Bruce Barton, 2017

File — Box: 3, Folder: 3

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Bruce Barton (b. 1946) was born and raised in Oroville, California. He was adopted into a Methodist family but eventually converted to the LDS Church. Barton describes his mission for the LDS Church. During his time on his mission in France, one of his companions came onto him, which was his first real experience of homosexuality as a young adult. Though Barton turned that companion down, he started to really think abouthis own homosexuality. When he returned from his mission, he immediately moved to Idaho to attend Ricks College, which is now BYU Idaho. Before graduating from Ricks, Barton decided to move to Utah and attend Utah Technical College, which is now Utah Valley University, where he trained to become a nurse. Eventually he moved on to BYU in Provo, Utah.At this point, Barton was acceptingof his homosexuality and was a part of thegay communityat BYU andin Provo. One of Barton’s acquaintancesin the gay community was arrested andgave Bruce’s name, along with many other gay men’s names,to the police. Bartonwas subjected to conversion therapy as a result. After that, Barton left the LDS Church and began searching for a different faith tradition to fulfill his spiritual needs. He found the Metropolitan Community Church in Salt Lake City, which hasa special outreach to gay men and lesbians. Barton became a memberof the church and a part of the gay community in Salt Lake. He met his lifelong partner at the MCC. Later, he became a reverend of the MCC. Barton talks about the MCC’s outreach and support for people withHIV/AIDS. He describes caring for peoplewith AIDSand providing spiritual support for those who were dying. Barton also talks about the gay community in Salt Lake City, how the mainstream culture interacted with the gay community, and how the dominant LDS culture and LDS administration interacted with the gay community. Barton also describes his involvement with the Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire, which often did drag shows to raise funds for gay issues such as HIV/AIDS. His partner, also Bruce, was the Emperor of the Royal Court at one point. Barton now lives in Oroville, California with his son.
Interviewed by Elizabeth Clement.

Dates

2017

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.