Bonnie O’Brien, the festival director of SLC Pride, realized members of the LGBTQ+ community were being left out of Utah Pride events due to high ticket prices.
O’Brien volunteered with Utah Pride for 10 years, an event she said had become more corporate-sponsored, leading to higher prices of $35 which is unaffordable for many people. O’Brien decided to create an event that focused more on the Salt Lake community and was free to enter.
So, O’Brien, along with other Utah Pride volunteers, rallied to bring SLC Pride to life in 2024.
“We thought the festival would cost around $300,000,” said O’Brien. “We didn’t know how to raise that much money, and it caused a lot of stress. A group of us decided, ‘You know what? We’re going to make this happen.’”
According to O’Brien, their group disagreed with how Utah Pride was running things.
“[SLC Pride] has to be free,” she said. “… It has to be police free and corporate free.”
O’Brien said she noticed multiple issues with the Utah Pride event.
“We did not love that corporate sponsors were on the back of our [Utah Pride] shirts,” she said.
O’Brien, a high school teacher of mostly marginalized students, said she understands that some people can’t afford Utah Pride.
“As a community organizer, a teacher and as someone who grew up having my free lunch paid for by tax dollars, I understand the value that this event offers the community and [the importance of] keeping things as local as possible,” she said.
O’Brien said her goal is that everyone that comes to SLC Pride will feel a sense of belonging.
“But hopefully no matter your age, no matter your neuro-spicy, and no matter your kink, you see something here that makes you think, ‘I’m okay to belong in this space’ for a tiny moment, at least once a year.”
O’Brien ended on a lighter note, discussing how the queer community has a great understanding of where they came from and the history behind it.
“And to have a kind of powerful moment and know that there’s an org that is here — almost in Jedi style — that comes and understands you and teaches you your history and shows you your space,” she said. “Like, that’s kind of who we are, right? The queer community are Jedi.”
