The pride festival just might have started as two pickup trucks full of beer and friends in the ‘70s, but it has grown into tens of thousands of screaming supporters crowding a parade route and filling a festival. The 42nd Utah Pride Festival made good on its theme of Pride Elevated as group after group marched in solidarity straight up 200 South on June 4, 2017. Another sign of elevated pride came with the festival’s increasingly mainstream sources of sponsorship from corporations such as Adobe, Bud Light, Delta Air Lines and Wells Fargo.
SLUG Magazine started marching in the Utah Pride Parade 12 years ago, and in that time, SLUG has won several awards for charming T-shirt designs and clever parade themes. SLUG’s staff kept it simple this year by wearing pink unicorn T-shirts designed by local artist Ashley Love (@helloashleylove) while passing out hundreds of copies of SLUG Magazine. Participants included writers, editors, designers, drivers, ad sellers and community engagers. Allies were welcome, too. That’s why so many friends from Craft Lake City marched alongside SLUG staffers.
Marching in the parade is a multi-hued assault on the senses as rainbow after rainbow bewilders the participants: rainbow socks and balloons and banners; rainbow flags and stickers and streamers; rainbow floats and flowers and bicycles. It’s six blocks of colorful love and a testament to the increased support the LGBTQ+ community has from Salt Lake City. The support is there all year long, of course, but it’s never as loud and as proud as it is during Pride. It’s important to turn up the volume on Salt Lake’s silent support for diversity every now and then, and that’s why the parade is crucial to the LGBTQ+ community.
That same support is seen in the pages of SLUG Magazine every month where coverage has included Utah’s Familia, Stand for Queer Lives, a Creature Feature column on local queer performers, Pride week events, We Are Here and Damn These Heels. No matter how mainstream support for Utah’s LGBTQ+ community becomes, it’ll always be celebrated in the pages of Salt Lake Underground Magazine.
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(L–R) Shelbey Lang, Meg Bohun and Teley sport silver unicorn horns to complement their “always free” unicorn shirts. Lang is Craft Lake City’s Artisan Coordinator. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) John Ford, Cooper Riekhof and Barton Moody wait to march in the parade. Ford is SLUG’s Community Development Manager, and he served as SLUG’s parade marshal. “There’s unity here like no place else,” Moody said. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) Dana Naideth, Lori Love, Dean O Hillis, Audrey Naideth and Claire Love prepare to steer Whitney’s stroller along the parade route. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) Alexander Ortega scissor-slices a parade T-shirt for Jace Burbidge. SLUG ran out of smaller sizes, so XL shirts were “made” to fit. Photo: John Barkiple
Leroy Te’o helped carry the SLUG Magazine banner during the pride parade. Photo: John Barkiple
Jason Cowley is one koozie away from a Pride Parade party foul. Photo: John Barkiple
As SLUG’s Music Archive Intern, photography enthusiast Jaymie Beck uploads local music CDs to SLUG’s hard drive and then archives the disks at the Salt Lake Public Library. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R, top to bottom) Pup Dax, 2017 Rocky Mountain Pup Kit Bauhaus, Pup Arcturus, Pup Kalo, Angela H. Brown and Mr. Leather 2017, Michael Sanders, wait to march in the Pride Parade. Photo: John Barkiple
Sarah Donnelly get fired up as she prepares to carry the last banner in SLUG Magazine’s Pride processional. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) Eric Taylor, Heather Mahler, Gage Love and Ashley Love can’t wait to march for pride. Ashley Love designed SLUG’s T-shirt this year. She took inspiration from the Gender Unicorn used to teach children the complexities of gender, sex and attraction. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) Ashley Pacheco, Jeffery, Brooks, Emma Rose and Hope Orton prepare to march in the 2017 Utah Pride Parade. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) Nathan Parker and SLUG Community Development Assistant Anne Olsen stand proud with Utah’s LGBTQ+ communities. Photo: John Barkiple
SLUG Magazine’s Lead Designer Joshua Joye decorates the magazine trolley with pink signs and hashtags. Photo: John Barkiple
Quick fixer Andrew Fillmore pumps up the tire on SLUG’s magazine trolley. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) Caleb Mathis and Mandy Williams start the parade with a selfie. Photo: John Barkiple
SLUG Magazine has proudly marched in the last dozen Pride parades, and SLUG has won many awards from the Pride Parade officials. Count on SLUG to offer up clever parade attire and sassy innuendo. Photo: John Barkiple
SLUG writer Jeremy Cardenas accepts water from Pride volunteers as the march begins. The Pride Parade route temperature quickly rose into the high 90s. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) Giggly Quincy Koons and fidgety Alice keep it silly in the Pride Parade. Photo: John Barkiple
SLUG Magazine Executive Editor Angela H. Brown passes out vinyl copies of Death by Salt Vol. 5, a SLUG-curated compilation of Salt Lake’s local music. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) Heather Mahler and Eric Taylor bring a little romantic activism to the pride parade. Photo: John Barkiple
Claire Love marches in the Utah Pride Center’s 2017 Pride Parade. Photo: John Barkiple
Craft Lake City Project Coordinator Mandy Williams carries the SLUG banner during the Pride Parade. Photo: John Barkiple
SLUG Designer Mel Wise rocks a two-horned unicorn look. Photo: John Barkiple.
Vreni Romang passes out copies of SLUG Magazine as she marches in the Pride Parade. Photo: John Barkiple.
Dana Naideth doubles down on his pride with two signs in the Utah Pride Center’s 2017 Pride Parade. Photo: John Barkiple
SLUG Magazine staff and friends pass out magazines along the parade route. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) Alice, Roller Bladin’ Ben Trentelman and Quincy Koons hold their SLUG signs high as they march in the pride parade. Photo: John Barkiple
Parker takes laps around marching SLUG staffers on his $15 bike. He’ll often park it up in a tree outside the Jackalope Lounge. Photo: John Barkiple
SLUG Editorial Intern Alex Vermillion went all out to be as free as ze wants to be as ze passes out magazines. Photo: John Barkiple
SLUG Magazine Executive Editor Angela H. Brown passes out the 10th Annual Beer Issue along the parade route. Photo: John Barkiple
Nick Caurvina brought up the back of SLUG’s parade presence by carrying a final banner. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) Christian Fox earns a kiss from SLUG Magazine’s Mel Wise after marching with SLUG in the pride parade. Wise is an issue designer who builds whole page designs and typesets copy. Photo: John Barkiple
Dozens of SLUG staff and friends marched alongside tens of thousands of pride-loving Utahns. In a play on SLUG’s “Always Free” tagline and mission, SLUG’s shirts this year read: “Always free to be who you want.” Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) Thomas Welch, Kathy Zhou, Sam Feinman and Vreni Romang tour the Pride Festival after the parade. Photo: John Barkiple
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