed more time to contact Steve Madsen who I wanted to set me apart.
During the opening exercises in
Sunday School, Ed Ham conducted while Tina Cable led the music. We sang all 7
verses of How Firm a Foundation one of my favorite hymns. Mike Allred and I sat with the girls and then
we went off to class. Because the opening exercise ran long my class didn’t
even being until 12:15 so I just discussed the migration movement patterns in
the Southern Colonies. Sesame, Daisy, and Mike Allred came to my class today.
After Sunday School I came home and Mike fixed us a lunch of
enchiladas, tamales with corn bread. It was pretty good.
At 3 I went back up to Church to
meet with Bro. Palmer and let him know why I wasn’t being set apart today. He
and President Paul H. Thompson were both real understanding.
Sacrament Meeting was at 4 this
afternoon and was out at 5:30. President Thompson conducted and presided. Nyla
Parsons conducted the music. The girls
from our Family Home evening came a little late so they didn’t get to sit with
Mike and me. Instead we sat with Kris Arnold. It was a pretty good Sacrament
with all the talks geared around the Patriarchal Order of Heaven.
For a musical number this girl sang
O Divine Redeemer” which I think is one of the most beautiful songs about
Christ.
After Sacrament I went home but
later had to take Sesame up to the J Reuben Clark Law Building where we both
had Stake meetings to attend.
17
November 1975 Monday
I
was up at 7 this morning to take a shower and get ready for school. It was a
cold, damp November day. It’s very depressing weather,
I went out to Orem High School to
sit in on Mr. Stubbs’s history class. He talked to some of us about the
Teacher’s Association which is kind of a Union and the benefits of belonging to
it. I was there for 8:30 to 9:30 then I drove back to the Y to attend Political
Science 150. We discusses mainly the Cuban Missile Crisis. I didn’t make it to Political
Science 170 but instead went to the library and read some more case studies
before going home.
Mike Allred and I tried to go on Dr.
Stillman’s High Protein diet and we were pretty good for most of the day until
Meg Madsen brought over some warm muffins for us. And that blew that.
I went to work from there but I was
about 20 minutes late as I had fallen asleep. I worked until 6 and at 7 in the
evening. I saw Bill hall during my shift
and we talked for a little while. Bill’s a neat person.
Afterwards I went to the Richard’s PE
Building and sat in the Sauna. It felt great to warm up and sweat out all this
liquid I have been drinking.
I then rushed home, grabbed a bite
to eat of some turkey, Mike had bought and went over to Family Home Evening.
Stuart Smith gave a lesson on issues within the Gospel regarding abortion,
birth control, and euthanasia. That lasted until 9 tonight. Sesame and I agreed
on most of the issues talked . Afterwards the girls served Popcorn balls as a
treat,
Today turned out to be a pretty good
day considering how damp and miserable the weather is. I feel like I’m finally over coming
Satan’s influence and I grateful for God’s strength.
18
November 1975 Tuesday
Additional
Material
A
Consciousness Raising Group for women was held by Babs De Lay at the Gay
Community Service Center. The group discussed Dealing With Straight People”
20
November 1975 Thursday
Additional
Material
Shirley
Barker and Camille Tartaglia after a yearlong engagement exchanged vows at the
Rusty Bell at 7:30. The two were married by Rev. Bob Darst in a double ring
ceremony. Marty was the best man, and Hilda was the matron of honor. Shirley
wore a white satin gown of her own design and Camille wore a baby blue pants
suit. The reception was held immediately afterwards with an abundance of
champagne and wedding cake, No marriage license was required as the state of
Utah does not recognize Gay marriages as yet.
The vows are recognized by the
church and Shirley stated that “To us the vows are as legal to us as any other
marriage ceremony. The license makes no
difference to us because we take our marriage vows very seriously. The wedding between Shirley and Camille was
the first wedding to be held at The Rusty Bell since the bar opened
- A Consciousness Raising Group
for men was held by Babs De Lay at
the Gay Community Service Center. The group discussed Dealing With
Straight People”
22
November 1975 Saturday
Today
Terry Haake was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints. It was a special day. I didn’t get up this morning until
ten. I was so tired.
I spent much of the day cleaning up
the apartment. At 1 in the afternoon Mike Allred and I went to the Jesse Knight
Annex on campus to see Terry’s baptism into the Kingdom of God. Mike and I were
the ushers. I was really disappointed in Sesame and Daisy that they thought
going skiing was more important than seeing Terry go into the waters of Baptism
unto a newness of life having his sins forgiven. I learned from their attitudes
that they did not have their priorities right.
The Baptism went really well and I
bore my testimony. It made me think back to my own baptism when I came into the
Kingdom and how often I have failed to honor all the covenants I took upon
myself at that time in May 1972.
