This Day In Gay Utah History March 12th
12 March
1354-In Venice, a transvestite was arrested, forced to confess under torture, and burned at the stake one week later.
1961-The Mattachine Society's national leaders agreed to end affiliation between chapters, allowing local organizations to function in the most effective way to meet the needs of their cities.
1976 Friday- Larry called me today and wanted to meet me up on campus. There we talked about us. I found out then that he doesn’t have a roommate but is married. I don’t know yet how that makes me feel. He was so worried about me being security and afraid that I had been sent to entrap him. He had been pulled in once before and they had been monitoring him. He even thinks that his telephone is being tapped. I don’t know what to think. I told him that I was pulled into security last Christmas and had to see a church psychiatrist to stay in school. I know it’s wrong what we are doing but my feelings for Larry is so strong. We left campus and drove down to Springville behind the drive-in and made out for hours. He drives me crazy with hickeys. I am so miserable.” [Journal of BYU Student]
1986- I went to Salt Lake Affirmation at the Crossroads Urban Center and there was at least 15 people at the meeting. (Journal of Ben Williams)
1986 The Lesbian/ Gay Student Union was established during Utah Techical College’s transformation into today’s Salt Lake Community College. Alma Smith and Cecelia Anderson, in March of 1986, formed the LGSU, and in a letter to the editor
dated March 12 they wrote: “There is a small but determined effort to establish a chapter of the Lesbian and Gay Student Union (LGSU) on campus. The purpose of this organization is to help educate those interested in the issues facing sexual minorities. Another goal is to help homosexuals and bisexuals in dealing with their feelings, the isolation they will feel and the prejudice they face.” Smith had been a founding member of a Salt Lake Chapter of Affirmation and as a student at UTech, he felt that out of a student population of 8,000 there should be at least 400 gay students on the Redwood Campus.
1986 The Lesbian/ Gay Student Union was established during Utah Techical College’s transformation into today’s Salt Lake Community College. Alma Smith and Cecelia Anderson, in March of 1986, formed the LGSU, and in a letter to the editor
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| Alma Smith |
1988 Saturday- The AIDS Quilt Open House was a flop today. Only one person showed
up! I told Bruce Harmon that if the project will buy the materials I will make a panel this weekend. I think people need something visual to see to catch the vision of this project. He agreed and gave me some money to go buy some material. I decided to do one for Michael Spense “Tracy Ross”. I never met him but John Bennett said he wanted one done for him and since John has left I decided to do it for him. I worked all day on it hand stitching the lettering and designs. All I knew about him was that he was a drag queen so I made it glitzy and sparkly. It almost 6 months since I went to the March of Washington and I should have done one long before now. [Journal of Ben Williams]
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| Bruce Harmon |
1988- Gay Community Council sponsored Talent Show at Backstreet In the evening John Reeves and I went to the talent show fund raiser for the Gay Community Council held at Backstreet. What another flop. We only collected $33! I am upset folks at Unconditional Support for flaking out on the talent show. Steve called me just a half an hour before it was to begin to tell me that no body from Unconditional Support came through. Tired of people fluffing off their commitments. [Journal of Ben Williams]
1989 S.L. POLICE PROBING ASSAULT INCIDENT Salt Lake officers Saturday were trying to determine what led two teenage boys to the rooftop of an east-side duplex in an incident that left a California man injured. A 14-year-old runaway from a Provo foster home was being held at the Decker Lake South Temple and E Street, he asked the boys to get out of the car. Toolson said he felt threatened by the teenagers, especially the older one who said he had a gun, the report said. The ride ended at Eight East and Second South, where Toolson was hit in the head with a block of wood, according to the report. The two teens ran away. Officers were called to the intersection by a neighbor who reported the incident as an assault, the report said. An officer spotted two teenagers and chased them to a duplex at 208 S. Eight East, said Sgt. Art Healey. The two teens on the roof threw bricks at officers and said they had a gun. The department's special weapons team was called. After three hours with a trained negotiator, a 14-year-old boy, clad in sweat pants and sneakers, climbed down with his 18-year-old companion. No weapons were found except for "a bunch of bricks," said Lt. Bill Gray, Special Emergency Response Team commander, who oversees the eight-member weapons team. Deseret News.
