SALT LAKE CITY — Mayor Erin Mendenhall and members of the city council welcomed a crowd to the Salt Lake City & County Building where people took turns raising the LGBTQ Pride flag to mark the beginning of the Utah Pride Festival.
"It is so important that we celebrate, amplify and do everything we can to make Salt Lake City as welcoming a place for everyone," the mayor said.
This year's Utah Pride Festival is expected to draw 50,000 over the next three days, and another 100,000 to Sunday's massive parade in downtown Salt Lake City. The event comes at a somewhat volatile time for members of Utah's LGBTQ community, which has seen significant levels of public support — but also bills on Capitol Hill that seem to push back.
"Pride’s always a really special time for me and I think when you have legislation that’s targeting the LGBTQ community, Pride becomes even more important. It’s not just a celebration, it’s a time to remember there’s a whole community out there," said Salt Lake City Council member Chris Wharton.
LGBTQ rights have advanced, said Chad Call, the new executive director of the Utah Pride Center.
"We have come so far as a community. There’s not a marginalized community out there that has experienced as much change as the LGBTQ community has in such a short period of time. But we’re not there yet," he said, pointing out the legislation against transgender people.
The Utah Pride Festival serves as a fundraiser for the Pride Center's work, which includes mental health and community resources for the LGBTQ community. Internally, the Utah Pride Center has had a tumultuous time with debt and significant employee and leadership turnover. But Call told FOX 13 News he believes the organization is turning a corner.
"We’re in a place that it's a sustainable place," he said.
As a sign of how far Utah's LGBTQ community has come in terms of visibility, there are also Pride events in communities like Logan, Provo, St. George and Moab. Call said they are all to be celebrated.
"I think when you see some of our more rural or conservative cities around the state and that they’re popping up their Pride celebrations, that’s exciting," he said. "It means that our community is being seen, it’s being recognized and it’s being given the credit that it’s due."
Salt Lake City will have two Pride festivals in June. "SLC Pride" will take place the last weekend in June at the Gateway. It was created after some frustrations about corporate involvement in the Utah Pride Festival and demands for more of a hyper-local focus.
"SLC Pride is lucky in the fact that we’re not trying to support a community center and the Utah Pride Festival — it’s a fundraiser for the center," said Bonnie O'Brien, the director of the SLC Pride Festival.
O'Brien insisted it wasn't a competition between the two festivals, but each served as "capstones" for a month of Pride activities in June. In fact, O'Brien planned to be at the Utah Pride Festival on Friday helping to set things up.
"Mr. Call and I have talked several times, trying to calm fears that one is competing with the other. We’re good friends," O'Brien said. "I’m really proud of what the Utah Pride Center has done in recent months. We’re just basically kicking it at The Gateway on a different weekend. Continue the party!"
Information about the Utah Pride Festival can be found here.
