Eight hundred people gathered at the Orem estate of Bruce Bastian, of WordPerfect fame, on Saturday evening to raise money for the Human Rights Campaign, an organization which works for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered civil rights and equality.

The fourth-annual event was expected to raise up to $200,000 and has raised $750,000 since inception, organizers said. Tickets were $175 per plate, $300 for an early meet-and-greet.

Bastian welcomed the crowd saying, "Welcome to the secret wicked world of Bruce Bastian" and said some of his neighbors had come "perhaps because they are curious -- not because of the free booze, at least I don't think so."

Bastian said he used to be homophobic.

"Goodness knows the wicked cry alone," he said, quoting the musical "Wicked." "When I was young I was what you would call homophobic. All I knew was that [gay people] were wicked and they went to hell. I was trying to hide my own feelings and I had a lot of hatred inside. I had to learn who I was and get the courage to be who I am.

"As a Mormon I grew up with the scriptures and there was one that meant a lot to me, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. When I knew the truth of what being gay meant, I could be free and not be guilty for being happy and enjoying my life. Now I can look in the mirror and not see someone who is wicked for being gay."

Bastian said he would match all donations on Saturday, whether $100 or $50,000.

"Whatever you give I will give," he said. "Why? Because it is the good thing to do and I want goodness in my life. I will fight the real wickedness, which is the lies being spread by those who don't know us. This whole process is a process of education -- we have to be who we are."

HRC Equality Awards were given to Jane Marquardt, an attorney who has worked to help gays and lesbians protect their legal rights, and to Gastronomy, a Salt Lake City-restaurant which has supported Utah gay and lesbian causes.

Marquardt said gay rights events in Utah are necessary.

"We do this together, we stand on each other's shoulders and none of us could do this without the others," she said.

She asked for special recognition for those who were attending their first gay event.

"To the first-timers, it's scary to go to your first gay event, it just is," she said. "The first time you walk into an event like this you wonder if someone is going to see you... Someone told me once when I was afraid of being out, just try it, it gets easier as you go along. Your courage gets stronger."

Marquardt spoke of coming out to her parents three decades ago, noting her father did not want her to speak publicly.

"When I said I refuse to be invisible, my relationship is just as important as anyone else's, he had some trouble," she said of her father. "To those of you having trouble with your family, be patient, it only took 25 years," she said of her father's acceptance, to laughs. "If your family members are slow to accept you, be patient, you will outlast them."

She also spoke on getting married to her partner, Tami Marquardt, in both San Francisco and in British Columbia and said she celebrated the new California Supreme Court ruling.

HRC president Joe Solmonese also spoke of the California court ruling, saying "while it may not always feel like it here in Utah, the decision is moving the entire country toward full equality... As goes California so goes the nation."

Solmonese also encouraged those gathered to vote in November.

"The elections this November could very well be the turning point for our community," he said. "And with all the innovation and energy we have exhibited over the past year, what we know for sure is that in these elections neither party will use us as a weapon for political gain as they have in the past... We are smart enough to know priority one now is to look out for our own self-interest, and the choice could not be clearer."

Gary and Millie Watts of Provo are the parents of two gay children and left the LDS Church after the church excommunicated their son.

The couple said that having a sold-out fund-raiser for gay civil rights in Utah County shows that Utah and Utah Valley are changing.

"We are making a lot of progress toward a better understanding of gay and lesbian people in general, and recognizing that they are people who deserve respect and dignity," Gary Watts said. "We believe strongly that homosexuality is experienced honestly and involuntarily by all gay people. It is not something they choose, it is something they discover."

Craig, the couple's gay son, come out in 1989 and was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1993. The couple said they are now working on a letter to LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson, asking the church not to become involved in California's fight over gay marriage. When the LDS Church takes a political position against gay marriage, it "tears families apart," and puts LDS gay youth in danger of suicide and other troubles, the couple said.

Senator Scott McCoy, Utah's first openly gay senator, was among the 800 in attendance on Saturday. He said that a recent study has estimated there are 52,000 gay residents in Utah.

That Utah County could host a Human Rights Campaign event of the magnitude of Saturday's shows that Utah is indeed changing, McCoy said. And in part because of the work of HRC and other groups, more and more Utahns are feeling comfortable enough with their sexuality to come out.

"We deserve to be treated equally," he said. "Familiarity breeds acceptance and this is about becoming more familiar to the broader community of the state."

A magazine distributed to those at Saturday's event featured letters of support from Congressman Jim Matheson, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, two Utah senators and seven representatives.