A mob of homophobic bigots chased four men gay men leaving Utah Pride, hurling anti-gay slurs at them and attacking a man who tried to intervene on their behalf.
A group estimated to be of about 15 and 20 men chased four gay men leaving Pride,Utah on Saturday night, to the Doki Doki dessert shop, where employee Terrance Mannery tried to hold off the angry mob after learning what was happening.
Jen Parsons-Soren, who had attended Pride said she heard the group yelling homophobic slurs; Salt Lake City police also have also confirmed that the group was shouting slurs.
“Based on the actions the group was making, based on everything the gentlemen who came in had told me — if I allowed anyone in the store, they would try to cause harm to people,” Mannery told The Salt Lake Tribune
Mannery said he couldn’t see how many people were hitting him; but he got punched at least seven times. Mannery did not suffer any dangerous injuries.
“It felt like they were trying to pull me out so they could all jump on, but I was trying to push them out, so that actually worked in my favor,” he said.
Inside the shop, customers, staff and the four men chased there by the crowd watched helplessly.
A woman outside the shop tried to break up the crowd as Mannery kept fighting. Finally, a security guard from a neighboring building approached, and the mob ran away.
News of the attack has shocked Salt Lake City’s LGBT community. The Utah Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce said Tuesday it was offering $5,000 for information leading to an arrest and prosecution
About 20 protesters hurled anti-LGBTQ remarks at patrons outside Club Jam on Friday, the night of the Pride Festival Opening Ceremonies. “Pretty toxic stuff,” said Shane Curtis, who heard the disturbance from his recording studio across the street. Police arrived about 1 a.m. and warned the protesters — who wore jackets customized with anti-LGBTQ text and held 10-foot signs — against disturbing the peace and blocking pedestrians, according to Salt Lake City Lt. Scott Smalley.
One protester outside the club at 751 N. 300 West had a megaphone but was told to stop using it by police. “For the most part, it’s a religious group that is preaching against homosexuality,” Smalley said. A handful of the protesters are from Utah, said Smalley, but most of them are from out of state. This group of protesters has shouted outside Pride events in the past, as well as the biannual conference held by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to Smalley. – The Salt Lake City Tribune
The American Taliban. There can be no doubt about it.
In at least one big and bruising culture-war battle, the Mormon church wants to call a partial truce. Convening a rare press conference on Tuesday at church headquarters in Salt Lake City, Mormon leaders pledged to support anti-discrimination laws for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people, as long the laws also protect the rights of religious groups. In exchange, the Mormon church wants gay rights advocates — and the government — to back off. “When religious people are publicly intimidated, retaliated against, forced from employment or made to suffer personal loss because they have raised their voice in the public square, donated to a cause or participated in an election, our democracy is the loser,”said Elder Dallin Oaks, a member of the church’s Quorum of Twelve Apostles. “Such tactics are every bit as wrong as denying access to employment, housing or public services because of race or gender.”
Let me be fucking crystal clear here. The Mor(m)on Church is in no position to negotiate, let alone to negotiate from any position of strength.
After spending MILLIONS of dollars to fight LGBT rights. After ruining countless lives by sending gay and lesbian Mormons to “re-education camps”, using shock therapy, and in some cases even lobatomizing gay men. They have the nerve to try to strike a deal now that their “righteous” facade is crumbling and people are truly seeing how hateful and evil they are by saying: We still want to oppress you, but we’ll try to be nicer about it and give you some limited recognition as human beings.
If you ever needed the definition of a “STRAWMAN” this unadulterated BULLSHIT from the LDS church is it.
Openly gay Utah State Sen. and founder of Equality Utah, Jim Dabakis who sent out a statement saying:
“I am proud that the LDS Church has seen fit to lead the way in non-discrimination. As a religious institution, Mormons have had a long history of being the victims of discrimination and persecution. They understand more than most the value and strength of creating a civil society that judges people by the content of their character and their ability to do a job. Since serving as a Senator, and as the only LGBT member of the Utah legislature, I can say one of the joys of the job has been to meet and enjoy the company of LDS officials. I know that together, we can build a community that strongly protects religious organizations constitutional liberties and, in addition, creates a civil, respectful, nurturing culture where differences are honored and everyone feels welcome. Now, lets roll up our sleeves, get to work and pass a statewide Non-Discrimination Bill.”
Just goes to show you that even gay democrats can be disgusting self-loathing quislings too.
WKSL-TV a Salt Lake City, Utah Mormon owned NBC affiliate has announced that it has decided that it will not broadcast “New Normal” this fall, a serio-comedy about two gay mens quest to have a baby vis a surrogate mother. “After viewing the pilot episode of The New Normal, we have made the decision to keep it off our fall schedule,” Jeff Simpson told Desert News. “For our brand, this program simply feels inappropriate on several dimensions, especially during family viewing time.
Incensed over the decision actress Ellen Barkin who has a role in the new television show, took to Twitter to slam the Mormon owned station with charges of homophobia and bigotry.