1990-The magazine Newsweek ran a cover story on The Future of Gay America. A flurry of letters were received in response to the article, 60% of which were anti-Gay.
1994 U. TO HOST GAY-RIGHTS
FORUM The ACLU of Utah and the University of Utah Gay and Lesbian Law Alliance will host the "Lavender Rights Forum: The Law in Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Lives" on Saturday, March 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The one-day workshop will be held at the University of Utah College of Law. Keynote speaker, Roberta Achtenberg, will speak from 4:45 to 5:30 p.m. Topics include estate planning for same-sex couples, domestic relations, civil rights issues, AIDS, hate crimes and anti-gay initiatives. The cost for pre-registration is $10. Registration the day of the workshop is $12. The fee for attending only the keynote address (after 4:15) is $5. Achtenberg was the first openly lesbian or gay public official in the United States whose appointment to a federal position was confirmed by the United States Senate.
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| Roberta Achtenberg |
1995 The Salt Lake Men's Choir performed `When We No Longer Touch'' March 12 at 6 p.m. at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark, 231 E. 100 South. Radio personality Amanda Dickson, the Salt Lake Men’s Choir's regular master of ceremonies introduced the concert at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark.
1996 Candidates McConkie Pulls Out, Predicts Demo Loss By Laurie Sullivan Maddox THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Lawyer Jim McConkie halted his 2nd Congressional District campaign Monday, scolding the Democratic Party for failing to rally behind him and calling fellow Democrat Ross Anderson an extreme candidate who will not get his vote. While he left the door open for a renewed effort, McConkie said his re-emergence would require Anderson 's exit from the race, clear primary sailing and the backing of a ``solidly unified'' party. Anderson and Utah Democratic Chairman Mike Zuhl said he won't get it. ``We're not only going to see this thing through, but we're going to win this race in November,'' said Anderson, who filed as a candidate in the lieutenant governor's office shortly after McConkie's speech. Zuhl said McConkie's exit was disappointing, but he had no intention of urging Anderson to back off. ``It is true that when Democrats have contested races we usually don't win. However, there is not much you can do about it when people are determined to run,'' he said. ``I just hope that people run a good, clean, fair fight and that we unite when we need to.'' McConkie, a conservative Democrat, warned that the minority party has not learned from its history of infighting, and predicted that divisiveness will once again cost Democrats victory. ``I can see a party about to complete its biennial election suicide ritual, and, if it continues on that course, I cannot participate,'' he told reporters at a press conference that not one party official attended. A liberal nominee, who appeals to more activist Democratic convention and primary voters, will lose because the district is moderate to conservative, he said. But a moderate won't make it either because the convention and primary battle will have eroded the Democratic base. ``The party can stand by and watch another filing free-for-all,'' McConkie said. ``It can recruit another more moderate candidate who can beat Rocky Anderson in a convention, thus avoiding a primary. Or it can convince Rocky Anderson to step aside and coalesce around my candidacy or someone else's.'' If fellow lawyer Anderson is the nominee, McConkie added, he will not support or vote for him. ``He is too extreme and we have too many disagreements over policies,'' McConkie said, citing Anderson's pro-choice and gay-rights support and his past stint as president of the American Civil Liberties Union. Anderson replied that McConkie ``obviously doesn't know me. Anybody that thinks I can be reduced to a label like liberal is in for a huge surprise.'' ``I've already received significant support from a number of Republicans and independents,'' said Anderson, who cites U.S. fiscal policy, Utah wilderness and environmental issues as his priorities. McConkie had gotten into the race last fall after receiving assurances, he said, that party rank-and-file and the traditional Democratic interest groups would bury their differences and support him. Instead, Democratic backers began to desert him when Anderson jumped in, and McConkie's opposition to gay rights and elective abortions alienated groups such as Utahns For Choice and Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats (GLUD). In recent weeks, principals of the choice group sought to clarify McConkie's perception that he had their support. GLUD, which had never offered it, was glad to see McConkie go. ``Three cheers,'' said the group's founder, David Nelson, echoing McConkie's response to recent efforts by some Democrats to get GLUD to downplay its party affiliation. McConkie charged that those groups have taken the party hostage, replacing polite informed discussion with ``belligerence and inability to compromise.'' Anderson said it was hypocritical of McConkie to blast Utahns For Choice, however, since he had coveted their endorsement before and attended a group fund-raiser just last week. ``Now that they make it clear they're not endorsing him, he lashes out and calls them extremists,'' Anderson said. The latest development leaves Anderson as the party's standard-bearer for the time being, although Utah House Minority Leader Frank Pignanelli and Jennifer Wilson, Rep. Bill Orton's chief of staff, are both considering a bid. The filing deadline for candidates is Monday.
