Attendees decked out in rainbow hair extensions, rainbow-feathered collars and other colorful accessories crowded by the thousands into Washington Square on Saturday to celebrate at the Utah Pride Festival.
This year’s Pride Festival, hosted by the Utah Pride Center, features a longer parade route and more vendors than ever before as the event returns to pre-pandemic conditions. Some attendees and vendors even traveled from out of state to experience the festival’s full comeback.
Lynn Crowley, who is from Idaho Falls, hosted the “Gayprons By Lynn” booth for his handmade aprons. The lined aprons featured fun patterns like rainbow stained glass, rainbow crayons and pinup art of men and women.
Crowley first started making the “Gayprons” after working at Jo-Ann’s craft store, where he found a bolt of Twilight-themed fabric, based on the popular vampire franchise of the same name. He said he was shocked by the rare find at the Idaho Falls location, so he bought the whole bolt — and started making aprons from it.
“It’s been really fun in the past ... we had a blast,” Crowley said. “It’s been fun getting ready for the event, finding the fabrics online; I’ve sewn all of these. So it’s been it’s been a lot of fun, and it’s been fun to see people’s reactions — ‘Oh, I have to have that for so-and-so.’”
Crowley and his husband, Kevin Odette, have been married for eight years, and both attended the Utah Pride Festival shortly after they met. Odette said he came from a background where he was never comfortable talking about his sexuality, but the event makes him feel loved unconditionally.
“There’s a level of acceptance that it’s like, regardless of how you grew up or the constraint you had upon yourself for not being genuine with who you really are, it was encouraging to see people and meet people who it didn’t matter to,” Odette said.
Melissa Malcolm King echoed that message of belonging, which she also believes pride brings. Malcolm King hosted a booth for Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families & Friends, an organization that seeks to be a refuge for current and former LGBTQ members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints.
She said the organization hoped to share a message of inclusion, hope and healing to all attendees — no matter where they stand in relation to the church.
“The impact that the Utah Pride Festival — and that pride events in general bring — is opportunity to not only feel proud, but to know that we’re not alone,” Malcolm King said. “Because so often in the world today, we are kind of shuffled to the side and marginalized in various ways. So we can come together in this community, and be proud, and show who you are, and give hope and save lives.”
The festival’s parade is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Sunday at 200 South and 200 West in Salt Lake City, with a 13-block route that finishes at 700 South and 200 East.
The festival continues from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
