22 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | ALLIES ISSUE
Qsaltlake.com |
ISSUE 304 | SEPTEMBER 19, 2019
Allies Dinner becomes a full-on gala in three acts BY ASHLEY HOYLE
If it’s fall
in Salt Lake, local members of the LGBTQ+ community know to start breaking out their finest for the annual Allies Dinner. However, this year’s event, hosted by Equality Utah, is nothing but turnkey. Attendees and supporters can, of course, rely on fundraising for an important queer cause, great food, and fabulous entertainment, but this year they’ll be in a totally new package. The past 16 years have seen many iterations of the Allies Dinner. QSaltLake Magazine picked the brain of Mindy Young, director of development at Equality Utah, to root through the history and future of this signature community gathering. “It was originally Unity Utah instead of Equality Utah,” said Young of the event’s beginnings, “It started being hosted in a small room in a restaurant and we couldn’t believe people showed up. It’s just grown and grown.” As the numbers of people wanting to participate soared, the event graduated to the Salt Palace. But even the cavernous and iconic downtown venue could not
contain the now riotous and celebratory Allies Dinner, having served 1,950 attendees last year. “In the Salt Palace we were squished to the gills,” said Young, “We could hardly walk between tables.” A special offering for this particular kind of mission-driven work brought the event’s team an answer they were in growing need of finding. The Eccles Theater’s nonprofit rate made it possible to bring the Allies Dinner more space for people, food, and of course, flash. Of her close colleague and executive director of Equality Utah, Troy Williams, Young said, “Both Troy and I are theater people and so moving to the Eccles presented a fascinating question. We were like ‘What does it become?’” The answer: an all-out extravaganza. “We’re calling it the Camp Gala. Everybody gets so into the dressing up — this year it’s glamour inferno. With Billy Porter we’re all feeling the pressure to be even more fabulous,” said Young on this year’s theme and talent. What was once a dinner has responded to the clamor of support with a no-holdsbarred evening planned for glamorous attendees. Supporters will experience the event in three acts, a structure paying homage to its new home.
Billy Porter is slaying the world Broadway has known and celebrated Billy Porter for many years. Since landing his role as Pray Tell in the FX series Pose and setting the fashion world on fire, he has become known to the rest of the world as well. Porter, 49, gagged People magazine with his embroidered suit and pink-lined cape at the 2019 Golden Globes and his tuxedo ball gown at the Academy Awards. They awarded him with a spot on the People’s Best Dressed of 2019 list. Headlines around the globe are blaring Porter’s “takeover” of London Fashion Week and his 15 looks in 72 hours. “As a man, I really want to make a different kind of statement and show up in a way that could also be transformative, that could also be political,” Porter told People. “My goal was to be a walking piece of political art. When I show up that’s what my goal is. Put a man in a dress and it’s controversial, doesn’t make any sense, but okay. Let’s keep having this conversation until we can change something.” Q
