Ruby Ridge Living KSL Blows by Ruby Ridge ruby@slmetro.com
So, pumpkins, did you see the travesty of an “Investigative Report” that Channel Five did on the Jordan River Parkway? What a stinking piece of sweeps-week road kill that was! For those of you who missed the two-part series (or the amazingly homophobic promos), KSL reported on cruising along the Jordan River, complete with helicopter shots of men walking together in the brush, sinister pixilated faces, and jump cuts to children in playgrounds. So what was the not-so-subtle message behind the report? I think it came down to “your children are at risk because fags are having sex on the monkey bars,” but I’m not sure. It was so tabloid-ish I was freaked. Petals, the GLBT Public Safety Liaison Committee has been working on the problem of public sex offenses for five years, and in that time helped create the Court Diversion option for men cited for lewdness. Over 375 men have completed the program with only about 1 in 100 re-offending. KSL never researched or approached anyone from the gay community to authenticate the story, or discuss the plea in abeyance program. How unethical and unprofessional is that? Now, I totally agree with the idea that families and children should be able to enjoy public places without the specter of two men waving weenies at each other. However, Channel Five’s report suggested that gay men are solely responsible for lewdness in public parks. The actions of a few do not represent us all. If the gay media held up Mark Hacking as the poster child of temple marriage, all hell would break loose.
So why is it, when our entire community gets painted as pedophiles lurking on playgrounds, that we are just expected to take it and not fight back? Excuse me for being unladylike, but that’s bullshit. Here are a few kernels of truth that will never make it into a KSL broadcast about cruising. Some of the most aggressive and brazen cruisers in the parks are married, closeted, LDS family men from all over Salt Lake, Davis, Summit, and Utah counties— men who would rather die than admit they were gay. In a classic supply and demand scenario, randy gay men cruise the parks knowing there is a stream of hormonallychallenged married men with blue balls who just want to get in, get off, and get out with nostrings-attached. The fact that they are loitering in dangerous places and putting themselves at risk of physical assault doesn’t even enter into the equation. KSL is never going to admit that bisexual and gay men trapped in dysfunctional heterosexual marriages are inevitably going to seek male-on-male sex. Typically, that’s going to happen in a very public place, like a restroom or park, where there is opportunity and cover for illicit activity. A large number of these men are older and are living pretty conflicted lives because they were historically counseled by the LDS church to deny their biology, get married and have a family, assume all the trappings and benefits of heterosexual life, and voilá ... they would be straight. They had no openly gay role models, no social support, no legal ways of hooking up, so why are we so surprised that they are maladapted and end up cruising the parks? Investigate that KSL!
If the gay media held up Mark Hacking as the poster child of Temple Marriage, all hell would break loose.
Ruby Ridge is one of the more opinionated members of the Utah Cyber Sluts, a camp drag group of performers who raise funds and support local charities. Her opinions are her own and fluctuate wildly due to irritability and being surrounded by “advocates” and “activists” who keep their balls in a box and won’t challenge the status quo.
MAY 26, 2005 ■ SALT LAKE METRO ■ 15