The law against public displays of affection in Salt Lake City is actually quite fascinating. Criminality depends on the ultimate intent behind the PDA and the presumed sexual orientation of the perpetrators.
It would not be illegal for John Travolta to kiss his manny because neither one is homosexual and neither one would be harboring thoughts beyond the kiss that might lead to John taking one great big fat manny cock up his Grease'd ass.
A bromantic hug of victory between two Brigham Young University basketball jocks would be perfectly legal because they would not have the intention of then taking the physical interaction into the BYU locker room for jizz sharing.
However, two gay male friends strolling home from a concert were clearly considering the possibilities of double-headed dildos when they engaged in a friendly farewell hug, and then were subsequently thrown to the ground and handcuffed by Mormon mind-reading security guards who have been trained like bed-bug sniffing dogs to sort out the sodomite abominations from the Jesus-loving heterosexuals.
Church security guards cited kissing and hugging as the "unwanted" behavior two gay men displayed before they were detained and ticketed for trespassing on a plaza near the LDS Temple, according to the police report.
As outrage grows in Utah over this incident, the key question is how in a democratic secular America, a gang of Mormon gestapo is able to define a goodnight hug and kiss as a prelude to public gay sex, physically assault the men in a public city square and no one calls it gay bashing.
The justification for this gestapo-esque assault on the two gay men is that the friends dared to express themselves in a public plaza that is maintained by taxpayer money but under Salt Lake City regulations considered to be Mormon property. And, it would seem that a major public space in a major American city falls outside American law, the Bill of Rights and the United States Constitution when homosexuals are involved.
Since the incident, many witnesses have come forward confirming that heterosexual couples are frequently seen to be walking through this space, holding hands, kissing and hugging--but as of today none of them have been "slammed to the ground and handcuffed" by soldiers of god.
Church spokeswoman Kim Farah has said the two gay men were not singled out for being gay and that they were "politely asked to stop engaging in inappropriate behavior."
However, the police report tells a different story. The gay men were told to leave church property because they and their behavior was "unwanted." And even the Mormon soldiers told the police that the behavior was nothing more than a kiss and a hug. But who knows where that might have led. Queers, like dogs, have no inhibitions about mounting each other even after a casual sniff.
Days later, the legend of the gay horn dogs continues to grow as increasingly dramatic statements are issued by the Mormon press office--regardless of the established facts. Of course, religion and facts are very hostile strangers.
According to The Salt Lake City Tribune, the church is now describing a borderline public sex act. The Church's latest embellishment: "There was much more involved" than a "simple kiss on the cheek." It said the two men "engaged in passionate kissing, groping, profane and lewd language, and had obviously been using alcohol."
Again, none of this is in the police report which included in-depth interviews with the Mormon thugs and several heterosexual eye witnesses. Furthermore, the police report indicates that the Mormon gestapo--wearing dark suits as Mormons do and not uniforms-- did not initially identify themselves to the gay men, but rather surrounded them, insulted them and ordered them to leave the public square. The gay men apparently had the audacity to stand and protest this seeming incident of gay bashing--and it was then, after the gay men defended themselves from the homophobic thugs that the thugs identified themselves as Mormon "guards", slammed the gay men to the ground and cuffed them.
When you put aside all the polite chatter on this nonsense, one thing is very clear. Gay bashing is gay bashing. If slamming a gay man to the ground and cuffing him because he hugged a friend is anything other than a hate crime--regardless of where in America it occurred and regardless of who authorized the assault--than organized religion in America is walking a very thin line between being a responsible member of a democracy and religious terrorism. And when we as a nation allow violent attacks on anyone based a religious perspective, we slide further down the slippery slope to theocracy and "Talibanism".
It is quite fascinating...
Posted by: Andrew | Tuesday, 21 July 2009 at 11:30 AM
(left speechless)
Posted by: Alan down in Florida | Tuesday, 21 July 2009 at 11:37 AM
That picture of the temple sure does look phallic.
Posted by: chamblee54 | Tuesday, 21 July 2009 at 02:35 PM