Barkin tweeted, “Anyone in Utah interested in @NBCTheNewNormal please clog up @ksl5tv feed 4 their blatantly homophobic decision 2 not air the show #KSLBigots.”She wrote in another post, “Shame on u @kslcom not airing @NBCTheNewNormal So L&O SVU (rape & child murder) is ok? But loving gay couple having a baby is inappropriate?”
Earlier this month the One Million Shrews Moms protested the show, claiming that the “program is damaging to our culture,” and blasting NBC for “using public airwaves to continue to subject families to the decay of morals and values, and the sanctity of marriage in attempting to redefine marriage.”
KSL-TV thinks that THIS is too offensive and inappropriate
PLEASE use KLS – TV’s CONTACT FORM and tell them whats truly offensive is them NOT airing “The New Normal”
A popular Gay Bar, JAM, in Salt Lake City, Utah was attacked in the early hours of Thursday morning with what is described as ‘flaming projectiles’. Fernando Noriega, gave a detailed report of the incident:
“So we had at least 30 to 40 people here,”Everybody’s congregated to about here. All the tables were set up. It was very busy. All the sudden we saw something bright,–I thought they were fireworks on the floor. Out of a group of 30 people, all of those flares to be hitting at the same time we don’t know how, everyone was very lucky. As soon as they saw us and we shouted at them they just went screeching down Beck Street.”
Nearby neighbor, Regan Mower, also saw the attempted attack and reported:
“Then I saw two or three flare or firework looking things flying over the patio at JAM.At first I just thought it was a practical joke, Then I saw people screaming and running inside. Even from here you can’t miss the fact there’s lots of people there. You can hear the people; see the people so you know there are people in there. It was definitely malicious. They definitely knew what they were doing.”
Noriega,who is also the founder of THEGAYHOTSPOT.COM, gave a detailed description of the suspects along with the suspected vehicle used to escape the scene of the crime in his blog. No one was seriously hurt in the attack and the flames were extinguished fairly easily.
It also was reported that the suspects were unable to even deter patrons at JAM from their karaoke night. Noriega then climbed the fence, saw the three assailants and along with patrons from the club chase down the assailants unsuccessfully.The suspects are described as Caucasian, males, with “blonde shaggy” hair that appear to be in their “late teens to early 20s driving a maroon Pontiac Grand AM”.
This is the second time in the past week that Utah has experienced some from of vandalism involving LGBT. In the neighboring town of Provo Utah, a terminal traffic sign was altered reading “God Hates Gays” at a construction site.
On Friday the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee voted 4-2 to table the bill and anti-lgbt discrimination law after only a 90-minute hearing before a standing room only crowd.
The Committee was made up of five Republicans and one Democrat.
Democrat Ben McAdams’ Senate Bill 51 which would have extended workplace and housing non-discrimination protections to all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Utahns statewide was a repeat of a bill he had proposed in the 2011 session that was never able to escape the Legislature’s Rules Committee. This year, the bill was given a hearing, but from the outset it was clear the bill faced a tough crowd of legislators
Anti-Gay bigot Gayle Ruzicka, President of the Eagle Forum
Vehemently anti-gay Gayle Ruzicka, president Eagle Forum argued that if religious organizations were to be exempted then religious individuals who own businesses should also be exempted from complying with the bill.
“I think religious people should have that same opportunity as religious institutions,” Ruzicka said. “What if I own some apartments … and I want to make sure the people that rent those apartments have the same standards that I want there– I wouldn’t be able to make that choice. I’d have to allow those that are living a gay lifestyle to move in there.”
In the end McAdams, tried to make a last-ditch pitch for the bill, arguing that the bill was in keeping with what Utahns believe.
“Protection against discrimination is a Utah value,” McAdams said. “Nevertheless, we have discrimination in Utah. We have people who are evicted from their homes or lose their jobs because of how they life their life. I don’t believe we have to choose between protecting against discrimination and the religious values many of us have in our state. I believe that faith and respect can coexist, and this bill would accomplish that,” McAdams said.
Obviously the “Utahns” on the commitee didn’t agree.
Many of you might not believe this. But way back when The Advocate was first published it ws done so by the activist group PRIDE (Personal Rights in Defense and Education) and was inspired by a police raid on Los Angeles gay bar the Black Cat Tavern. The first issue bore a cover date of September 1967 and by 1974 they were printing 40,000 copies for each issue until The Advocate transformed into a national news magazine covering events important to the GLBT community, including the gay rights movement, art and culture.
That is until 2010, when Here Media consolidated the distribution for The Advocate and Out magazines and it became the craptastic tabloid hot mess that it is today. (In 2010 there were press reports of freelance writers not being paid for their work.)
And in continuing its ever rocketing slide downhill this week The Advocate published it’s 3rd Annual “Gayest Cities in America, 2012. A list thats so mindbogglingly off point and misleading that people aren’t sure if its tounge in cheek or real and just insanely misguided. .
