Dozens of couples, gay and straight, gathered at Library Square amphitheater Saturday morning to smooch.

The demonstration of affection was part of a “Great Nationwide
Kiss-in” across U.S. and Canadian cities, organized by gay-rights
bloggers on the East Coast.

Organizer Ash Johnsdottir, a Provo activist, said the demonstration
was in response to the detention last month of a gay couple who kissed
on the LDS Church’s Main Street plaza, and to similar cases in Texas.

It was the third local kiss-in since the detentions. Unlike the second demonstration, no counterprotesters appeared.

“Simple acts of innocent affection, no matter what the gender of
the kissers, are a human right and it shows the love that binds us
together,” Johnsdottir said.

Another kiss-in will be scheduled a year from now to reaffirm the movement, she said.

Other speakers included Salt Lake City Council candidate Jennifer
J. Johnson and KRCL RadioActive Executive Producer Troy Williams.
Williams, a self-described Mormon and “queer” said his main message was
that “there will never be peace between the Mormons and the gays until
the LDS leadership takes responsibility for their actions and seriously
begins to address their wrongs against us.”

Williams said the burden of change has always been on the gay
community. Events like the kiss-in remind people that gay people are
not going away and will continue to demand full civil equality, he
said.

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