An empire reorganized
A deposed emperor, a mysterious sister, alleged affairs with a Utah state Senator and Mormon apostle, death by AIDS. God, I love living in Utah. Who said history is boring? The following is a...
View ArticleWhat’s in a name?
As QSaltLake undergoes a new metamorphosis, I am reminded what Shakespeare asked nearly 400 years ago. “What's in a name?” He answered this rhetorical question by stating, “That which we call a rose by...
View ArticleGay expression and oppression in Salt Lake City: The beginning
At the outbreak of World War II, the United States’ draft boards processed nearly 10 million men. In order to determine which men were physically or psychologically fit to serve, the military used...
View ArticleUtah sodomy laws: The first 100 years
When Utah enacted its first code of laws, as the State of Deseret in the 1851, Mormon legislators prohibited “any man or boy from having, or attempting to have, any sexual intercourse with any of the...
View ArticleUtah law found excuses for homosexual institutionalization
During the paranoid political climate of the early 1950s, Utah lawmakers were prompted to enact a psychopathic offender law in 1951 to curtail sexual deviancy. Legislators intended to protect the...
View ArticleThe pink and lavender menace
At the beginning of the 1950s, public opinion on homosexuality was that it was unnatural and a morally corrupting lifestyle. But it was hardly viewed as a threat to national security. However, opinion...
View ArticleA bleak beginning for gay rights
To a young homosexual awakening to his or her sexual orientation in Utah, there were no positive role models in the 1950s to which one could aspire. Society’s predominant view of homosexuality was...
View ArticleHow I became radicalized
In the summer of 1989 I traveled to New York City for Pride because I wanted to be where it all began some 20 years before. At Sheridan Square in front of the former bar a mock reenactment of the raid,...
View ArticleGay and Lesbian Community Council of Utah — part I
On Oct. 4, 1986, during Chuck Whytes fifth annual Unity Show, Greg Garcia, a founding member of the Wasatch Leathermen and Motorcycle Club, stood on the street stage and addressed a large gay audience....
View ArticleGay and Lesbian Community Council of Utah — part II
Editor’s note: The following is the second in a t [...]
View ArticleA Stonewall journey
In June of 1989, I was drawn to Sheridan Square in New York City to celebrate the 2oth anniversary of the Stonewall riots. I journeyed from Salt Lake City specifically to leave a rose on the doorsteps...
View ArticleSodomites unite
The Supreme Justices, ten years ago, forever changed the lives of Gay people by writing that consensual sodomy laws impinged on the constitutional liberties of Americans. There is a whole generation of...
View ArticleGay life in Utah in 1968-69
Richard Nixon became president of the United States in January of 1969. As that eventful year began in Utah, there were no homosexual support groups in the state. The only “Gay” magazine accessible in...
View ArticleOctober is Gay History Month
October is National Gay History Month. Knowing our history gives us a sense of purpose, a measurement of how far we have come, a meaningful identity as a people, and a sense of belonging to a movement...
View ArticleWhere Harry met Harry
Our Gay bars never were, and still are not, just about getting an alcoholic beverage. While our bars were never safe due to police raids, blackmail, or assault by guilt-ridden heterosexuals, they were...
View ArticleRise and fall
By now everyone has heard of the resigning of the executive director of the Utah Pride Center. It’s a tough gig. It was tough in the early 90s when directors only had to deal with contentious gay men...
View ArticleAlphabet soup
As the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion looms in 2014 and the 40th anniversary of Utah’s first celebration of Gay Freedom Day, I marvel at how we as a people have grown, changed, and evolved...
View ArticleUtah’s always had queer marriage
Utah always was queer about marriage, ever since the City of the Saints was founded by Brigham Young and his concubines … err, wives. The leadership of the Mormon Church nevertheless kept the practice...
View ArticleMountain and desert
This June will be the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion that ignited the Gay Civil Rights movement of the latter half of the 20th century. The significance of this event is demonstrated by...
View ArticleMurder at Hell’s Hollow
On Easter Sunday, 1902, a group of youths, hiking the western slopes of Ensign Peak in an area known as “Hell’s Hollow,” made a grisly discovery. Finding a pile of stones carefully placed in front of a...
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