The top story today on the web site advocate.com:
Salt Lake City: Gayer than you think
According to this story, this year's Pride Week culminated with a parade that, organizers say, is the second largest in Salt Lake City behind the annual parade commemorating the Mormon settlement of the Salt Lake Valley. It goes on to say that:
BUT...BUT...BUT...PEOPLE!!!!!
IT'S UTAH!!!!!!
I lived there for four and a half years, some of that time living with—gasp—a man to whom I was not married, which was not only—eek—a naughty sin but also in that state—shock&awe—AGAINST THE LAW. Why, for crying out loud, would so many people choose to live in a place that shuns them, tries to "cure" them, and denies them basic rights? To be martyrs for their cause? To stand up and say "we're not gonna take it anymore?" To be just plain old contrary?
People have a right to live wherever they want, and I have a right to not understand why non-Mormons (particularly of the LGBT variety) would choose to live in Proselytizingville. The Mormons have the right to wear their funny undies and sequester themselves in secret temple rooms and listen to bad music written by Senator Orrin Hatch. Talk about an alternative lifestyle. Live and let live, I guess.
I, for one, am glad I've left Missionary Central.
Now pop in that rated-R DVD and hand me my glass of Zinfandel.
Salt Lake City: Gayer than you think
According to this story, this year's Pride Week culminated with a parade that, organizers say, is the second largest in Salt Lake City behind the annual parade commemorating the Mormon settlement of the Salt Lake Valley. It goes on to say that:
Urban Institute demographer Gary Gates and researcher Jason Ost, authors of The Gay and Lesbian Atlas, estimate Salt Lake City to be in the top 6% of cities where gay and lesbian couples were likely to live. "Clearly, Salt Lake City has a high concentration," Gates told the Associated Press.
Many gays and lesbians in Utah are former Mormons who grew up in the area and don't want to leave--despite a political system that just passed one of the country's most restrictive amendments banning same-sex marriage. Others migrated from equally conservative nearby states such as Idaho and Wyoming, which have no high-concentration gay areas of their own.
Many of Salt Lake's gays and lesbians don't want to abandon the style of Western living they grew up with, said Michael Mitchell, executive director of the advocacy group Equality Utah. The pace of life is generally slow, and nearby mountain ranges full of ski runs and hiking trails provide abundant opportunities for enjoying nature while still living in an urban area. Other benefits such as affordability and a relatively low crime rate are enough for some people to justify staying, he said. Besides, Mitchell notes, "the next big city is Denver, eight hours one way, and Las Vegas, five hours the other way."
BUT...BUT...BUT...PEOPLE!!!!!
IT'S UTAH!!!!!!
I lived there for four and a half years, some of that time living with—gasp—a man to whom I was not married, which was not only—eek—a naughty sin but also in that state—shock&awe—AGAINST THE LAW. Why, for crying out loud, would so many people choose to live in a place that shuns them, tries to "cure" them, and denies them basic rights? To be martyrs for their cause? To stand up and say "we're not gonna take it anymore?" To be just plain old contrary?
People have a right to live wherever they want, and I have a right to not understand why non-Mormons (particularly of the LGBT variety) would choose to live in Proselytizingville. The Mormons have the right to wear their funny undies and sequester themselves in secret temple rooms and listen to bad music written by Senator Orrin Hatch. Talk about an alternative lifestyle. Live and let live, I guess.
I, for one, am glad I've left Missionary Central.
Now pop in that rated-R DVD and hand me my glass of Zinfandel.
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