Utah Stonewall Democrats is a

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

) political group affiliated with the

Utah Democratic Party The Utah Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Utah. Its platform focuses on economic security, equal opportunity, the common good, and American leadership. The party also describes itself as a big tent par ...

. The word "Stonewall" in the group's name refers to the

Stonewall riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...

of 1969, a pivotal event in the history of protecting

equal Equal(s) may refer to: Mathematics * Equality (mathematics). * Equals sign (=), a mathematical symbol used to indicate equality. Arts and entertainment * ''Equals'' (film), a 2015 American science fiction film * ''Equals'' (game), a board game ...

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...

for LGBT people.

History

The group was founded in 1990 by

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

LGBT

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

David Nelson. The group was named Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats from 1990 to 1997 and Utah Democratic Gay and Lesbian Caucus from 1997 to 2002. It has been named Utah Stonewall Democrats since 2002.

Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats

The group combined the work of a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

, a

fund-raising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

political-action committee and a

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

group. At its first state-party convention in 1990, the group was called "a new political powerhouse" by KUTV Television news reporters, and became one of the largest caucuses in the party. The group's

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

from 1990 to 1994 was Dale Sorenson. The group's

executive committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

from 1990 to 1997 was Michael Aaron. The group served from 1996 to 1997 as a

National Stonewall Democratic Federation Stonewall Democrats, also known in some states as LGBT Democrats, is a caucus within the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party that advocates for issues that are relevant to LGBT Americans. The caucus primarily operates through indivi ...

affiliate. The group accomplished the adoption of several LGBT-friendly state and local laws, ordinances, rules and policies, and several party policies. The group stopped its fund-raising and lobbying work in 1997, but remained a caucus, and was renamed as the Utah Democratic Gay and Lesbian Caucus.

Utah Democratic Gay and Lesbian Caucus

The group continued the work of a party caucus. The group's executive-committee chairman from 1997 to 2001 was David Thometz. The group's executive-committee chairman from 2001 to 2002 was Michael Picardi. The group served from 1997 to 1999 as a National Stonewall Democratic Federation affiliate and since 1999 as a

National Stonewall Democrats Stonewall Democrats, also known in some states as LGBT Democrats, is a caucus within the Democratic Party that advocates for issues that are relevant to LGBT Americans. The caucus primarily operates through individual chapters or political clubs s ...

affiliate. Nelson retired in 2001 from the group leadership, and the group was renamed in 2002 as Utah Stonewall Democrats.

Utah Stonewall Democrats

The group continued the work of a party caucus. The group's executive-committee chairman from 2002 to 2007 was Michael Picardi. The group's executive-committee

chairwoman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

from 2007 to 2011 was Nikki Boyer. The group's executive-committee chairman from 2011 to 2015 was Todd Bennett. The group's executive-committee chairwoman from 2015 to 2021 was Becky Moss. The group's executive-committee chairwoman has been Jen Schwartz since 2021. The group has served since 2001 as a National Stonewall Democrats affiliate.

Notes

References

"Gay and Lesbian Utah Democrats (GLUD)."
''Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah records.'' Accession number (Accn) 1918, boxes 31–33. Salt Lake City: Special Collections and Archives, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah. 2001.

External links

Democratic PartyNational Stonewall DemocratsUtah Democratic PartyUtah Stonewall Democrats
{{Portal bar, LGBT, Politics, Utah 1990 establishments in Utah LGBT affiliate organizations of political parties LGBT liberalism LGBT political advocacy groups in Utah Organizations established in 1990 Utah Democrats