1999 Axis and the Royal Court present "Pink Party" 8pm $5 Hosted by Empress Bridgette. Bricks and the Royal Court present "Un-Drage" 1130pm $5 Hosted by Sheneka
1999 Washington Blade Turning Words Into Protection Recent crimes breed 'smoke and mirror' bills As news of two gruesome Gay murders emerges from Alabama and Virginia, as the accused killers of Matthew Shepard are about to stand trial in Wyoming, and in the wake of a jury handing down a death sentence to a white supremacist for the racially motivated murder of James Byrd Jr. in Texas, many Gay activists say that, overall, vocal support for hate crimes laws in the states has grown. But while the number of bills has, predictably, increased in states where high-profile cases of hate crimes have occurred, legislative support has not been so predictable. Hate crimes legislation seeking to increase penalties for attacks based on sexual orientation is, by far, the most frequent type of Gay-related legislation introduced in statehouses this year. Currently, 21 of the 50 states have hate crimes laws that stipulate increased penalties for convictions on crimes committed because of a victim's sexual orientation. By the beginning of March, a Blade survey of bills found at least 53 bills in 21 statehouses that seek to either attach additional penalties to such crimes or require the state to track the incidence of such crimes. At about this same time last year, a Blade survey found hate crimes legislation had been introduced in only 10 states."There's more of a spotlight on state legislators to address hate crimes, not just in Wyoming but across the country," said National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Communications Director Tracey Conaty. "I think the murders of James Byrd in Texas and Matthew Shepard in Wyoming have really served to educate the public about hate crimes and get people out of denial regarding the fact that this is a problem in our country." Not surprisingly, Texas and Wyoming are among the top states for numbers of hate crimes bills introduced this year their state legislators having considered a total of five and seven bills, respectively. In Texas, the hate crimes bill many Democratic lawmakers and Gay activists are supporting has been dubbed "The James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Act." The bill seeks to increase penalties for hate crimes, enable victims to sue their assailants in civil court, increase funding for police training and resources for prosecution, and assign a hate crimes prosecutor in the attorney general's office. In addition to race, the bills cover crimes targeting people based on sexual orientation, disability, religion, national origin, or ancestry. Dianne Hardy-Garcia of the Lesbian and Gay Rights Lobby of Texas said previous attempts to pass hate crimes laws in Texas have failed, in part, because of the inclusion of sexual orientation. "Sexual orientation language is a huge hang-up," Hardy-Garcia said. "Everyone who has worked on the bill knows that." She said Matthew Shepard's murder has increased the awareness of anti-Gay hate crimes, but that Texas "has had so many Gay-related murders that it's not a new subject." Hardy-Garcia said that activist pressure on leading Republicans has shown some results. "Gov. [George] Bush, he used to say something very bland like, All crime is hate,'" she said. "Now, he's saying he's reviewing the legislation." Wyoming has no hate crimes law. Activists there have been pushing for hate crimes legislation since 1991, and succeeded with the introduction of seven hate crimes bills this session. Jeff Wunrow of Missouri said the time is right for amending the state's hate crimes law, but "it's not going to be a cakewalk." Matthew Shepard's murder "brought everything to the forefront," said Marvin Johnson, executive director of the Wyoming Civil Liberties Union. "There wasn't quite as much homophobia spewing onto the House floor this year." But six of the bills that would have increased penalties for bias-related crimes were defeated last month, and a bill to create a "human diversity task force" to study and report on hate crimes is the sole remaining bill. Johnson prefers to look on the bright side. "Just passing a bias crimes bill isn't going to help. We need to study what's going on, what kind of bias crimes are happening," he said. But "we're never going to give up," he said. "We're going to keep trying until [hate crimes legislation] passes." In Colorado, Wyoming's neighbor to the south, activists have been trying to include sexual orientation under the hate crimes law for the past five years. The state has a