The protest was better then expected. Sorry you missed it, Shades. Maybe next year.
Photo's and video will be up on the website:
www.mormongulag.com this week, I hope. A brief run down:
I showed up a bit late, around 2:30 to find quite a lot of people already protesting with picket signs, ropes, and wool blankets. I showed up with fliers (also on the website this week) and talked to the twenty five or thirty men and women who came out to protest the Utah Boys Ranch. Apparently all of the local news stations had been contacted, as well as the local papers, but I did not see any reporters.
When I got there I was immediately surrounded by staff members - apparently the word got out that I was coming and it created a slight "buzz." I was there for so long and was liked by most of the staff, so those that knew and liked me came out to say hi. I said hello, hugged a few old friends, and endured some veiled threats.
I did an interview for a Utah film student and passed out fliers. I talked to a lot of people. I talked to former staff members (more on the website later) and got some great information.
One of my friends came inside with me and talked to a few of the boys that were working there. She was skeptical about some of the claims of abuse, too, until the first two random boys she talked to confirmed what we had been saying. I was really moved by the welcome I received by both the protestors and people at the festival. After talking to a handful of staff I am convinced that the few good people that work there don't want to be associated with the abusive and bad practices and will cooperate to bring about change. I was told that much has changed since Buttars left. Whether I believe that or not is another question, but I appreciated them telling me that and also admitting that things
did need to change. A former staff member that I was close with who is now a Cottonwood Heights police officer told me some stories (which may appear on the website) and told me that he suspended or fired at least six staff members for excessive violence or other serious infractions while he was there. He acknowledged that he witnessed a lot of things he didn't like.
I rekindled a lot of old relationships and extended the Mormon Gulag / Utah Boys Ranch Network even more.
We succeeded in turning away a lot of people. We had even more success in giving out fliers (with the website on it) to hundreds of families. One of the best thing to come about from this protest was convincing a major donor to pull their funding completely. Even better, the donor that did this owned a helicopter ride company. He kept checking up on the protestors, took us up in his chopper to film some amazing aerial footage of the Festival, and did "fly by's" circling around the picketers to help draw attention to the protest. All in all, it was a great success. Better than I could have expected. I hope to see you there next year.