Kiss'll get you cuffed in Salt Lake City

H/T Blender Brian.  The Salt Lake Tribune reports

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.”

The pair stood their ground rather than move on, as apparently the security guards asked them to do.  They were subsequently roughed up handcuffed, and given a trespassing citation by the later-arriving police.  Does anyone doubt that they were confronted by security because they’re gay?  No.  But here’s the rub: Main Street Plaza is now, apparently, private property.

The plaza has been the subject of a complex land and public easement trade between the LDS church and Salt Lake City.  According to ACLU of Utah, the court ultimately ruled that although the plaza still effectively serves as a main pedestrian thoroughfare through downtown Salt Lake City, it is now private property and activities there can be controlled at the whim of the church.  So technically the two men probably were trespassing if they didn’t leave immediately when asked.  But I have to say, looking at the picture of the central location of that plaza, that this almost amounts to entrapment.  Walking that thing must be like running a gauntlet for emotionally healthy gay people living honest lives.

The LDS may have lied said that they support civil unions for their beloved defective gay brethren, but apparently they expect those unions to be affection-free.  The LDS should be deeply ashamed for pulling muscle over something so beautiful as a carefree peck on the cheek.