QSaltLake Magazine - May 14, 2009

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Utah LGBT Health Fair 2009 Free information about health issues faced by the LGBT community

Saturday, May 16 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Huntsman Cancer Institute 2000 Circle of Hope (east of University of Utah Hospital)

For more information, call

1-888-424-2100

ROOTED IN YOUR COMMUNITY, HARVESTED FOR YOUR TABLE Community Supported Agriculture connects local community members to locally-grown food.

Support local farmers and find out where your food comes from in Utah by becoming a shareholder in your local farm.

In This Issue ISSUE 128 • MAY 14, 2009

Cover

Gayborhoods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

News

World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Quips & Quotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Qmmunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

SPONSORED BY THE GREAT SALT LAKE RC&D COUNCIL, INC.

Gay Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Dining Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Crossword Puzzle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Cryptogram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Views

Ruth Hackford-Peer . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Snaps & Slaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Gay Geeks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Ruby Ridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Lambda Lore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Guest Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 The Dating Diet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Staff Box

Qdoku . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Anagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Jacin Tales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Puzzle Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 The Back Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

tel: 801-649-6663 toll-free: 1-800-806-7357 for general information:

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Copyright © 2009, Salt Lick Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted or reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Copies of QSaltLake are distributed free of charge in 200 locations across Utah and in Idaho and Nevada. Free copies are limited to one per person. For additional copies, contact us at 801-649-6663. It is a crime to destroy, throw away current issues or otherwise interfere with the distribution of this newsmagazine. Publication of the name or photograph of any individual or organization in articles or advertising in QSaltLake is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such persons.

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2 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 3

4 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

Q World

BY REX WOCKNER

Maine Legalizes Same-sex Marriage; N.H. Marriage Bill on Governor’s Desk

Maine Gov. John Baldacci signed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage May 6.

The measure passed 89–57 in the House of Representatives and 21–13 in the Senate. The law will take effect 90 days after the current legislative session ends in June.

Anti-gay activists could disrupt the process if they collect 55,000 signatures during that time frame to force a voter referendum on the law.

That would stop the law from coming into force until voters had their say in the November 2009 or June 2010 election.

In his signing statement, Baldacci said: “In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions. I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage. Article I in the Maine Constitution states that ‘no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor be denied the equal protection of the laws, nor be denied the enjoyment of that person’s civil rights or be discriminated against.’”

Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese commented: “The march towards marriage equality for all loving, committed couples continues across this country. It’s becoming increasingly clear that legislators across the nation understand that it’s simply the right thing to do.”

Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said: “It’s an exciting moment, and one that affirms the national momentum building for marriage equality. ... People nationwide recognize that the fundamental protection specifically provided through the institution of marriage is what is necessary to achieve genuine fairness.”

Also on May 6, New Hampshire’s Legislature completed passage of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage and sent it to Gov. John Lynch.

Lynch, a Democrat, told reporters: “I have a responsibility as governor to do what I think is best for the people of New Hampshire. I will continue to talk with the Legislature and with the people of New Hampshire about that bill. ... We have been flooded with calls. People can’t even get through.

The phone lines are basically jammed.

(But) I’m not going to be guided by the numbers of calls that come into the office. That will not have an impact on my decision.”

Same-sex marriage also is legal in Connecticut, Iowa and Massachusetts, becomes legal in Vermont in September, and was legal for five months last year in California until voters amended the constitution to put a stop to it. A ruling in a lawsuit over the constitutionality of the amendment will be issued by the California Supreme Court by June 3. Gay couples also can marry in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden.

M*A*S*H Actor Comes Out Actor David Ogden Stiers, who played Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III in the ’70s TV series M*A*S*H, came out of the closet back in March with the Web site Gossip-Boy.com but other media failed to notice until now.

Stiers, 66, said his main motivation for breaking down the door was his desire to find a partner.

“There have been questions over the years and I now feel a tad more comfortable in discussing my personal life,” he said. “(M)any of my fears were in modern times self-invented. ... I just continued using them as an excuse long after the call for conservative private lives passed.”

“I wish to spend my life’s twilight being just who I am,” he said. “I could claim noble reasons as coming out in order to move gay rights forward, but I must admit it is for far more selfish reasons. Now is the time I wish to find someone and I do not desire to force any potential partner to live a life of extreme discretion with me.”

And what kind of boyfriend is he looking for?

“Someone both mature and youthful.

Who has a good sense of who they are and where they are heading. They need to appreciate the finer things in life, as over the years I’ve developed certain tastes. The more lusty side of me seeks a man with developed arms, as that has always appealed to me.”

6 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

Lesbian Missouri Senator Marries in Iowa Openly lesbian Missouri state Sen. Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, and her partner, Shonda Garrison, were married in Iowa City, Iowa, May 1 along with 16 other Missouri gay couples who took a bus from St. Louis.

“I thought about it long and hard before making the decision to go ahead,” Justus told The Kansas City Star.

“You never can tell what political fallout there will be.”

Same-sex marriage became legal in Iowa on April 27 following a state Supreme Court ruling that denying gay couples access to the institution was unconstitutional.

Same-sex marriage is also legal in Connecticut and Massachusetts, becomes legal in Maine and Vermont in September, and was legal for five months last year in California until voters amended the constitution to put a stop to it. A ruling in a lawsuit over the constitutionality of the amendment will be issued by the California Supreme Court by June 3.

The New Hampshire Legislature also has passed a same-sex marriage bill.

Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, is mulling whether to sign it.

Gay couples can also marry in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden.

D.C. Council Recognizes Gay Marriages from Elsewhere The city council of Washington, D.C., voted 12-1 May 5 to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states and nations that allow them.

Councilmember Marion Barry, the city’s former mayor, cast the only vote against the bill, claiming it reflected the views of his black constituents.

“All hell is going to break loose,” Barry told reporters. “We may have a civil war. The black community is just adamant against this. What you’ve got to understand is 98 percent of my constituents are black and we don’t have but a handful of openly gay residents. Secondly, at least 70 percent of those who express themselves to me about this are opposed to anything dealing with this issue. The ministers think it is a sin and I have to be sensitive to that.”

Mayor Adrian Fenty signed the legislation, which sent it to the U.S. Congress where laws passed by the D.C. Council can be overridden, though that is considered an unlikely outcome in this instance.

New York also recognizes same-sex marriages that take place in other states and foreign countries that permit them.

Assistance: Bill Kelley

Quips & Quotes ❝❝

I’m in a favor of recognizing marriage as a union between a man and a woman. I’m not in favor of trying to redefine it, or disguise it under another name.”

—Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, as quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune, on why he will fight to overturn a ruling by Washington, D.C.’s city council recognizing gay marriages performed in other states.

❝❝

“So, I suggest we call the virus “Chris Buttars flu.” It’s perfect: He makes everybody sick, and nobody wants to eat that swine.”

—City Weekly blogger Brandon Burt writing that the H1N1 (“swine flu”) virus be named for the anti-gay West Jordan Republican state senator.

❝❝

Who’s more offensive, Sen. Chris Buttars or his pal Senate President Mike Waddoups? Buttars spouts his crazy talk out of honest, if twisted, motives and beliefs.

Waddoups backs up Buttars, then oozes out the door for fear of catching flak.”

—Salt Lake Tribune columnist Glen Warchol criticizing Waddoups for re-appointing Buttars to the interim Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee.

❝❝

Our nation is moving toward inclusiveness and equality. Throughout history, our moral conscience has moved us to abolish slavery, allow women to vote, end legalized segregation and allow interracial marriage.

Our nation is again moving to end another injustice: LGBT discrimination. This isn’t a religious matter, it is a civil matter. I wonder when Utah will support civil rights for all of its citizens.

When will you?”

—Activist Jacob Whipple in a letter to the Deseret News.

❝❝

If gay marriage becomes legal here in Utah, how long before a gay couple would sue a minister, pastor, bishop or rabbi because they refused to allow the couple to be married in their respective church or synagogue?”

—Woodland Hills resident Lori Walker objecting to Whipple’s letter.

M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 7

Q Utah

Q mmunity

Utah Pride Festival Fun, Deadlines Approach

sWerve is accepting applications for its 2010 scholarship. The $1,5000 scholarship is given each year to help a woman in the community who exemplifies sWerve’s values pursue her education. These values include: promoting positive images and experiences of queer, lesbian, bisexual and transgender women in Utah; building community among women; supporting and creating women-safe spaces; and engaging in community service, educational outreach and civic action.

Info: swerveutah.com/scholar.html

With less than a month to go before the festival gates open, this year’s Utah Pride is already shaping up to be one of the best, according to Michael Westley, Utah Pride Center’s media and special events coordinator.

“We are very excited for this year’s festival,” said Westley. “There’s been so much great and strong energy in the community this last year with the controversy surrounding the passage of Prop. 8, as well as other political events nationwide. We’re seeing a great amount of energy, and we’re excited to see how that will manifest at this year’s festival.”

At press time Westley had said over 50 individuals, organizations and groups had signed up to march in the festival’s parade, which will be held Sunday, June 7 at 10 a.m. Although Westley said the average number of parade entrants typically falls in the 70s, having 50 several days before the entry deadline of May 15 was good. “[People at the Center have said] we feel like we’re on track if not a little ahead of schedule,” said Westley, noting that several entrants typically sign up on the day of the deadline. So far, several local gay and lesbian bars have signed up to be in the parade as well as political groups such as Equality Utah, the ACLU of Utah, Utahns for Marriage Equality and the state chapter of the Human Rights Campaign. A number of “colorful entertainers” will also return in the parade, including camp drag group the Utah Cyber Sluts and the swimsuit and Speedo-clad members of Queer Utah Aquatic Club, one of the state’s oldest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender sports groups.

Politicians who have signed up to march include state Sen. Gene Davis, DSalt Lake City, and Salt Lake City Councilmember J.T. Martin.

“It’s a really nice showing all the way around, and we’re expecting more,” said Westley.

Sponsorship from corporations and local businesses is also strong this year, added Westley, noting that eBay would also participate in the parade. The online auctioneer’s own gay and lesbian group, the Eagles, also plans on “having a presence in both the festival as well as the parade.”

The festival itself will feature several

sWerve Scholarship

Cowboy Kick-Off Moved Due to what the Utah AIDS Foundation is calling “some conflicts,” the Village Summit’s second annual Cowboy Kick-Off has been rescheduled for Sept. 12, 2009. The event is a fundraiser for the summit, a health seminar for gay and bisexual men. It will still be held at the home of Ron Thurber (2215 E Aspenwood Way).

Info: thevillage@utahaids.org attractions that are favorites among festival-goers — approximately 20,000 of whom attended the three-day event in 2008. They include the return of the ‘Pride in You’ section. Introduced last year, this area of the festival grounds consists of vendors and organizations focused on health and wellness, such as the Salt Lake Rape Recovery Center and the Utah AIDS Foundation, which will offer on-site HIV testing on June 6 and 7.

The popular Utah Pride Center Members’ Garden will also return. This special cordoned-off area for financial supporters of the center, age 21 and over, offers refreshments and cocktails as well as a clear view of the Main Stage where, as always, a number of talented local and out-of-state musicians and performers will entertain the crowds.

This year’s talent roster includes Periodic Table of Funk, Sister Wives, Debi Graham, Kid Madusa, Saliva Sisters and Bronwen Beecher (of Celtic rock group Salty Frogs).

Sunday’s entertainment on the festival’s South Stage is currently scheduled with Otter Creek, Cody Dew, Sotto Voce, Alicia Faith, DJ Pancho and Honey.

Entertainment on the festival’s West/ Interactive Stage will consist of poetry readings, belly dance lessons by Desert Journey School of Dance, and competitions in karaoke, drag and video games on the Xbox system.

The festival is also putting together a number of old favorite, and new food vendors. According to Westley, so far, the

8 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

vendors in this year’s “strong lineup” include Thai restaurant Sawadee, The Pie Pizzeria and Jason’s Deli. Westley also noted the festival is working hard to include a food option for vegans.

“We’ve worked really hard as always to make sure there’s a really strong variety and that the choices that are there are quality,” said Westley.

The festival’s headline entertainer will be comedian Paula Poundstone (who will perform Saturday night on the festival grounds), and the parade’s Grand Marshal is activist and AIDS quilt creator Cleve Jones, who served as an intern in San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk’s office.

“Our real excitement here is our inclusion of Paula and our Grand Marshal Cleve Jones, who just embodies so much of and has worked so much of his life for change in the area of gay rights as well as human rights for people everywhere,” said Westley. “To have him leading our parade in these political times is significant.”

The deadline for vendor, booth and parade submissions (which can be made online) is May 15. Tickets to the festival, its Grand Marshal Reception and after party, and Paula Poundstone’s Saturday evening performance can be purchased online at utahpridefestival.org. An early bird special of $15 for Saturday and Sunday admission is also available.

More information about Utah Pride can be found at UtahPride.org

Soulforce Q Camp Soulforce, a religious organization dedicated to fighting religiousbased homophobia, will offer a free summer retreat to assist queer and allied activists working to end discrimination and hatred against gay and transgender people. The camp is open to people age 18-30 (as of July 14, 2009) and may be of special interest to students, local activists or potential participants in Soul Force’s Equality Ride, an annual cross-nation tour to draw attention to anti-gay and transgender practices at several colleges and universities. The 10-day camp will cover such topics as nonviolent activism, anti-oppression organization skills, anti-racist work, scriptural skills for those working within conservative religious communities, transgender awareness work, and media and fundraising work. Soulforce Q will also provide a stipend and continued staff support to camp participants after the camp’s end.

Application Deadline: May 15 When: July 14–23, Alma de Mujer center for Social Change in Austin, Tex. Info: soulforce.org/q-camp or q@ soulforce.org Cost: Free for participants (including travel).

Aside from a minor confrontation with a street preacher, a protest of LDS Church President Thomas Monsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commencement speech at Southern Utah University was otherwise free of conflict.

In fact, many protesters were surprised by how much support they received from passers-by â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in the forms of honking and waving from cars or thumbs-up from graduates and their families. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everything went really well. I was quite amazed,â&#x20AC;? said Claudia Bradshaw, the president of the Southern Utah chapter of Parents, Family & Friends of Lesbians and Gays. PFLAG, SUUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Queer Student Alliance, various SUU alumni and other concerned community members organized the peaceful protest on May 2 as a demonstration of what Bradshaw called â&#x20AC;&#x153;love and support for all of the gay students at SUU.â&#x20AC;? The protesters were dissatisfied with Monson as a choice for commencement speaker because of the LDS Churchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statements against gay and transgender people and its outspoken support of Proposition 8, a controversial ballot measure which re-banned gay marriage in California last November.

At 8:30 a.m. students, PFLAG members, alumni and other protesters from as far away as Northern Utah assembled at the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dixie Leavitt Business Building in a designated â&#x20AC;&#x153;free speech zone.â&#x20AC;? Holding signs with such slogans as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Proud of Our Gay Kids,â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;No H8â&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Congrats to Our Gay and Lesbian Grads,â&#x20AC;? the protesters waved, smiled at and congratulated graduates as they passed â&#x20AC;&#x201D; particularly those wearing pink sashes or ribbons as a symbol of their support for the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gay and transgender population.

Among the protesters, Bradshaw counted Northern Utah PFLAG President Kathy Godwin, PFLAG Mountain West Regional Director Gene Hodges and national PFLAG Policy Coordinator for Utah Cesar Hernandez. Hernandez and Hodges were in the area on unrelated business, she noted. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was marvelous having them here to be a support,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I even had a woman come to the demonstration early that morning because she had a sister who is lesbian. She saw online that we were going to do this and made up a sign and came with us. Is that cool?!â&#x20AC;?

In total, The Spectrum estimated 16 protesters were present. Police were also on hand, apparently to ensure the demonstration did not become violent. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It kind of sucks that they are putting

before our anger, because sometimes we need to love our enemies as much as we love our friends,â&#x20AC;? said Bradshaw.

Elaine Ball, the co-founder of service group Pride In Your Community, was one of the Northern Utahns at this afternoon â&#x20AC;&#x153;Alternative Commencementâ&#x20AC;? ceremony. She estimated that â&#x20AC;&#x153;between 50-100â&#x20AC;? people attended. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The food was wonderful, fresh fruit, cakes and desserts, veggies and dip,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everything was so well-organized and I was was delighted to meet the people who organized it all and felt inspired by the growing community presence promoting LGBTQ rights in Southern Utah.â&#x20AC;?

Bradshaw added that two local musicians â&#x20AC;&#x201D; whose names she never learned â&#x20AC;&#x201D; also spontaneously joined the gathering. The two played their guitars for an hour before the speakers came on stage. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was beautiful. I thought it was amazing to have volunteers who said we support your cause, and who were willing to take their time and talents to help us,â&#x20AC;? said Bradshaw.

She was also thankful to the donors who helped her rent the facility to â&#x20AC;&#x153;make this something really nice and special.â&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201A; Q To see pictures from the demonstration visit tinyurl.com/p946c8.

Lagoon Day Set for August 16 The annual QSaltLake Day at Lagoon has been set for Sunday, Aug. 16. In past years, hundreds of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and other readers of QSaltLake have participated. Revelers wear red T-shirts so they are readily identifiable and come together at a set time in the afternoon for a group photo.

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SUU Protest Against LDS Pres. a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Successâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

us behind lines and watching us like that but its OK because we know weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re sending a message of love and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not here to disrupt or cause a problem,â&#x20AC;?

PFLAG member Brandon Jarvis told the paper.

As the protesters congratulated the passing students, many passers-by applauded them. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was amazing how many people gave us the thumbs-up,â&#x20AC;? said Bradshaw. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We had a lot more positive reactions than we did negative, which amazed me in a small town like Cedar City.â&#x20AC;?

