SALT LAKE CITY, July 31 (UPI) -- A gay couple who kissed in a plaza belonging to the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City will not be prosecuted for trespassing, officials said.

Salt Lake City Prosecutor Sim Gill said the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has not made clear that Main Street Plaza is private property, but he said the church has the right to determine what behavior is appropriate there. The plaza, between the church's North Temple and South Temple, was once part of the city's Main Street and has no gate.


"The two individuals believed -- albeit mistakenly -- that they had the right to be there," Gill said. "Fairness requires that either that property be not open to the public or you condition that in a way that the person who comes on understands that it is private property."

Matt Aune and Derek Johns were arrested July 9. They said they were detained by security guards as they strolled across the plaza after they stopped for a kiss.

The arrest inspired some "kiss-in" demonstrations, including two on the plaza.