Ogden has made great strides, but we're getting skunked by those bums in Salt Lake City in one very critical area.
The Advocate, a national magazine for gay people, just named Salt Lake City the Gayest City in America. The capital of the reddest state in the nation, home of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, flies the biggest rainbow flag in the country.
And where's Ogden? Nowhere on the list.
It's tempting to speculate that the magazine picked Salt Lake to make fun of Utah's well-known self-professed moral rectitude. The LDS Church and a lot of Utah money were huge supporters of California Proposition 8 to prevent legalized marriage among gay people. Their home state's capital being picked "gayest" has to embarrass members of the Eagle Forum, one of several guardians of the state's morals.
The magazine's criteria are interesting. It looked at specifics such as nude yoga studios and visits by bands popular to the gay community. It cited Salt Lake's very public gay eateries and drinkeries.
But more generally it was looking for "per capita queerness." The widening acceptance of gays in Salt Lake City stands out just because it is so contrary to the state's national persona.
The change is real. Last year's Gay Pride Parade through downtown Salt Lake had almost as many entries as the city's Days of '47 Parade, including many elected officials who can spot potential voters a mile away.
They also see marketing opportunities. The Advocate is a national publication. The gay community in the United States is more than 18.5 million people with disposable incomes well above the national average.
Any outdoor recreation community that accepts its gay members will attract more gay money.
This is where Ogden, which aspires to be like Park City, falls short. It's not a matter of how many gay bars you have, but whether gay people are comfortable here. Do we put out the welcome mat?
No. It took more than a year for Ogden to pass a watered-down law prohibiting discrimination in hiring and housing of gays.
Marian Edmonds, the new executive director of Ogden OUTreach, co-pastors a church in Salt Lake City that reaches out to gays. She has studied both cities in the months she's been in Utah.
"I think it's more the air of acceptance," she said. "People in Ogden don't feel free in identifying as gay. The youths I work with are very hesitant to identify. That's different than the people in Salt Lake City, who are very quick to identify."
The Rev. Theresa Novak, pastor of the Ogden Unitarian Universalist Church, said "I run into people all the time that are in the closet here, and it's horrible." She often visits gay congregants in the hospital who say the nurse thinks their daily same-sex visitor is a sister or brother and they don't dare say otherwise.
And yet Novak, who has been with her partner for 37 years and raised three children, said her Ogden neighbors "have been really great, including some who are extremely active in the LDS Church. We got invited to our neighbor's 90th birthday."
As more come out, more take heart. Edmonds sees improvement. Teens are getting braver.
She said one wanted to start a Gay-Straight Alliance chapter at high school but was told he couldn't put up posters or hand out fliers.
"So what he did is he made a flier and taped it to the back of his backpack," she said, and everywhere he went he spread the word.
Wasatch Rambler is the opinion of Charles Trentelman. You can call him at 801-625-4232 or email ctrentelman@standard.net. He also blogs at www.standard.net.
Comments