Utah Jazz take part in SLC Pride celebrations for the first time as an organization

It’s not unusual to see flamboyant costumes of all kinds at Salt Lake City’s Pride celebrations.

But those who participated in Sunday’s Pride March down State Street — not a parade, due to COVID restrictions, but still a massive march that drew thousands — saw a costume they haven’t seen before: the Jazz Bear’s.

That’s because, for the first time, the Jazz organization (yes, including one famous mascot) got a group of employees together to officially walk in the march.

The NBA team walked alongside those from LGBT resource center Encircle during the march, continuing the high-profile efforts of Jazz owner Ryan Smith in supporting the LGBT community in Utah. In February, the trio of Smith, Dan Reynolds (lead singer of rock band Imagine Dragons), and Apple announced a campaign to raise $8 million for Encircle to purchase eight new homes that act as safe spaces for LGBT youth and families in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona.

Smith and his wife, Ashley, donated $2 million to the campaign. Reynolds and his wife, Aja Volkman, donated Reynolds’ childhood home in Las Vegas. And Apple donated $1 million at the request of CEO Tim Cook, who are serving as honorary co-chairs of Encircle’s efforts.

The embrace of the LGBT community from the Jazz organization reflects a shift in priorities after Smith purchased the team. The Jazz hadn’t participated in the Pride parade before, and haven’t hosted an official Pride night at Vivint Arena like many other NBA teams — though they have sold tickets to LGBT groups, the team notes.

There was pushback from Miller family ownership in supporting LGBT events. In 2005, Larry Miller famously pulled ‘Brokeback Mountain’ from his Megaplex Theaters, calling it a “business decision.” Later, Miller said he regretted the decision. Former Jazz player John Amaechi, who later came out as gay, told ESPN 950 WKNR in Cleveland that, “When I played in Utah, it wasn’t subtle messages, it was explicit messages that said, ‘Stay where you are. We may know that you’re gay but we don’t want to deal with the ramifications of you coming out publicly.’”

But in the 12 years since Miller’s death, the Jazz organization and other Miller family members stayed out of the public radar in either direction on LGBT issues.

Certainly, though making Pride T-shirts and marching in the Salt Lake City Pride events is new to the organization. The Utah Jazz Team Store at Vivint Arena is selling Pride shirts, proceeds of which will benefit Encircle. The team may have a Pride video played during an upcoming playoff game as well, the team says.

All in all, fans on social media were supportive of the Jazz’s participation in the event, with a few exceptions.

“A lot of people talk about how they can help and help our youth,” Smith said when announcing the partnership with Encircle. “But when someone comes along like Encircle and a community rallies behind it and brings families and kids together, we’ve got to take it to the world. There’s a place in every arena for everyone.”