Utah Pride Festival 2008

Salt Lake City: Organizers of the 2008 Utah Pride Festival are proud to announce that Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, along with members of the Salt Lake City Council will be honored as the Grand Marshals for this year’s festival and parade. The Utah Pride Festival is a weekend long celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender (GLBT), and straight allied people living in Utah.  The Utah Pride Center will host a Grand Marshal Reception honoring Mayor Becker and council members Luke Garrott, JT Martin, and others at 6:00pm on June 6 at Trofi in the Hilton Salt Lake City Center.

Valerie Larabee, the Executive Director of the Utah Pride Center, made the suggestion to honor Mayor Becker to the nominating committee, comprised of board members and community partners.  Larabee explains that “Mayor Becker deserves this honor because of his inspiring and broad vision of human rights initiatives that affect all minority communities in his municipality. It was also fitting to include the City Council, as they unanimously voted to approve the Mutual Commitment Registry not only once, but twice, regardless of its name. Our community is fortunate to have such supportive leaders. They truly lead the state in progressive policy by example. ”

This year’s festival, as in years past, will be held at Washington Square – home to the Mayor and the City Council.  Larabee is especially fond of the beautiful public grounds on which the festival is held.  Ralph Becker welcomes the GLBT community to the City & County building on June 7 and 8 for the Utah Pride concert, dance party, parade, and festival. Mayor Becker was honored to be selected as Grand Marshal and stated that “While we have a long way to go before we achieve full equality, I for one will be celebrating all that we have accomplished in the past year to ensure equal rights, fairness and dignity for residents of Salt Lake City, right here at the 2008 Utah Pride Festival as your proud Grand Marshal.”

Council Member Luke Garrott is similarly honored by the committees’ selection and says “Pride is about freedom and the ability to be oneself. I’m proud that Salt Lake City has partnered with the GLBT community to promote acceptance and diversity in Utah.”

Tickets to the Grand Marshal Reception are $75 and are available at www.utahpride.org.  All proceeds benefit the 2008 Utah Pride Festival, a program of the Utah Pride Center.

 Download the complete press release.