UTA and Utah Pride Center

Happy Pride Month!

June is Pride Month! This tradition originated in the United States in the late 1960s by people who worked towards equal rights of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people around the world. This month, we want to recognize an organization in our community that works towards the goal of pride and equality not just in June, but every day: the Utah Pride Center.

About Utah Pride

The Utah Pride Center was first known as the Utah Stonewall Center, and opened in 1992. The goal of the center was to provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ people to come together within the state of Utah.

Financial difficulties hit the center early and often, but thanks to generous community support and tireless work from the founders, the center reopened in 1997, renamed the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Utah. The name changed again in 2006, this time to the Utah Pride Center, by which it is still known today. In 2018, the center moved to a new location in Downtown Salt Lake City, near the Ballpark TRAX station.

The Pride Center’s work focuses on health, education, unity, safe spaces, and community partnerships, all with a goal of promoting a thriving LGBTQ+ community in Utah. They work towards collective health, wellness, and success of those they serve. Suicide prevention, counseling services, youth and family programs, and public safety programs are examples of the resources offered at the Utah Pride Center.

The Pride Center also hosts several events throughout the year, the largest of which is the Utah Pride Parade and Festival, which traditionally take place the first weekend in June. Like many nonprofit organizations, the Pride Center has felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently, the Pride Parade and Festival has been postponed until September. Pride Month will still be honored and celebrated throughout the state, but an extension of this celebration will take place early fall.

Pride and UTA Partnership

This year a coalition of UTA employees banded together to work towards sponsorship of the 2020 Pride Parade and Festival. With an increased focus on community partnerships and equity on our system, a presence in these events was the natural next step. One of the Pride Center’s goals is for the 2020 parade and festival to be a zero-emissions event, which is something that UTA will be supporting with our electric bus parade entry.

If you are one of the 60,000 people that comes to the Pride Parade and Festival every year, be on the lookout for the UTA bus and employees that will be marching in the parade, as well as our booth at the festival. We will have information on how to work for UTA, ways that you can make UTA a part of your daily commute, and how you can be a part of the UTA community.

How to Support

Transit is an essential and vital part of any healthy place. Like the Pride Center, UTA is working toward equity, community, and inclusion. Through our work with the Pride Center and other community-centered organizations, we hope to support all of our riders and the diversity that they bring to our system.

This time of pandemic has been difficult for all of us in different ways. If you can, support local organizations who are working to make our community a safer, healthier, and more vibrant place to live. Remember that UTA is here for essential trips, and that we are working hard to ensure safety on our system.

We look forward to seeing you at the Pride Parade and Festival in September. Happy Pride Month!