The only negative reaction, aside from a few obscene gestures by some not-so-supportive motorists, came from a street preacher The Spectrum identified as Rashid Solo, age 30. Solo and five other counter-protesters stood nearby proclaiming Jesus as the Christ and calling passers-by to repentance. While things remained peaceful between the two groups, Bradshaw said that Solo approached her group at one point to engage in â&#x20AC;&#x153;a Bible-bashing discussion.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;He came into our circle even without asking, and I said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;You know, if I want to find a church I know where to find a church. This area has been designated for us to use and you can leave.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; And he left,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He preached, but we just ignored him and went on and did our business. We decided to do this like Martin Luther King did: dignity without confrontation.â&#x20AC;?

When the graduates were assembled for Monsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s speech, Bradshaw said the group took a break so as â&#x20AC;&#x153;not to disrupt their [the graduatesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;] special day.â&#x20AC;? She and a number of other demonstrators packed up their signs and headed to the nearby Cedar City Heritage Center to prepare for the afternoonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s events. She was assisted by Brad Biederman, the leader of a local group for ex-Mormons, and Nadine Hansen, the owner of a Web site that tracked Mormon donations to Proposition 8. At 3:15 p.m., a number of speakers addressed the protesters and gathered graduates at the heritage center. These included Gary and Milly Watts who lead Family Fellowship, a support organization for Mormon families with gay and lesbian members; and SUU Vice President of Student Services Donna M. Eddleman. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donna was so fantastic,â&#x20AC;? said Bradshaw. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It gave me hope for SUU that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to be more diverse in some areas.â&#x20AC;?

Author and playwright Carol Lynn Pearson spoke last. Pearson, a Mormon who lives in California, has written extensively about Mormon families with gay members. Her work includes the critically acclaimed play Facing East, which focuses on a heterosexual Mormon couple coming to terms with their gay sonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suicide. She also authored the books Goodbye, I Love You and No More Goodbyes: Circling the Wagons Around Our Gay and Lesbian Loved Ones. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[She spoke] about loving beyond what we think we can, and putting love

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MENTION â&#x20AC;&#x201A; M ay 1 4 , 20 09â&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; issue 128 â&#x20AC;&#x201A; | â&#x20AC;&#x201A; Q S a QSALTLAKE lt L a k eâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; 9

Q Utah EU’s Mike Thompson Leaving Utah

After four years at the helm of Utah’s largest gay rights organization, Equality Utah Executive Director Mike Thompson will depart on May 29 to pursue other job opportunities in San Francisco.

“It’s a life transition more than it is the work opportunity,” explained Thompson, who has worked in consulting for several years. Upon leaving Utah he will help one San Francisco organization prepare for a capital campaign, and advise another “fledgling organization” on hiring a staff to advance its work.

“It really is the different facets of growing an organization that I’m part of, and that’s what I really love about in my career: tapping potential in organizations,” said Thompson.

Thompson first came to Utah in 2004 to work as the deputy campaign manager of Equality Utah’s ‘No on 3’ campaign. The campaign, chaired by Scott McCoy two years before he became a state senator, opposed a voter initiative (Amendment 3) which sought to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman in Utah’s constitution. Although the initiative passed by 66 percent of the vote, No on 3’s efforts managed to bring voter approval for the amendment down from 72 percent.

Thompson said Equality Utah advisory council Jane Marquardt asked him to interview for the position of executive director upon Michael Mitchell’s departure in 2005. Thompson was excited to interview for the position, but he had one stipulation.

“During the interview process I had mentioned to the board of directors that it’s my personal belief that an executive director [of a non-profit group organization] should serve between three to five years,” said Thompson. “I feel when you’re growing an organization it’s always good to have fresh blood. We’ve had some significant growth in the four years I’ve been here, and I really felt like it was time to hand the reigns over to the next person to lead the organization to its next level of growth.”

And now, the time for handing over the reigns has come. Recently, Thompson has received some short and longterm contracts for consulting work which excite him.

“I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to make a life transition that I hoped to make at some point,” he said, adding that the period after the general legislative session is a “good time of year” for him to make such a transition. “It’s almost as if the planets had aligned to allow me to do this at this point in my life.”

During Thompson’s term, Equality Utah has changed drastically. The organization has gone from two-full time employees to four, and less than 10 endorsed, fair-minded political candidates in office to over 30. The group has helped pass laws addressing bullying and hazing in public schools and a Salt Lake City ordinance forbidding the city government to discriminate against gay and transgender employees. Its annual Allies Dinner, which raises money for the organization’s political action campaign, has also gone from just 500 attendees to 1,300 last year.

Thanks largely to Equality Utah’s work, the state it serves has also changed. Polls released by Equality Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News earlier this year indicated that the majority of Utahns not only knew someone who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, but supported such basic protections as inheritance and insurance rights for same-sex partners, and employment and housing nondiscrimination laws that include sexual orientation and gender identity.

And while Republicans on Capitol Hill balked at passing a collection of Equality Utah gay rights bills known as the Common Ground Initiative this session, the initiative has been popular among Salt Lake City businesses and municipal governments like Salt Lake County.

“I feel well-accomplished for what we have done, and it really has been a collective effort,” said Thompson.

“We’ve got an amazing and incredibly committed staff and board of directors, and we’ve got a significant commitment from our allies and the LGBT community that things are really in place for the next level of significant growth.”

Still, Thompson said his departure is bittersweet.

“There are so many people I love here, and [it has been a] privilege coming to work with people I admire, respect and enjoy,” he said. “We’re friends as well as co-workers; it really is a special workplace. There’s a lot of grieving that goes with the transition. While I’m very excited about what’s next for me, it does come with some grieving for what I’m leaving.”

And that grieving is not only on Thompson’s part.

“He’s been a great leader of this organization and a great friend, and we love him a lot,” said Keri Jones, Equality Utah’s manager of programs and administration. “We’re excited for him and proud of him and wish him well, but also hope he comes back.”

“He’s been a great mentor to me,” added Lauren Littlefield, the organi-

10 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

zation’s field coordinator. “I’m happy for him and excited for his future to move on and do some good in another place.”

“Were definitely gonna miss him and he’s been great for the organization,” said Public Policy Manager Will Carlson. “Equality Utah is going to continue to exist and the needs of the LGBT community are going to continue to be met. We’ll miss Mike, but we’re excited about possibilities that come with the change.”

But while Thompson is leaving at the end of the month, that change won’t come as immediately as it might seem.

Thompson said he would continue to work with the organization after departing “to ensure that the new person who comes in will have a smooth transition to continue the great work of the organization.”

He will also not soon forget the kindness and support Utah has shown him.

I felt a very warm embrace form the time I landed here in 2004 and a wonder-

ful reception when I came back in 2005,” he said. “I’ve witnessed the community really get behind the work of Equality Utah. It’s really humbling because I feel like when a community or even individual within a community donates time or financial resources to an organization, it really is a significant vote of confidence. And with that comes a high level of stewardship. And because of that we’ve been able to expand our donor and volunteer base. That’s humbling. It feels like we’re doing the right thing when we have such broad-based support.”

Currently Equality Utah’s board of directors is accepting résumés for the position of executive director. The position will be closed on May 18, after which time the board will begin evaluating applications and conducting interviews.

A farewell party will be held for Thompson on May 27 at Club Jam, 751 N 300 West, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

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Q Utah Utah State Physicians Board Meeting Turns Anti-gay

Calif. Group Ends Garff Boycott On April 30, leaders of the Coachella Valley, Calif.-based Desert Stonewall Democrats announced they would no longer boycott a Utah-based auto dealer over a family member’s donation to Proposition 8.

“We’re not condemning the boycott per se,” Desert Stonewall Democrats chairman George Zander told Desert Sun, a newspaper based in Palm Springs. “We just don’t want to be in a position of leadership in the boycott.”

The group initially called for the boycott in March, after learning that Ken Garff Automotive Group matriarch Katharine Garff had donated $100,000 to a campaign in favor of Proposition 8. On Nov. 4, 2008 California voters narrowly passed the ballot measure re-banning gay marriage in the state. News of Mrs. Garff’s donation also led Fred Karger, founder of anti-Prop. 8 group Californians Against Hate to call for a boycott.

A Utah Physicians Board Meeting of the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing turned antigay last month as the board was deciding on rules for their code of ethics.

A proposal by Dr. Stephen Lamb declaring “Failure to render care to a patient on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or disability” as unethical was met with a request from Dr. John Bennion to include “sexual orientation.”

Lamb responded he purposely left “sexual orientation” out as he does not believe it should be included.

Lamb explained he believes physicians should be able to treat or not treat specific patients.

As an example, Dr. Lamb stated he “will not do infertility treatments for single women,” according to Meeting Minutes made available to QSaltLake.

Salt Lake City — Dean Lyle Foss Dr. Marc Babitz agreed with Lamb, Walton 63, beloved dad, grand-father, saying the Utah State Legislature has brother, uncle and friend passed away set precedence by not acknowledging peacefully in his home, Thursday, May “alternative lifestyles.”

7th 2009. Dean, the son of William Lyle After further discussion, Dr. George Walton and Nethie Leavitt was born Pingree made a motion to include February 25th 1946, in Afton Wyoming, “sexual orientation” and Bennion where he spent his childhood. He atseconded it. tended grade school in Auburn WyoThe vote failed on a 3-3 vote with ming, until moving to Logan Utah in Dr. Richard Sperry abstaining from 1959, where he graduated from Logan the vote and doctors Lamb, Babitz and High School.

James Pingree voting against it.

Dean married and later divorced The group took a second similar Shiree, with whom he had a daughvote with the same results. ter, he learned of later in life, and was Lamb is a doctor of obstetrics and proud to have gotten to know Alysse gynecology at the Millcreek Women’s Cotton and gain a bond with her and Center and the author of Between Hus- his only grandson Shaun Devin Hales, band and Wife: Gospel Perspectives on both of whom he loved dearly. He Marital Intimacy distributed by LDS- served an LDS mission to Vancouver owned Deseret Book.

Brittish Columbia. Spent years in the Critics have panned the book ul- army after being drafted and stationed tra-conservative in its apporach to in Germany, where he served as chapintimacy in a relationship, arguing lain and made his move to Salt Lake against oral sex and “self stimulation” Valley, where he chose to stay. during intercourse.

Dean was quite artistic in everyBabitz is the division director of the thing he did and had a passion for the Utah Department of Health and the di- floral industry, where he developed a rector of Student Programs in Family friendship with his boss, and co workMedicine School of Medicine at Uni- ers. Dean was a perfectionist in all he versity of Utah. did, and the bigger the better, impressJames Pingree is a neurosurgeon at ing many brides with his bouquets and Wasatch Neurosurgery. arrangements.

The group’s mission is “to safeguard Known to many as “Auntie De’”, the public health, safety and welfare Dean was very active in the gay comand to enhance commerce through li- munity, and instrumental in founding censing and regulation.” and serving many of its associations.

12 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

Karger, however, called off his boycott in February after meeting with company CEO John Garff and gay Utah philanthropist Bruce Bastian.

During that discussion, Garff told the Salt Lake Tribune he said the donation reflected his mother Katherine Garff’s opinion, and not company policy. Katherine Garff, he added, did not own any of the dealerships.

Bastian also noted the group was in the process of drafting a “non-discrimination company policy.”

The Desert Stonewall Democrats’ boycott targeted four Garff dealerships in Cathedral City and La Quinta.

John Garff told Desert Sun that the boycott had ended because of “good dialogue” with the leaders of the progay organization.

“Honestly, it’s just a better understanding of issues on both sides,” he said.

Allies Dinner Equality Utah’s 8th Annual Allies Dinner will be held in August.

The dinner is a fundraiser for the Equality Utah Political Action Committee, which endorses and supports the campaigns of fairminded political candidates in Utah. Each year, the statewide gay rights organization also presents its Allies for Equality awards at the dinner, which honor individuals who have worked to advance the legal equality of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Utahns. This year’s recipients will be Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson; former ACLU Executive Director Carol Gnade; former Cactus & Tropicals owner Lorraine Miller; and South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society Minister Rev. Sean Dennison.

Obituary

When: Aug. 19, starting at 5 p.m.

Auntie De Dean Lyle Foss Walton 1946–2009

Info: alliesdinner.org

Where: The Salt Palace’s Grand Ballroom, 100 S. West Temple

Monthly queereads Come discuss Audre Lorde’s classic “Zami: A New Spelling of My Name”, which is 20% right now only at Sam Weller’s Bookstore. queereads WHEN: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 6:30pm – 7:30pm Where: Sam Weller’s Bookstore, 254 S. Main Street

Many of us will remember him as the father to all wayward children, welcoming us with open arms and supporting us when no other would.

Dean loved all he knew and people were drawn to his presence. He had a countless number of friends, and a kind word for all of them. He leaves behind his daughter Alysse, his grandson Shaun and his brother, Michael Walton (Val).

Preceding him in death were his parents, brothers Forrest and Junior and a sister Verla Izatt.

A viewing was Monday, May 11th from 6-8 p.m. at Larkin Mortuary 260 E. South Temple, SLC Utah.

A memorial service was held Tuesday, May 12th at 12:00 p.m., at the same location, with a short viewing prior to at 11:00 a.m. Interment will then be held Wednesday, May 13th at 10:00 a.m. at the Auburn Cemetery in Wyoming.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www. larkinmortuary.com

INFO: liz@samwellers.com, 801-328-2586

SUPERSTAR Karaoke Fundraiser Sing your heart out as a fundraiser for the Damn These Heals, Salt Lake’s gay film festival. An auction will be held for a 2010 Sundance film festival ticket package, kura door spa treatments and a chronik membership to the Salt Lake Film Society (which includes all-the-time complimentary admissions to films screened at both the Salt Lake Film Society venues) When: Wednesday, May 20, 7pm Where: Club Jam, 751 N 300 West COST: A $5 donation is suggested but not required.

INFO: www.slcfilmcenter.org/

Utahns Nominated for Queer Book Award

Two Utah authors are finalists for a prestigious award given annually to authors of literary works with gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender content.

University of Utah psychologist Lisa Diamondâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Love & Desire is a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in the category of Best Bisexual Book.

This non-fiction book chronicles Diamondâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s groundbreaking, decade-long study of 79 non-straight womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sexual identification and attitudes towards their orientations. Diamond wrote that the study disproved the idea that bisexuality in females was just a â&#x20AC;&#x153;transitionâ&#x20AC;? stage to lesbianism, and that her data suggested bisexuality differed from lesbianism and female heterosexuality.

Early last year, the American Psychological Association cited Diamondâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s findings in its acceptance of bisexuality among women as a legitimate sexual orientation.

Additionally, University of Utah creative writing doctoral student Ely Shipley is a finalist for Best Transgender Book. Shipleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first book of poems, Boy with Flowers, describes its authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experiences as a transgender man in language that poet Paisley Rekdal called â&#x20AC;&#x153;gorgeous, taut, and often quietly, almost dreamily, menacing.â&#x20AC;?

Recently, Boy with Flowers won the Thom Gunn Award in Poetry from the Publishing Triangle, an organization for gays and lesbians in publishing. But while the award recognizes a superior work of gay poetry, Shipley said he does not necessarily identify as gay, but as genderqueer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interesting to see how these two organizations are using decidedly different ways to categorize my book,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Although the Lambda Literary Awards recognize books with gay and lesbian content in a number of categories, including poetry, romance and biography, the awards typically honor only one category each for bisexual and

transgender work. If the judging committee receives more than 10 submissions of bisexual and transgender fiction and non-fiction, awards are given for Bisexual Fiction and Non-Fiction, and Transgender Fiction and Non-Fiction.

Diamond said she was â&#x20AC;&#x153;absolutely thrilledâ&#x20AC;? to be a finalist. She first heard the news of her nomination, she added, when QSaltLake contacted her seeking an interview. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have no idea what my chances are, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s certainly an honor,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Even if this is as far as it goes, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m absolutely delighted.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m really excited that this is happening,â&#x20AC;? said Shipley, noting that he might attend the awards ceremony in New York City on May 28. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m glad a foundation like that [the Lambda Literary Foundation, which administers the awards] exists to recommend writers that are often marginalized.â&#x20AC;?

Although this is the first award nomination Diamondâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book has received, Diamond said her book has been wellreceived not only by the scientific community and general readers, but by locals â&#x20AC;&#x201D; including her mail delivery person, who commented that her entire family had enjoyed it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Moments like that are what itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about for me,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anything that gets [my book] into the hands of more average, day-to-day people out there who have a kinship with these issues is what makes it all worthwhile.â&#x20AC;?

Diamond added she hoped that, as time went on, more books with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender content would be published by mainstream outlets. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[Then] thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be more cross talk between communities. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be a good thing all around,â&#x20AC;? she said.

She was also pleased that two Utahns had made it onto this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finalist list. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re here, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re queer, and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re writing books!â&#x20AC;? she laughed.â&#x20AC;&#x201A; Q

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Q Utah Cancer Institute to Hold LGBT Health Fair The Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah Hospital will hold the state’s first annual health fair for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people on May 16. The institute is located at 2000 Circle of Hope, in Salt Lake City.

The event, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., includes health screenings, demonstrations and tables by several organizations who serve gay and transgender populations. Organizations involved include Utah AIDS Foundation, American Cancer Society, Salt Lake Valley Health Department, Planned Parenthood of Utah, Ogden OUTreach Resource Center, Cornerstone Counseling, EndMethNow.com and Silverado Hospice of Utah, Inc., which specializes in senior care.

