and for visiting mayors from throughout the country. The Deseret News published four consecutive front-page articles on the story, and portrayed the purchases as "bar tabs". When interviewed in September 2005 by the Deseret Morning News, Anderson stated that he disagreed with the policy, asserting that the provision of hospitality to out-of-town visitors is an important mayoral function, and that exceptions to the policy had been made previously. The policy was subsequently changed to allow appropriate purchases of food and alcohol when entertaining out-of-town guests. Mayor Anderson used his private funds to reimburse the City for expenditures incurred while entertaining visiting mayors. The Deseret News soon generated additional controversy with its coverage of an interview that Anderson gave to The Guardian newspaper in London. Leading with the headline, "LDS Church Not Taliban, Rocky says", the paper noted that Anderson had compared life in Utah to life under the Taliban. Anderson later said the comment, intended to be light-hearted, was not directed toward the state, its residents, or the LDS Church. Rather, he said, the comment was directed toward local media, particularly the Deseret Morning News, which had originally characterized his alcohol and food purchases at a local restaurant as "bar tabs", and which had run articles about the fact that a Salt Lake City Reads Together book selection contained profanity. In October 2005, local politicians accused Anderson of improperly spending public money. This time the issue centered around travel to Italy connected with the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. Anderson responded that the trip to Turin was to continue the longstanding Olympic tradition of delivering the Olympic message without the use of any fossil fuels and did not cost Utah taxpayers any money since it was privately financed. On June 12, 2007, following a meeting in a City Council workroom, Anderson was involved in a physical and verbal confrontation with a real-estate developer Dell Loy Hansen. After Hansen reportedly yelled at and grabbed Anderson's shoulder, Anderson responded by threatening to "kick [Hansen's] ass" if he touched Anderson again. Personal life Though Anderson has acknowledged the importance of some fundamental moral lessons he learned as a young member of the LDS Church, and has described the value he places on his Mormon heritage, he has spoken out about the LDS Church's discrimination against gays and lesbians, and has written on this issue. He appeared in the films, 8: The Mormon Proposition,and "Quiet