Tag: Salt Lake City

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Salt Lake City & Boise Adopt City Rainbow Flags To Workaround Pride Flag Bans

LGBTQ Pride flag

In response to state-level bans on LGBTQ+ Pride flags in government buildings, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Boise, Idaho, have adopted innovative strategies to continue displaying these symbols of inclusivity. Continue reading “Salt Lake City & Boise Adopt City Rainbow Flags To Workaround Pride Flag Bans”

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Utah: Gov Issues 1st PRIDE Declaration, Rainbow Flag Raised At City Hall In SLC

(image via Twitter)
Well, will wonders never cease? Utah’s Governor Spencer Cox issued an official declaration recognizing June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month. He is believed to be the first governor of Utah to issue such a proclamation. “We must encourage relevant and vital conversations about what it means to love each other, understand our differences, and support our LGBTQ+ friends and family members,” reads the declaration from Cox. “We can strengthen resilience in the LGBTQ+ community through family and community inclusion and by providing access to help, and giving them our support, respect, understanding, and friendship.” Additionally, Salt Lake City’s Mayor Erin Mendenhall took part in a ceremony raising the rainbow Pride flag at City Hall.

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Suspect Arrested In Salt Lake City Gay Bashing

A victim of a homophobic attack recorded his own assault in an 8-second video that’s gone viral.
Suspected gay basher in Salt Lake City assault (screen capture)

A man caught on video sucker-punching a gay man in Salt Lake City last weekend has been arrested.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that 22-year-old Carlo Alazo was charged Friday by the Salt Lake County district attorney with three misdemeanors – one for threatening to use a weapon in a fight and two for assault.

An 8-second video that captured Alazo appearing to punch the victim, Sal Trejo, was posted to

Twitter and went viral.

The incident occurred this past weekend around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning in downtown Salt Lake City in front of a bar.

The brief video begins with Alazo asking Trejo if he was gay.

“Are you gay, though?” Alazo asks on the video.

Trejo responded, “Oh, yes, I am.”

“Oh, then you’re gay,” Alazo replied.

According to Trejo, he began to reply, “Yeah, but you called me a [faggot],” but gets sucker punched before he could finish the sentence.

“He just messed with the wrong queers,” Trejo told The Salt Lake Tribune. “We knew that we would be able to find him because we have the resources and we have the support of the great community here in Salt Lake City.”

Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski, the city’s first openly gay major, reached out to Trejo shortly after the attack.

And State Sen. Derek Kitchen, Utah’s only openly gay legislator, shared the video on Twitter writing at the time, “It’s time for the UT Legislature to act on hate crimes legislation.”

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill says he won’t be attaching hate crime enhancements because he believes it would be “nearly impossible for me to prove that intent” under Utah’s hate crime statute. Gill called the laws as written “unworkable.”

“I would have to show that the person involved in criminal behavior had the intent to deny a constitutionally protected right,” Gill added, such as free speech or religious expression, which doesn’t apply in this case. “It’s so burdensome, we don’t even go to it.”

Utah’s hate crime laws apparently have never been utilized successfully in court.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that a state Senate committee passed a bill this week that would strengthen the existing hate crimes law.

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Salt Lake City Gay Bashing Recorded By Victim

A victim of a homophobic attack recorded his own assault in an 8-second video that’s gone viral.
Suspected gay basher in Salt Lake City assault (screen capture)

A victim of a homophobic attack recorded his own assault in an 8-second video that’s gone viral.

The incident occurred in Salt Lake City, Utah, this weekend around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

The video, shared by Sal Trejo on his Twitter account, begins with an unidentified man asking Trejo if he was gay.

“Are you gay, though?” the man asks on the video.

Trejo responded, “Oh, yes, I am.”

“Oh, then you’re gay,” the man replied.

According to Trejo, he started to reply, “Yeah, but you called me a [faggot],” but gets sucker punched before he could finish the sentence.

Watch the video below.

Trejo also posted a written statement which read:

My friends and I were assaulted by an intoxicated man last night as we left a bar in downtown SLC. It started with him approaching us out of the blue and making homophobic and misogynistic comments towards our group. We started recording him and asked him to leave, he wouldn’t, and then went on to hit me and shove one of our girlfriends. At this point we became verbally aggressive to protect ourselves. We called the police immediately. He then pulled out a knife and pointed it towards us while continuing to call us faggots. He eventually ran off, got into his car (in his intoxicated state) and drove on the light rail tracks until he sped off away from Main Street. This man is dangerous and needs to be held accountable for his actions. He drives what looked like a 2007 BMX X5. If you know who he is, please let me know so we may alert the police.

Trejo notes in his Twitter feed that Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski had contacted him on Sunday about the attack. Biskupski is the city’s first openly LGBT mayor.

State Sen. Derek Kitchen, Utah’s only openly gay legislator, also shared the video on Twitter and wrote, “It’s time for the UT Legislature to act on hate crimes legislation.”

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, state lawmakers have dragged their feet on enacting tougher hate crime laws.

Salt Lake City Police shared the video along with the request that anyone with pertinent information call 801-799-3000 and reference case 19-28822.