A number of civic organizations and state services will also have booths at the event: Utah Pride Center, IJ and Jeanne Wagner Jewish Community Center, Pride in Your Community, Health Policy Project, Lumen Episcopal/Lutheran Campus Ministry, Club Try-Angles, Club Jam, restaurateur Gastronomy, Inc, law firm Jones Waldo, TransAction (Utah Pride Center’s transgender youth advocacy program), South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society, Northern Utah PFLAG, Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons and the Salt Lake City Police Department.

University of Utah services that are welcoming of gay and transgender people will be represented by the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Clinic 1A, the University of Utah’s LGBT Resource Center, the University of Utah Counseling Center, and the school’s Department of Radiology.

Tyler Fisher, program director at UAF, applauded the institute’s leadership in putting together the fair.

“It was really great that Huntsman Cancer stepped up and said, ‘Hey, we see that this is a population that possibly needs additional resources, and we’d like to take lead in coordinating the community to come together to do a health fair,’” he said.

Although the Utah AIDS Foundation will not be offering on-site HIV testing, Fisher noted the organization’s table will hand out discount coupons for its test site. The goal of the booth, he said, is to raise awareness of UAF’s many programs, including Hermanos de Luna y Sol (Brothers of the Sun and Moon), its program for Hispanic gay and bisexual men, and The Village, a

Buttars Quietly Reappointed to Committee A controversial Utah state senator has been reappointed to the Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee from which he was removed in February as punishment for making anti-gay remarks to a documentary filmmaker.

However, his re-appointment is for the interim session, at which time lawmakers consider issues and bills, but do not vote on them.

Senate Republicans removed Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, from his chairmanship of the committee and from membership in the Senate Judicial Confirmation Committee in February after documentary filmmaker Reed Cowan released Buttars’ interview for a documentary on the LDS Church’s role in passing California’s Proposition 8. In the interview, Buttars said gays and lesbians had no morals, that they practiced “pig sex” and that they were second only to Muslim extremist terrorists as “the biggest threat to this country going down.”

Buttars’ remarks made headlines across the nation and ignited many gay, transgender and allied Utahns to call for his resignation. Buttars said, however, he would not apologize or resign.

Days after the controversy began, senate Republicans removed Buttars from both committees. At the time, however, Senate President Michael Waddoups said the leadership had voted to remove Buttars not because they disagreed with his remarks, but because Buttars had violated an agreement not to speak about gay issues publicly.

“We want the citizens of Utah to know that the Utah Senate stands behind Sen. Buttars’ right to speak. That we stand behind him as one of our col-

leagues and his right to serve in this state,” Waddoups said during a press conference at the time. “We think he’s a stalwart. We think he’s a senator that represents the point of view of many of his constituents and many of ours. We

be a benefit and a help there.”

Although the interim Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee only studies bills, the bills can sometimes impact gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Utahns.

agree with many of the things he said.

We may disagree with some of them. We may disagree with some of the ways he said it. But we stand four-square behind his right to say what he feels he wants to say and needs to say.”

To date, Waddoups has not commented on what parts of Buttars’ remarks Republican legislators agree and disagree with.

During a May 1 interview with radio station KCPW, Waddoups expressed similar praise for Buttars.

“During the interim what we’re doing is studying issues, gathering information, rather than making policy and passing bills. We’re just studying,” he said. “Senator Buttars has a sharp mind and is experienced. I think he’ll

One such bill studied during the 2008 interim session was Salt Lake City Democratic Senator Scott McCoy’s wrongful death bill. If passed this bill would allow an individual’s unmarried romantic partner (of either sex) to sue in cases of death due to negligence or medical malpractice under certain strict guidelines.

McCoy could not be reached for comment on this story.

Will Carlson, public policy manager for statewide gay rights group Equality Utah — which authored several gay rights bills during the 2009 general session — told KCPW that while Buttars had a right to his opinions, the senator’s attitude was detrimental to the legislative process.

Fashion Forward on a Budget at PWACU Fundraiser

On May 17, local models will strut across the runway at La Caille restaurant wearing the trendiest fashions of the season, all to raise funds for the People With AIDS Coalition of Utah’s many programs.

Only, the stylish gear won’t be exactly what you might think. While there may well be designer dresses, jackets and jewelry, they will come not from the racks of a high-end store, but from the hangers at Our Store: Your Thrift Alternative, the organization’s thrift shop. That’s right, this fashion show is all about do it yourself, mix and match, and looking fabulous on a budget.

Oh, and the models — both male and female — will wear drag.

The charity event, explained PWACU Director Toni Johnson, came about in part because of the clothing and accessories that members of the community bring to the store.

“We get such a wide range of clothing,” she explained. “We get dress wear, evening wear. We get everything from 1 4 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

bathing suits and underwear to elegant dresses, to everything in between.”

To better show off the range of donations the store receives, Johnson explained the evening will be divided up into four outfit changes: casual wear, loungewear/pajamas, business attire and a set that emcee Gus Garcia is calling “fashion forward.”

“It’s a funky mix and match type of thing where you can be all-out crazy,” explained Garcia, the owner of BrassRing Productions, which has produced the fashion show for two years running. Originally founded in Texas, BrassRing regularly produces events such as pageants and fashion shows, and was once featured on MTV. According to Garcia, 20 models of both sexes will participate in the show, and many of the models will dress in drag.

“We always like to have little surprises in our fashion show,” Garcia explained.

The show — which Garcia described

as upbeat, high energy and fast-paced — will be held at La Caille, an upscale French restaurant located in Little Cottonwood Canyon, 9565 Wasatch Blvd. The restaurant, which is housed inside a building reminiscent of 18th Century chateaus, offers four-course meals throughout the year as well as an extensive wine and liquor selection.

In addition to a night of food and fun, fashion show attendees will receive a $50 certificate to dine at the restaurant with their ticket purchase.

“It’s a beautiful place. We really appreciate them having us out there,” said Johnson.

In addition to the fashions and food, the evening includes a silent auction with prizes ranging from furniture, jewelry and handmade artwork to restaurant and hotel gift certificates. The auction closes at 5:30 p.m. The fashion show and brunch will run form 2–6:00 p.m.

Tickets to the show are $75 and can be purchased online at pwacu.org.

GOP Disinvites Huntsman Over Civil Union Support On April 29, the Michigan Republican party canceled its speaking invitation to Gov. Jon Huntsman, apparently over the governor’s support for civil unions.

Huntsman was initially asked to address Kent County Republican leaders on May 2.

In an e-mail to party members obtained by the Grand Rapids Press, party chairwoman Joanne Voorhees wrote that a brief article on Huntsman in the newspaper and some further research into the governor’s “change in position on issues” had lead her to cancel the event, which was to be a fundraiser for the local party.

“This is a critical period of time for our party as we work to gain back the confidence and trust of the people of Michigan,” Voorhees wrote. “As was evidence from our most recent TEA Party, the voters want and expect us to stand on principle and return to our roots. Unfortunately, by holding an event with Governor Huntsman we would be doing the exact opposite.”

Huntsman instead met with local Republican leaders at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

Voorhees’ decision met with praise from anti-gay political action committee called Campaign for Michigan Families. ”We commend Kent County Republican chair Joanne Vorhees [sic] and encourage the local Republican organizations in Oakland and Kalamazoo counties to also cancel their scheduled events for Gov. Huntsman,” the group said in a statement. “Kent County’s principled stand sends a strong message nationwide that grassroots conservatives will not embrace liberals who want to abandon the GOP platform’s commitment to traditional family values in favor of promoting homosexual activists’ incremental assault on religious freedom, marriage and the family. Gov. Huntsman endorsed not only homosexual ‘civil unions’ but also homosexual activists’ discriminatory ‘gay rights’ legislation in Utah, which in other jurisdictions has proven to be punitive in discriminating against individual business owners and groups such as Catholic Charities, the Boy Scouts, and the Salvation Army.”

The statement referred to Huntsman’s support of four bills and one policy change called the Common Ground Initiative. These pieces of legislation were promoted by statewide gay rights group Equality Utah during the last legislative session. Although Huntsman showed interest in a proposal to extend insurance coverage to unmarried domestic partners of state employees, the legislature scuttled all of the bills — which focused on such issues as the rights of domestic partners to sue for wrongful death, and the addition of

sexual orientation and gender identity to Utah’s workplace and housing nondiscrimination codes.

In February, Huntsman went on record as supporting the legalization of civil unions to the surprise and delight of Utah gays and lesbians, and to the anger of many conservative groups.

These included former immigration rights group America Forever, which ran a controversial advertisement in both the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News criticizing the governor for his

stance and Equality Utah for proposing the Common Ground Initiative.

The ad, which compared gays and lesbians to prostitutes and drug addicts, and accused them of trying to recruit children, outraged many Utahns. Some legislators who opposed the Common Ground Initiative even denounced the ad’s tone on the congressional record.

Despite Huntsman’s support for gay rights, his approval rating among Utahns did not suffer. At the 2009 general legislative session’s closing in March, Huntsman had an 84 percent approval rating while the legislature’s approval rating was only 64 percent.

Huntsman told the Salt Lake Tribune that he was not offended by the withdrawal of his invitation to speak.

“I don’t interpret it beyond what the party chair told me yesterday when he called, and that was that it involved just a couple of people and it was not representative at all of their state party,” said Huntsman.

Noting that few Americans currently identify themselves as Republican (only about one in five), Huntsman said that it was time for the party to “broaden itself” by being more inclusive.

“The only way we’re going to bring people who have defected into the independent party and nonaffiliated category is through ideas, is through bold solutions to our everyday problems,” he said.

In the past few months, Huntsman has spoken at a small number of party events in other states in order, he said, to “reinvigorate the party apparatus.”

Although some have speculated that Huntsman announced his support for civil unions to help prepare for a 2012 bid for the presidency, Huntsman said he was not planning to run. Q

M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 15

Warm Weather is Coming!

Q Views Letters With Liberty and Progress for All Editor, A lot has happened since November. We all remember the legislative defeats for the LGBT community and the outrage and rallies that erupted from it.

Fast forward to today: Massachusettes and Connecticut already allowed marriage for same-sex couples. Iowa’s Supreme Court voted unanimously to allow marriage for same-sex couples, making it the first non-costal state to allow it. Vermont’s legislators not only voted to allow marriage for same-sex couples, but also over-rode the Governor’s veto to make it law. The Senate in both New Hampshire and Maine have voted to allow marriage for same-sex couples, and the New York Assembly is going to vote on the same measure this week and is also expected to approve it.

The United States House of Representatives also approved the Matthew Shepherd Act and President Obama is urging the Senate to approve it as well. Both houses are also expected to hear and vote on ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that would prevent the LGBT community from being fired merely for their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Our nation is moving towards inclusiveness and equality. Throughout history our moral conscience has moved us to abolish slavery, allow women to vote, end legalized segregation and allow interracial marriage. Our nation is again moving to end another injustice: LGBT discrimination.

This isn’t a religious matter, and shouldn’t be. It is a civil matter. I wonder when Utah will support civil rights for all of its citizens. But the question is, when will you?

Jacob Whipple Salt Lake City

I have personally served for a decade under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: an immoral law and policy that forces American soldiers to deceive and lie about their sexual orientation. Worse, it forces others to tolerate deception and lying. These values are completely opposed to anything I learned at West Point. Deception and lies poison a unit and cripple a fighting force.

As an infantry officer, an Iraq combat veteran and a West Point graduate with a degree in Arabic, I refuse to lie to my commanders. I refuse to lie to my peers. I refuse to lie to my subordinates. I demand honesty and courage from my soldiers.

They should demand the same from me.

I am committed to applying the leadership lessons I learned at West Point. With 60 other LGBT West Point graduates, I helped form our organization, Knights Out, to fight for the repeal of this discriminatory law and educate cadets and Open Letter to President Obama and Ev- soldiers after the repeal occurs. When I receive emails from deployed soldiers and ery Member of Congress: I have learned many lessons in the ten veterans who feel isolated, alone, and even years since I first raised my right hand suicidal because the torment of rejection at the United States Military Academy at and discrimination, I remember my leadWest Point and committed to fighting for ership training: soldiers cannot feel alone, my country. The lessons of courage, integ- especially in combat. Leaders must reach rity, honesty and selfless service are some out. They can never diminish the fighting spirit of a soldier by tolerating discrimiof the most important.

At West Point, I recited the Cadet Prayer nation and isolation. Leaders respect the every Sunday. It taught us to “choose the honor of service. Respecting each soldier’s harder right over the easier wrong” and to service is my personal promise.

The Department of the Army sent a let“never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won.” The Cadet Honor ter discharging me on April 23rd. I will not Code demanded truthfulness and honesty. lie to you; the letter is a slap in the face.

It imposed a zero-tolerance policy against It is a slap in the face to me. It is a slap in the face to my soldiers, peers and leaders deception, or hiding behind comfort.

Following the Honor Code never bowed who have demonstrated that an infantry to comfortable timing or popularity. Hon- unit can be professional enough to accept or and integrity are 24-hour values. That is diversity, to accept capable leaders, to acwhy I refuse to lie about my identity. cept skilled soldiers.

16 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

Don’t Fire Me

My subordinates know I’m gay. They don’t care. They are professional.

Further, they are respectable infantrymen who work as a team. Many told me that they respect me even more because I trusted them enough to let them know the truth. Trust is the foundation of unit cohesion.

After I publicly announced that I am gay, I reported for training and led rifle marksmanship. I ordered hundreds of soldiers to fire live rounds and qualify on their weapons. I qualified on my own weapon. I showered after training and slept in an open bay with 40 other infantrymen. I cannot understand the claim that I “negatively affected good order and discipline in the New York Army National Guard.” I refuse to accept this statement as true.

As an infantry officer, I am not accustomed to begging. But I beg you today: Do not fire me. Do not fire me because my soldiers are more than a unit or a fighting force – we are a family and we support each other. We should not learn that honesty and courage leads to punishment and insult. Their professionalism should not be rewarded with losing their leader. I understand if you must fire me, but please do not discredit and insult my soldiers for their professionalism.

When I was commissioned I was told that I serve at the pleasure of the President. I hope I have not displeased anyone by my honesty. I love my job. I want to deploy and continue to serve with the unit I respect and admire. I want to continue to serve our country because of everything it stands for.

Please do not wait to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Please do not fire me.

Lt. Daniel Choi

QSaltLake Welcomes Letters from Our Readers Love a story written in this issue? Hate one? Did a columnist piss you off or tickle your funny bone? Want to say something to the world?

Send a letter to the editor — we love feedback! Please keep your letter under 300 words and email it to letters@qsaltlake.com.

Your letter, if published, may possibly be edited for length, suitability or libel.

No one wants to go to court.

Confessions of a Lesbian Stereotype

by Ruth Hackford-Peer

S

I think I’ ll make a T-shirt that reads, “I’m talking to stupid.” I’ll wear it under my clothes and when I get stuck in a conversation that’s headed down Dumb Drive, I’ll take off the outer layer and finish the conversation. However, the folks I’m talking with probably won’t even know the shirt’s message is for them.

I’m done with stupid.

The problem is, I used to be the type of person who could tolerate stupid. In fact, I much preferred stupid to mean.

Now it’s a toss up. As an educator, my goal has always been to teach. As a social justice educator, that goal sometimes means having to teach someone not to think the (stupid) things they used to think. And I loved it.

I’m not sure when the shift occurred, but it wasn’t that long ago. It happened after I became a parent and moved to Utah. In fact, I think the two are connected. In Utah, I have to justify my desire for equal rights and protections, my family structure and even my existence a whole lot more than anywhere else I have ever lived. As a parent, I have had to put more time and energy into my boys than I ever imagined, and more emotion into protecting them from hurts and mistreatments in life. Doing all of this has left me feeling like a defensive, tired, old Mamma bear.

Instead of embracing the questions people ask, I now want to close myself off from — yep, you got it — stupid.

Often, when at the grocery store or elsewhere around town, people will comment on my son’s striking red hair.

They usually ask some version of, “Does your husband have red hair?” Or, as Riley has gotten older, they’ve addressed him directly: “Did you get your red hair from your daddy?” I used to be able to offer up the information matter-of-factly: Riley has a donor and the donor has red hair. But recently I’ve found myself feeling judged, even before I actually am. I’ve found myself getting defensive, in preparation for some possible need to be defensive.

And the questions and comments keep coming. “Who is the real mom?” or “But he has to have a dad,” or “Are your boys really brothers?” or “But they aren’t actually brothers. Isn’t it more accurate to say step-brothers?” Recently, even language has bothered me. Sometimes people just don’t have the language to omeday

talk about our family, and I’ve found myself losing patience even when their intention is not malicious.

Recently, a person at my son Casey’s daycare asked how we’d like to handle Mother’s Day. I told them that we’d appreciate two cards or gifts, or whatever they’re making at school. If that wasn’t possible, I said we’d like for the item sent home to acknowledge both of us. She asked: “How would you like us to handle Father’s Day? The children typically spend that week making a project.”

Actually, it has been a long-standing tradition in our family for me to celebrate Mother’s Day and for Kim to be honored on Father’s Day. Having the daycare projects reflect this certainly would have been amenable to both of us. But suddenly I was offended. Was she insinuating that he needed a father?

I put on my best patronizing voice and told the woman that Casey doesn’t actually have a father and therefore could make a craft for his mothers, or not at all.

Noticing that she had struck a nerve, the woman responded that she just wanted to see if he had a special uncle or grandpa, or someone he’d want to give the gift. “He does,” I replied. “But they are not his father, either.”

And I was immediately angry and disappointed in myself. I’m not sure where this rigid enforcement came from. Really, what we teach in our home is to take people where they are at, and to teach by just being us. Historically, we’ve been charming enough to win over a few folks along the way.

