People passing through a walkway owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) are now on notice after a gay kiss incident.

Church officials have posted new signs at the Salt Lake City Main Street Plaza where two men were cuffed after sharing a kiss in July. The new signs warn visitors: “The [LDS] Church reserves the right to refuse access to any person for any reason.”

Security guards cuffed and detained Matt Aune, 28, and his partner Derek Jones, 25, on July 9, a Thursday, as they walked across a walkway that connects the Mormon Temple to other church sites. Police responding to the incident cited the couple for trespassing.

While church officials say “there was much more involved than a simple kiss on the cheek,” responding officers were told that security guards observed the men “kissing and hugging” on church property.

In a statement, church officials alleged the men were “engaged in passionate kissing, groping, profane and lewd language, and had obviously been using alcohol.” The men agreed they had been drinking but insisted there was nothing indecent about their affections.

The incident sparked two “kiss ins” near church property in protest and renewed a heated debate on anti-gay discrimination by the Mormon Church, whose members donated millions of dollars – and thousands of volunteer hours – to the campaign to ban gay marriage in California last year at the behest of church leaders.

Eventually, all charges against the men were dropped. City Prosecutor Sim Gill said the church failed to adequately warn the couple that they were on private property.

“I'm glad to see [the church] move forward,” Gill told the Salt Lake Tribune Monday. “We've never said the property owner does not have an absolute right to enforce their property rights.”



