Nominate your Person of the Year for 2023

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At the end of each year, QSaltLake puts a Person of the Year on the cover of our issue. This is the person we at QSaltLake believe most affected Utah’s LGBTQ+ community — for better or worse.

Nominate who you think should be the Person of the Year here.

Our past recipients have included:

• 2004: Scott McCoy of the Don’t Amend Alliance who fought against Utah’s Amendment 3 declaring marriage between a man and a woman.

  2005: Utah Pride Center’s Valerie Larabee, Utah Sen. Scott McCoy, Southern Utah Pride founders Amy Marie and Amy Selfridge, Salt Lake Gay Athletic Assn founder Mark Barr, Provo High School Gay/Straight Alliance founder Kaisha Medford.

  2006: Larry H. Miller
  Former Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller for refusing to screen “Brokeback Mountain,” inspiring a community to rise up against him.

  2007: Ralph Becker
  Then Salt Lake City Mayor-elect Ralph Becker for steadfastly showing a bold plan for LGBTQ rights through his campaign even as KUTV’s Rod Decker warned of gay marriage in city hall.

  2008: Thomas Monson
  LDS Church president Thomas S. Monson for getting the church involved in California’s Proposition 8, creating thousands of activists in Utah as a result.

  2009: Former Salt Lake City Councilperson Deeda Seed, then-SLC Councilperson Jill Remington Love, and then-Salt Lake County Councilperson Jenny Wilson

  2010: Brandie Balken, who led Equality Utah as it successfully campaigned for ten municipalities to pass nondiscrimination ordinances across the state.

  2011: Sister Dottie S. Dixon, aka Charles Lynn Frost
  Every gay person growing up needed a Sister Dottie S. Dixon in their lives. Charles Lynn Frost’s character appealed to people all around LDS and LGBTQ culture.

  2012: Volunteer Leaders
  Organization leaders Kirk Birkle, Lee Castillo, Aaron Smith, Wes Heaps, Connie Anast, Dominique Storni, Valina Eckley, Peggy Bon, Logan Brueck, Becky Moss, Roque Salas, Don Steward

  2013: Marian Edmonds Allen
  Marian Edmonds Allen grew OUTreach Resource Centers from Ogden-based to several locations in Northern Utah.

  2014: Those who brought marriage Equality to Utah
  Plaintiffs and leaders in the lawsuit that brought Judge Robert Shelby’s decision to overturn Utah’s anti-same-sex marriage laws.

  2015: LDS Leaders
  Church officials met in private with several LGBTQ leaders through the year and crafted what is now called the “Utah Compromise” in passing nondiscrimination laws in the state.

  2016: Misty Snow
  The first openly transgender person to run for a statewide office, Misty Snow brought visibility and open discussion to Utahns.

  2017: Carol Gnade
  In a tumultuous year for the Utah Pride Center, Carol Gnade stepped in and steadied the boat.

  2018: Rob Moolman
  Executive director of the Utah Pride Center who immediately reached out to the community, initially bringing respect back to the center.

  2019: Mark Lawrence
  The man with the vision, tenacity, and bull-headedness to create Restore Our Humanity, the group that overturned Utah’s Anti-same-sex marriage laws.

  2020: Those holding a community together during a pandemic
  Utah Pride Center’s Deb Hall and John Johnson, Project Rainbow’s Dallas Rivas, Harrison Spendlove, Bonnie O’Brien, and Kate Rusk, Ben Morgan and Cody Scott, Gene Gieber, Michael Repp and Riley Richter.

  2021: Sean Childers-Gray, Angie Rice, Chris Wharton
  Two plaintiffs — Sean Childers-Gray and Angie Rice — and their lawyer Chris Wharton who won the right for transgender Utahns to change their gender marker on state documents.

Nominate who you think should be the Person of the Year here.