What we’ve taught certainly does not seem the track with my recent attitude.

Accepting the Father’s Day gift would be fun and creative, and Casey could make the craft along with his classmates. By making a big deal about it, I became that lesbian. You know, the one who purportedly hates men, tucks chewing tobacco into a wad in her bottom lip, converts children, and earns toaster ovens along the way. The Walking Stereotype Lesbian.

I’ve been on to the grain of truth theory for years now: The idea that there might actually be a little grain of truth in a stereotype, which then gets oversimplified and applied to a whole group of people. I never connected the stereotype as being the response of a person to living daily with oppression. Sure,

I’m done with stupid.

M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 17

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Ruth

it’s our own version of passive-aggressive Utah-nice ‘but you’re going to Hell anyway’ oppression, but it still hurts.

There has been something so caustic about living here in Utah and justifying my existence day in and day out that sometimes that causticity comes out unintentionally. In the situation with the woman at the daycare, I lashed out in the wrong place. My child has a great daycare, and I have no doubt that I can repair the relationship with the person who was trying to openly, honestly and directly problem solve, only to face bitter resentment from me.

I am sorry for the resentment. I responded to this daycare worker from a place of hurt that existed because of questions and accusations she didn’t even make, but which people fire at me every which way every day. I’m not sure how a burnt-out gay gets his or her gay patience back, but I need to at least try. So today I am committing to welcoming the questions about my life without the jaded, burnt-out, lashout-at-them-before-they-get-a-chanceto-lash-out-at-you mentality.

The other day somebody asked Riley where he got his red hair. He responded, “I got my red hair from my donor, but I got my big heart from my two moms.

Any questions?” The woman smiled.

He smiled. He walked away and told me that he “taught that lady not to assume that I have a dad.” He was proud. I was proud, too.

If my 7-year-old can greet the world with such confidence in who he is, isn’t it about time that I do so again? Q

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Gay Geeks So Cupcake is So Good ... And Geeky

H

ey, dIeteRs?

by JoSelle Vanderhooft

you mIght wanna skip this week’s column. No, really. You’ll thank me.

It’s a slow time in geekdom for me, geeky ones. You see, I’m eyes-deep in a number of projects — including a short story collection that I’ve got to hand in to a publisher soon — so I haven’t had a lot of time to finish any books or view any more ten thousand year-old anime series. Or go see the new X-Men or Star Trek movies — the latter of which hasn’t technically come out as of the writing of this column, but I won’t have time to see it when it does, so I’m not exactly cheating.

When you write a bi-monthly column about geeky things, the situation can be problematic.

So this issue I decided to write about cupcakes. Hey, who said you can only geek out about spaceships and dragons?

Not like half of my geeky friends, who are into making things like blueberry vinaigrette dressing from scratch. Or for that matter, any D&D or WoW group who can’t do a campaign or raid without some homemade muffins.

The thing is, I didn’t like cupcakes very much until I went to So Cupcake for the first time. To me, they’d always been little more than dry cake-y vehicles for frosting that came in two styles: bland or over-sugared. The fact that most bakeries never tried to disguise this fact only added to my annoyance. So when a friend told me to pay a visit, I was skeptical.

And then I tried three of their mini cupcakes: So High the Moon Lemon,

Hanky Panky Red Velvet and Studmuffin Blueberry.

OMG ... To say I food geeked-out would be an understatement. They were seriously the best cupcakes I have ever tried — and yes, I’ve gone to the Magnolia Bakery in New York City (of Sex and the City fame). The frosting was subtle and not too sugary, the cake rich and moist, and the combination stunning — especially the blueberry cupcake, which more closely resembled a lightly frosted blueberry muffin. Typical grocery store cupcakes they weren’t, nor typical bakery cupcakes.

I don’t know if So Cupcake’s owners Kevin and Natalie Jensen would identify as geeks, but there’s something downright geeky about their delicious desserts, from the memorable and G-rated cheeky names to the obvious attention they devote to each and every cupcake. The icing isn’t slapdashed on, nor is it coiled on top of the cupcake with precision only machines can manage. Rather, it’s neatly and artistically placed and decorated.

And oh, the decorations! Visiting the bakery on a regular day, you might find what I call a cupcake cake on display.

Basically, they are cakes in the shape of gigantic cupcakes with a number of whimsical (and often made-to-order) decorations, such as one recent creation that included pink flowers crafted from sugar. They’ve also made cupcake cakes for weddings (decorated with yellow frosting roses), baby showers and, of course, birthdays that are just as glorious. And the specialty cupcakes! The

1 8 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

photo gallery on So Cupcake’s Web site — which you should all totally visit, by the way — includes cupcakes designed to look like ladybugs, snowmen, Thanksgiving turkeys, even cherubic faces. The only real regret I’d have about eating one of the designer confections would be marring the artistry.

Along with stellar taste and design and a store interior that’s so fabulous I’m surprised a bunch of gay men didn’t design it, what really thrills me about So Cupcake is the bakery’s back story. The Jensen’s daughter, Celina, has cerebral palsy.

Like several children living with serious medical conditions and illnesses, she had one of her wishes granted by the MakeA-Wish Foundation. And what was that wish? To visit the New York City studio of Chef Emeril Lagasse’s cooking show.

Some kids have heroes who are athletes, celebrities, or super star musicians or performers. And that’s fine. Heck, I idolized New Kids on the Block when I was about Celina’s age (you never, ever read that, by the way). But I think it’s beyond geeky-cool that Celina’s hero is a chef, and her passion is cooking and watching people cook on the Food Network.

Now that’s a girl after my own heart.

As the Jensens tell it, Celina’s passion for cooking and her enthusiasm for the tasty cupcakes she ate while in the Big Apple were the reasons the family started So Cupcake in 2008. For me, that’s the icing on this particularly delicious confection of a bakery. So food geeks, when you’re done with this column, drive, walk, bike or bus yourselves to 3939 S. Highland Dr. and try one of the best cupcakes you’ll ever taste.

And since I know that a bunch of you dieting geeks did not heed the warning at the beginning of this column, rest assured: the store offers mini-cupcakes so you can have your sugar rush without endangering your waistline. Hint: Even though they’re all “so delicious,” I recommend anything chocolate.

Visit So Cupcake online at socupcake.com.

Snaps & Slaps SNAP: LGBT Health Fair Like any minority population, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have health concerns that differ from those that often get the most media attention. So we’re thrilled to see the Huntsman Cancer Institute embracing these concerns with its first (and hopefully first of many) LGBT Health Fair. This fourhour event brings together gay and gay-friendly health organizations and social groups to raise awareness of their services — from HIV/ AIDS prevention to resources for gay and transgender Mormons. At a time when gay and transgender issues are more visible in Utah than ever, organizations that can strengthen and support our physical, mental, social and spiritual health also need to be more visible.

And the Huntsman Cancer Institute gets our applause — well, our snaps — for helping to make this happen.

SLAP: Buttars’ Interim Reappointment Although Sen. Chris Buttars would like everyone to forget that he called gays and lesbians amoral pigsexing terrorists this February, we at QSaltLake have better memories than that (dark ugly babies, anyone?). We haven’t forgotten those remarks, or Buttars’ half-assed punishment for them: being removed from his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee.

And we’re not likely to forget, any time soon, the Buttarsaurus’ reappointment to this committee for the interim session. Or, for that matter, Senate President Michael Waddoups’ half-assed reason for it: that the committee just can’t get by without Buttars’ wisdom and political expertise. Seriously. Forget the pigs and their sex: The smell of chicken shit is the only thing fouling the Capitol this summer.

SNAP: Mike Thompson’s Departure No, we’re not glad that Mike Thompson is leaving his position as executive director of Equality Utah.

We love him, we think he’s done great things for Utah, and we’re deeply sad to see him go. But we are happy for him, and happy for the other non-profits he will help to find the strength, power and voice that Equality Utah has found under his four years of leadership.

Congratulations on your new job, Mike. May it treat you as well as you will treat it.

Ruby Ridge MissInformation

by Ruby Ridge

I

am outRaged, kIttens! outRaged!

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll tell you why. Close your eyes and quickly name who won this years Miss USA pageant. Come on, petals, it was only held last month. You should know this.

Nothing? Coming up empty? Well, the hole in your short-term memory isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t all because of those Red Bull martinis you knocked back last weekend.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the fault of that media whore from California, Carrie Prejean. The new official spokeshussy/spokesmartyr for â&#x20AC;&#x153;opposite marriageâ&#x20AC;? has been hitting the airwaves with a vengeance, and kvetching to anyone who will listen about how she was robbed of her Miss USA title and persecuted for her beliefs. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you feel sorry for the actual pageant winner â&#x20AC;&#x201D; who was Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton, by the way? She did everything right, beat out the competition in every category, and

then was buried by Xena the San Diego Culture Warrior Princess and her faux martyrdom on Access Hollywood and the 24-hour news networks. I would be so pissed!

You would have to be living in a cave to not know about the media crap storm surrounding Miss California Carrie Prejeanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rustic response to Perez Hilton concerning gay marriage at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Miss USA Pageant. There are so many things wrong with this entire situation that I feel the need to number or bullet point each item.

Numero 1) Perez freaking Hilton?

Judging the Miss USA Pageant ... seriously? Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like having a vegan judging the Nathanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island. 2) Asking a beauty pageant contestant a serious, probing, culturally relevant question completely betrays the shallow vacuousness that pageants have been cultivating in

young women for decades. It shows a total disrespect for the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hi, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a vacant yet classy bimbo in an evening gown, so watch me promenade now before I start doing Maxim covers and soft core pornâ&#x20AC;? hotness that Donald Trump and his organization are trying to mass market and profit from. And letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s face it, muffins, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only a matter of time until the Miss USA Pageant allows stripper poles in the talent competition. 3) Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2009 and we still have â&#x20AC;&#x153;beautyâ&#x20AC;? pageants?

Didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s movement gain anything from the civil rights/ERA struggles of the â&#x20AC;&#x2122;70s?

Uggh. Somebody get me a Xanax and a Wendyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s baconator before I slap someone.

But hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the real source of my outrage, pumpkins. Prior to competing nationally, Carrie Prejean got performance-enhancing breast implants authorized and paid for by the Miss California Beauty Pageant organizers.

Seriously, she gets fake chi-chis that go along with her title. Can you even imagine that conversation?: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Congrats

for winning Miss California darling, hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your sash, your title, your tiara and your titties. Enjoy!â&#x20AC;? Meanwhile, in pro baseball, Manny Ramirez is fined eight million bucks for using a performing-enhancing substance.

Whereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the fairness and equity in that double standard? Miss â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jesus wants me for a sunbeamâ&#x20AC;? Prejean adds a few pounds of saline boobage and gets to happily bounce her new bazongas down the runway, while Manny gets shut out of baseball for 50 games, a huge fine and the haunting self knowledge that his testicles are shrinking. What a load of hypocritical bull!

Ciao, babies. Q

letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s face it, mufďŹ ns, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only a matter of time until the Miss usA pageant allows stripper poles in the talent competition.

You can see Ruby Ridge live and in person at 3rd Friday Bingo (every Third Friday of the Month at 7 p.m.) at First Baptist Church, 777 S 1300 E in Salt Lake City. You can check out her appearances and schedule at thirdfridaybingo.com. Mayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bingo on Friday the 15th benefits Yeehaa, a local non-profit that works with disabled kids and uses horses and horse riding for therapy. How cool is that?!

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M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 19

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by Ben Williams

A

bout

the

time

fictional

cowboys Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist were riding the rump range in Wyoming and trying to learn how to quit each other, another fictitious movie-cowboy struggled with his sexual orientation.

On May 25 1969, the Best Picture of the Year went to Midnight Cowboy — the only Academy Award-winning film ever rated X (although it has since been re-rated to R).

Midnight Cowboy takes place in preStonewall New York City, where Andy Warhol and his infamous Factory’s influence were at their height. Homosexuality was “inching its way out of the shadows,” but as the movie showed, it was still a source of deep shame. The movie’s main character, Joe Buck, is a young Texan who dreams of making a living in New York City as a gigolo. So he catches a Greyhound to the Big Apple where by chance he meets a seedy character named Ratzo with whom he develops his only intimate relationship. At one point Ratzo, ridiculing Buck’s macho cowboy act, says to him, “That’s faggot stuff.” Buck hollers back, “John Wayne! Are you tryin’ to tell me he’s a fag?”

This odd couple learns to survive in a condemned building by caring for each other in the only way they know how — much like Jack and Ennis’ illfated relationship. However, unlike the Brokebackers, Ratzo and Buck regard homosexuals with contempt and fear.

At the end of each movie, both Ennis and Buck lose the one person they most care about because of society’s disregard. But hey, it was the ’60s and homosexuals, who basically had a “non-existent status” in American society, could hardly expect to fare any better.

Ironically, Midnight Cowboy had a song on its soundtrack called “He Quit Me,” echoing the sentiments of Ennis Del Mar’s famous wish.

The same day that Midnight Cowboy was released with its X rating, making it dead in the water for any Utah screening, Salt Lake City was about to experience an example of the Youth Rebellion, which was challenging authority all over the United States.

Few know that Sugar House Park once housed the Utah State Prison. On the 180 acres, Labor Union activist Joe Hill was executed on May 19, 1915, despite worldwide pleas for clemency. He was not alone. Between 1900 and 1951 nearly 40 people were executed by firing squad before the state penitentiary was

moved to the Point of the Mountain.

By 1969, the park was a peaceful gathering place where Happenings and Love-Ins occurred for Salt Lake City’s long-haired hippies, flower children and other queers.

America realized the times were achanging when the July 7, 1967 issue of TIME Magazine ran the cover story: “The Hippies: The Philosophy of a Subculture.” America then learned that the members of this counterculture movement were adopting a communal lifestyle and renouncing corporate nationalism and the Vietnam War — all the while experimenting with sexual behaviors and new forms of mind-enhancing drugs.

This alternative, psychedelic lifestyle put hippies at odds with most traditional middleclass Western values. The hippie mantra said it all: “Turn On, Tune In, and Drop Out.” Although the “establishment” viewed long hair on males — a symbol of the hippie movement — as effeminate, and suspected most hippies were queer; the early hippies were not particularly tolerant of homosexuality. In fact, most male hippies were as misogynistic and homophobic as members of their parents’ mainstream culture. However, within the bohemian counterculture from which the Beat Generation and hippies derived, homosexuals were able to experiment with gender and push the boundaries of sexual conventionality and conformity.

The hippie movement in Utah was also first noted in 1967, when a Salt Lake Tribune article stated, “Another wave of state visitors — the Free Love Clan — has been apparent in Salt Lake City streets the past few weeks, a sudden blossoming of the Flower Children with sandals and beards and buttons.”

The article went on to claim that “Salt Lake City [was] known as a hot spot,” for hippies. The city’s Deputy

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Chief of Police tried to assure the panicky residents that the influx of hippies into the state was under control. He said, “These hippies aren’t organized.

They’re just disillusioned. They found San Francisco was no paradise and they are going back home to momma.”

Ogden Police Chief reassured Ogdenites that even though five hippies had moved to Ogden from California, they “were being watched.”

On Memorial Day weekend in 1969, hundreds of young people were getting their groove on in Sugar House Park.

Elvis Presley blared from transistor radios singing “In the Ghetto” and Friends of Distinction harmonized that “grazing in the grass is a gas.”

But as two young brothers were cruising through the park, things turned ungroovy fast. A Salt Lake City police officer spotted their vehicle and noticed it did not have a “damage release sticker”

police as the escapee sprinted across the park and leapt onto the back of a motorcycle, which sped off to help with the get away. The motorcyclist drove across the grass toward 1300 East, ala Steve McQueen, and fled the park.

The riled-up crowd was told by officers to disperse, but without results.

A backup force was called to Sugar House to scatter the hundreds of mostly 19-year-olds who were taunting the police and refusing to disband. The cops ordered the park gates closed, released police dogs into the crowd and ordered the lawn sprinklers turned on to break up the throng of angry youth.

Meanwhile, two Salt Lake detectives finally cornered and arrested the motorcyclist and passenger at 700 East and Browning Avenue. In all, six young people were arrested for possession of marijuana, interfering with a police officer and failure to disperse.

on the windshield. So he stopped the teenage driver, and then smelled a distinctively fragrant odor wafting from the vehicle. The cop proceeded to arrest the 19-year-old driver after finding “suspected marijuana.” But he was not prepared for the teenager to put up a fuss as he was handcuffed and shoved into the patrol car’s backseat.

A crowd of curious onlookers soon gathered to see what all the commotion was about, and the arrested teenager’s 22-year-old brother, Spencer Lee Anderson, began yelling “police brutality” and calling upon the crowd of several hundred to help intervene. The bevy of young people, learning that the kid was being arrested for marijuana possession, began to shout, “turn him loose,” “everybody smokes pot” and “pigs” at the arresting officer. At this point the young suspect bolted from the backseat of the squad car. As a backup reserve officer gave chase, Spencer tackled the cop, allowing his younger brother, still handcuffed, to dart through the crowd.

The mass of youth had parted to allow the escape and then closed to block the

The following Monday, May 26, Salt Lake City Police Chief Dewey J. Fillis demanded the Salt Lake City Commission ban beer in city parks following the near-riot at Sugar House Park. He claimed the park had become a “gathering place for undesirable persons.” He added that 80 percent of calls to his office were complaints about the hippies like “tired and fed up with permissiveness of this element.”

The all-Mormon city council complied and placed a ban on consuming beer in all city parks. This is the lasting legacy of the rebellion at Sugar House.

