Joe & Russ Baker-Gorringe are friends of mine from Salt Lake City. They have been on the front cover of every major paper in Utah and are pretty much the "gay celebrities" of Utah. This is an excerpt from their Christmas Newletter: "In July, [Utah] Governor Jon M Huntsman and his wife, Mary Kaye, graciously hosted us, along with others from the gay community, in their home. In addition to having our picture taken with our governor, first lady, Mary Kaye, told us about a gay young man she knew who had walked into his first day of the 11th grade. In the hall that first morning, he heard kids say, “Oh no! The faggot is back!” The next day, they jumped him in the hall, and threw him in the lunchroom garbage can. On the third day, a group of guys grabbed him, shoved his head in an unflushed toilet. On the fourth day, a group of his peers told him not to sit with them at lunch, calling him “a Queer, faggot, freak.” On the fifth day, this same young man took his own life.
Mary Kaye’s comments tugged at our heartstrings, as we have done some outreach and fundraising for the Utah Homeless Youth Resource Center . Utah has the highest homeless youth rate in the nation. Of the thousands of possible reasons a youth could find themselves homeless, 54% of Utah ’s homeless youth say they were kicked out of their homes because they were gay. We can’t help but feel shame for the fruit of Utah ’s “family values.” On a national scale, gay youth suicides are 5 times the national average. In Utah , it is 8 times the national average.
In addition, we have seen countless people lost to self-loathing, and destructive addictive behavior, which have been fueled by the hurtful teachings heard from too many pulpits. It isn’t homosexuality that destroys families. It is ignorance, hate, and bigotry."
Mary Kaye’s comments tugged at our heartstrings, as we have done some outreach and fundraising for the Utah Homeless Youth Resource Center . Utah has the highest homeless youth rate in the nation. Of the thousands of possible reasons a youth could find themselves homeless, 54% of Utah ’s homeless youth say they were kicked out of their homes because they were gay. We can’t help but feel shame for the fruit of Utah ’s “family values.” On a national scale, gay youth suicides are 5 times the national average. In Utah , it is 8 times the national average.
In addition, we have seen countless people lost to self-loathing, and destructive addictive behavior, which have been fueled by the hurtful teachings heard from too many pulpits. It isn’t homosexuality that destroys families. It is ignorance, hate, and bigotry."
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