‘Not as different as you think’: LGBTQ community, allies gather for annual Utah Pride Parade

SALT LAKE CITY (KSL) — The upbeat, raucous ambiance unfolding along 100 South stood out for Roxanne Clayton.

“Do you see how much happiness there is around here?” she said. “I love it.”

A man in a rainbow-colored shirt who identified himself as Gage P. echoed the sentiment. “I see everybody getting along, accepting each other, no judgement,” he said.

The annual Utah Pride Parade took place Sunday, one of the main events of the Utah Pride Celebration, drawing tens of thousands of people to the parade route along 100 South and 400 East in Salt Lake City. Participants — children, teens and adults — waved a range of multicolored pride flags, swayed to music and cheered, all in the name of celebrating the LGBTQ community.

“It’s definitely a special thing,” said Jacqueline Martinez, wearing a transgender pride flag like a cape and a rainbow-colored skirt. “It gives us a time to come out and celebrate together. … We’re not trying to force anything on anybody. We’re just out here trying to celebrate who we are and let everyone know this is us.”

Parade marchers included representatives and employees from corporations and businesses, nonprofit groups, LGBTQ advocacy groups and political leaders. Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall rode a bicycle with a contingent of Salt Lake City government workers. Ben McAdams and Liban Mohamed, Democratic hopefuls for the 1st District U.S. House race, also took part, as did Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill, among others.

Jace Rollins marched with Equality Utah reps and others allied with the LGBTQ political advocacy organization. As a transgender man, he’s particularly attuned to the challenges the transgender community can face.

“Transgender people are just normal people. We are genuinely trying to express our authentic identities. We’re not as different as you think,” he said.

His mom Jen Rollins, also part of the Equality Utah contingent, said it’s important to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ people through events like Sunday’s parade given the political climate and legislative efforts chipping away at community members’ rights. The transgender community, in particular, has “taken a lot of hate and heat,” she said.

Those waving, cheering, screaming and shouting from the sidelines included members of the LGBTQ community and their allies. Some sat in folding chairs, others sat on blankets spread out in grassy areas adjacent to the marchers. Most, though, stood along the edge of the route.

“People, they need community,” said Alyssa Davis, seated near the start of the parade route. “It’s really awesome to be able to go to an event like this.”

Martinez hopes the broader community, those not apt to take part in Pride events, come away with the sense that LGBTQ people are present and need to be taken into account. While June is Pride Month, meant as a time to acknowledge and celebrate the LGBTQ community, Gov. Spencer Cox instead declared June Fidelity Month to recognize the importance of “faith, family and country” amid what he worries is a dip in support for “traditional values.”

“I’m trying to let the conservatives know we will always exist. We have always been here,” Martinez said.

When she was younger, Sophia Shick, another parade observer, said talking about issues like same-sex attraction was verboten. The Utah Pride parade, as she sees it, represents a shift toward more acceptance and more open dialogue on the topic.

“Getting to go from that to this where it is so celebrated … is a lot,” she said. The message she hopes the broader public draws from Sunday’s parade, she said, is “that it’s just about love and letting people live their truths.”