There’s the official census with information on same-sex couples as a percentage of the population, then there’s our accounting of the gayest places in the USA — and we know the twain shan’t meet. But do we really need another article telling us that the homos gather in West Hollywood and Hell’s Kitchen? That Northampton, Mass., is still Lesbianville, USA? (Don’t get us wrong, we love those places.) Instead, in our third annual accounting of the gayest places in America — according to our totally accurate if decidedly subjective criteria — we look at the per capita queerness of some less expected locales.
It’s no secret that megalopolises New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles have robust LGBT life — and we’ve even heard tell of little queer hoods like the Castro and P-Town. This isn’t that list.
Well if “this isn’t that list” what the hell is the good is it except to spread misinformation and taking up space as filler?
The rankings based on a criteria, that sounds like it was written on a cocktail napkin during a drunk night at Revolver in WeHo icludes how many GLBT bookstores are in a city, how many nude yoga classes are offered, how many city softball teams compete in the Gay Softball World Series, even how many “Mr. Leather Competition” semifinalists hail from the area. Which is funny but then there are some more serious criteria, such as number of gay/lesbian/bi/transgender elected officials and the existence of laws prohibiting discrimination.
So basically this is a list who’s criteria is so insane that Salt Lake City, UT ranks at Number 1. Yes the state that hosts The Mormon Church who does everything it can to thwarth same sex marriage. I mean thats SO GAY, isn’t it? And no offense LGBT SLCer’s even you know its not true.
The Advocates Top 15 includes: 1. Salt Lake City, Utah – 2. Orlando, Fla – 3. Cambridge, Mass. – 4. Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – 5. Seattle – 6. Ann Arbor, Mich. – 7. St. Paul and Minneapolis – 8. Knoxville, Tenn. – 9. Atlanta – 10. Grand Rapids, Mich. – 11. Little Rock, Ark. – 12. Portland, Ore. – 13. Austin, Texas -14. Long Beach, Calif. – 15. Denver, Co
Oh, for all you queers by the Bay. San Francisco, CA was given an honorable mention. But let me ask. Whats it like to think that The Advocate thinks that Little Rock, Ark is gayer than you?
It would be one thing if this list were funny. It would be another thing of this list was serious. But as it is this list is nothing more than garbage made up by The Advocate to fill space and has no real “gay friendly” bearings on anything.
So please peole. DO NOT show up in Little Rock. Ark or Knoxville. Tenn wearing a leather harness and waving a rainbow flag. You might not get the reception you were led to believe from The Advocate.
As for The Advocate and your stupid, misleading, and downright dangerous list. If you are so in need of filler perhaps you should consider stop printing trash like this and bring back the“Trader Dick” classified advertising section at least that was a fun and interesting read.
Gay rights activists descended upon the headquarters of the Mormon church in Salt Lake City yesterday in silent protest as a response to a sermon by Boyd K. Packer, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that homosexuality is an immoral condition that can and should be overcome that was broadcast to millions of Mormons worldwide.
In his remarks Packer said some would argue that gays “were pre-set and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn tendencies toward the impure and unnatural. Not so! Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone?”
LGBT activists dressed in black to symbolize the loss of young, gay Mormons to suicide, lay head-to-toe on the sidewalks circling the church’s six-block downtown campus. SLC Police downplayed the event and estimated the crowd at roughly 1,000, although organizer Eric Ethington, who runs the blog PrideinUtah, said event staff counted close to 4,500 participants.
Said Eric Ethington in his speech to the crowd:
“We represent all colors of the rainbow tonight. We are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, straight, black, white, latino, Mormon, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish and atheist – but we all stand firm in one thing, stop destroying our children. And to the youth of the church: Never let anyone tell you that you need to be any different than who you are. There are thousands in this state alone who will love you and accept you. You are beautiful and perfect just the way you are!”
We want to tell men like Boyd K. Packer that we are tired of watching our children die. There are consequences to your words,” Ethington said to the crowd to kick off the event. “You cannot change us, we cannot change ourselves and the more you try, the more dead bodies you leave behind. Stop.”
*Watch the FOX-13 news report of the protest after the jump. (CLICK Read more below)
The Utah State Legislature has decided to put a hold on any discussion of legislation concerning gay rights until 2011. Utah legislators announced that in return for ultra-conservatives law-makers not passing a law outlawing all non-discrimination ordinances state wide, pro-human legislators will agree to not run any gay rights bills this year.
Sounds like a very crappy compromise. Especially since one of the stipulations of the stand down is that over the next year the state will launch a program similar to the what the Human Rights Commission ran for Salt Lake City, a comprehensive report on whether basic protections for Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender are needed.
Are they needed? Thats just idiotic. OF COURSE THEY ARE NEEDED!
It’s just mindboggling.
What are the Gay and Lesbian Righst Leaders in Utah thinking? Are they so niave to think that The Mormon Church which owns the State Legislature is going to change and make a 360 turn in thier bigotry and hated to the LGBT Community in a year or do they just want the year off?
Take a break, relax, enjoy this soon to fail strategy.
