Salt Lake Community College students were among the many people who took part in the 2012 Utah Pride Festival over the weekend to help show their love and support for the LGBTQ community and just have a good time.
The festival took place from Friday, June 1 through Sunday, June 3 at Washington Square in downtown Salt Lake City. With over 200 vendors and nearly 40 different acts this year’s event was the biggest Pride Festival held to date.
“Pride Fest is great for our community,” said SLCC student Sid Jordan. “Bringing equality to SLC is never a bad thing. Happy people are what make SLC such a great place to live.”
Currently the club has about 15 members who participate regularly.
“A lot of people want to participate but may be scared,” said SLCC Coloring Outside the Lines club president Amber Dawn.
The Coloring Outside the Lines club is trying to help students overcome that fear they might feel about coming out about who they really are to their peers. The club has their own advisor, SLCC staff member John Wilson, who helps students talk about what problems they may be facing as a LGBT student at SLCC.
Students who want more information can go to the club’s Facebook page, join them on Orgsync, or contact club president Amber Dawn at amber.d.oldham@gmail.com or Advisor John Wilson at jonathan.wilson@slcc.edu.
The club has regular meetings every Wednesday at 4:30 in the President’s Room 225 on the second floor of the Student Center at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus.
The Pride Festival is held every year to raise awareness and to help the people of Utah learn more about local LGBTQ communities.
Most of the proceeds from the event go to help fund programs that support health and wellness services, safe spaces, support groups and social events for the LGBTQ community and its allies.
“Celebration of life and love”
“Pride is a celebration of life and love. It’s great to have a place to go where everyone accepts you no matter what,” said SLCC student Midge Barno.
The event first began in 1974 when about 200 members from the LGBTQ community gathered in Memory Grove for a picnic. The event didn’t become official until 1983 when a permit was obtained by a Pride committee. Since then the Pride Festival has grown into the second largest outdoor festival held in Salt Lake City.
The festival helps the LGBT community share its pride with everyone in Salt Lake over a weekend of exhibitions and events.
“Raise awareness”
This year’s Grand Marshal for the festival was producer, director and screenwriter Dustin Black. Black is best known for winning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the critically acclaimed movie “Milk,” a biopic of the late gay civil rights activist Harvey Milk.
Black feels a real connection to Utah because a large number of his extended family lives in the Beehive State. His current play, “8” is about the LDS Church’s role in helping to pass Proposition 8. It is currently playing on college campuses and in community theatres across the country.
Among those who came to celebrate and show their support for the LGBT community was SLCC Coloring Outside the Lines club president Amber Dawn.
“The Pride Festival gives people a safe place to have fun and raise awareness about the LGBT community,” Dawn said.
