I was actually shoved out in the 1970s and was raised by drag queens in gay bars, where I eventually ended up being a DJ. I stayed in Utah to go to college and came out of the closet in my freshman year.
I wasn’t born here, but was sent here to “reform.” I went to a boarding school in central Utah, far away from home. Anywhere else is actually the county or other towns within this 800-square-mile mountain-surrounded ancient lakebed known to some as the Great Western Jell-O Bowl. Most people say Salt Lake City proper extends from the airport up to the University of Utah and south to about 2100 South. The mayors of Salt Lake City in the past several decades have been Democrats. It is indeed a red state, but if you live in the capital city proper, you are in a lovely blue dot of liberals, “gayborhoods,” Democrats and Jews. People have told me that Salt Lake City has more gays per capita than any other city in the country. Utah is both one of the best and worst places to be an LGBT person in America. If you are an LGBT person moving to Utah or have just arrived, do not panic.
