Marrying a Duck in 1976

In November 1975, two Lesbian activists named Shirely Price and Camille Tartaglia got married at the Rusty Bell by Rev. Bob Darst of the Metropolitan Community Church. The Rusty Bell was a Lesbian bar owned by three Gay men, Paul Douglas, Mac Hunt, and Jim Beveridge. The trio opened it in July 1975 at 966 S. Redwood Road – which later became the famous Lesbian dance bar, Puss-n-Boots, which I went to a couple of times in the late 80s. Although their marriage was not legally recognized, Shirley reportedly stated, “The license makes no difference to us because we take our marriage vows very seriously.”

Perhaps inspired by Shirley and Camille’s public marriage celebration, a month and a half later, two women (names unknown) walked into the Salt Lake County offices and boldly requested a marriage license from Assistant County Clerk Jeradean Martin. Martin was unsure if she could allow them to have a license and referred them instead to Paul Van Dam at the Salt Lake County Attorney’s office.

For whatever reason, the two women did not pursue the issue further. However, an unnamed local lawyer told the Deseret News on January 7, 1976, that “no distinctions are made in [Utah] law about the sex of the partners.” In fact, he said, “Someone could marry a duck.”

Four days later, popular Tribune columnist, Dan Valentine, wrote a lengthy column making fun of the idea of someone marrying a duck – implicitly mocking the idea of same-sex marriage. He had visited Paul Tinker at the Utah Attorney General’s Office on Capitol Hill to enquire if Utah law indeed allowed marriage with a duck. While Tinker didn’t think the idea would fly (sorry, I had to), he wasn’t completely sure.

Then on January 15, 1976, KALL radio host, Will Lucas, took a duck named Mildred Mallard to the Salt Lake Metropolitan Hall of Justice to complete paperwork to marry Mildred. He was accompanied by legal counsel and a minister from the Universal Life Church, Parker Nelson. Once again, Jeradean Martin turned down the request.

Pushing the homophobic joke to an extreme, the radio host took Mildred to the Three Seasons Ballroom in the Hilton Hotel anyway, and in front of some 1,000 people, the minister married the two. After tying the knot, the crowd sang “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” The next day, the Deseret News reminded the public that this public prank “all started when two girls applied for a marriage license and it was denied them.” The widely reported joke ruffled a lot of feathers and led to more scrutiny about Utah’s marriage laws. In response, Salt Lake County attorney Paul Van Dam assured the public that after thoroughly reviewing the matter, while the 1953 “law does not specifically prohibit marriage between members of the same sex, the implication is there,” and is “structured so as to foster and preserve a strong family relationship between a husband and wife.”