Painting a community with a broad brush

BY MICHAEL AARON

I often come across posts and people asking why Utah’s LGBTQ community is _fill in the blank_. Why are they all assholes / drug addicts / anti-trans / anti-fem / racist / or whatever.

After digging just a smidge under the question, I find these people are really only focused on a very few people with whom they’ve interacted. Many are only talking of a few people in bars. Many only trading messages on sex apps or many only reading social media posts.

I also get asked why it is so hard to find boyfriends/girlfriends/dates of any ilk.

After just a few questions, I realize that these people are keeping a tiny pool of possible partners. They never go out of their house. They only go to a single bar. They only see a small group of friends.

This community has so many possibilities to meet others with whom a person may have something in common. If you’ll go to page 40 of this publication alone, you will find groups for a myriad of sports

activities, wine enthusiasts, naturists, outdoor lovers, hikers, campers, dancers, gardeners, kink enthusiasts, political junkies, seniors, young people, religious people, writers, business owners, bears, furries, and hell, if I didn’t mention ANYTHING you like in ALL of those categories, the Utah Pride Center, which has a zillion groups for a triple zillion people.

Your choice to be single and alone is yours. Please don’t blame it on an unwelcoming community, because that is not where you live. Expand your horizons, buck it up and get out there to meet people. Will you find someone on your first venture? Not likely. But you might on your second or twelfth or 100th.

Utah is full of people who want to make the lives of others a better place. You have a choice of whether you wish to participate.

Or, you can complain on social media how the people in this area are why you can’t find friends/partners/lovers. But I, personally, will call you on it.