Eideard

A housekeeper was hospitalized Sunday after a can of bear spray discharged in the Marriott Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City.

The woman was pushing her housekeeping cart on the 6th floor of the hotel, near 100 South and West Temple, when the cart bumped a can of bear spray that had been left on the floor of the hall.

The can sprayed when it was struck, shooting out a substance that “is like pepper spray, only 10 times stronger,” said Salt Lake City battallion fire chief Clair Baldwin. Investigators were trying to determine why the can was left in the hallway.

The woman was unable to open her eyes after being exposed to the spray, so she was taken to a hospital, Baldwin said. All guests at the hotel were evacuated for about a half hour while crews ventilated the building.

WTF? I never stayed in a hotel as snazzy as the Marriott when I used to be on the road in that neck of the prairie. My budget didn’t allow for that level of classiness.

But, even in the lower-priced motels near downtown, I don’t think anyone was ever worried enough about bears strolling in from the woods to bring a can of bear repellent indoors!

Attorney Andrew McCullough in Dr. John’s Novelty and Lingerie Shop

Two escort services have filed a federal lawsuit to halt a Utah solicitation law they fear could lead to the arrest of strippers or escorts who are simply acting sexy.

Utah defines solicitation as a person agreeing to sex in exchange for money. A new law that went into effect this month broadened the definition to include any person who indicates through lewd acts, such as exposing or touching themselves, that they intend to exchange sex for money.

It was intended to help law enforcement agents working undercover in prostitution stings, Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank said Friday. He said it would protect officers who were being asked by prostitutes to expose or touch themselves to prove they’re not police because making such requests as a precursor to offering sex for money is illegal under the new law…

Andrew McCullough, an attorney representing the escort services in the lawsuit filed May 9, said the law is so broad that it could allow police to arrest licensed employees of sexually oriented businesses, such as escort services or strip club dancers, for doing their job.

The expanded law includes language that makes a person exposing their genitals or touching themselves sexually an indication that they are offering sex. Those acts are legal in Utah for private strippers.

“Most girls who touch their breasts are not telling you they’re open for sex,” the attorney said.

Sounds like Utah lawmakers have never been to a contemporary rock’n roll concert. Which actually is no surprise.

Or someone might even be scratching – in mosquito season.

Demonstrators at a Utah “kiss-in” featuring gay couples kissing in public said they were working for cultural shift in public attitudes.
The event, dubbed the Great Nationwide Kiss-in, was organized by gay rights bloggers and drew a crowd of about 100 to 150 people to Salt Lake City’s Library Square amphitheater Saturday, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

It was the third such “kiss-in” since last month’s arrest of Matt Aune and Derek Jones, who were detained by security guards from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after they were seen “kissing and hugging” on the church’s Main Street Plaza, the newspaper said.

“The seeds have already been planted for the biggest cultural shift GLBT people will have ever experienced,” the Tribune quoted activist Charles Lynn Frost telling the group. “And it will largely happen with children who will soon be adults who choose not to hate, frighten or be divisive but choose to see no differences between any human being that makes them worth loving.”

We noted the silly-ass arrest, last month. I do expect Utah will join the 21st Century eventually. Some time after Congress does so.

The reach of God extends everywhere

A gay couple says they were detained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints security guards after one man kissed another on the cheek Thursday on Main Street Plaza.

“They targeted us,” said Matt Aune, 28. “We weren’t doing anything inappropriate or illegal, or anything most people would consider inappropriate for any other couple.”

Aune and his partner, Derek Jones, 25, were cited by Salt Lake City police for trespassing on the plaza, located at 50 East North Temple, according to Sgt. Robin Snyder.

In a written statement, church spokeswoman Kim Farah denied the two were singled out for being gay. “Two individuals came on church property and were politely asked to stop engaging in inappropriate behavior — just as any other couple would have been,” she said. She declined to comment on what is considered inappropriate behavior, and on the rules governing the plaza.

Though Salt Lake City sold the property to the church in the late 1990s, it remains a popular pedestrian thoroughfare, and a site where couples often pose affectionately for photos.

Snyder refused to name the reason security guards gave for alerting police, saying it is “irrelevant.”

I keep forgetting Utah is a theocracy. I guess we all need reminding from time to time that parts of America have their own version of Sharia law.

Here’s the tale of woe from one of the targets of state religion.

UPDATE: Kiss-ins have become a regular occurrence. Prompting – one would hope – some reflection on civil rights among the chosen few.