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Utah Pride Center holds education conference: Pride not Prejudice The Utah Pride Center invited teachers and school administrators from across Utah to attend a training in January that focused on helping LGBTQ and other students in their daily lives. Organizers said the training could save lives. According to the Center, only seven out of 429 public and private high schools in Utah have a GSA group registered in 2021. They hope to get teachers, administrators, students, and parents on board across the state for a crucial conversation about inclusion. “This is such an important piece of building community within our schools and inclusion. It’s just basic suicide prevention,” said Amanda Darrow, director of the Center’s Youth, Family, and Education program. The conference, titled Pride, Not Prejudice: An LGBTQIA+ Conference for Utah Educators, Students, and Caregivers, was designed to explore how to create an inclusive environment for students. The two-day conference had 52 speakers in eight categories. Some of the topics included an LGBTQIA+ cultural compe-
tency, gender creative education, creating inclusive learning environments, disability and gender, and radical self-love. The conference had different tracks for school administrators, teachers, caregivers/parents, and students. “When we bring in the admin, we’re looking at policies. What policies can
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help our LGBTQIA students at the school level?” Darrow said. “And then we bring in the educators. Okay, what can we do to make your classrooms more inclusive?” Darrow said students learned how to advocate for themselves to make their class, school, and life more inclusive to their life experience. Caregivers and parents learned how to support their kids. Over 300 people registered for the conference, which was nearly ten times the previous year’s attendance. Q
Utah Pride Festival: Save the Date Leaders of the Utah Pride Center announced the dates of the next Utah Pride and are hinting and teasing about what to expect. The event will take place June 1 through 7 at Washington Square. “Get your outfits! Volunteer! Plan to be there!” the sparse announcement states. Center executive director Robert Moolman tells QSaltLake that leaders have been meeting with local and state officials to find the best solutions to providing an in-person, Covid-19-safe experience. “Moolman says the event will be
“queerly different, Utah unique, and a one-time-only event.” “I am just so thrilled to be working with such creative minds as we develop a Pride that is workable during this challenging time,” he said. “In meetings with other Prides around the country, their leaders have been very impressed with what we did in 2020. So much so, that there will be at least seven ‘road rally’ events this year.” The only hint of what to expect comes in a hyphenated word on the save-thedate flier: A-MAZE-ING. To volunteer, go to utahpridecenter.org.
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