Queer Places:
Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602
University of Utah, 201 South 1460 East, 201 Presidents Cir, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
199 Southern Heights Blvd, San Rafael, CA 94901
Weston City Cemetery
Weston, Franklin County, Idaho, USA
Earl Baird Kofoed (March 21, 1923 - November 11, 2000) was an out Gay
student at BYU from 1946-1948. He enjoyed his participation in a very large
social group of fellow Gays and Lesbians on campus. One of the Lesbians in
this network of friends was Dr. Leona
Holbrook and Kofoed particularly enjoyed their friendship. The women in
the group came mainly from the Physical Education and Social Work Departments,
while the men were mainly affiliated with the campus French Club. In 1993,
Kofoed published a brief account of his days at BYU, in which he stated: So,
we had quite a healthy gay community functioning on campus and around town. We
had lots of good times together and some of us fell in and out of love. I
suppose that the more "worldly" straights at school were aware of us, but I
don't recall any confrontations. Certainly we weren't summoned by authorities
to be grilled or excommunicated or given bad advice on how we could "change."
According to Earl Baird Kofoed in an unpublished manuscript, George met with two homosexual men who came to him for advice on their homosexual relationship. In his appointment book
in 1948, Mormon President George Albert Smith wrote the words: “Homo Sexual” without explanation. According to Kofoed,
the Church President counseled the young men,
Kent Goodridge Taylor of
Provo and Richard Snow of Southern California, to “live their lives as decently as they could.”
Earl Baird Kofoed was born in
Weston, Idaho, to Clarence Henry Kofoed
(1878–1951) and
Grace Baird (1888–1936). He grew up with five brothers and four sisters. Another sister had died as an infant before Earl was born. Earl's mother died when he was 13 years old, in 1936. He graduated from Preston High School. Earl served in the U.S. Navy in WWII. After the war, Earl attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts. Earl graduated from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah with a Master's Degree in Fine Arts. Earl's father died in 1951.
Earl moved to San Francisco after graduation. Earl was the Education Officer for the 6th Army at the Presidio for 26 years. He lived in a home that he built himself in San Rafael, Marin County, California. It sat on a wooded hillside, where he lived with his dogs, cat, one aviary full of beautiful birds, including Australian finches, and another aviary that included fantail pigeons, and doves. He had a wandering chicken and a greenhouse full of orchids. He enjoyed lapidary and making jewelry from Idaho/Montana opals. Earl was an active member of The Toastmasters Club, The Marin Mineral society, The American Legion, and was a licensed hypnotherapist. He volunteered helping AIDS patients for many years.
Before he retired, Earl was head of Education for the Army at the Presidio,
Golden Gate National Park in San Francisco, California. Earl had a Melanoma Skin Cancer removed in 1994. Earl died at home of
metastatic Melanoma Cancer on Veteran's Day, November 11, 2000, surrounded by
family. Earl was cremated at his request and his ashes were scattered in San
Rafael and also the Weston City Cemetery. There is a Memorial Plaque centopath
at the graveside of Earl's parents in Weston City Cemetery in Idaho.
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