Yes, yes…there is the issue of why those particular attackers gay bashed Lopez. And his sister. And his aunt. But it is eminently reasonable to question whether that attacker’s punishment was less severe because the victim was gay, in a state absolutely dominated by the Mormon church, and given the institutionalized anti-gay animus of that church.

It doesn’t always have to be ranting and raving about the homosexual menace. It’s about sympathy. Empathy. Can you see yourself in the victim’s shoes? Is the victim your neighbor, or some fearful Other? The prosecuting attorney may have decided that it was better to get what he could then let it go to a Utah jury, where the defense could have quite easily played on the fear and loathing towards homosexuals that the Mormon church as so relentlessly cultivated over the decades. Moi Moi might have gotten off scot-free, and with a letter of thanks from the good citizens. A Mormon basher, not so much.

i have no idea whether these were isolated incidents or whether they reflect a pervasive and culturally reinforced animosity within one of our minority communities here in salt lake.

but i do know that niether case had anything to do with the mormons and find it odd that people would bring up that community while ignoring the elephant in the room, so to speak.

I am aware of the David Bell and Dan Fair’s experience with the South Salt Lake police when a neighbor sent over thugs to beat them up for a “misunderstanding”. There is an element of gay hysteria that factors into both of these instances but I don’t think it is directly related to whether they are Mormon or not.