In the late afternoon, Mike and I
went out to eat and we went to the Golden Apple buffet where I got food
poisoning. It was the first time in my life. I didn’t get real sick with it
until we went to the Stake dance down in Springville where my stomach became
really queasy. Mike thought I was just being a party poop and just was making
an excuse to leave. I finally persuaded him to take me home and no sooner had I
gotten out to the car, I started to heave.
I have a real difficult time trying to heave so I have to be really sick
to throw up as I never do.
When we arrived back at Fairmont
Square I took some Pepto-Bismol and that seemed to settle my stomach some but I
was still sick and queasy.
It was on the whole a good day until
I got so sick. Terry’s baptism was especially neat.
Additional
Material
"That's
the Way (I Like It)" by KC and the Sunshine Band is the number 1 song for
the week
23
November 1975 Sunday
I
couldn’t sleep all night, just tossing and turning so I couldn’t get any rest.
My stomach was so upset and I had the chills. It was almost like I had the
stomach flu.
However today I was ordained into
the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood even though I felt weak and tired this morning
so I didn’t attend Priesthood. I was even more concerned about the fact that
since being ill, I hadn’t time to prepare the talk for Sacrament I was supposed
to give.
I did make it to opening exercises
of Sunday School and also taught my class on Southern States research. After
Sunday School I went home teaching with Lee Russell even though I didn’t feel
all that well. We went to see Rose, Annette, and Glen Richards. That took away
all my time from 2 to 2:30. Then I had t attend a Prayer Meeting at 3:40 to
prepare for the Sacrament Program.
This was the first Sacrament Talk I
was ever asked to give. I suppose it was all right as that afterwards many came
up to tell me how much they enjoyed my talk and I don’t think they were just
being polite. I wasn’t as nervous and scared as I thought I’d be. I am glad it
went well. My talk was centered around the Holy Ghost in our lives and James
Chapter 4 verses 7 and 8 7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh
to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double
minded.”
After Sacrament I came home and
prepared things for Steve Madsen to come over and set me apart. Yesterday Steve
was elected Intercollegiate Governor of Utah at a student leadership Utah Intercollegiate
Legislature simulation of the Utah State
government Senate. That was pretty special for him.
At 7:30 in the evening I was
ordained and Elder under the hands of Stephen Richard Madsen who received his
Priesthood under the hands of Nathan Eldon Tanner who was ordained an Apostle
by President David O McKay who was ordained an Apostle by President Joseph F
Smith who was ordained an Apostle under the hands of President Brigham Young.
Brigham Young was ordained an Apostle by the three witnesses to the Book of
Mormon who received their Priesthood
from Joseph Smith who received the Melchizedek Priesthood from the Apostles
Peter, James, and John who were ordained by Jesus Christ.
Jay
Hartvigsen, the Elder’s Quorum Secretary, Jim Roundy, the Elder’s Quorum
President, Lloyd Atherton, the Elder’s Quorum 2nd Councilor, and my
roommates Mike Allred and Stuart Smith all laid their hands on me and helped in
the ordination. It was a beautiful ordination.
Additional
Material
Brigham
Young was ordained an Apostle 14 Feb. 1835 by the Three Witnesses, Oliver
Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, who were empowered to do so that same
day by the laying on of hands of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery were ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood in June or July 1829
by Peter, James and John; and these were ordained Apostles by Jesus Christ
(Archibald F. Bennett, Saviors on Mount Zion, p.59).
24
November 1975 Monday
I didn’t do anything but study for my
Political Science 150 midterm today. That stupid test really had my
psyched out and I have been paranoid
about taking it all day.
I even called work and told them I
had to miss so I could take the exam. It took me over two hours to take over at
the Testing center and I know I bombed it.
In the evening we didn’t have much
of a Family Home Evening because the sisters all wanted to watch Dr. Zhivago.
We just had a quick lesson and prayer and Mike Allred came home to watch some
TV while I typed up some of my genealogy.
25
November 1975 Tuesday
Terry
Haake left for New Mexico this morning to go home for Thanksgiving Break. Mike Allred leaves tomorrow but have no idea
what Stuart Smith is going to do. He’ll probably spend it with his girlfriend's
folks. In the news Elder Ezra Taft Benson asked President Ford to fill the
Supreme Court vacancy with Mormons including BYU President Oaks.
26
November 1975 Wednesday
I
huge snow storm blew into day. I hope Mike Allred makes it home all right to
Wyoming. I made a pecan pie tonight to bring over to the Madsen’s. Meg invited
me to join them so I am not alone on Thanksgiving.
27
November 1975 Thursday Thanksgiving
I
went over to Steve and Meg Madsen’s for
Thanksgiving Dinner. All my roommates have gone home for the holiday. The
Madsen’s young friend Keith Valentine from Jacksonville, Florida came out to
Utah and he needed a place to stay so he slept over in my apartment on the
couch. He’s been called to go on a Mission I forget where. Meg is such a great cook.
