SALT LAKE CITY — Mia Allen prefers to keep an open mind.
“You never know who’s in your neighborhood and what their life is like,” said Allen, an operations project manager with Project Rainbow Utah.
She believes something as simple as a flag can have a big impact.
“Putting that up through neighborhoods and even rural communities across our state can touch so many lives,” she said.
Led by Project Rainbow Utah, Allen and other volunteers on Sunday staked more than 1,800 transgender pride flags across Utah ahead of International Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31.
And this year, the organization has set a new record of people signing up to stake trans pride flags outside their home or work.
“Our previous record was 1,500 and we’re over 1,800 flags going into the community this month,” Allen said.
But the fate of the pink and blue flags is unclear. Bill HB77, sponsored by Rep. Trevor Lee, which would ban pride flags in schools and government buildings, awaits Gov. Cox’s signature or veto.
“The LGBTQ community, especially in such a conservative state as Utah, is in a difficult position,” Allen said.
If signed, Utah will be the first state in the nation to ban pride flags.
Since 2009, Trans Visibility Day has celebrated transgender people and raised awareness of discrimination worldwide.
Funds raised with each trans flag contribute to Project Rainbow’s Community Fund. The fund has distributed more than $300,000 to support inclusive programs in Utah since 2018.
A Transgender Day of Visibility celebration will be held at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center in West Valley City on Monday, March 31 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“We all need each other, we need to be connected,” Allen said. “We need to be doing this work.”
