Photos: Utah Pride Parade 2014

Utah’s Pride Festival rolled into downtown Salt Lake City this weekend and once again, organizers could not have asked for better weather. That’s great for attendees but not so great for pictures, so I (again) apologize for how washed out some of these look.

This year’s grand marshalls were the three couples who challenged Utah’s amendment 3, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Federal Judge Robert Shelby ruled in the couples’ favor in December, beginning a 17-day period when same-sex marriages were legal in the state, before a stay of Shelby’s ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court pending appeal.

The three couples were joined at the head of the parade by some of the Utahns that were married during that 17-day period, many of whom carried signs listing their wedding date and how long they had been together.

A Boy Scout Troop was also present to serve as color guard.

 

Two separate groups of members from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints participated in the event: Mormons building bridges, which is consistently the largest entry in the parade,

as well as Mormons for Equality

Both SLC mayors were present: Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker

and Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams.

University of Utah, Westminster College and Weber State University all had floats in the parade, and WSU President Charles Wight sported a purple and white headdress for his school’s entry. (Rear left of photo above).

A small group of protesters was present at the start of the parade. This man was actually pretty game, standing in the center of the street while the MCs read of his list of persons destined for hell, with parade attendees cheering at the various descriptors they self-associate with. He was then hugged by a small group of parade-goers.

These colorful balloon blossoms were a very popular feature this year.

This group performed “Keep It Gay” from the Producers. I wasn’t able to get him in the frame but they made sure to have a singing, dancing, rainbow flag-waving Hitler as part of their entry.

Flag twirlers from West High School

QUAC – The Queer Utah Aquatic Club

    

The final entry consisted of the largest flag I’ve ever seen (I’d wager it stretched from one intersection to the other, but I couldn’t get high enough to see) and accumulated donated money thrown from the watching crowds as it passed by.

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Utah Pride Parade 2013

This weekend was the Utah Pride Festival and Pride Parade in Salt Lake City. I’ve been meaning to go for years but my schedule never allowed it but luckily everything worked out this year. The festival itself was awesome. Organizers couldn’t have asked for better weather and the whole event was bursting with positivity and joie de vie.

As for the parade, I couldn’t pass up the chance to snap some pictures. The lighting was crazy harsh and I unfortunately got into a position where everyone was walking away from the sun so forgive me if a few of these seem washed out.

I was going to lead this post with another picture, since most media coverage of the Utah Pride Parade will inevitably focus on the Mormons Building Bridges group and the perceived conflict in Salt Lake City between the LGBT community and the Mormon Church, but at the parade it was obvious that MBB was a centerpoint. The group itself was massive this year and when it rounded the corner onto 200 South the crowd erupted into cheers.

Also, it should be noted that Salt Lake City was named the Gayest City in the U.S. in 2012 and recently it was reported that SLC has the highest percentage of same-sex couples with children.

Most of the “floats” consisted of groups of people walking down the street. Visually it’s not as striking as, say, a Thanksgiving Day Parade, but at least everything is vibrantly colorful.

Also, the spectators are just as fun as the parade itself.

The Smith’s entry, which featured a squad of rainbow-adorned shopping carts.

Sen. Jim Dabakis, the only openly gay member of the Utah Legislature, spending time with a potential voter.

Flag twirlers from West High School

The Human Rights Campaign, carrying their signature blue equality flag. I love the way the light goes through the flag and makes a mirror image on the ground.

The men and women of Wasatch Roller Derby jumping in the street. This picture was fraught with problems, the sun washed everything out and I  ran out into the parade trying to capture this guy in mid-air but was too late.

“Real Men Sing!” I couldn’t agree more, though I would add “…and play Ukulele!”

The beautiful men and women of Club Hydrate.

I didn’t catch what group this was (American Express?) but loved the visual of these colorful flags lining the street.

Fierce!

My favorite float of the parade. These guys had a whole choreographed number to Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and the colors were great.

The Moab Pride Festival guys representing. We had a chance to explore this float the night before at the Pride Festival and it’s absolutely chock-full of gadgets and flair. You can’t see it from this angle but on the other side of the fan there’s a rope swing on an extended beam.

I had to work in a balloon-rainbow photo.

Salt Lake City’s Bike Share

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