Second reproductive rights rally at the Capitol this week. This one organized by local media platform @redhiveco#utpol#utleg
On Tuesday, the same spot played host to more than 1,000 reproductive rights supporters who came out following the #SupremeCourt leaked draft opinion on Roe v. Wade threadreaderapp.com/thread/1521641…
A few hundred are here today, some carrying signs emblazoned with slogans like “Mind your own uterus” and “Keep abortion legal in Utah.” The State is one of a handful with trigger laws set in place should the landmark decision be overturned
The gathering starts with a prayer and a dance in honor of the state’s two-spirit community #utpol
The event’s second speaker reminded the crowd of the “urgent necessity for reproductive freedom,” and called out “incompetent dinosaurs in office” attempting to walk back reproductive rights #utleg
Small but loud contingent of counter-protesters is here, mainly arguing with reproductive rights supporters and attempting to disrupt the speeches
Unrattled, Laura from Chile shared her own abortion story and asked attendees to think of undocumented women whose access to the most basic healthcare is oftentimes null
Rally still going strong. As soon as a pair of state troopers attempted to apprehend a couple of topless protesters, a human shield formed and shirts were provided to them. This is Utah #utpol#utleg
Gathering begins to unwind with a musical break
A few more signs spotted in the crowd (including an unexpected Will Smith crossover)
Crowd, which one state trooper told me he estimated to be around 1,500 strong, has begun to disperse
Meanwhile, another trooper attempted to convince an organizer with @SLERMovement to not match through the SLC streets. He’s telling her marchers’ safety cannot be guaranteed and it would be a detriment to the cause
Main event has ended without incident, other than one person with possible heat exhaustion
Medical services have arrived to assist
As everyone regrouped, a member of @pslsaltlake began leading the crowd in chant. Word is a march to the City and County Bldg. will follow, echoing Tuesday’s protest
On the building’s east steps, a feeling of euphoria reminiscent of a music festival has taken ahold, with a few naked torsos, energetic chanting and sporadic dancing
• Don’t cry for them, Salt Lake City •
Hearty crowd of around 200 still going strong, chanting “Our bodies, our choice” and “F- the Supreme Court”
Protest at the Utah Capitol in response to the leaked draft opinion that suggest the Supreme Court plans to overturn Roe v. Wade #utpol#utleg
Hundreds of people are at the Capitol building, some carrying signs emblazoned with messages like “Mind your own uterus” and “I will not go silently back to the 1970s”
This was the @UUtah's emblematic Block U sculpture dressed in vibrant Progress Pride colors before it was vandalized 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
The structure, which had received the temporary wrap in honor of #PrideWeekAtTheU, is back to its usual red hue ahead of schedule after unidentified subjects defaced it with duct tape and tagged the messages “F*** transectionalism” and “Don’t listen to the CCP propaganda."
"It’s hard to reconcile a hostile act against this symbol of LGBTQIA+ power and community... It’s harder to know this vandalism exists in a larger culture of transphobic, homophobic, and racist acts that target our communities," the university's @UofULGBTRC said in a statement.
Spring clean up going on at the police brutality murals in SLC's Granary District #utpol
In June 2020, a monumental depiction of George Floyd appeared overnight on the exterior of a city-owned building located at the corner of 800 South and 300 W.
Soon, the anonymous collective of artists behind it had populated surrounding walls with depictions of Bernardo Palacios, Patrick Harmon, Cindreia Europe, Breonna Taylor and more than 20 other victims of police brutality.
The gathering comes in response to HB11, the trans-excluding “Student Eligibility in Interscholastic Activities,” the veto override for which received a majority vote last week #utpol#utleg#TDOV
This is the second gathering of this nature in recent days. Last Thursday, around 600 Utahns descended upon the Capitol for sports equality. My dispatch: threadreaderapp.com/thread/1507150…
Rally to support transgender youth happening at the Utah Capitol #utpol#utlgbtq
The gathering comes on the heels of @GovCox’s veto of HB11, which unsuccessfully targeted trans school athletes
“I am not an expert on transgenderism (sic),” Cox said this week. His well-meaning yet clunky language continued when he added that “the science is conflicting” regarding being trans.
The event, which invites people of the same gender to express affection on campus grounds, was organized by LGBTQ+ students and allies taking aim at the college’s “homophobic policies.”
“This Valentines Day we will flood campus with queer joy” the protest’s flyer, which began circulating a few days ago on social media, read.
In response, some students showed rainbow flair on their backpacks and carried yellow flowers. The more daring ones held hands.
In 2020, the college relaxed its persecution of “homosexual behavior,” but officials reiterated that “Same-sex romantic behavior cannot lead to eternal marriage and is therefore not compatible with the principles in the honor code.” deseret.com/faith/2020/3/4…