July 12, 2009
Mormons Bust Queers for Kiss on Cheek
Don’t give me this garbage anymore, Utahns, about how Salt Lake City is some sort of bastion of liberalism in the Theocratic State of Mormonism, a.k.a. Utah. Like this garbage:
Forget everything you think you know about Utah. Yes, it’s the reddest state in the union and the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). … But here in Salt Lake City, it’s a different story. The city and surrounding counties are a lovely blue. The current and previous mayors — Ralph Becker and Rocky Anderson — are well-known progressive Democrats with excellent records on the environment, gay and civil rights, disability access and other municipal issues, and Salt Lake County, home to four of the five most populous cities in the state, went for Obama in 2008.
Oh, bullflop, The Nation. Been there, many times. Got the stinkeye, every time. Never got arrested, thank bloody goodness, like Matt Aune and Derek Jones, but I credit luck, and never kissing anybody on the cheek, while passing through enemy territory.
Matt Who and Derek What?
Gay couple detained after kiss near LDS temple A gay couple says they were detained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints security guards after one man kissed another on the cheek Thursday on Main Street Plaza.
“They targeted us,” said Matt Aune, 28. “We weren’t doing anything inappropriate or illegal, or anything most people would consider inappropriate for any other couple.”
A kiss on the cheek is “inappropriate”?
Aune and his partner, Derek Jones, 25, were cited by Salt Lake City police for trespassing on the plaza, located at 50 East North Temple, according to Sgt. Robin Snyder.In a written statement, church spokeswoman Kim Farah denied the two were singled out for being gay.
The church contends the couple was “asked to stop engaging in inappropriate behavior just as any other couple would have been. They became argumentative and used profanity and refused to leave the property. They were arrested and then given a citation for criminal trespass by SLPD.”
Though Salt Lake City sold the property to the church in the late 1990s, it remains a popular pedestrian thoroughfare, and a site where couples often pose affectionately for photos. …
Snyder refused to name the reason security guards gave for alerting police, saying it is “irrelevant.”
Um, gee, Snyder, if ya had a good reason, ya’d say so. If your people were just targeting fags, you wouldn’t say so. Hmm, golly, what conclusions can we draw from your refusal to answer the question?
More garbage at the link.
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Filed Under: Civil Rights, Homophobia, LDS/Mormons, Radical Religious Right, Utah
