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Clair Harward Biography

  • Writer: randellhoffman
    randellhoffman
  • Feb 7
  • 2 min read

In 2022, two friends and I started a group based on our love for history, cemeteries, and honoring the dead when we traveled to Manti to find the burial site for a Gay man - a self-described fairy - who has murdered and buried in an unmarked grave. Wendi Pettett, Connell O'Donovan, and I developed "The Cemetery Sisters." Connell created names for us like Heade Stone and Lotta Graves; I don't recall mine.


Clair Harward's headstone in Holladay decorated with vibrant flowers and rainbow flags.
Clair Harward's headstone in Holladay decorated with vibrant flowers and rainbow flags.

That same year we developed a tradition of honoring a "Utah Queer or Trans Ancestor" every October - LGBTQ+ History Month and the perfect time of year to gather in a cemetery. We met at Mount Olivet to honor Dorothy Graham with a dozen or so people, songs, speeches, and colorful flowers. In 2023 we gathered in West Jordan to honor and memorialize William "Eva" McCleery who likely would have identified as Transgender if the term existed in the late nineteenth century. This year (2024) I pushed to honor Clair Harward as we brought this memorial tradition into the Mildred Berryman Institute for LGBTIQ+ Utah History.


On 13 October 2024 we gathered in Holladay at Clair's burial site to give him the festive and very Queer service he deserves. I believe in a deep connection to the past, to the land, to the energy our predesceors leave behind - and using history as part of that. This was an amazing community event that made it apparent that many want to learn but also need space to mourn, reflect, and contribute.


I provided the following biographical overview of Clair, while Sascha Darlington (University of Utah graduate student) spoke of the larger history and climate during the AIDS epidemic.


Biographical Overview From Memorial Service:


Selected Newspaper Articles from Around the Nation:

  • Longview Daily News (Longview, Washington), "Dying AIDS Victim Says His Life Was a Mistake," Friday 10 January 1986, page 14.

  • The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), "AIDS Victim's Plight Garners Help," Tuesday 14 Janaury 1986, page 35.

  • Werner, Fara, "Compassion and Understanding More Important than Morality," The Daily Utah Chronicle (University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah), Wednesday 22 January 1986, page 8.

  • Thaller, Frank, "Gays Teach Lesson," The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), Monday 27 January 1986, page 11.

  • Thulin, Craig, "Morals Flown to the Wind," The Daily Utah Chronicle (University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah), Tuesday 28 January 1986, page 8.

  • Obituary for Clair Harward: Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California), Tuesday 18 March 1986, page 42.

 
 
 
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