For Pride Month, KURW launched a three part series for LGBTQ+ bigotry on Facebook from residents in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona, specifically, Kane County (Kanab) and Fredonia, Arizona just across the border.
| Part One (view here) | Part Two (this post) | Part Three (coming 03/2022) |
| Area history (Natural Family) Pride Symbols, Support & Straight Pride Intolerance Rights | Homophobia Transphobia | TransAthletes Slurs |
The slideshows are improved to include photos and list of bigotry of each person who posted AND who engaged with the post, as well as links to related posts. This should help with outreach, education and self-reflection. For more resources see Reforming Extremists on Hatewatch. The slideshows follow prominent posts & tips below and are as follows:
- Homophobia
- Transphobia Comprehensive (100 slides) followed by separated categories from main slides
- Transphobia by Public Officials and Public Servants
- Transphobia by Business Owners
- Transphobia by Veterans
- Transphobia by Kanab Patriots
- Transphobia and Sports (coming later in July)
To add posts that you have seen from any social media site, or for corrections, email mgalaria@protonmail.com.
Prominent Posts
Some Tips/Resources for Terminology, Gender Spectrum, Intersex
Transphobia, specifically gender identity, is the main category of LGBTQ+ bigotry from this area of Utah (Kanab, Kane County) and Arizona (Fredonia). All posts disregard modern science, adhering to the outdated binary system for gender, and lack proper vocabulary. The links in this format of slideshow will not work, so are listed in a paragraph below the images.
AT LEAST WATCH THIS NatGeo special from the In The Womb Series , Identical Twins.
Links to the sources for the slides above: Mayo Clinic, GenderSpectrum , Trevor Project, Scientific American
HOMOPHOBIA
Intolerance from veterans, first responder & nurses, educators/school staff, business owners, county office of tourism, Glendale events manager, pastor, and Kanab Patriots. Many support the old smear tactic of “age fluidity & pedosexuals” and some recommend #WalkAway. The LGBTQ+ founder of WalkAway was charged for Jan 6 Insurrection.
TRANSPHOBIA
This first slideshow is comprehensive, then broken into specialized categorized following. Transphobia, hate, ignorance, and dehumanization proves to be the topic most posted and discussed in the area. Each slide has educational sources to address the post. Please provide feedback on these sources if you have better ones. mgalaria@protonmail.com.
Kanab Public Officials & Public Servants
Kanab City Council members Celeste Meyeres & Byard Kershaw. Valley Elementary Teacher Suzie Harris and Kanab Middle School Staff Terry Blake. Retired law enforcement Marson Keller. They all ignore the current science regarding gender and push the outdated binary approach to gender. At the minimum this completely voids intersex individuals. The all use or support dehumanizing and inaccurate language & memes. Celeste Meyeres implies indoctrination as a concern despite current research that children form rigid gender identities by 5 or 6 years old which were reinforced and rewarded by societal gender stereotypes and suppress their true gender identity, however, that rigidity becomes more flexible over time (Mayo Clinic).
Kanab Business Owners & Trans-hate
These Kanab/area business owners share opposition to : LGBTQ+, government, liberals, Social Justice & Police Reform, don’t CA my Utah, and most support Crosby’s participation Jan5-6 to stop the certification of electoral votes.
| Business Name | Owner (previous KURW posts) |
| Burro Flats High Desert Lodge | Nicholas & Celeste Meyeres (Bigotry in Lodging) |
| Crickets Creations | Celeste Meyeres (Bigotry in City Council) |
| Crosby Home and Farm Center of Kanab | David Crosby (Insurrection & Kanasshole) |
| Joyful Interiors | Joy Downen |
| Kanab Kitchen Kreations | Stacey & Jerry Hutchings |
| Kanab Laundromat & Car Wash | Bobbi & Jeff Lewis |
| Kanab Suites | John Schouten (Bigotry from Lodging) |
| Larry Rose Construction of Orderville | Larry Rose |
| Let’s Do This | Casey Cox |
| Lilly Pad Consign & Thrift Store | Wendy Williams |
| Lily Pad Vacation Rental (Airbnb) | Wendy Williams |
| The Shabby Iris Cottage Cakery | Sarah Lofing (Bigotry from Food Service) |
| Strawz Waterin’ Hole & Fixin’s | Craig Guy Brinkerhoff |
Kanab Veterans & Trans-hate
These veterans dismiss science on gender and include dehumanizing memes referencing plumbing parts, electrical parts, guns, bathrooms, castration, God, dogs, and female vice-president. They use their own misunderstanding of choice and indoctrination to retaliate against an entire group of people. They include:
- Jim Torgerson of Fredonia. Jim is the most prolific distributor of Trans-hate on FB in the area.
- Marson Keller of Kanab. Marson is also retired law enforcement from Kane County Sheriff’s Office. He supports David Crosby’s involvement in DC to stop the certification of electoral votes and Vicki Hooper’s “it’s all downhill from here, we lost the best President we’ve ever seen”. He opposed 2020 Social Justice & Police Reform and “cancel culture”
- Byard Kershaw of Kanab. Byard is also a City Council member and retired BLM employee. He blames the Left for the insurrection and “backs the blue 2020” including white pride.
- Clifford Smart of Fredonia. Clifford is also a pastor at Trinity Church. His bigotry and extremism on everything far-right is among the five most prolific in this area.
- Jeff Schwilk. Jeff founded hate-groups and pages in California where his anti-immigration public protests & harassment met legal trouble. Upon moving to Kanab, he launched FB page Kanabians for Slow Sensible, Growth and others to continue targeting activists, distribute anti-immigration rhetoric and other far-right hate.
- Kenneth Guinn of Kanab. Kenneth works at Holiday Inn and frequently uses Kanab/Fredonia Rant & Rave group and Kanab Patriots FB Page as his platforms for hate and misinformation.
- Aaron Dunn. Aaron’s profile lists employed at Glaziers Market. He encourages intolerance of “others” and white discrimination on Kanab Fredonia Rant & Rave and posts bigotry & calls to fight on his personal page
- Paul Torgerson. Paul encourages his brother Jim’s extensive bigotry of LGBTQ+, social equity, and government.
Kanab Patriots & Trans-hate
Kanab Patriots recognized Pride Month with “Straight Pride” and attacks on flags and rainbows, see Bigotry LGBTQ+ part one. They continue with a gross misunderstanding of sex chromosomes (XX, XY), disregarding XXX, XXY, and X anomalies. They disparage HHS Secretary Dr. Levine and Caitlyn Jenner. Kanab Patriots equates the gender spectrum to mental disorders and indoctrination by schools. They use various animals or castrating animals to promote their outdated binary system for gender, and yet state that liberals say there is no such thing as gender. Some of these “Patriots” use fear of China to deflect from efforts made in racial and gender equality.
email mgalaria@protonmail.com for corrections or submissions. The format is new, be patient if links don’t work and let me know.
Kanab Utah Right Watch 