Queer Parkites and allies gathered in City Park June 1 to celebrate the beginning of Pride month. It’s the third year in a row Park City has raised the Pride flag in June.
LGBTQ+ Task Force member Virginia Solomon welcomed everyone with some opening remarks, and they praised the allies in attendance.
“There's always that moment 10 minutes before things are supposed to start where you panic, but I'm ecstatic,” they said. “And what I think is even cooler is the extent, the ratio, of allies and friends and supporters to queer folks in the crowd.”
It was a time to tell stories too and remember LGBTQ history, starting with a history of the flag raised Thursday morning.
Queer people in Philadelphia added black and brown stripes to the rainbow flag in 2017 to protest racism from within and outside their community. The following year, graphic designer Daniel Quasar added the blue, pink and white colors of transgender pride, creating what is now known as the Progress Pride flag.
After Solomon spoke, the crowd of almost 30 people heard from Park City Mayor Nann Worel, Summit County Council Vice Chair Malena Stevens, Park City LGBTQ+ Task Force Joe Urankar and Equality Utah Managing Director Mindy Young.
Young spoke about that state of LGBTQ rights across Utah.
The Utah Legislature passed a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors this year, and it considered but did not pass a “Don’t Say Gay” measure, reminiscent of Florida’s efforts to ban mentions of queer genders and sexualities in classrooms.
Despite these developments, Young highlighted a win: a new bill which cemented Utah’s conversion therapy ban into state law this year.
“The miracle of it all is that it passed unanimously in the [Utah] House and the Senate,” Young said. “Never in the United States has that happened in a conservative state.”
After the various speakers, Park City LGBTQ+ Task Force member Cami Richardson raised the Progress Pride flag beside the American flag in City Park, where it will fly throughout June.
The task force has planned a number of events this Pride month, including the popular Living Library, where six task force members can be “checked out” like books at the Park City Library by anyone curious about queer identities and lived experiences.