hate crimes law, called the Ethnic Intimidation Act, but it does not include sexual orientation as a protected category. A bill to add sexual orientation, age, and disability to that law and rename it "Hate Crimes" has passed through one House committee and is now being considered by another. The bill also includes transgendered persons by defining sexual orientation to include "a self-image or identity not traditionally associated with one's biological sex." Sue Anderson, the executive director of the statewide Gay civil rights group Equality Colorado, said Mathew Shepard's murder in Colorado's neighbor state to the north has polarized the discussion of hate crimes in her state. "People who hadn't thought about it have now thought about it and formed an opinion," Anderson said. "There's been more debate" she said, and "more polarization than ever before." Anderson said conservatives continue to oppose the laws, saying they are "policing thought." Bills in some other states are facing the same harsh fate as in Wyoming. All six of Indiana's hate crimes bills died February 24, the deadline for bills to have been voted on. In a surprise twist, activists convinced House Courts and Criminal Code Committee Chair Rep. Mike Dvorak (D) to bring one of the bills back to life and give it a March 1 hearing. But on Monday, March 8, Indiana's hate crimes bill failed by a 44 to 49 vote. Only two Republicans voted for the bill, and there were Democrats who voted against the bill. Hawaii Gay civil rights activist Bill Woods, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Education and Advocacy Foundation and coordinator of the grassroots Hate Crimes Task Force, said that, while Shepard's murder has been somewhat of a "driving force" among Gay civil rights activists, he thinks there is more public concern in Hawaii because of a recent local incident. Harry Knox of the Georgia Equality Project said a hate crimes bill "got a really good response" among state lawmakers. Woods said the Task Force was formed in response to the verdict in the October 1998 trial for the murder of Ken Brewer, a Gay man, in which his accused killer was convicted of only a misdemeanor. "We believe that justice wasn't done there," said Woods, who is pushing for a hate crimes law that includes sexual orientation. Hawaii lawmakers have introduced two hate crimes bills containing sexual orientation and, given the attention on hate crimes following the murders of Brewer, Shepard, and Byrd, Woods said he thinks this legislation "has a chance to move forward." Michigan's current hate crimes law, adopted in 1988, does not include sexual orientation. Last year, a governor-appointed task force on bias crimes recommended that the law be amended to include actual or perceived sexual orientation. That bill died at last year's session end, but has been reintroduced this year and activists say they are hopeful. "Sixty-four of the 110 House members are freshman with no voting record," said Sean Kosofsky of the Triangle Foundation, who said activists have 45 of the 56 votes needed to pass a house bill and that he thinks they'll get the rest. Kosofsky said Michigan reported an increase in hate crimes including six anti-Gay murders in 1998. Likewise in Missouri, a 1988 hate crimes law does not include sexual orientation. This year's bill to add sexual orientation, gender, and disability to the law is the top item on activists' agenda and has a good chance of passing, according to Jeff Wunrow of the Privacy Rights Education Project. Wunrow said the combination of Shepard's murder and the growing emphasis on bias crimes among other civic groups in the state has made the time right for amending the hate crimes law. Opposition is starting to form, though, Wunrow said. "We certainly had a couple of shots of reality. It's not going to be a cakewalk," he said. "But it is in pretty good shape." The 'do-nothing' bills Utah has a hate crimes law that does not specify any protected categories. Instead, it increases the penalty for any offenses that "intimidate or terrorize another person." This language is considered so vague that, according to Gay lobbyist David Nelson of Salt Lake City, "it has never been used in a prosecution in the seven years since the bill was passed." NGLTF's Conaty said that, although an increased public awareness of hate crimes is making it harder for legislators to "callously dismiss hate crimes legislation," as many have done in previous years, she said a different enemy is now upon the horizon. "We're getting into a kind of new generation of hate crimes legislation that is a bit of smoke and mirrors. Like bills