Rather than drunken deeds of hooligans, the rebellion at Sugar House Park can be seen as symptomatic of the anger that was boiling to the surface in a generation that distrusted anyone over 30. This melee in Salt Lake City foreshadowed — by a month — another youth rebellion which would occur in Lower Manhattan under yet another full moon.

Meanwhile, John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded “Give Peace a Chance” on May 31. Q

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Utah: a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Great Place to Be a Unitarian Universalistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

by Donld E. Skinner

T

Rev. Theresa Novak, minister of the 100-member Unitarian Universalist Church of Ogden, Utah, has heard the questions: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s it like being UU in Utah? Doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dominate everything? Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t other religious groups feel intimidated?â&#x20AC;?

To which she replies, â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is a great place to be a Unitarian Universalist.â&#x20AC;?

Several thousand Unitarian Universalists will converge on Salt Lake City in a few weeks for the Unitarian Universalist Associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual General Assembly, June 24â&#x20AC;&#x201C;28. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll bring our luggage, some sunscreen and maybe a misconception or two.

What is it really like being UU in the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Beehive Stateâ&#x20AC;??

Numbers first. Novak noted that surveys generally find that Mormons make up 70 percent of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population. But in Salt Lake City itself, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re only an even half of the population. And while the state legislature is overwhelmingly Republican, Barack Obama carried Salt Lake County, the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest county, and two others in last Novemberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presidential election.

Still, it must be intimidating and frustrating to be a member of a minority religion in Utah. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not at all,â&#x20AC;? said Novak. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For starters, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an easy place to have a conversation about religion. The first thing people want to know about you here is what church you attend. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a curiosity here about religion. People in my church â&#x20AC;&#x201D; their non-church friends know theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re UU. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not true in other parts of the country.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I frequently get calls from reporters who want to know what I think about issues,â&#x20AC;? Novak said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Although weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a tiny minority, it feels like weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re more in the mainstream.â&#x20AC;?

And itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a pretty open mission field for UUs to advocate for social justice issues, she continued. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is a state where many legislators do not believe in global warming, where there is a high teen pregnancy rate coupled with a lack of comprehensive sexuality education, where the politicians are considering storing nuclear waste despite an already high cancer rate, and where many people supported the passage of Californiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Proposition 8 last year,â&#x20AC;? the ballot initiative which brought same-sex marriages to a halt in that state.

Novak added, â&#x20AC;&#x153;To people who ask about my being UU in Utah, I explain it this way: Unitarian Universalism he

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22â&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; QSa lt L a k eâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; issue 128â&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; M ay 1 4 , 20 09

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is important in other places, but here itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nothing short of lifesaving. There are so many people here who need us, who need to know what we stand for, including those who leave LDS and need a place to go. Being a UU here, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot you can do. Being religious counts, and we have a voice.â&#x20AC;?

Novakâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s congregation in Ogden operates a drop-in center for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer teens.

About 40 come each week.

Fundamentalists and some evangelicals may refer to both Unitarian Universalism and the LDS as â&#x20AC;&#x153;cults,â&#x20AC;? but UUs and Mormons generally respect each other, Novak said. There is also less hate against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in Utah than in many other places, she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mormons tend to pray for you, rather than attack you. When I moved here two years ago I was worried about being part of a gay couple. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not been a problem.â&#x20AC;?

The Rev. Sean Parker Dennison, minister of the South Valley UU Society in Salt Lake City, said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I tell people I love being a minister in Utah. We UUs know how important we are. For one thing, we provide a welcome to people who are not welcomed by the dominant culture.â&#x20AC;?

Dennison said UU congregations in Utah are involved in several interfaith efforts that include Mormons. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t tell you of any successes yet, but weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re working with them on immigrant rights, food banks and antipredatory lending.

We can actually agree with much of the Mormon moral culture. They are not opposed to us on all issues.â&#x20AC;?

There was a minor interfaith success this year, Dennison added, when the state legislature backed down on a proposed tax increase on food. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get them to remove it like we wanted to, but they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t raise it.â&#x20AC;?

About half of the members of his congregation are ex-Mormons, Dennison noted. Novak estimated that 30 to 40 percent of her congregation are in that category. Dennisonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s congregation has a Religious Transition Group, primarily for people leaving the LDS church. Ex-Mormon Bill Dobbs, who organized the group six years ago and still runs it, says 25 to 30 people come each time. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When you leave the [LDS] church, you lose your community, your friends, sometimes even your family. I take great satisfaction in the work we do with this group. We give people a place where theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re accepted.â&#x20AC;?

Dennison, who is a transgender man, said it would not be useful for UUs coming to GA to castigate Mormons for supporting Californiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Proposition 8. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes, a lot of money for it came from Utah,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think anyone gave money out of hatred. They gave it because in their worldview it was better if gay people canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get married. I think of it as a well-intentioned honest mistake. If we are hateful we will be becom-

ing the very thing we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to see from others. And it wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help the cause any.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not all Mormons think alike,â&#x20AC;? Novak said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t assume because someone is LDS they have a particular opinion about gays. After Prop. 8 there were Mormon mothers who had kids who were gay demonstrating outside the Temple. There are many people who want the church to change. I keep seeing the diversity in LDS folks.â&#x20AC;?

Laura and Scott Renshaw joined the South Valley congregation in 1999. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re really close to each other in this congregation because we need each other,â&#x20AC;? said Laura. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that many of us in Utah. We definitely feel like weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the minority. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re excited about having GA here and having this powerful â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Wow! Look at how awesome we areâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; moment.â&#x20AC;?

Salt Lake City itself has changed since the last General Assembly here, in 1999, thanks in part to the 2002 Winter Olympics, said the Rev. Tom Goldsmith, minister of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 350-member First Unitarian Church. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a growing sophistication in restaurants, art galleries, theaters. And we have a light-rail system now.â&#x20AC;?

Salt Lake City also has one of the largest per capita LGBTQ populations in the country, Goldsmith said.

Dennison added, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wish you all could come early for the Utah Pride Festival [June 5â&#x20AC;&#x201C;7]. Tens of thousands of people line the streets. We may not be the dominant culture, but the minority here is strong.â&#x20AC;?

A collection at General Assembly this year will support the Utah Pride Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s youth programs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of fun being a UU here,â&#x20AC;? said Goldsmith. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The media is always looking to balance their stories with our perspectives. Our influence in Salt Lake City is so disproportionate to our numbers, it is amazing.â&#x20AC;?

Most mainline Protestant churches in the city have an identity to the left of the LDS, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some of my closest colleagues are Presbyterians and Lutherans. The LDS represent a monolithic conservative block. And then thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the rest of us. Which means that UUs are not the one saving grace of the liberal spirit in Salt Lake City.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot of UUs do have a bad taste because of Prop. 8,â&#x20AC;? he acknowledged. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Marriage equality is a major difference between us. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing what we can. Just know that our battle is not against Mormonism. There are many very progressive Mormons.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exciting to have everyone come to GA,â&#x20AC;? Novak said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We try to be as visible as we can, but every week people come who have not heard of us. This will help. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to hold GAs in places like Salt Lake City.â&#x20AC;?

Reprinted with permission from UU World, www.uuworld.org, copyright 2009 by the Unitarian Universalist Association.

David Samsel Explore. Dream.

Discover.

I

by David Samsel

t’s been a little over a year since

I And because I have the unhealthy tenstopped writing for QSaltLake reg- dency to always try and present my ularly. I thought it might be time strongest and most together self to the to check in. world, I think it’s important for me to I’ve been living in New York City for say there were times when I felt so overabout seven months now. I thought I’d whelmed and alone that I comforted have been living out here for about a myself with the knowledge I could step year at this point. My timeline was off, on a plane and go home to my friends but whose isn’t? and family whenever I wanted. But, in The night before I moved, my Dad sat fact, that knowledge is exactly what down with me and said, “If you get there, gave me the strength to stay. It didn’t and you don’t like it, you can come make the loneliness or doubt go away, home.” I was pretty sure, even then, but it helped me to bear myself up bethat I would like it. But his words made neath them. me realize, on a new level, the value of There were some exceptionally disthe safety nets in my life: I’ve learned appointing and isolating times in those that having a safety net in life does not first three months. There are still disprevent injury when you fall — it simply appointing and lonely times. In the beprovides you a safe place to land. And ginning, before I really felt like I’d even I become ever increasingly grateful to somewhat settled, such times shook me those people who are my safety nets. in a very deep way. But anything that Sometimes all you have to do to be some- shakes you from the inside out will one’s safety net is answer your phone either affirm you or suggest you alter and listen while they tell you about the your path. Knowing that you should horrible night they just had. alter your path is just as valuable as beNew York is the size and scope of a ing affirmed in your decisions. big city that makes it possible for evAll great experiences in my life have erything you’ve ever heard about it to been harder than I thought they would be true. And I mean the good and the be. Often, they’ve knocked me off my bad things you’ve heard. What I think feet and sent me crashing to the ground. makes New York such a truly magnifi- That hurts, and sometimes it makes me cent place is the majority of people who cry. But after the tears stop and I lie are here, either to live or visit, have there for a little while I always feel a chosen to be here. It’s a place on the little bit better. And if the reason I’ve planet where very few people just pas- done something and my subsequent sively arrive. New York is a collection of choices after doing it are sound, then residents and visitors whom have made I’ve always found the strength to get an active choice to experience this spot back up and keep moving forward. But on the planet. The energy that comes my forward trajectory isn’t quite the from these choices is what makes New same. I always see my true north with York City breathe. And, yes, sometimes greater clarity.

New York City has morning breath, but I’m writing this column just after more often it’s like the city just gargled an experience that sent me crashing with wintergreen Listerine. to the ground, so I apologize if it’s a bit When I was home for Christmas, my too somber or serious. But despite the family kept asking me what fun things ache I am currently feeling (or maybe I’d been up to since moving. I’m afraid because of it), I am still content to be exI didn’t have anything exceptional to actly where I am. I believe a life worth report. I was still trying to settle in and living is filled with every emotion. And adjust to a new career in a new city. sometimes the enjoyable emotions But I was finding joy and fun in rather don’t come more frequently than the monotonous things. Navigating the unpleasant ones, but they always outstreets of SoHo as I searched for the sa- weigh them. lon where I was going to get a haircut Whatever your ambition, I hope you was one example of something that was will seek it. Because even if you don’t fun for me in those early weeks. I fre- find what you seek, I believe you will quently find myself standing on street find something even more worthwhile. corners looking around and being over- And that’s to say nothing of the incredwhelmed with how happy I am to be liv- ible journey. ing there. But it’s more than just living As Mark Twain said: “Twenty years in New York that brings me a sense of from now you will be more disappointjoy; it’s that I’m fulfilling several of my ed by the things that you didn’t do than life-dreams by being there. by the ones you did do. So throw off the Picking up my life and moving across bowlines. Sail away from the safe harthe country from Salt Lake to New York bor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. was an ambitious undertaking for me. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Q M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 23

Dear Utah, We the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People of Utah...

Be part of QSaltLake’s Pride Booth by writing up to 50 words to complete that statement. Keep it cordial, keep it clean. This will become a traveling exhibit to all areas of the state and be our way of speaking to the average Utah citizen.

Send your submission to DearUtah@QSaltLake.com

Although economic pundits predict the country’s recession could last until late into next year, this could be an opportune time to start looking for a home to buy in the greater Salt Lake area and the rest of the nation — depending on where you live.

by Brad Di Iorio

I

f you are a first - time home

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2 4 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

buyer or a previous home owner who has not owned a primary residence in the last three years, the current housing market provides great incentives from the U.S. government and the state of Utah.

“The gay and lesbian community is no different from anybody if they can qualify for a home,” said Babs De Lay, Salt Lake’s quintessential Babs De Lay spokesperson for Utah’s real estate industry, and the owner and principal broker of Urban Utah Homes and Estates. De Lay, perhaps Utah’s first “out” lesbian real estate agent, employs a large number of gay and lesbian agents at Urban Utah.

“In 25 years in this business, there is nothing more rewarding than helping someone find their first home,” she said.

The Obama Administration has recently instructed the U.S. Treasury to purchase $300 billion in long-term Treasury securities and billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities. This purchase will continue to drop current mortgage interest rates and thus help home buyers save money on interest on a 30-year mortgage, which is currently around 5 percent.

Interest rates on loans could drop as low as 4 percent. The Treasury is also offering an $8,000 first-time home buyers’ 2008 or 2009 tax credit, if they qualify. Income limitation for individuals is $75,000 ($150,000 for couples) if they buy before the end of November 2009 and if they live in the residence for three years after the purchase. The tax credit will be applied to 2008 or 2009 tax returns in the form of a tax refund.

“Firsttime home buyers have a better experience using a realtor because they educate the buyer and help in networking with housing Julie Silveous inspectors,” said Julie Silveous, an agent at Urban Utah. “I have seen a large increase in first-time home buyers interested in the Utah grant and the Obama tax credit.”

Silveous is referring to steps taken this past month by the Utah Legislature, Gov. Jon Huntsman and the Utah Housing Corporation in offering some of Utah’s federal economic stimulus money to new home buyers and previous homeowners. In the program, called the Home Run Grant, Utah residents can get a $6,000 grant applied to the purchase of a new home. Although the grant may be taxable as income under both state and federal tax codes, the UHC is currently requesting a review by the Internal Revenue Service and a ruling is expected soon.

“Of course, with any grant or government program, there are many stipulations,” said Tony Fantis, owner and principal broker at the boutique real estate brokerage Fantis Group. “The home or condo must be new. A total of $10 million has been set aside for 1,666 buyers in Utah with the grants being issued on a first-

come, firstserved basis, which is expected to be determined at the time of final underwriting.” “ A n y two, or even three, people can buy a home Tony Fantis together,” Fantis continued. “They don’t have to be married.” To determine the risks involved with the loan, a lender will use the lowest credit score of the duo or group, look at how much of the available credit is being used, and what percentage of income goes to paying bills. But the lender will combine income from all buyers

when considering their loan approval.

The loan must be a 30-year, fixedrate with most common loan types qualifying, and the application must be made by a licensed Utah mortgage lender through Utah Housing. The new home must be occupied as the buyer’s primary residence within 30 days of closing. Further, the grant program can be combined with the Obama Administration’s $8,000 firsttime home buyer tax credit. The same income requirements apply to the Home Run Grant program and the $8,000 federal tax credit.

“Loans have not dried up as the media would like us to believe. People who qualify can still get 100 percent financing, but may pay a slightly higher interest rate,” said Fantis.

“FHA loans are once again one of the best ways to finance a home. The buyer will need 3.5 percent down, but

that money can come from an immediate family member, a 401(k), employer, or non-profit organization.”

According to De Lay and Silveous, the average age of a first-time home buyers is in the late 20s. “Ninety percent of first-time buyers are getting FHA or VA loans,” said Silveous.

An FHA loan is given through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The department insures the loan, so a lender can offer lower down payments, lower closing costs and an easing of credit requirements. FHA loans require the property or home is FHA approved.

Veterans Affairs loans are available to veterans of U.S. military service.

The Community Development Corporation of Utah also offers zero percent down, home loans to qualifying, low-to-moderate income families.

—Continued on next page

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M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 25

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Salt Lake’s Gayborhoods and First-Time Homoners —Continued on next page

A Buyer’s Perspective Dana Clark, in his mid-40s with a full time job and active in SkiOUT Utah and Lambda Hiking Club, is in the process of buying a home in the Salt Lake Valley area. He qualifies as a first-time home buyer in Utah even though this will be his third home.

Three years ago, Clark relocated to Salt Lake City after his company moved their headquarters to Park City, and has been renting ever since.

“I can’t remember in my lifetime when there were so many foreclosures and short sales,” said Clark.

“There are better opportunities now because you can take your time and look.”

Clark considered purchasing a home when he moved here from Burlington, Vt., but held off to make sure he was going to enjoy living in Utah. Thankfully, the state’s skiing, snowboarding, hiking and camping opportunities fit his active outdoor lifestyle. In fact, Clark’s sporting interests are influencing his choice in home.

“I am interested in buying a condo, as I am not really a yard person because of my busy schedule at work and my interest in spending my weekends outside,” he said.

Clark said he wasn’t specifically looking for a gay neighborhood, but did want to live near Salt Lake City rather than in smaller Park City, because the capital’s culture allows for more socializing within the gay community. Clark met real estate agent David Culp socially, liked him, and enlisted him to help find the right place. Culp, who is openly gay, is an agent with Blakemore Real Estate and a member of the Park City and Salt Lake City Boards of Realtors.

This means he is able to show and sell homes in both areas.

“Condos have a tendency to go up or down in price depending on

economic pressures,” noted Clark, who looked at 20 or more properties with Culp and has now put a bid in for a condo in the Holladay/Midvale area. “It is a short sale, and I am just waiting for the bank to approve the loan.”

The condo’s current owner will sacrifice the initial down payment, as a short sale means that a home is about to go into foreclosure unless the bank approves Clark’s offer.

“It was already discounted 25 percent from the original asking price, so the bank may be losing some money on the deal,” said Clark. “I don’t know where the market will go and it may have bottomed out.” Clark added he has seen good value out there, but some sellers are still being a bit unrealistic about their properties, or are just riding out the current economic downturn in the housing market. Regardless, Clark decided to take advantage of the deals to begin looking for his first Utah home.

It’s All About Relationships De Lay and Silveous report that opportunities for homes exist throughout the Wasatch Front.

“Gay people are relocating from all over the country to Herriman, Ogden, Sandy, Holladay and Saratoga. You should be able to live where you want to live and feel comfortable,” said Silveous. “I make friends with buyers and sellers. It is my job to listen, to see what either wants to accomplish.”

