Utah kiss-in shows support of gay couple

SALT LAKE CITY, July 13 (UPI) -- A participant in a Salt Lake City kiss-in says the event was organized to support a gay couple allegedly targeted for kissing at a Mormon church.

Salt Lake City resident Isabelle Warnas said she and her husband kissed at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints's Salt Lake Temple because Derek Jones, 25, and Matthew Aune, 28, were detained by church security guards, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Monday.

Jonas and Aune allegedly were detained by church security guards last Thursday after one of the men kissed the other on the cheek.

Jones and Aune were cited for trespassing after arguing with security guards.

"My husband and I cannot understand the discrimination," Warnas said of the incident. "This is not right."

LDS Church security guards were on hand for Sunday's orchestrated kiss-in and prevented some participants from coming on church grounds, LDS church spokeswoman Kim Farah said.

"They were asked repeatedly not to come onto the property, and they chose to do so anyway," Farah told the Tribune.