On Queers, Balloons and Mormon Holidays
Picture it: Salt Lake City, 1991. A small band of radicals known as Queer Nation Utah gathered in the back yard of one of its members to discuss plans for an upcoming action. It’s early July and the biggest celebration of the year in Utah is coming up. Not July 4th, but July 24th, also known as Pioneer Day or Days of '47.
Never to let a big Mormon gathering go by without a protest, the group had decided to have custom balloons printed that parody the less-than-spectacular current state slogan: “Utah, a pretty, great state.” The group will instead order a thousand or so balloons with a new slogan: “Utah, a great place for queers.” They decided to drag a full-sized tank of helium down to the Days of ’47 parade route and pass out the balloons to all takers.
Who would have thought that the greatest objections to this action would have come from the gay community? Random “leaders” of the community crashed the meeting telling the organizers how bad this would make the gay community look and pleading for a halt to this action. It should be noted that the “leaders” of the gay community looked poorly upon these rabblerousing radical homosexuals. The concern was that undoubtedly the balloons would be given to children. The group assured their guests that no balloon would be given directly to a child, but only with a parent present. In the end, the Queer Nation members voted in consensus to go forward, possibly because the balloons had already been ordered.
The day came, and the group parked at a nearby Albertson’s, unloaded the tank onto a hand truck, and trekked down to the parade route. Dressed in their Queer Nation tanks and tees, the group began filling the black balloons with their pink lettering and the shape of Utah pinched at the bottom into a triangle. It wasn’t long before a crowd started to gather.
To the amazement of pretty much all involved, parents were lining up to get their kids a free balloon. A member would hand a parent a balloon, the parent would read it with a look of confusion, shrug their shoulders and hand it to their kid. The balloons were a hit!
The only negative comment was also the most confusing: “How can Utah be a great place for queers if it’s got some of the best huntin’ an’ fishin’ around?!”
“Um, I didn’t know they were mutually exclusive.” The response seemed too complex for the outdoorsman to parse.
There was an air of surrealism as throughout the day Queer Nation balloons were bobbing through the strangest of places securely tied to the hands of a tot. It seemed anywhere one looked, there was a Queer Nation balloon and several were even seen on the grounds of Temple Square itself.
The moral of the story is sometimes the concerns of the gay community regarding its perception during protests is over exaggerated... or that a parent will give a kid a balloon with just about anything on it to shut them up.
Never to let a big Mormon gathering go by without a protest, the group had decided to have custom balloons printed that parody the less-than-spectacular current state slogan: “Utah, a pretty, great state.” The group will instead order a thousand or so balloons with a new slogan: “Utah, a great place for queers.” They decided to drag a full-sized tank of helium down to the Days of ’47 parade route and pass out the balloons to all takers.
Who would have thought that the greatest objections to this action would have come from the gay community? Random “leaders” of the community crashed the meeting telling the organizers how bad this would make the gay community look and pleading for a halt to this action. It should be noted that the “leaders” of the gay community looked poorly upon these rabblerousing radical homosexuals. The concern was that undoubtedly the balloons would be given to children. The group assured their guests that no balloon would be given directly to a child, but only with a parent present. In the end, the Queer Nation members voted in consensus to go forward, possibly because the balloons had already been ordered.
The day came, and the group parked at a nearby Albertson’s, unloaded the tank onto a hand truck, and trekked down to the parade route. Dressed in their Queer Nation tanks and tees, the group began filling the black balloons with their pink lettering and the shape of Utah pinched at the bottom into a triangle. It wasn’t long before a crowd started to gather.
To the amazement of pretty much all involved, parents were lining up to get their kids a free balloon. A member would hand a parent a balloon, the parent would read it with a look of confusion, shrug their shoulders and hand it to their kid. The balloons were a hit!
The only negative comment was also the most confusing: “How can Utah be a great place for queers if it’s got some of the best huntin’ an’ fishin’ around?!”
“Um, I didn’t know they were mutually exclusive.” The response seemed too complex for the outdoorsman to parse.
There was an air of surrealism as throughout the day Queer Nation balloons were bobbing through the strangest of places securely tied to the hands of a tot. It seemed anywhere one looked, there was a Queer Nation balloon and several were even seen on the grounds of Temple Square itself.
The moral of the story is sometimes the concerns of the gay community regarding its perception during protests is over exaggerated... or that a parent will give a kid a balloon with just about anything on it to shut them up.