Miners Hospital acquired a colorful new addition on Wednesday, representing a long standing effort to promote visibility and inclusivity in the Park City area.
Around 30 people gathered outside the historic building on the first day of Pride Month to raise the Progress Pride flag and celebrate the LGBTQ community. The flag, which redesigned the traditional rainbow pattern in 2018, includes black and brown stripes to represent queer people of color as well as the blue, pink and white stripes of the transgender flag.
The event was organized by the Park City LGBTQIA+ Task Force, which was formed in 2020 to raise awareness about LGBTQ issues and create a sense of community in the Wasatch Back. Joe Urankar, a member of the task force, said the Pride flag raising and this month’s events are part of a larger effort to create safe places, address local needs and promote a sense of unity among the region’s LGBTQ population.
“We want to be active members of the community and visibility is the first part of that – being seen and finding each other, building our connections. If you just look at people, you don’t know their sexuality, you don’t know their identity, they may not know their identity. There is inherent invisibility to the LGBTQ population,” Urankar told the crowd. “The goal really is just to make ourselves known, that our presence in the community is felt – even though it existed the whole last 20 years.”
The Park City Council began considering new ways to prioritize social equity in 2018, which made the issue as important as topics like transportation, housing and clean energy. Park City Mayor Nann Worel, who was a city councilor at the time, said she was proud to be a part of the effort to help empower and raise the voices of marginalized groups in the community who may not have felt included or welcomed.
Worel told the crowd the LGBTQ community is among those groups, but elected officials have strived to listen and learn from residents to embrace diversity and create meaningful change in that time. The City Council passed a resolution on May 27 recognizing June as Pride Month in Park City. Pride Month is celebrated in June across the United States in honor of the 1969 Stonewall riots that occurred in New York City, which was a turning point in the LGBTQ rights movement.
“That resolution is one small step in sending our residents and visitors a very clear message: that Park City is indeed a welcoming and inclusive community,” she said.
Cami Richardson, who also serves on the task force, agrees. She came out as transgender six years ago, at the age of 63, after hiding it for more than 50 years. Richardson said in an interview coming out was “like a giant rock had been lifted” off her shoulders. In particular, she’s enjoyed showing the community that while trans people may start dressing differently after coming out, they’re the same people as before.
“As a trans woman, coming out in Park City, I could not be more fortunate or lucky. I feel acceptance and love everywhere I go and that’s why Pride Month is important to all of us in the LGBTQ community,” she said, speaking to the crowd.
Even though the LGBTQ community is marginalized, they’re still active. Richardson said it’s been exciting to watch the local group grow and learn it is they are. Around 30 people participate in the task force’s monthly meetings and the group is marching in the Utah Pride Parade on Sunday. City Councilor Tana Toly also thanked the task force for their work and said the group is passionate about including youth voices and achieving visibility.
For Park City couple Marion Wohlrab and Roxanne Toly, the raising of the Pride flag represents changing times and the chance to bring LGBTQ people together.
Roxanne Toly said when she first came out as gay in Utah around 30 years ago, she was worried. As a child, she remembers a different, quiet attitude toward the queer community – particularly in Mormon families. Over the years, she said it’s become more open, talked about and accepted. Toly admits she still is a little nervous when holding her partner’s hand in public even after 11 years together, but she’s starting to become more relaxed.
Wohlrab, who’s originally from Germany, said the Park City LGBTQ community is too small and not visible enough. The couple often travels to Salt Lake City to meet with queer friends or participate in events to feel a sense of belonging. Wohlrab hopes local Pride Month events will bring more people together, she said.
“There are more gay people than you think,” Wohlrab said in an interview. Toly added, “Pride means it’s OK to be who you are, and when you’re surrounded by so many, you feel accepted.”
Sean Allsop-Pukahi, the director of community engagement for Encircle, an after-school program for LGBTQ youth, told the crowd about a new facility coming to Heber City this fall. The nonprofit works to create a safe space for queer youth by hosting drop-in hours, friendship circles, therapy and daily activities to bring LGBTQ people and their families together. He said the new center will give people in the Park City area, who often travel to the Salt Lake City site, a closer place to go.
Will Terry, the program coordinator for Equality Utah, which is the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocacy group in the state, spoke of the organization’s efforts to advance issues at the state level. Equality Utah will continue fighting for LGBTQ people in the state, including through a new lawsuit challenging the state’s ban on transgender athletes in girls’ sports, he said. Terry also highlighted the work underway in Park City and encouraged residents to open their hearts and minds to those they disagree with.
The task force invites residents of Park City to participate in Pride Month activities, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, to speak with LGBTQ people and learn about the community.
Events scheduled to take place include:
• the Utah Pride Parade is 10 a.m. until noon Sunday in downtown Salt Lake City.
• the living Library activity starting at 11 a.m. and running until 2 p.m. on June 18 at the Park City Library.
• a pride picnic from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
on June 25 at Library Field in collaboration with Lucky Ones, the Park City Library and Mountain Town Music.
• a community conversation about belonging and visibility from 5:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. on June 28. The location is to be determined.
• marching in the Park City Fourth of July parade.