28
November 1975 Friday
It
was too cold to go anyway with lots of snow on the ground. I stayed home and
watched TV as the campus was shut down for the Thanksgiving Break. Stuart Smith
was gone most of the day.
29
November 1975 Saturday
Mike
Allred came back today because there was break in the weather. He said it was a
rough trip home due to the bad roads.
In the news. President Ford picked John
Paul Stevens to replace William O Douglas on the Supreme Court instead of an
Mormon.
Additional
Material
- "Fly, Robin, Fly" by the Silver
Convention was the number 1 song for 3 weeks
30
November 1975 Sunday
Additional
Material
There
was a major Earthquake in Hawaii the strongest in a century.
DECEMBER 1975
I did not write in my journal for the entire month of
December. It was a dismal time for me as I was not getting along with my
roommates at Fairmount Square and work and classes were consuming much of my
time. Any social life I had surrounded Church activities but I often did not
attend them as I found my Family Home Family sisters immature and somewhat
silly. Mike Allred had gone back to
being aloof as we no longer shared the emotional attachment we once had. I was
more and more escaping from reality by splitting my personality between trying
to be the best Mormon boy in the world and trying to find quick anonymous Gay
sex on campus of which it was plentiful.
I was not
in any Gay clique at BYU so I was really unaware of the massive crack down that
the Administration had ramped up to rid the campus of homosexual students. This
had to have come from highest LDS Church officials probably speared headed by
the homophobic Spencer W Kimball. He
called for a Solemn Assembly for the
church in December warning of a “wave of filth” that church must guard against.
Elder Hugh B. Brown died at the age of
92. In my opinion he was the last of the decent member of the Quorum of the
Twelve. He was adamant opposed to the ban on blacks holding the Priesthood but
was opposed by Joseph Fielding Smith and Harold B Lee. He was a counselor to
President David McKay but when McKay died in 1970 Smith demoted him back into
the Quorum because of Brown’s opposition to the ban. Brown was a lifelong
Democrat.
The week of the 15th of December through the 19th was
Finals Week at BYU. I managed to get a C grade in both my Political Science 150
Comparative Government and Political Systems class and Political Science 170
Introduction to International Politics which I was not interested in. However I
got an A grade in both my Education classes education 301 Basic Concepts and
Principles of Teaching and Education 377
Secondary Teaching Curriculum and Methodology for a term grade pint average
of 2.91
I had to take out another Student Loan
as I was going to do my student teaching in the Winter Term and I wouldn’t be
able to work and do that also so I had to quit my job as a custodian in the
Wilkinson Center.
I also was called in by BYU Security for
suspicion of violating the Honor Code. On 22 December I was hauled in by BYU
security for watching some Gay activity in the Men’s Room near the Varsity
Theater . The Fall Term had ended and
all my roommates went home for the Christmas Break. I had to stay to continue
to work as I had no money until my student loan was approved which would have
been in January.
As I had been doing for some time, I was
scoping out the Wilkinson’s men’s room while at work to break up the tedious
nature of my job. On this day however, when I entered a stall to sit down, I
noticed most of the stalls were filled with men who by the positioning of their
feet were soliciting sex.
I
was being more of a voyeur than a participant by peeking under the stall when I
saw someone’s hand reach under to fondle a boy sitting next to me. Almost
immediately there was a knock on the stall door and a security badge flipped
over the top. I quickly pulled my pants up and vacated the men’s room and went
back to my station where I hadn’t finished my work. However I was confronted by
two Security Officers who told me to come with them. I think their offices were
in the Smoot Administration Building but I was in such a panic I am not sure
anymore.
There I was interrogated by Security and
asked who I knew were homosexual at BYU. Of course I didn’t know any as that
all my encounters had been random and anonymous and always never with the same
person. As that I was only guilty of
looking under the stall and had not participated in any “illegal” contact I
could not be arrested. However I did see a kid, who must have reached under the
stall, in handcuffs waiting to be picked up by the Provo Police to be arrested
and sent to jail.
Security knew I was not belligerent and
I was trying to be cooperative. One even
complimented me saying I was not like the other guys they picked up who tried
to make Security seem like they were bad guys.
I was released to the custody of a BYU
Social Worker with whom I had to make several appointments for counseling in
order for me to stay in school. I was
not reported by Security to the Honor Code Office nor did I lose my job that I
was quitting anyway at the end of the year. I spent the rest of Christmas Break
picking up extra hours and feeling very ashamed and humiliated.
I remember one counseling session with
the LDS Social Worker who said that he changed his mind about masturbation not being
a homosexual act after what Spencer W Kimball was teaching that it was. He also
counseled me to never label myself a homosexual but that I was just involved in
the act of homosexuality. He was trying
to be kind and thought that if I called myself a homosexual I could never be
cured of the behavior. I was so relieved
and grateful not to be expelled that I said anything I thought the counselor
wanted to hear and after about a month of several sessions I was off any type
of probation I may have been on.