that don't name any specific categories so are therefore unenforceable or bills that set up task forces," Conaty said. "Legislators are putting these kinds of bills forward because they don't want to be seen as doing nothing, whereas in the past there wasn't so much of a problem with doing nothing." At least three states this session (Montana, Virginia, and Wyoming) have considered bills that either do not name any particular protected categories at all, or would create some sort of hate crimes task force or call for statistical reporting of anti-Gay hate crimes. This year in Utah, a coalition of lobbyists tried to amend the state's hate crimes law to increase penalties for crimes motivated by a victim's "race, religion, national origin, color, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or physical or mental disability." But the bill was swiftly defeated in committee on February 4, with a strict party-line vote of Democrats voting yea and Republicans nay. "Once you mention sexual orientation in this state," said Doug Wortham, director of Salt Lake City's and Lesbian Community Center, "they would rather not include any categories." In Montana, a bill to add sexual orientation to the states hate crimes penalties enhancement law was defeated early in the session. Of the two hate crimes bills remaining active, one would change the law to strip it of protected categories and change its language to cover "any group," and another calls for mandatory hate crimes reporting by law enforcement officials.
12 March 2000 The Salt Lake Tribune Page: B5 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 Wyoming Utah Alliance
2003 Paul [Canuto] In review of the situation, I do not feel comfortable continuing with the KTPA fundraiser. There are several factors surrounding this for me. It would be one thing to do this if it benefits the Rodeo and gets people in the stands to make money for UGRA. It is quite another to do it or the pure enjoyment of others to watch me humiliate myself in front of the whole community and UGRA no get some benefit for it. Further I have no interest in doing really anything that will generate attendance or interest in Pride after the crap I went though with them last year. Therefore, I feel it important to cancel the gathering of the fund, this should be part of your announcement on Saturday. The anger I experienced last night from members of the community who had heard of the Rodeo plans were a determining factor, and I want to get rid of that animosity toward me because of the fund. I am happy to discuss the issue, and perhaps we can come to a understanding or draw up a different contract. We can have this discussion on Friday when you and I meet. As the fund was gathered in a contest which involved me personally, I am taking a very active role in where and how the fund is disbursed and have determined the following to be in the best interest of the UGRA, Community, and of course the one that was going to humiliate themself, me. I looked at community need and connections with UGRA and I have found some organizations that are good fits with our mission statement. I ask the following be disbursed from the KTPAF in the following manner; $100.00 to 4-H Clubs of Greater Salt Lake (farm animal programs), $100.00 to Wasatch Community Gardens, $100.00 to Bad Dog Rediscovers America (youth at risk art program) $200.00 to Memory Grove Foundation $300.00 to Utah Stonewall Historical Society (GLBT history preservation) total $800.00 The remainder should be paired with the money raised off the auction of Harriret the decorated Pig to provide money to another GLBT or main stream organization of UGRA's choosing, with the exception of The Center or Pride. Legally, I could be held responsible as well as the UGRA by the state if it is not given back as we have no record of who gave what then I see this as the best option. This could be a great positive for Saturday and anticipate your announcement. Thanks! Chad Keller
2003 Join Lambda Legal, Unity Utah, University of Utah LGBT Resource Center, the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Utah, the Utah Stonewall Democrats and The Village (a program of the Utah AIDS Foundation) Make It Legal Tour in Salt Lake City, Utah
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| Michael Mitchell |
2004 Controversial artwork stolen from school By Christy Karras The Salt Lake Tribune A group of photographs depicting purportedly homosexual Mormon missionaries was stolen Thursday from Salt Lake Community College, where they were the cause of fierce debate and near violence since going on display earlier this week.