De Lay stressed the code of ethics each broker and realtor must abide by in working with either buyers or sellers. “I work with everyone; Mormon, gay or lesbian, first-time home buyers and repeat buyers and sellers,” she said. “If you live in Utah, then you are aware of the culture, or you learn about the culture pretty fast.”

There may be economic turmoil in the U.S. economy at this time, but now may be the best time to get the best deal on buying a home in Utah.

For more information on the Home Run Grant program, go to utahhousingcorp. org/HomeRun.

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M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 27

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The problem is not as simple as the upper-incomes versus the lower-incomes.

It’s a problem of one culture taking over another.”

K

Boykin is a Harvard Law graduate and former Special Assistant to President Clinton — at that time, the highest-ranking openly gay person in the Clinton administration.

His words split open the issue of gentrification, and exposed the conflicted center of what is usually touted as positive change.

Gentrification is loosely defined as the arrival of a new, wealthier population in a poor neighborhood — which they then rehabilitate. The newcomers purchase and renovate existing homes, raising property values in the process.

Babs De Lay, a Utah real estate agent with over 20 years in the business, points to Capitol Hill as an example. During the 1960s, she said, the Avenues were rundown hangouts for hippies and the Victorian homes were often torn down. With the development of the Historical Society and preservation groups, the houses were protected.

The Capitol Hill area didn’t benefit from these changes, and was soon filled with “a lot of rentals and a lot of run-down properties.” However, De Lay said that people were surprised and “took notice” when a gay restaurant owner bought a home in Capitol Hill; they soon followed suit.

“Gay people tend to move into neighborhoods that are gentrifying and changing,” she said. They will purchase and redo the homes, “generally with good taste,” resell and therefore drive up the property values.

Sounds fabulous, yes? It depends on whom you ask. Filmmakers Linda Goode Bryant and Laura Poitras produced and directed the PBS Point of View documentary “Flag Wars.”

The film follows four years of conflict as experienced by a Columbus, Ohio neighborhood undergoing gaydriven gentrification at the expense of the older, black population.

Film critic Tobias Peterson sums up the conflict: “One by one, black families move out to make way for gay whites, who then renovate the houses and drive up property taxes — making it even harder for Afrieith

can Americans to remain.” The film ends with the stark image of prospective white buyers perusing a vacant home, picking through the possessions of the previous owner, Linda Mitchell, who had refused to sell and had fought the courts and real estate agents until her death.

Boykin, a black gay male, experienced this process first hand. He moved into Washington D.C.’s multicultural Logan Circle in 1994, “when property values were affordable and it wasn’t unusual to find a prostitute on the street late at night.” Thanks to gentrification, over the next five or six years, Logan Circle’s colorful ethnicity was steadily bled out to white.

Dupont Circle, the heavily gay and extremely expensive area to the west of Logan Circle, carried too hefty a price tag for most homebuyers, so white gay men purchased property in Logan Circle, making the area unaffordable for its previous residents.

The complexities of gay-driven gentrification require that one not discount its positive effects — especially that of a neighborhood’s beautification. A straight escrow officer who has been in real estate for 15 years (and who asked that his name not be printed here), commented on the possible stereotyping of gay men as great renovators and decorators: “We can talk in these general terms; we can talk these urban legends, but are there gay and lesbian people who trash their houses? Yes.” However, a large majority of gay male couples do renovate their homes. Their difference from other homebuyers? Children. The escrow officer said that gay male couples are termed DINKs: “Dual Income, No Kids.” He conceded the fact that some gay men have children, but, speaking of those who don’t, he said, “Kids trash houses. Kids are very, very expensive. If you live in an adult house [a home with no children] and you fix something, it stays fixed.” With a sardonic look, he drew the point home: “They’re men.” The financial math leaves little to the imagination.

De Lay would agree. “Generally, men have better jobs. Yeah, we still

lose, whether we’re gay or straight.”

It begins to make sense that gay white men are at the forefront of this movement. Generally speaking, this group represents the wealthiest members of the gay community. The benefits they bring to these run-down neighborhoods — growth, beautification, value — are oftentimes desperately needed. A community that undergoes gentrification attracts new restaurants, coffee shops and jobs, and experiences an increase in productivity and creativity.

“Technology and Tolerance: the Importance of Diversity to HighTechnology Growth,” a study carried out by Richard Florida and Gary Gates, asserts that the existence of gays within a metropolitan area “signal[s] a diverse and progressive environment that fosters the creativity and innovation necessary for success in high-tech industry. Gays are frequently cited as harbingers of redevelopment and gentrification in distressed urban neighborhoods.”

Salt Lake’s former mayor, Ross C. “Rocky” Anderson, cites Florida’s writing and he, too, acknowledges the gay community’s value. In a speech to the Downtown Merchants Association, he said, “The communities that are economically thriving

and that enjoy the greatest economic sustainability are those that are welcoming and hospitable to all people — people of all faiths, all races, different sexual orientations and all economic situations.”

One can’t discount the gains reaped by gay-driven gentrification: they are exemplified in the beauty of the Marmalade District as well as that of the Ninth and Ninth area. And what of these so-called gayborhoods?

In terms of the gay community, isn’t their presence — and, for those who can afford it, the experience of living within them — invaluable?

Felipe Pacheco loves owning a home on his “happy little street,” which is located just west of Liberty Park. “There are actually two older gay couples on my street and both their yards are just immaculate,” he said, laughing. In all, Pacheco’s immediate neighborhood houses two couples, three single men, and the offices of the gay-owned One Realty.

All are gay men, and all but Pacheco, who is Hispanic, are white. “I never thought of that,” Pacheco mused.

Pacheco purchased his home in October of 2002 and since then, he has entirely gutted and redone the main floor. “The house, when I bought it, was in really rough shape. I ripped

everything out: the carpet, the bathroom; I ripped out sinks, flooring. I basically had a shell and I just put it all back together.” Pacheco performed the renovations himself at the cost of about $4,000. The work was more than worth it: “My value has probably gone up about $20,000,” he said, noting the fact that he “got a good deal” on the house to begin with.

Sugar House is known for its liberal neighborhoods. “That was one of the main reasons why I moved to Sugar House: It’s a gay mecca,” Pacheco said. He refused to move into a “cookie cutter” neighborhood where “you really can’t express yourself with your home.” De Lay often fields this same request — gay and lesbian prospective homebuyers frequently ask about listings in gay neighborhoods. “You just want to be around your own kind,” De Lay said.

Not surprisingly, this desire has remained constant throughout gay history. Ben Williams, cofounder of the Utah Stonewall Historical Society, remembers fondly the experience of living in “gay ghettos” 20 or more years ago. “The Salt Lake City Gay ghetto in the 1970s to late 1980s was from the lower Avenues

to about 500 South, 200 East to about 700 East.” Within these boundaries, Williams said, “bookstores, health clinics, food stores, newspapers were geared for the queer community and no one gave a rat’s ass what hets might think.”

The term ghetto is as explosive as the word queer, if not more so, given its 400-year history. The Oxford English Dictionary cites its first usage in 1611 and its meaning as: “The quarter in a city, chiefly in Italy, to which the Jews were restricted.” This denotation has been firmly affixed to the word throughout its history — notoriously so in 1940, when the Germans issued a decree establishing a ghetto in Warsaw, Poland.

According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “The decree required all Jewish residents of Warsaw to move into a designated area ... The ghetto was enclosed by a wall that was over ten feet high, topped with barbed wire.” Jews were allowed out of the ghetto only when being deported to the Treblinka extermination camp.

These chilling images are woven inextricably throughout the term, which now also means, as De Lay said, “Poverty stricken. Blighted.”

She is fully opposed to the use of the

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  

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word, and prefers instead the much lighter gayborhood. “Ghetto has such a negative connotation,” De Lay said. “We have gay neighborhoods here; they’re certainly not blighted.

Ninth and Ninth is not blighted.

Capitol Hill is not blighted. I think it’s more common to hear the word gayborhood than ghetto.” “[If you were to] see a ghetto in New York City, and then you were to come back to Salt Lake and say, ‘Show me a ghetto,’ you couldn’t.

There’s nothing like it. We don’t have streets full of trash. We don’t have tagging [gang graffiti] on virtually every single house and every single doorstep. We don’t have streets and streets of abandoned housing that are crack houses. We have tiny areas like that but not ghettos — so I don’t like that term,” De Lay said.

Williams sticks to his guns: “The ghetto concept in the 1980s had a political meaning: safety in numbers and all that. In Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, they capture the meaning when he says that the gay urban community protects homosexuals from the heteros of suburbia. The same people who had a problem with ghetto usually felt the same [about] queer. Empowerment [means] taking words and reshaping them to define ourselves.”

“To build community,” Williams continued, “it was necessary to gather together. I personally think people my age feel something is lost, almost like being isolated again now [that] there’s such a dispersal back into the great hetero masses.”

Have these so-called gay ghettos become a thing of the past? Is Pacheco’s neighborhood an anomaly? Can we band together again, as we have in the past, to create these gayborhoods?

And, more importantly, should we?

De Lay calls this movement “a great ideal,” but not one that is at all feasible. “There is a huge segment of gays out there that have no wealth and still want to be homeowners and they are buying property wherever they can afford it. So if they’re not turning places into gayborhoods, they’re just desperately seeking affordable property. It’s the largest purchase of your life and you’re going to get the best deal in the best neighborhood that you can.”

For the same reasons, De Lay also writes off as fantasy the tactic of moving a large group of gays into a conservative neighborhood in order to sway that district’s politics to the left: “You’re not going to see a bunch of gays moving to Pepperwood,

which is a Republican, upper-class stronghold. It’s not gonna happen.

You’ll never see that happen. It’s a wonderful ideal, though,” she said again.

A Salt Lake real estate agent (who asked to remain anonymous) has experienced firsthand the reality behind the over-simplified model of gay gentrification. Since he and his partner purchased a home in downtown Salt Lake a few years ago, they have funneled $15,000 into its renovation. However, the neighborhood is in such bad shape they worry that they will not see a return on the restorations when they sell their home in the future. “We can’t put a penny more into it. We would’ve renovated the second floor, but we’re not going to get it back.”

These men are not the only gay homeowners in the area, but these homes are spread further apart than those in Pacheco’s neighborhood.

The agent and his partner have noticed gay flags flying on a couple of homes a block away and he said, “If you see a gay flag, it’s typically the most beautiful house on the block.”

Salt Lake homeowners, whether gay or straight, face a major roadblock because, he said, 50 percent of homes in Salt Lake are rentals. “The turnaround, the progression ... is slower than I had hoped for,” because the surrounding homeowners and apartment owners aren’t selling.

“In any major city I’ve ever visited, there is a real impact of the GLBT community on the neighborhoods/ districts they claim,” he said. “But here in Salt Lake, because of poor planning and zoning, the number of apartment buildings and duplexes changes the character and direct ownership in the neighborhood — therefore creating this half owneroccupied, half rental situation which deters the self-interest for progress on any given street.” He is insistent, however, upon his belief that change can be wrought with patience and through residents’ willingness to get involved and keep the police informed about any and all suspicious activity.

“In neighborhood after neighborhood across the country, white gay urban pioneers are taking back the cities after decades of decline and blight,” Boykin writes. “Aided by access to capital not available to many of the long-time rental residents in the communities, many of the newcomers are quickly changing the neighborhoods for better and for worse.” Q

30 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

TheQPages 2009 is on the streets!

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) " 65 (": 8 0 - 4 & : "(& 1

Pick it up to ďŹ nd all the gay- and lesbianfriendly businesses in the valley!

Available at over 200 loations across the Wasatch Front

M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 3 1

Q A&E Gay Agenda Yummy Yuhnke And Moanin’ Michelle

by Tony Hobday

I spent Mother’s Day with my mother. ‘Get out!’ you’re probably saying, but it’s true. Anyhoo, she told me of some great “East Coast” dishes I’d like to share with you: peanut butter and bacon sandwiches, sliced bananas with sour cream and brown sugar, and pancakes with a brewed coffee-brown sugar syrup. Good heart health to you all.

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thursDAY — Ballet West closes the season with their second annual program, Innovations. The evening features three original works by Ballet West dancers. Guest choreographers Ulysses Dove and Nicolo Fonte will also present pieces.

7:30pm, through May 23, Jeanne Wagner Theatre, Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. Broadway. Tickets $45, 801-355-ARTS or arttix.org.

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FRIDAY — Changedowndance and Sugar Space’s Artist in Residence Program present Bridging, a collaborative and interdisciplinary evening of dance, poetry and film. Bridging explores the nature of meeting and knowing self and country, and building community through four contemporary dance creations. Dance works are choreographed and directed by Chantal Downing, and the evening features poetry by Shaun DeNooyer and works

by Heather Arnett and Brittany Anne Gadbury.

7:30pm, through Saturday, Sugar Space, 616 Wilmington Ave. Tickets $8–10 at the door, 888-300-7898 or thesugarspace.com.

QQ It’s time to party like it’s May 5, 1862 — the day Ruby Ridge was conceived, and after a 100-year gestation period (or was it incubation?), was thrown into the world, nest-hair and all. Third Friday Bingo presents a Cinco De Mayo Fiesta. You could win hot sauce or mayonnaise, and for the distinguished palate you could

even win ... churros! Well, fill me full of liquor, swat at me with a wood stick until I pop my load and call me a piñata — they’re going all out on fabulous prizes!

7pm, First Baptist Church, 777 S 1300 E. $5 for first bingo card, 3rdfridaybingo.com.

QQ This event is a bit outside my normal selection, but hey, it’s free and the ultra-hot Kirk Yuhnke “the tech junkie” from Fox 13 News is a presenter. Seriously, what more could you ask for? Anyhoo, Revolution or Revelation? looks at the science behind visual perception in marketing and advertising, and how does it feed into our desires and lifestyles. Well, my visual perception of Kirk ignites intense desires.

6:30–7:30pm, Salt Lake Art Center, 20 W. South Temple. Free, 801-328-4201 ext. 115 or slartcenter.org QQ The Salt Lake City Arts Council presents the 24th annual Living Traditions Festival. It celebrates the diversity of community through the dance, music, foods and crafts of the many ethnic groups making up the Salt Lake Valley. It also features more than 50 performances by local and national artists including Lebanese and Andean music and dance, Russian choral music, Peruvian and Latin dance bands, and the physical artform of Brazilian capoeira.

Hours vary, through Sunday, Salt Lake City & County Bldg., corner of 200 East and 400 South. Free, 801-596-5000, slcgov.com/ arts.

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SATURDAY — Utah Opera presents a production of the cherished love story Don Pasquale, about an elderly, wealthy and miserly bachelor who has no heir.

He attempts to persuade his young nephew Ernesto to accept an arranged marriage, but when he refuses, Pasquale, in a fit of anger, disinherits Ernesto and decides to get married himself. And as with many great love stories, there’s fraud and bogus legal

32 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

proceedings involved. Aaah ... tender, ain’t it?

7:30pm, through May 24, Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South. Tickets $15–72, 801-355ARTS or arttix.org.

influence a stupid and misanthropic mentality.

Hours and locations vary. Visit rcgse.org for complete information.

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TUESDAY — Controversy follows this young artist like yeast infections to a two-bit whore, but she’s still a great artist.

Lady Sovereign is the only white female artist in the primarily black British grime scene, a genre of urban music that includes garage, dancehall and hip hop. Check her out, but don’t get too close — she might spit or throw a drink on you.

9pm, In the Venue at Club Sound, 219 S. 600 West. Tickets $17.50/adv–$20/day of show, 801-467-8499 or smithstix.com.

FRIDAY — Jane Austen’s classic tale of love and matrimony amongst the British social elite comes to life in Spotlight Production’s theatrical presentation of Pride and Prejudice. The Bennet family is desperate to find suitable husbands for their five daughters and the arrival of a rich, young bachelor and his friend appears to provide a perfect opportunity. Basically, it’s a volatile story of opposites attract.

7:30pm, through June 1, Sorensen Unity Center, 1383 S. 900 West. Tickets $6–9, 801458-8976 or tsorensenunitycenter.com.

QQ The Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire invites you to Coronation XXXVI: Imerial Dynasties Throughout History. Over Mermorial Day weekend, they will be hosting many events including the PR Ball, Empress Tea Party, Victory Brunch and of course, Coronation itself. Who will be crowned Emperor and Empress? It should be a hoot as in past years, and also, I’m certain their crown won’t

SATUrDAY — If you like to groove, baby, then check out this CD release party, Global Groove Tour. The CD, Global Groove: Dance features the music of DJ Escape, which includes nine exclusive remixes, two premieres and eight songs currently appearing on the Billboard charts. Guests will receive a gift bag and a chance to win a copy of the CD. Time TBA, Club Try-Angles, a private club for members, 251 W. 900 South. Free to members, 801-364-3203 or clubtry-angles.com.

monDAY — Her nickname is “Moanin’” Michelle Malone ... Now lesbians, she’s not nicknamed so for the reason you may be hoping, but is so for this openly lesbian singer/songwriter’s magnificent vocals. She’s a rock/blues artists with a sandy voice that turns to glass, and she looks pretty hot in a pair of torn jeans, too!!

9pm, Urban Lounge, a private club for members, 241 S. 500 East. Tickets $10, 801467-8499 or smithstix.com.

