Utah Stonewall Democrats is a Salt Lake City-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) political group affiliated with the Utah Democratic Party. The word "Stonewall" in the group's name refers to the Stonewall riots of 1969, a pivotal event in the history of protecting equalrights for LGBT people.
History
The group was founded in 1990 by Utah LGBT activistDavid 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.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
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 affiliate. Nelson retired in 2001 from the group leadership, and the group was renamed in 2002 as Utah Stonewall Democrats.[6][7]
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 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.[15][16][17][18]
^Grossman, Steve; Gov. Roy Romer (1998-09-26). 1998 Lawrence O'Brien Awards: Recognizing Democratic Party achievement. Washington: Democratic National Committee. p. 22.
^"Gay Utahn wins Democratic honors". The Pillar. Salt Lake City: Pillar Publishing. October 1998. p. 18.
^Peterson, Eric S. (2009-12-30). "Dave Nelson on the queer New Year". Salt Lake City Weekly. Salt Lake City: Copperfield Publishing Inc. pp. OL. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
^Bracken, Seth (2012-03-08). "Former Utah Democratic Party exec remembered by queer-rights leaders". QSaltLake. Salt Lake City: Salt Lick Publishing LLC. pp. OL.
^"David Nelson papers". Salt Lake City: Special Collections and Archives, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah. 2013.
^"Utah LGBT Leaders". WDCUtah.org. LinkedIn Corp. 2011-09-20. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
^"Board of Directors". UtahStonewallDems.org. Utah Stonewall Democrats. 2015. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
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.