Utah Pride 2010

[An edited version of this post appears at the XMission blog transmission.xmission.com]

The Utah Pride festival is happening this weekend. Although I’m straight I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Pride. I see Alternate lifestyles as just another form of diversity, but its diversity that involves a personal choice. This actually makes the diversity more meaningful in my eyes because choice implies power and taking action rather than being acted upon. There is something to be said for being comfortable enough with yourself to choose a lifestyle that puts you directly at odds with some of the most vocal and conservative sectors of America.

But I digress. The Pride festival is this weekend and those who count themselves among the gay, or the gay friendly are getting excited. The tents and fencing around the City/County building festival grounds started going up a few days ago and friends are already making plans to celebrate. Its been nothing but Pride weekend event advertising on Facebook for the last 2 weeks and the local a(A)lternative press have been running ads for all sorts of ancillary parties, club nights and events for a month.

I’ve heard from some people that the Salt Lake Pride is one of the biggest in the country. Having never been to one outside of the state of Utah I wouldn’t know. What I do know is that we have an amazing gay community in this city, and one that has been reflected here at XMission longer than I have (and I’ve been here since 2000!). I’d like to thank Pete Ashdown for cultivating such an accepting and diverse workplace at XMission, and I’d like to thank my gay coworkers and friends – Harley, Roger, Jeff, Chris and Mikey especially – for making Salt Lake City a much more vibrant place to live!