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Opinion Letter from the Editor
 An Insider’s Guide to Pride
by Jere Keys
jere@slmetro.com
I’m excited about Utah Pride for a lot of reasons—not the least of which is that once it’s over my life gets considerably less hectic. But I’m excited because I spent last weekend in Las Vegas urging several of my friends from Sin City to drive up and experience Zion’s version of Pride celebrations.
One of those friends, who seemed skeptical, said to me, “So, you’ve got the inside scoop; what do I most want to check out and do at Utah Pride? What’s so special about another Pride Festival?”
I tried explaining that Utah Pride is larger than Vegas Pride, has a more political and social feel, and is full of repressed ex-Mormon boys ready to burst with pent-up sexual energy. He was intrigued, but still not convinced. You’ve been to one festival, you’ve been to them all, right?
On some level, I have to agree with him. Pride celebrations have been happening around the world for 35 years now, and it has become unmoving and routine for many people—even if this is our holiday (mothers, fathers, veterans, secretaries, and just about every other group out there gets a holiday, and this is ours, so somebody send me a Hallmark card to commemorate my day!).
Another friend of mine, a 40-something lesbian in San Francisco, echoed those thoughts.
“I must say I’ve gotten really blasé about Pride over the years. Not that I don’t appreciate the spirit behind the day itself and think it’s important to remember the struggle and the pride and the whatnot, but the day itself—the parade, the parties, the events—been there, done that a dozen times over,” she wrote me. “I’m likely now just to skip town and go hiking somewhere peaceful.”
I wrote her back pointing out that every time I join a committee, the first meeting is dedicated to the topic, “How can we make Pride fresh and exciting again?” Unfortunately, the ideas we manage to come up with never please enough people. The things that would bring excitement (like a big-name headline performer) are ridiculously expensive.
That’s when Nancy wrote back with the greatest comment I’ve ever heard about this eternal struggle to keep Pride exciting.
“The way to make it fun again for me is to have a newly-out person, or a straight friend (or a gay friend) who’s never been before, accompany me. To see it all again for the first time through their eyes,” she said. “Revisiting it with a newbie brings all the excitement of it back.”
So there it is, ladies and gentlemen, my new “insider’s advice” about enjoying yourself at Pride. Bring someone new to the community; bring a straight friend who has never been to our big, fat, gay festival before; bring a buddy just out of the closet; bring your young nieces and nephews. If you don’t know anyone who has never been to Pride before, why don’t you try going to some of the events other than the festival? Check out the film festival, the interfaith service, the dyke march (it’s not just for women) or the 5K Run/Walk/Roll.
Have your own ideas about how to jazz up the annual celebration? Why not volunteer this year and learn how things run? Event organizers like myself pay a lot more attention to the opinions of people who have been “in the trenches” and have a working knowledge of how much effort Pride actually takes. Sometime while we’re picking up garbage at 3am Monday morning, you’ll find us really receptive to your suggestion to include sword-swallowing belly-dancers on the backs of camels next year.
I hope to see you all, along with your newbie friends, at Utah Pride 2005. Happy Pride!
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