22 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | VIEWS
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Qsaltlake.com |
Issue 336 |
JUNE. 2022
The history of Utah Pride from the 1970s to 2010 BY BEN WILLIAMS
Celebrating
Pride Day in Utah is part of a directive that originated in 1969 when the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations adopted the motion to hold “parallel demonstrations on the last Saturday in June to commemorate the rebellion on Christopher Street.” The reference to the rebellion, of course, refers to the Stonewall Inn riots in New York City. Utah has celebrated being “gay and proud” for the last 36 years and perhaps for some people even longer.
Pride in the 1970s A “Beer Bust Kegger,” sponsored in 1974 by Sun Tavern owner Joe Redburn, was the first attempt to bring people together to celebrate the emergence of an openly gay community in Utah. More than 200 gay men and women celebrated “Gay Pride” along the shores of the Great Salt Lake at what was once known as “Bare Bum Beach.” The first official community-sponsored pride celebration was called “Gay Freedom Day” and was held June 1, 1975. Sponsored by the Gay Community Service Center, it was held in City Creek Canyon where festivities included free beer, food, soft drinks, volleyball, an all-day “do your own thing” talent revue and sing-a-long, games for prizes, and a white elephant auction. A shuttle service from local gay bars provided additional transportation. Over the next three years, Gay Freedom Days was promoted mainly by the Gay Service Committee and the Salt Lake Coalition of Human Rights. The most ambitious promotion was a festival and conference held in 1977 which featured Sgt. Leonard Matlovich as keynote speaker. Matlovich was an ex-Air Force sergeant and recipient of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, and also a gay Mormon. As the heady “Gay Power Days” of the 1970s began to wane, a fragmented community ravaged by the onslaught
of a conservative backlash tried to hold scaled-down celebrations. Without widespread support, the spirit of Gay Pride was kept going by individual groups such as the Tavern Guild, Affirmation, and the University of Utah Gay Student Union.
Pride in the 1980s In 1983, members of the Royal Court of the Golden Spike Empire met to revitalize the true concept of a pride day. Tim Leming, Marshall Brunner, Larry Pacheco, and Mel Rohland, among others, formed a committee and put together an event billed as a “Basket Social” held in Fairmont Park. This Pride Day Committee sponsored
the event over the next three years and was the first to adopt a national Pride theme. The chairs were Marshall Brunner, Nikki Boyer, and Beau Chaine. Chaine was the last chairman during these years and held Gay and Lesbian Pride Day in Pioneer Park in 1986. In 1987, the newly formed Gay and Lesbian Community Council of Utah took over the responsibilities of Utah’s annual event. Donnie Eastepp, Emperor XII of the RCGSE, was elected chair of
the Pride Day Committee. He created a community service award, which was presented to Dr. Kristen Ries for her efforts treating AIDS patients when no other doctors in Utah were willing to do so. The award was established to recognize outstanding service to the gay and lesbian community. Eastepp also moved the location of Pride Day to Sunnyside Park where it remained until 1989. Floyd Gamble, Steven Lloyd, Julie Pollock, Curtis Jensen, Kevin Hillman, Deborah Rosenberg, Antonia Dela Guerra, Kyle Kennedy, Kathy Matthews, and Julie Hale were the chairs and co-chairs
of GLCCU’s Pride Day Committee over these seven years. They provided Utah’s gay community a consistently successful event celebrating Utah’s sexual minorities. The Kristen Ries Community Service recipients were Rev. Bruce Barton, KUTV Channel 2, Chuck Whyte, Nikki Boyer, Becky Moss, Ben Williams, the College of Monarchs of the RCGSE, Craig Miller, Ben Barr, Val Mansfield, Kathy Worthington, and Kim Russo. PHOTOS COURTESY OF CONNELL O’DONOVAN