The three silver gelatin prints by Don Farmer, part of a larger exhibit, show young men dressed in missionary garb in intimate situations. "Certainly, we are treating this as a theft," said Doug McCleve of the Utah Highway Patrol, which handles police duties for the school. The pictures were reported missing at about 8 a.m. Thursday. There was no damage to the building or the remaining pieces in the show, McCleve said. For now, police have no idea who stole the photographs. Some students, offended by what they considered disrespect to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, tried to take the pictures down Tuesday when they were first put on display. The thief could be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the value of the pieces, McCleve said. College spokesman Joy Tlou said SLCC officials are "distressed" about the theft. After a shouting match erupted Tuesday in the lobby where the show was hung, students worked out a compromise to move it to a classroom, and most people on both sides seemed satisfied, he said. For Farmer, who took the photographs to document his feelings about growing up Mormon with homosexual leanings, the past few days have been "quite the shock . . .. For someone to take action through a crime to say what they need to say is not the way to go about it," he said. "I would never have fathomed that sort of action against art." The photos are selenium toned gelatin prints on museum-quality archival paper -- they were not easy to make and would be nearly impossible to reprint the same way, Farmer said. "They are invaluable." Art dealer Jim
Debakis went to look at the photographs, but they were gone when he arrived at the campus. "I was very disappointed. I think it takes a certain kind of arrogance on the part of an individual or group who thinks they're offended by it, therefore nobody else should see it," he said. "The world is a little blacker when some people presume to edit what anyone else should see or shouldn't see." Gordon Storrs, who advises the student gay/lesbian/transgender group at SLCC, originally asked Farmer to submit the photos. He thought they reflected many students' struggles with homosexuality. "I thought it would provoke discussion," he said. "Colleges are a place where we can have discussions about issues, and being gay is a big discussion." Instead, Storrs said, some people called him derogatory names at the opening reception for the exhibition. Now, he is saddened that the photographs are gone and may never be returned. The value of the photographs would typically be determined by the price fetched by other photographs by Farmer. Ironically, Debakis theorized, the furor over the photographs might have made them more valuable -- and thus earn the thief a more serious criminal charge. Deseret News Article
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| Don Farmer |
- 2004 FRIDAY Controversial artwork stolen from school By Christy Karras The Salt Lake Tribune A group of photographs depicting purportedly homosexual Mormon missionaries was stolen Thursday from
2004 Anyone interested in the following, please contact The Amie's We need to know if there is interest in the area, so they can come down. Also, please let us know if you are willing to help with Pride planning for down here. Here's the scoop. We have a group of young people who are a part of the Queers Kick Ash Task Force. They are planning the Queer Prom 2004 for May 1st. They wanted to drive to St. George and have a day where they tell other queer youth all about it so they can come to pride here in salt lake. In order to do it we have to tie it in to tobacco education. So we thought that we could tie it all in if: the task force group does a 2 hour training or 1 hour training on how the tobacco companies target the queer communities. At the same time Jen and I will be training a couple of adult queer people to become smoking cessation facilitators. This is in case there are queer people in southern utah that would like to quit smoking, but would like to do it with a queer friendly twist. Many times the reasons queer people in Utah started smoking is because of their sexuality and possibly their religion...so we want to be able to create a space where people can approach quitting on a level that is inclusive to many issues. So, we were thinking of coming down April 16th, late that night. Do the trainings on Saturday, the 17th, and drive home Sunday morning on the 18th. If you could help get youth involved and find people interested in being quit coaches/facilitators, then we can go from there and start planning this. Let me know what you think. If you have any more questions, please call or email me. "bob" Director of Youth Programs GLBT Community Center of Utah mmaureen@glccu.com New Gay paper in Salt Lake!!! http://www.slmetro.com/ Dang, and it looks good too! Better than the Pillar ever was. Woo-hoo!!! I will be requesting some copies to give away down here. You could do the same, if you wanted. Let's support this, Utah needs it.