UPCOMING

JUN. 20 B-52s, Peppermill Concert Hall, Wendover JUL. 13 Joan Baez, Ed Kenley Amphitheatre AUG. 25 Depeche Mode, E Center SEP. 01 Dave Matthews Band, USANA NOV. 20 Elton John & Billy Joel, ESA

Save the Date Major Events of the Community May 17, 2009 PWACU Fashion Show ­ pwacu.org May 22–25, 2009 RCGSE Coronation ­ rcgse.org June 5–7, 2009 Utah Pride ­ utahpride.org June 20, 2009 HRC Utah Gala ­ hrcutah.org June 25–28, 2009 Utah Arts Festival ­ uaf.org June 29–Oct. 17, 2009 Utah Shakespearean Festival, Cedar City bard.org July 8–Aug. 8, 2009 Utah Festival Opera, Logan ufoc.org July 24–26, 2009 Utah Bear Ruckus utahbears.com July 31–August 2, 2009 Utah Rebellion utahrebellion.com August 1–2, 2009 Park City Arts Festival kimball-art.org August 7–8, 2009 Redrock Women’s Music Festival, Torrey redrockwomensfest.com August 16, 2009 QSaltLake Lagoon Day, qsaltlake.com August 19, 2009 Equality Utah Allies Dinner, equalityutah.org August 30, 2009 Center’s Golf Classic ­ utahpridecenter.org October 10, 2009 National Coming Out Day Celebration ­ utahpridecenter.org October 17–21, 2009 PWACU Living with AIDS Conference pwacu.org

Email arts@­qsaltlake.com for consideration to be included in Save the Date.

Review ‘The Sugar Bean Sisters’ — Odd But Satisfying Rush

by Tony Hobday

I

have

just

recently

recognized

Wasatch Theatre Company as a bold little company. The productions aren’t flashy, but as I’ve been welcomed to the two full-length shows of their 2008-09 season, I must applaud the small group for choosing unusual and little-known plays.

Earlier this year WTC staged Boys in the Band, which honestly, they bit off more than they could chew — Matt Crowley’s drama about homosexual life in the 1960s is embittered and intense; the characterizations convoluted; and limitless, weighted dialogue — it was mostly underplayed, weakening the punch the story should have packed.

The talent was there, but the chomp was not.

WTC’s second selection of the season is a bizarre comedy, The Sugar Bean Sisters, by Nathan Sanders, which had debuted off-broadway in 1995.

Two “spinster” sisters live on a sugar cane field in Sugar Bean, Fla. Secluded and alone, the sisters have had only each other ... and well, the Mormon church ... after the missionaries sucked them in before the Seventh Day Adventists had a chance.

Willie Mae Nettle (Jennifer Van Dyke) is the quintesstential product of Mormonism — gaudy floral dresses cut below the knee, an abhorrence to foul language, a bad wig and an addiction to Dr. Pepper. She’s searching for her Mormon prince charming and sees him clearly in her local Bishop (Rich Malatesta). Faye Nettle (vicki Pugmire), on the other hand, didn’t quite take to the faith as her sister — probably because it had been aliens who sucked her up 20 years ago, and now she is quite hopeful they will return for her. Faye is less ladylike than Willie Mae: She speaks with a foul mouth dirtied more by a Southern drawl, dresses like a farmboy with a large toolbelt hanging on her hips and has a lesbiansize liking for Disney World.

A mysterious stranger, in an even more mysterious outfit and who calls herself Videllia (Sallie Cooper), comes to visit the sisters. And over the course of an evening, Willie Mae walks the proverbial aisle with the Bishop on the way to visit a sick neighbor; Faye plots a murder; Videllia reveals a secret that could lead her to the riches of a grapefruit fortune; and the calling upon of the Reptile Woman (Mary Lee Anderton) leads to the jolting destruction of an outhouse.

Pugmire and Van Dyke make both the sisters likable; their banter both witty and sisterly. Anderton is adequate as the

Reptile Woman — what with the Diana Ross hairdo, goth boots and pounding a heavy wood walking staff, how could she go wrong. Though Malatesta seems more genuinely creepy for the part.

Director Jim Martin hopes to reveal, through The Sugar Bean Sisters, the many intricacies of human emotion within family obligation, spirituality and self identification. To many, he will succeed, and to the others he will purely

entertain.

The Sugar Bean Sisters has all the makings of the odd, often outlandish, Southern-style storytelling: gators, flying cats, black arts, booze, ghosts and UFOs. All the makings for a great sugar rush.

‘The Sugar Bean Sisters’ runs through May 17, Studio Theatre, Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. Broadway. Tickets $15, 801-355-ARTS, arttix.org.

M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 33

Fabulous People Logan Brueck: Before the Pride Parade Passes By

I

n a matter of weeks , downtown

Salt Lake City will come alive as drag queens, Speedo-clad swimmers and suburban lesbian moms alike march toward Library Square in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Utah Pride Parade.

And while it may not look it â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as these revelers pass by in an orderly fashion with their signs, strollers and rainbow balloons â&#x20AC;&#x201D; parades just donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t organize themselves. Logan Brueck can attest to that. For the past three years, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s made sure the annual celebration of gay and transgender Utahns has gone off without a hitch or a busted high heel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re shooting to get this one to be the biggest yet,â&#x20AC;? said Brueck, noting that last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parade entries caped out at almost 100, a number he hopes to exceed in the last few days before parade registration closes.

As the co-founder and leader of Utahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gay-friendly color guard, the Righteous-

ly Outrageous Twirling Corps â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Salt Lake City, Brueck is a natural and obvious choice for parade organizer, which he was asked to become in 2007. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With my background in parades and marching and stuff like that [Pride Festival 2007 Director Terry Mitchell Nani] asked if Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be interested in doing it, and I went ahead and accepted the offer,â&#x20AC;? said Brueck. Far before the day of the parade, Brueck contacts local gay and gay-friendly groups, clubs and organizations to gage their interest in participating, and to help brainstorm with people who want to participate, but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what to do for an entry. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People think they have to have a big float, but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not true,â&#x20AC;? said Brueck. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Just get a group of guys together, get a banner, and carry pots and wooden spoons and bang on them.â&#x20AC;? On the day of the parade, he said he takes the list of entrants from Utah Pride Center and lines up the entries as they arrive.

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The 2009 Edition of Utahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gay Yellow Pages is on the streets!

Look for it at all your favorite hangouts and theqpages.com

While the job may sound simple, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s far from it when you consider what it must be like to wrangle hundreds of marchers and large floats. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have an assistant now,â&#x20AC;? laughed Brueck.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a long way to have come in the eight years Brueck has called Utah home. Before he led ROTC SLC to victories in the Las Vegas Pride Parade for three years running, Brueck lived in Charlotte, N.C. He moved to Utah in December of 2001 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; shortly after his thenpartnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death. As Brueck explains it, he was looking for a change of scene, and he found it when he came to Utah to spend time on a friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s houseboat. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was coming out for a gay cruise on Lake Powell and fell in love with the area,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the only place Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever been able to see the Milky Way and shooting stars.â&#x20AC;? Upon returning to the South, Brueck packed his possessions in six boxes and bought a one-way ticket on US Air. As Brueck explains it, he had always had an interest in color guard. He started out just â&#x20AC;&#x153;playing aroundâ&#x20AC;? with the color guardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rifles when he was a member of his high schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s marching band and eventually joined his schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s squad in 1978. He later became the squadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s captain and went on to train color guards at different high schools after graduation. During 10 years as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, Brueck also served in the Air Forceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s color guard. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I just had a natural aptitude for it,â&#x20AC;? said Brueck. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the few things I never stopped doing.â&#x20AC;?

After moving to Utah, Brueck decided heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to share his love for flags, rifles and marching with other interested people. After reading an article about ROTC-Chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance during the opening ceremonies at the Gay Olympics, Logan and his friend Kaye Christensen decided to start a similar group in Utah to open this stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual Pride Parade. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We put our feelers out and had a couple of people sign on, and we debuted in 2006,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Since then, the group has twirled, spun flags and danced for a number of Utah events, including Salt Lake Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Market and the People With AIDS Coalitionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual barbecue. They have also performed with other gay-friendly color guards and even competed in Las Vegasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; annual Pride Parade, where they have always walked away with an award â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Second Place Marching Unit in 2007, Best Overall Marching Unit in 2008 and Best Use of Lights this year.

Along with ROTC-SLC, Brueck is the co-founder of the Spicy Dinner Group, a monthly social dining group for gay and bisexual men, which he ran for five years. Last year he had turned the reigns over to Kelly Albright so he could focus more of his time on the

color guard â&#x20AC;&#x201D; for which he has some very big plans. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are looking at going back to Florida the first week of December for the Christmas Parade on the 5th,â&#x20AC;? said Brueck, adding that the group is also discussing doing a fundraiser for Southern Utah Pride, Inc. to help the organization build a community center for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Southern Utah.

In his spare time, Brueck enjoys spending it with friends, cooking and being at home with his partner Don Demke, â&#x20AC;&#x153;giving him the time he deserves to have.â&#x20AC;? He also enjoys his two cats and two dogs (all four are rescues), and donating time to the Utah Animal Advocacy Foundation. Brueck has even held dinners for UAAFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s volunteers in his backyard. The group specializes in rescuing, rehabilitating and placing pets, including those that are disabled, aged or that have other â&#x20AC;&#x153;special needs.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;We really are close with them, the outreach and the work they do with the animals [is great],â&#x20AC;? he said.

So will all of the time and energy Brueck has donated to this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pride Parade result in the creation of the largest parade in the eventâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history?

Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not sure. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Well, it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look promising for 100, but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so many people who wait until the last minute [to sign up],â&#x20AC;? he said.

Then again, few people thought that little Salt Lake City would take home the top award in such a huge pride parade as Las Vegasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Which just goes to show that, under Brueckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leadership, anything is possible.

3 4â&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; QSa lt L a k eâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; issue 128â&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; M ay 1 4 , 20 09

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Downtown Restaurants Offer Special Meal Pricing in May The Salt Lake City Downtown Alliance has once again teamed up with 30 restaurants for the Spring Dine Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Round.

Restaurants offer 3-course meals for $15 or $30 and some have two-course lunches for $10.

No coupons, punch cards or any other hoops are required. Most have a special menu printed with their offering right at the table. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dine Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Round is an ideal way to explore new restaurants or revisit old favorites,â&#x20AC;? said Andrew Wallace, marketing and development director for the Downtown Alliance.

Previous events lasted but a week, but this year dinners will be available the entire month of May, though some restaurants wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t offer the specials during Mothers Day. QSaltLake and TheQPages advertisers Cedars of Lebanon, Tin Angel Cafe, Sageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cafe, Bambara, Squatters, Market Street Grill and the New Yorker are participating.

See the Web site at dineoround.com

TICKETS: SALTLAKEMENSCHOIR.ORG â&#x20AC;&#x201A; M a y 1 4 , 2 0 0/ 9 â&#x20AC;&#x201A; | â&#x20AC;&#x201A; i801-581-7100 ssue 128â&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; QSa lt L a k eâ&#x20AC;&#x201A; |â&#x20AC;&#x201A; 35

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3 6 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

Restaurant Owners Gay and lesbian people eat out more often and spend more each time they dine.

Get your restaurant listed here.

Call Brad at 801-649-6663

é f a C Med

SUNDAY BRUNCH IS FUN ONCE AGAIN! Ten Great Menu Items, including Omelets: Pesto, Greek, Western, Shrimp & Asparagus, Denver Breakfast Burrito Beef Steak & Eggs Pork Loin & Eggs Saffron Cream Benedict

420 East 3300 South Salt Lake City 493-0100 Monday - Thursday 11:00am to 10:00pm Friday - Saturday 10:00am to 11:00 pm Sundays 10:00am to 9:00pm

Food Au Naturale Eclectic menu of quality sandwiches, wraps, sushi, sides 900 E 2100 South Salt Lake City 801-466-8888

Bambara Restaurant New American Bistro menu w/ a “World of Flavors” 202 S Main St Salt Lake City 801-363-5454

Cafe Med Best casual Greek/ Mediterranean dining in town 420 E 3300 South Salt Lake City 801-493-0100

2985 E 6580 S, SLC 801-942-8860

Meditrina Small Plates & Wine Bar

48 W Market St,

Encouraging

SLC

gastronimic

Cedars of

801-322-4668

exploring in tapas

Lebanon

10702 S River Front

Authentic Lebanese,

Pkwy, S. Jordan

Armenian, Israeli,

801-302-2262

Moroccan, huka

260 S 1300 E, SLC

152 E 200 S, SLC

801-583-8808

801-364-4096

Elevation Caffe Taking coffee and weenies to new heights 1337 S Main St

Market Street Oyster Bar Salt Lake’s showcase for dining, conversation, fresh oysters 2985 E 6850 S, SLC 801-942-8870

tradition 1394 S West Temple Salt Lake City 801-485-2055

Mestizo Coffeehouse Coffee, art, jam sessions, free gallery West Side 631 W North Temple Suite 700, SLC 801-596-0500

The New Yorker

Market Street

54 W Market St, SLC

Grill

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801-322-4668

of Downtown SLC

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10702 S River Front

restaurants’ - Zagat

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with a great brunch.

801-302-2262

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Red Iguana Best home-made moles and chile verdes in town 736 W North Temple, SLC 801-322-1489

Sage’s Cafe Organic vegetarian, locally grown, fresh 473 E 300 South Salt Lake City 801-322-3790

Squatter’s Pub Brewery Utah’s favorite microbrewery, great pub menu 147 W 300 S Salt Lake City 801-363-2739

Squatters Roadhouse Grill 1900 Park Ave Park City 435-649-9868

Tin Angel Cafe Mediterranean bistro style 365 W 400 South Salt Lake City 801-328-4155

Trolley Wing Company Wings and beer Trolley Square under the water tower 801-538-0745

To get listed in this section, please call 801649-6663 and ask for brad or email brad@ qsaltlake.com

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Mestizo shares space with Mestizo Inst. of Culture and Art (MICA). Mestizo is a community space. The MICA Gallery is open to the public and free to use.

Q Scene

At QSaltLake’s combined Fifth Anniversary / 2009 FABBY Awards party, Foto Cabina set up one of their photo booths and some partygoers thought being behind the curtain meant no one would see...

3 8 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

Even Republican Salt Lake County Councilman Max Burdick showed a wild side, first with his son, Michael, and then with Democratic Utah State Senator Scott McCoy.

an We were threatened within these ke ma to not s inch of our live ob Jac eds lyw new of blic shots pu ud Whipple and Drew Clo

For information about renting a Foto Cabina booth for your event, see FotoCabina.com M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 39

The Dating Diet He’s Just Not Into Flu

by Anthony Paull Is it just seizes the opportunity to take charge me or do of the relationship, leaving you out in gay boys the cold.

Now, if you were brave enough to be turn into t h e b i g - my friend and happened to be named gest sissies Steve, I’d be certain to say all of this to when they your face. But you’re not Steve, so I’m get sick? writing it down so you can avoid that I mean, hello! It’s just the flu; it’s not fugly, dreadful bug going around, oththe end of your entire shiny, fantastic erwise known as naivety.

You see, we love Steve, but he’s failworld just because you can’t get your stupid, inflamed tonsils to deflate long ing to use his brain these days because enough for your boyfriend to jam his he’s sickened by the love of a man who’s penis down your throat. On not-so-fresh not returning the gesture. Now, true, days, you must remind your man: an you and I are no better; we’ve been dickopen airway isn’t a gift, it’s a privilege. lashed too. However, when you get the And sometimes, you have more impor- flu and your man has no time to dash to tant matters in which to attend; namely the store to purchase OJ for your whiny getting well again. But for many, this ass, you know it’s time to move on.

Not Steve though! No! He loves his is a common conundrum — trying to place your boyfriend’s needs before neglectful man, Frodo, even though he your own, even when you’re the one in doesn’t trust the shady bastard further need. And while that can be deemed as than he can throw him. So last week, an admirable trait when you’re coupled, when Steve caught the flu, he was more sometimes it can weaken your power than skeptical when Frodo was too line, specifically when your boyfriend busy to stop by the house for a moment

Q doku

Each Sudoku puzzle has a unique solution which can be reached logically without guessing. Enter digits 1 through 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit, as must each column and each 3x3 square. Qdoku is actually five seperate, but connected, Sudoku puzzles.

Medium

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4 0 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

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to play Nurse Nightingale. Lucky for us, Steve decided to go to him.

Now conjure the scene. Think of Steve, a big Italian bear of a man, running to his Beamer with a box of tissues, a thermometer and a mission. Sweating and sweating, his temperature is 102.

But that’s no big deal, he’s more concerned with timely matters. Like why isn’t Frodo answering his cell phone?

Why won’t he kiss me in public? Why is he always texting that drag queen at the bar? And why is it that he manages to forget his wallet every time we go out to dinner?

“I can’t help it.

I keep asking myself these same questions!” Steve snapped, calling me from his cell phone. “Am I pathetic?”

“No, you’re in love. That’s part of it,” I reminded him.

The other part — the tiny bit I failed to mention — is the crippling insanity associated with love gone wrong.

Steve is already aware of that.

I mean, sick or not, no man in his right mind would sit in a BMW parked across the street from his boyfriend’s home for three solid-gold hours solely because his boyfriend wasn’t returning his calls, would he?

“Where do you think he is?” Steve questioned, with a panicky sniffle.

Through the phone I could hear the smooth rush of air as his hand pulled multiple tissues from a box and Britney singing about living in a circus over the radio. “He said he was staying home to study. Where is he?”

“I don’t know. Stinking up the toilet at Starbucks like every other college student,” I replied.

“Oh shit! Here he comes!” Steve called, and then dial-tone.

Yes, that’s right, dear readers, the remainder of what happened hails from Steve himself, who says it all went down hill from there. You see, Frodo was not (surprise, surprise) alone when he arrived home. No, he had gone to lunch with a rather crusty, gray-balled gentleman, who followed him into the house as sick, sad Steve sat in silent dread in his shiny BMW across the street.

