Hundreds of people protested in Salt Lake City to speak out against the violence against gays that some have linked to a conservative social and religious environment conducive to gay assaults, and to the indifference of public officials.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The sister of a man who was injured in the latest attack against gay men says it is "intolerable to treat someone as less than precious and valuable."One of the previous victims, Dane Hall, spoke of his injuries and the fact he has no insurance to pay the more than $40,000 in costs he expects to occur because of the attack against him.
"I'm LDS. My family is LDS," said Marnie Nelson Bales, of Tooele. "And you know, it doesn't matter. He's my brother. We love him."
Her brother, Cameron Nelson, wants to see an end to the violence, she told the estimated 100 to 200 people who attended the event to protest the assaults. Bales spoke Friday night at a fireside vigil in the capital city's Liberty Park, the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Salt Lake City Police chief, Chris Burbank, was also on hand to make several interesting comments regarding his concern that people would not come forward with tips due to the stigma of being gay in Salt Lake City. This is another way in which Mormon, and other, anti-gay hatred helps enable these kind of attacks.