2005 Kennedy Cartier & Krystyna Shaylee Present: 3rd Annual Drag Roulette Drag Roulette is a show where the performer does not know what song they are performing until the song is played by the DJ. The performer has to perform the song the best they can and have fun with it. Saturday March 12th Trapp Door* 9pm
2005 Mr. Utah Bear / Mr. Utah Cub Contest Event Location: Club 161, a private club for members Street: 161 South Pueblo Street City, State, Zip: Salt Lake City , Utah Phone: 801-949-3989 Notes: The first annual Mr. Utah Bear & Cub Contest will be held on March 12th at 9 PM at Club 161 in Salt Lake City , Utah Utah Cub. The winner in each catagory will represent Utah at the 2006 International Bear Rendez-vous in San Francisco . This is a weekend of excitement and is sure to be the start to a remakable annual event here in Utah. Judges are comprised of individuals from local groups such as the Wasatch Leathermen's Association and Regional Groups such as the Front Range Bears and the Oregon Bears.
2006 Wendover Bus Trip bus leaves the Trapp/Trapp Door Parking lots at 10am and will return back in SLC at 8pm. $17 (includes free buffet, $7 cash, free drink, free coffee and chance to win a stay in Vegas) Co-Hosted with Michael Aaron and QSLC
2014 Utah’s decision to freeze same-sex marriages debated in court BY BROOKE ADAMS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE A pair of state attorneys told a federal judge on Wednesday that same-sex couples who believe they’ve been harmed by Utah’s decision to freeze their marriages rights created the problem themselves. Assistant Utah Attorney General Kyle J. Kaiser told U.S. District Court Judge Dale A. Kimball that couples who married after Utah’s Amendment 3 was found unconstitutional on Dec. 20 knew the state was seeking to stay the ruling and planned to appeal it. Assistant Utah Attorney General Joni J. Jones told Kimball that the couples “had no rights under Utah law” until the Dec. 20 decision and once the ruling was stayed, they did not retain vested rights. Jones said the state is merely not recognizing the marriages while the question of whether same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marriage is resolved, she said. “There is no question this is an emotional issue, but the state has taken a position of respecting the plaintiffs’ rights and respecting the legal process,” she said. Joshua Block, attorney with the national ACLU’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project, said the state’s move to strip recognition from marriages already performed would be unprecedented. Whatever the outcome of the state’s appeal, that doesn’t change the fact that some 1,200 same-sex couples married in Utah before the decision was stayed and have a constitutional right to have those valid marriages recognized, Block said. “That institution, once created, has special constitutional protections,” he said, describing the inviolability of marriages that have taken place a “bedrock constitutional principle.” “You don’t undo marriages that have already taken place,” he said, and it is the state’s attempts to do so that are disrespectful of judicial process. The ACLU of Utah, the national ACLU’s LGBT Project, and the law firm of Strindberg & Scholnick originally filed the lawsuit in state court in January, but it was transferred to federal court at the request of state attorneys. The four couples who are plaintiffs in the case allege the state’s decision to put same-sex marriages on hold during its appeal has created a “legal limbo” that is causing irreparable harm and violates their vested rights in the marriages. The plaintiffs want the court to declare valid any marriages that took place between Dec. 20 and Jan. 6, when the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the decision, even if Amendment 3 is eventually found to be constitutional. They also want Kimball to ask the Utah Supreme Court to decide if the couples have vested rights to their marriages under the Utah Constitution, and whether those rights could later be withdrawn. The state objects to that, saying the answer is clear under state law that the marriages are not legal. Both Jones and Kaiser said the situation for same-sex couples in Utah is not comparable to that of same-sex couples in California who married after that state’s supreme court upheld gay marriage rights and before voters approved Proposition 8, once again made such unions illegal. The marriages that occurred between those two events were subsequently declared valid — a correct ruling, Jones said, because they took place before Proposition 8 was enacted. A federal judge later found Proposition 8 unconstitutional, a decision the U.S. Supreme Court last summer declined to address based on a technical issue of whether those who appealing the order had standing. But Amendment 3, approved by Utah voters in 2004, was in place long before any same-sex marriages happened here and the state
