When Samuel Autman came to Utah in the early 1990s to cover education for the Salt Lake Tribune, the state forced him to "confront layers of my identity like no other place ever has."
That's according to a new retrospective in the online literary publication "Panorama."
What's inside: Autman, now a professor at DePauw University, reflects on his three years in Salt Lake when "participating in queer life felt like a criminal enterprise."
He describes "Manline," a phone service geared toward gay men, where customers left recorded personal ads; finding news sources at The Sun (now the Sun Trapp); and church-shopping in a city with two Black churches.
The intrigue: Autman also has caught up with a lot of the developments since he left in 1996.
He notes that SLC renamed 900 South for Harvey Milk in 2016, years before famously progressive cities like Portland and San Diego.
The bottom line: It's a fascinating read for those of us who didn't witness the time but know the place.
