2025 ‘QSaltLake Magazine’ Persons of the Year: Utah Pride Center team

Walk into any LGBTQ+ event in Utah, whether it’s a small town meet-up or a Pride Festival, and you’ll see them. Not just occasionally or only on the biggest gatherings, but everywhere, every time. Utah Pride Center staff, leaders, and volunteers show up, handing out resources, speaking on panels, cheering in parades, and connecting with people. Their presence is constant, statewide, and it’s making a real difference.

QSaltLake Magazine asks each year, What Utahn(s), for better or worse, most affected Utah’s LGBTQ+ community in the past year? In 2025, we recognize the people of the Utah Pride Center for a year of restoration, resilience, and bold, community-centered action. After years of internal turmoil and financial uncertainty, the Pride Center team rebuilt trust through responsible stewardship, transparent leadership, and a renewed focus on its mission. It is becoming a reliable hub, a visible presence, and a guiding force for Utah’s LGBTQ+ community.

In 2025, the Center’s visibility became especially critical. With political restrictions closing in, including a statewide ban on flying pride flags on government buildings, they staged bold acts of affirmation. In March, for Transgender Day of Visibility, the Center created and unfurled what they called the “world’s largest transgender flag” — a massive 200-foot-by-30-foot declaration at the State Capitol. That flag wasn’t just a symbol. It was defiance. It was resilience. It was an insistence on being seen.

The Center’s work this year strengthened the community’s foundation. Weekly youth drop-in sessions and peer support groups created safe, affirming spaces for teens and adults. Resource tables, wellness programs, and drop-in services provided vital connections and information, sustaining the community in quieter but powerful ways.

The Center also made celebrations more inclusive and accessible. At the Utah Pride Festival, they welcomed small businesses and local organizations with more affordable booth options, so participation wasn’t limited by cost. They launched the first-ever Brigham City Pride Festival, bringing visibility to northern Utah. They revived the beloved HalloQueen Ball at the Masonic Temple, which was a huge success. They produced the Big Gay Holiday Show as a free community-driven event. In short, they created spaces of joy and connection for everyone.

The impact of this work goes far beyond events. It restores faith in institutions. It strengthens networks of care. It shows LGBTQ+ Utahns that we’re seen, valued, and celebrated. The Center has shown that leadership isn’t just about grand gestures; it’s about showing up, listening, and putting community needs first.

This year, the Utah Pride Center proved something important: that courage, consistency, and vision can transform both an organization and the community it serves. From massive public displays to accessible local celebrations, from youth programs to a statewide presence, they’ve set a new standard for what it means to truly serve a community.

Let’s face it. Restoring trust in the Utah Pride Center over its many years of turmoil is a massive undertaking. In the past year and a half, this crew has made great progress in doing just that.

For all these reasons, the leaders, staff, and volunteers of the Utah Pride Center are QSaltLake Magazine’s 2025 ­Persons of the Year. They’ve reminded us that visibility, trust, and joy are acts of courage, and that when people show up for each other, communities don’t just survive. They thrive