What happened next? Well, what do you think? Sneezing and wheezing, Steve yanked the thermometer out of his ass and ran in behind them. “Um, excuse me. Is there something you’d

like to tell me?” he asked the rather startled Frodo. “Haven’t you been worried about me?” he further inquired, dripping in a cold sweat. “And who is this old slut with you?”

“Uh,” Frodo began, turning beet-red.

“My grandfather ... you idiot.”

To which good ole grandpa added, “Frodo, you really should lock the front door behind you next time.”

Yes, I’m not shitting you; this happened. And the end result: well, let’s just say Frodo has not only begun locking the front door, but he’s changed the lock as well.

You see, this is what occurs when there’s no trusting, bedside manner in a relationship.

You end up drawing conclusions (even some that may be warranted) about the one you love, and then you end up looking like the crazy one when you jump the gun. Sound familiar? If Frodo was a nice, attentive boyfriend, he would have been there for Steve in his darkest hour.

That’s what you do in a relationship — put your lover before yourself during the times he needs it most, and in return, he should be thankful enough not to take advantage of it.

As for Steve, he has yet to figure this out. He insists on clinging to the hope that they have a future together even though they barely have a past. And the sick part: As a true friend, I risk losing him each day for presenting him with the truth. Q

I mean, sick or not, no man in his right mind would sit in a BMW parked across the street from his boyfriend’s home for three solid-gold hours solely because his boyfriend wasn’t returning his calls, would he?

Anagram An anagram is a word or phrase that can be made using the letters from another word or phrase.

Rearrange the letters below to answer:

this gender-blender band plays with the Clicks, May 30 at the Depot

krOOnS leWDlY ___ ____ _____

PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ARE ON PAGE 51

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42 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 43

Homoscopes i

BAR GUIDE

VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23)

e

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Proud Rams are seeking quality in any form and turn their attention to the bottom line when Sun enters Taurus.

Spending your pennies on luxury has it’s rewards, I suppose, but don’t spend it recklessly. Get your money’s worth with every indulgence. Admirers beat a path to your door. Don’t forget to keep a light on and dust off the welcome mat.

5

Salt Lake City

600 N.

r

TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)

All eyes turn to you. Queer Bulls may look like deers caught in the headlights but will manage to charm even the crustiest of observers. Step into the spotlight of center stage, show them your stuff and bask in the accolades. Go with the glow by launching new projects and meeting new important folks. Your personal stock is at an all time high. Sell!!

Temple Square

200 S

300 W ST

Trax Line

STATE

1300 S

SUNDAYS

MONDAYS

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TUESDAYS

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t

GEMINI (May 22 - Jum 21)

Is it true that gay Twins have psychic capabilities? As Sun enters Taurus, spiritual and mystic thoughts manifest and flow. Set your cosmic course full steam ahead and dump all that stinky garbage out of your closet and into the cosmic trash heap. Suddenly you have the extra energy to get ahead of the curve and get on top of things. Ain’t liberation grand?

y

CANCER (JUN 22 - JUL 23)

Life heats up with Sun in Taurus.

Gay Crabs catapult themselves into the social swirl with a vengeance and make the most of any platonic relationship. The fates, however, have other plans beyond the playground. Your professional possibilities hit new highs. Those in power like what they see in you. Ha! Have you got them fooled!

Make your move quickly!

u

LEO (Jul 24 - Aug 23)

Proud Lions can seize the professional day. Strike while the corporate environment is hot; there is no time like the present to stake your claim. You might be tempted to go off course with an offer of international adventure and travel. Perhaps you can combine both your corporate lust and itchy feet with a business trip. Take your ...ahem ... personal assistant.

THURSDAYS

FRIDAYS

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8. Speakeasy 63 W 100 South • M P 801-521-7000 $1 drafts 201 E. 300 South • K P X Karaoke 801-519-8800 • tavernacle.com 9p

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May you live in interesting times queer Virgin. Things become very interesting now. You are better able to see the global picture... and you like what you see.

Take your personal message to the masses comrade and spread the news! I suspect that your views will reach and appeal to a particularly appealing constituency of one. And isn’t that is really all you need?

o

LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)

Sun in Taurus will do the trick for all lusty proud Libras with a will and a way. Your sexual stamina is at a peak so don’t go and hide. Use this feisty energy to either cement current relationships or to seek new sensual liaisons. It’s time to mount your personal fulfillment campaign. I suspect that there’ll be a full surrender if you stand firm.

p

SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 22)

Put energy into partnerships. Queer Scorps can sometimes take relationships for granted but now any affection happily given is affection happily received.

Do not delay. As the week progresses you may be diverted by compliments on the job.

But who will keep you warm on those frosty nights? Certainly not the computer in your cubicle, pal!

[

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 - Dec 22)

Gay Archers begin to feel their oats.

You turn your attention to health and diet issues with magnificent results. Turn over a new leaf in time for the cruise season; the line is forming and you want to be in ship shape for any new launches. Thankfully, you easily turn up the volume on fun. How loud and queer do you like it skipper?

]

CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)

Even serious pink Caps are encouraged to let loose and have fun with Sun in Taurus. Jump on the party train and start the festivities. Not only are you more creative than usual, you expand your range of interests into new artistic territories.

Romance is also in the air. Feel and encourage the love by tying up any loose familial strings. Set the record queer!

q

AQUEERIUS (Jan 21 - Feb 19)

What mischief will Aqueerians get into now? Possibly something having to do with a home based project. If you are thinking of a change of scenery, do your research and plan on moving the earth to get there. And you won’t have to do it alone.

There are a few able bodied assistants who are there for the asking. Ask and you receive ..... within reason, greedy thing!

w

PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)

If you feel that you haven’t been heard correctly, stop the presses immediately! Guppies are suddenly making front page news to get global coverage for any tiny idea. There could be a bit of a financial upside to all of this as well as the fates warm your coffers. Perhaps a well endowed benefactor comes your way. Perhaps just well endowed.

4 4 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

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M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 45

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Non-Cocktail

ALL â&#x20AC;&#x153;FAMILYâ&#x20AC;?

WELCOME

Spring Fever You know you have spring fever when you are frantically cleaning the house, dreaming about the plants youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll plant in your garden and switching out the hot tea for iced tea. This non-alcoholic drink will help you through your spring fever pains by giving you a taste of fresh fruit. You can easily make your own Mango Syrup, this may be easier than finding it in the store.

Ingredients: ž oz lemon juice ž oz mango syrup (below) 1½ oz apple juice 2 oz blood orange juice prepArAtIon: 1. Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice.

2. Shake well.

3. Strain into a collins glass half-filled with crushed ice.

MAngo syrup: 1 cup mango ž cup sugar 1â &#x201E;3 cup water Cook fruit with sugar and water until thick. Smash fruit while cooking.

For a thin syrup, press through strainer.

For a thicker syrup, process cooked syrup in a food processor.

Serve warm. Store in refrigerator.

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M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 47

Q Puzzle

Bea Honest

Honoring the life of actress Bea Arthur

Across 1 Peggy of Split Bitches 5 Opposite of loads 9 NG: Weight-room exercise 14 NG: Mata ___ 15 HRC’s equal sign, e.g.

16 NG: Palmer of “The Boys From Brazil” 17 NG: Persian Gulf land 18 Start of a quip 20 More of the quip 22 NG: Mammy Yokum’s creator 23 NG: Beethoven’s “Für ___” 24 Hot-tub buildup 26 Top record 28 NG: Vitamin bottle abbr.

29 One that ought to be paddled 31 Hilary of Boys Don’t Cry 33 “Lesbians ignite!” e.g.

34 “I’m ___ your tricks!”

35 More of the quip 40 They’re not homo sapiens 41 Hauls ass 42 NG: Shankar’s instrument 44 Like an gray-haired prostitute?

45 NG: Deposit slip abbr.

48 Tongue ending 49 It arouses you in bed 51 Francis Bacon work 53 “I felt the earth move” experience 55 Actress Bea and source of the quip 56 End of the quip 59 NG: Food on the floor, maybe 60 Gay men’s lifestyle magazine 61 NG: Cube designer Rubik 62 NG: Steed stopper 63 Nice buns, for example 64 Word to a dominatrix 65 Daly of Judging Amy Down 1 NG: Black eye 2 “The Wizard of Oz” scorer Arlen 3 Land of Lawrence 4 NG: Bowery bums 5 Bedfellow 6 Foot fetish digit 7 NG: Star’s rep 8 Morsel of AZT, e.g.

9 Positions 10 NG: Costa ___ 11 Symbol for Log Cabin Republicans 12 Don, as a nightie 13 Pose for Bruce Weber 19 NG: St. Pete’s state

21 NG: Interior design 24 Queen’s “subjects” 25 NG: Seek 27 NG: WBA decision 30 NG: Two-time link 32 Feelings of hitting rock bottom 33 High place with a flat top 35 First and Second Peter 36 NG: Old hands 37 NG: Cowboy actor Jack 38 NG: Essen article 39 Hatcher on Desperate Housewives 40 Wall St. bears watch it 43 NG: Type of aircraft engine 44 James Baldwin’s birthplace 45 Jeffrey director Christopher 46 “Tales of the City” author Armistead 47 NG: Power of films 50 NG: Reed of rock 52 Get the ball rolling 54 Jane ___ (Moorehead flick of 1944) 55 Exotica director Egoyan 56 Org. that uses ballwashers 57 “I Got Rhythm” writer Gershwin 58 NG: Aunt in Bambi answers on p. 51

Cryptogram

A cryptogram is a puzzle where one letter in the puzzle is substituted with another. For example: ECOLVGNCYXW YCR EQYIIRZNBZN YZU PSZ! Has the solution: CRYPTOGRAMS ARE CHALLENGING AND FUN! In the above example Es are all replaced by Cs. The puzzle is solved by recognizing letter patterns in words and successively substituting letters until the solution is reached.

This week’s hint: A = S Theme: NGLTF Exec. Dir. Rea Carey remark on Obama’s first 100 days.

Ukma yromgmaubyumtg kya eccg gtu tgws otbc bczcfumqc ut ukc maaxca lyzmgj txb ztooxgmus, exu ywat otbc fbtyzumqc.

____ ______________ ___ ____ ___ ____ ____ _________ __ ___ ______ ______ ___ _________, ___ ____ ____ _________.

4 8 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

Q S a l t L aM k ae y | 1 44 ,9 2 0 0 9 | i s s u e 1 2 8 | Q S a l t L a k e | 4 9

A private club for members 50 | QSa lt L a k e | issue 128 | M ay 1 4 , 20 09

Support the Businesses that Support You

Q Tales

These businesses brought you this issue of QSaltLake.

Make sure to thank them with your patronage.

The Consequence

By A.E. Storm

“W

ill you marry me ?”

George asked, a tear sliding down his cheek.

Jacin just stared at him in disbelief.

After a moment, George laughed and said, “Come on. Say yes. We’ve already paid for the cabin and we’re allowed to have the ceremony anywhere in Yellowstone we choose.”

Still no response.

George prodded, “Eddie pitched in with me for our honeymoon to Cancun.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry,” was all Jacin said before leaving the room.

Stunned, George just stared at the now empty chair.

“Uumm ... I’ll go talk to him,” volunteered Josh, finishing off his glass of wine.

Behind the closed bedroom door, Jacin laid on the bed, staring through muddled eyes at the ceiling and absently stroking Freddy Kreuger’s belly, his unique purr crackling loudly.

It had been months since the accident, but Jacin still suffered from the amnesia.

‘There’s too many blanks,’ he explained to himself. ‘I can’t marry George ... not yet, anyway.’ ‘Oh, but I really want to ... I think. There are things I don’t remember about him, I’m sure of it, I can feel it in my gut.’

‘Or am I just being a chicken shit?’

Puzzle Solutions

He turned his head to the mirror on the dresser and studied himself for a minute. ‘Yeah, I’m just being a chicken shit.’ He sighed, and a moment later, ‘Damn, my hair looks like crap today.’

A quick succesion of raps on the door sent Freddy Krueger flying across the bed into the blinds. He scrambled to hang on, but as many times before, he slipped and crashed to the floor, then zipped under the bed.

“Come in,” Jacin answered.

Josh opened the door and scanned the room, “What was all that noise?”

“Just Freddy wigging out as usual ... and ruining my damn blinds!” Jacin lifted himself upright and leaned against the headboard, “I thought you were George, but I’m relieved it’s you. I don’t know what to say to him.”

“OK, but do you know why you said no?” Josh closed the door behind him.

“I guess I’m scared, just for the sake of being scared ... mostly I guess,” he explained. “But I also haven’t gotten my life completely back since the accident — I want to feel whole first, you know.”

Though it was rhetorical, Josh replied, “Yeah, I get it.”

“The only thing I know with any certainty is that it was your boyfriend’s daughter I saved that day.”

Taken aback, Josh asked, “How do you know that?”

“I recognized him ... well, remembered him that day the two of you helped my

Cryptogram: This administration has been not only more receptive to the issues facing our community, but also more proactive.

Anagram: New York Dolls

2 4 9 5 3 8 1 7 6 9 4 2 6 1 8 7 3 5

8 5 1 7 3 2 6 9 4

6 3 7 1 2 4 9 8 5 6 7 3 9 5 4 1 8 2

7 9 5 6 8 3 2 1 4 3 9 5 8 4 7 2 1 6

4 1 3 2 5 9 7 6 8 2 1 7 3 6 9 5 4 8

8 2 6 4 7 1 3 5 9 4 6 8 1 2 5 9 7 3

5 2 9 4 7 3 8 6 1 7 2 3 9 5 4 7 1 6 8 3 2

7 3 6 2 8 1 4 5 9 6 8 1 3 7 2 8 4 5 6 9 1

1 8 4 5 9 6 3 2 7 9 5 4 1 6 8 3 9 2 5 4 7

5 7 2 4 3 8 6 9 1

9 4 3 1 7 6 2 8 5

6 1 8 5 9 2 7 4 3

3 4 2 5 9 1 7 8 6 3 1 5 4 2 9 8 3 1 7 6 5

5 9 1 7 6 8 2 3 4 8 6 9 5 1 7 6 4 9 3 8 2

6 7 8 2 4 3 1 9 5 2 4 7 8 3 6 5 7 2 1 4 9

6 4 3 1 5 7 2 9 8 4 5 3 6 1 2 8 7 9

7 9 8 4 2 6 5 3 1 9 8 7 4 3 5 6 2 1

2 5 1 3 9 8 6 7 4 1 2 6 8 7 9 5 4 3

3 6 4 9 1 5 8 2 7 2 3 9 1 8 6 4 5 7

9 7 5 2 8 3 4 1 6 7 1 5 3 2 4 9 6 8

1 8 2 7 6 4 9 5 3 8 6 4 9 5 7 3 1 2

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Episode 15

5 8 1 9 6 7 4 2 3

A New Day Spa. . . . . . . . . 801-272-3900 Area 51 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-534-0819 Au Naturale . . . . . . . . . . 801-466-8888 Beehive Bail Bonds. . . . . 801-485-2711 The Beer Nut . . . . . . . . . . 801-531-8182 Bliss Nightlife. . . . . . . . . . 801-860-1083 Blue Boutique. . . . . . . . . 801-485-2072 Cafe Med . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-493-0100 Cahoots . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-538-0606 Cedars of Lebanon. . . . . 801-364-4096 Club Try-Angles . . . . . . . . 801-364-3203 Diamond Airport Parking. . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-347-4255 The Dog Show . . . . . . . . . 801-466-6100 Great Salt Lake RC&D. . . 801-524-4254 Gossip!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-328-0255 Jam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jamslc.com KRCL-FM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801-363-1818 Keep Comfy Heating/Cooling

Jacin Tales

parents move in across the street.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Jacin considered that for a minute, “I don’t know why. Maybe I was hoping I was wrong.”

Josh sat down at the foot of the bed, guilt washed over him, “There’s something I should tell you.”

“OK.” “Mark told me all about it ...” he started.

“When?”

“The night he met you.”

Jacin jerked forward, sweeping his legs underneath him, “So you’ve known for like ... two weeks and haven’t said anything.”

Josh scrambled to find the right words, and came up with, “Sorry.”

“That’s it,” Jacin accused with an edge. “That’s all you have to say?” He leapt off the bed and swung the door open. “Get out of my room ... In fact, get out of my house.”

“Fine,” Josh retorted in his usual knee-jerk defensiveness.

Jacin slammed the door behind Josh as he left, then dropped himself down on the bed, buried his face and his hands, and wept.

Some time later — at least an hour Jacin speculated — as the bedroom had turned a tea rose orange from the dying sunlight, he had made a decision: He was moving out, moving across the street with his parents. Just for a while, enough time to recover some memories.

Maybe spending more time with his parents would speed up the process.

He pulled an weathered green vinyl suitcase from the closet and began packing clothes. He realized, as he slipped shirts off their hangers, that he had too many earth tone colors.

‘Why don’t I have any blue shirts,’ he asked himself. ‘I look good in blue.’

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a knock at the door.

It was George, looking hurt.

It pained Jacin seeing George hurt, but not as much as it probably should.

Jacin explained the suitcase full of boring earth tone clothes. George’s eyes widened more in disbelief with each word. Jacin imagined the guinea pig with bugged-out eyes from Bedtime Stories. He was being unnecessarily cruel.

“Sorry, I can’t do this right now,” Jacin stated, then snapped the old suitcase shut. “I’ll see you in a day or two.”

He looked one more time at George, who now appeared to have slipped into a catatonic state.

“I’m just across the street,” Jacin reassured.

With that, he scooted past George and walked out of the house — so quietly George didn’t hear the front door close. Q

To be continued ...

M ay 1 4 , 20 09 | issue 128 | QSa lt L a k e | 51

Q

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