reverted to that ban once U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby’s ruling was stayed. Jones drew a series of questions from Kimball. “Do no rights occur with marriage?” the judge asked, and then prodded Jones about whether she disputed that the same-sex couples went before proper authorities who performed their marriages, said words and issued legal documents. The marriages, he said, were legal at the time. “Does that mean nothing?” Kimball asked. “I don’t say it means nothing,” Jones said, but it’s not “permanent” because if the state eventually wins its appeal the “basis for the marriages will be undermined” since they were based on a faulty ruling. Jones also argued that the couples have no vested rights under the law since Shelby’s ruling is not final and is still on appeal. Kimball then pressed Jones about how a state victory that once again outlawed same-sex marriage would affect marriages that had already taken place. Jones said they would be voided. Salt Lake City attorney Erik Strindberg, who also represents the couples, said the uncertainty, instability and humiliation the plaintiffs are experiencing because of the state’s decision will only be exacerbated if they must wait two to three years for the case to be fully litigated. Those harms include plaintiff Tony Milner’s inability to be legally recognized as a co-parent, with Matthew Barraza, of the couple’s young son; the possibility that Jonell Evans may be unable to make medical decision for Stacia Ireland in a health emergency; Marina Gomberg and Elenor Heyborne’s fears about starting a family given their uncertain status; and the financial burden experienced by Donald Johnson and Carl Fritz Shultz because they can not share a health insurance plan. Strindberg said that when the Utah attorney general’s office entered an opinion advising a state judge to not proceed with Barraza and Milner’s adoption, it illustrated the harm to their son who was being told his family was different and not as good as other families. If the Dec. 20 ruling is affirmed at some point in the future, it won’t undo or resolve “the uncertainty and humiliation these couples are going through right now,” Strindberg said, all whom acted in concert with existing law. Under the Constitution, the couples have “clear” liberty interests to marry, establish a home and bring up children, he said, and other court rulings have made clear that even a short deprivation of such rights causes irreparable harm. “The fact is these people are legally married,” Strindberg said. “We can’t put that back in the bottle.” After the hearing, plaintiff Jonell Evans said she went into and left the hearing optimistic about the outcome. She and Stacia Ireland, who’ve been together for 13 years, held a commitment ceremony in 2007 but still wanted to be married. “When we heard we could get legally married, we went the first day, on Dec. 20, because that commitment is very important to us and we wanted it on the public record,” Evans said. “We felt at that time that we were the only ones who could ever dissolve that commitment. We had no idea that the governor could do that just by saying it was so. We’ve waited long enough and we are ready to have our marriages reinstated.” Outside the courthouse, Strindberg said, “Basically these people either have rights associated with marriage or they don’t have any rights. There is no in-between. ... The people who got married, got married because they were in love, the law in place at the time allowed them to get married, why not take advantage of that? ...They had the right to be married under Utah law, so they got married.”
2016 It is with much sadness, and after searching for Emperor III Weldon Young on Facebook, I have discovered that Emperor III Weldon Young passed away on March 12, 2016 at the age of 62 while living in Cane Beds, Arizona. He worked as a Senior Sales Executive at Nicholas and Co. Weldon's Facebook page states he has 5 family members living in the Provo/Springville area. April 23, 1953 - March 12, 2016 (age 62). Rest in Peace Emperor III Weldon Young and now you are in heaven with your Empress III Carole Martindale. Tim Hile
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| Robert J Shelby |
2016 It is with much sadness, and after searching for Emperor III Weldon Young on Facebook, I have discovered that Emperor III Weldon Young passed away on March 12, 2016 at the age of 62 while living in Cane Beds, Arizona. He worked as a Senior Sales Executive at Nicholas and Co. Weldon's Facebook page states he has 5 family members living in the Provo/Springville area. April 23, 1953 - March 12, 2016 (age 62). Rest in Peace Emperor III Weldon Young and now you are in heaven with your Empress III Carole Martindale. Tim Hile
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