After that time I never did anything on
campus that might bring me to the attention of BYU Security. From my many trips up to Salt Lake City I
discovered the Pleasant Grove Rest Stops that were on both sides of I-15. The
men’s stall had a glory hole next to one of the urinals to accommodate quick
sexual encounters for travelers, truck drivers, locals, and horny BYU students.
So Instead of cruising on Campus I
started frequenting the rest stop just south of Exit 279 on I-15 near the
Pleasant Grove exit. I actually had only discovered that it was busy cruising
spot that December when I was returning from Salt Lake City from doing research
at the LDS Genealogy Library.
The Pleasant Grove rest stop by the Utah
Department of Transpiration was the
busiest in the state. UDOT does not count rest-area traffic, but DOT said the
stop was the most-used of the state's roadside rest areas and visitor centers
probably because it was on the most heavily traveled road in Utah.
The rest areas were built in the 1960s
when the area was rural and were was
torn down in 1995 rather than the state
retrofitting the aging facilities that were
considered “old and worn out”.
There were actually two rest stops; one
for northbound travelers and one for southbound travelers nearly opposite of
one another.
The Pleasant Grove police had the
Rest Stops on their patrol beats and they world complained of the drug deals,
vandalism and sex solicitation that routinely occurred in the rest areas.
The men’s room contained two toilet
stalls and two urinals with a low partition between them and hand washing
sinks. The toilet partitions had holes cut through them known as glory holes.
The one closest to the urinals had a hole large enough to accommodate an erect
penis.
The Southbound Rest Top was always
busier than the northbound but as there was an exit about a half mile north of
rest stops and south of the rest stop it was easy to make a loop going from one
facility to the next according to which ones had the most foot traffic going
into the men’s room.
Night was when the most action occurred from
people driving down from Salt Lake city and by local Utah County men. There was
also always a lot of cars with BYU parking stickers sitting in the parking lot
as I recall.
After being hauled in by BYU
Security I thought off campus places were a safer way to have sexual encounters.
I was wrong. It was a very bleak Christmas Season for me and I never recorded
what I did on Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve.
1
December 1975 Monday
Additional
Material
The
Western Rustlers, a women’s organization sponsored by The Rusty Bell Bar in
Salt Lake City hosted a Sub for Santa.
2
December 1975 Tuesday
Additional
Material
- A Consciousness Raising Group for
women was held by Babs De Lay at the Gay Community Service Center in Salt
Lake City. The topic was “Dealing
With the Opposite Gay Sex.”
4
December 1975 Thursday
Additional
Material
A
Consciousness Raising Group for men was held by Babs De Lay at the Gay
Community Service Center in Salt Lake City. The group discussed Dealing With the
Opposite Gay Sex.”
7
December 1975 Sunday
Additional
Material
Gay
Community Service Center in Salt Lake City presented “A Night With Julie Mark
and Joan Balter at Sun Tavern at 4 PM. It was 1st time the two feminist Lesbians two
performed in public together. The cover was
$1.50 at door.
- Rev. Alice and Rev. Cindy’s
installation as Co-Pastors of Salt
Lake City MCC occurred with a weekend of praise with the Rev. Freda Smith
and the Rev. Elder Richard Vincent. In 1975 MCC clergyperson Rev. Freda Smith and
then-MCC clergyperson Robert Sirico performed the first U.S. same-sex
wedding conducted with a government-issued civil marriage license in
Denver, Colorado for Richard Adams and Anthony Sullivan. The witnesses
were Rev. Elder Charlie Arehart and Rev. Troy Perry’s longtime assistant,
Frank Zerilli.
9
December 1975 Tuesday
Additional
Material
A
combined Consciousness Raising Group for women and men was held by Babs De Lay
at the Gay Community Service Center in Salt Lake City. The group discussed what
it means to be homosexual.
11
December 1975 Thursday
Additional
Material
A
combined Consciousness Raising Group for Gay women and men was held by Babs De
Lay at the Gay Community Service Center in Salt Lake City. All the meetings were at 7:30 with a donation
of $2.00
20
December 1975 Saturday-
Additional
Material
"That's
the Way (I Like It)" by KC and the Sunshine Band number 1 song for the
week
25 December
1975 Thursday
Additional
Material
Dog
Day Afternoon opens at the Plitt Centre Theater in downtown Salt Lake City.
Dog
Day Afternoon is a crime drama starring Al Pacino and Chris Sarandon who played
Leon Shermer, a trans woman, who reveals that the bank robbery was intended to
pay for her sex reassignment surgery
27
December 1975 Saturday
Additional
Material
"Let's
Do It Again" by The Staple Singers
number 1 song for the week
No comments:
Post a Comment