Salt Lakers love to let their colors fly, during Pride and all year long
On the Street
By Bryant Heath
By now, we've all seen the evidence. Whether it's from Gallup polling data, Human Rights Campaign reports or random internet lists with dubious methodology—Salt Lake City is one of the most LGBTQ-friendly cities in America.
The Marmalade District—where you'll appropriately find streets named for stone fruit, harkening back to the original orchards of the valley—gets the most coverage when it comes to identifying the gayest neighborhoods in SLC. However, the Avenues also ranks highly as well.
One has to walk only a few blocks to assemble a colorful collage of brightly painted houses (above photo), pass a rainbow-colored intersection at Third Avenue and K Street, or come across a business with a "Love Is Love" sign hanging out front.
But, where decades ago enclaves of so-called "gayborhoods" might have been confined to a few spots around town, nowadays, it doesn't seem to be the case. Granted, it's probably not the most scientific metric, but it's easy to find Pride flags of all varieties waving proudly year-round in every neighborhood, from the highest elevations of the East Bench down to the westernmost points of Westpointe.
Unfortunately, some symbolic sights I've come across have lost their luster. Over the past few years, the crosswalk painted at Salt Lake Community College's South City Campus on 1700 South and 200 East has slowly faded, was repainted and faded again (photo below), leaving an unsightly amalgamation of confusing color.
More personally, there was a tree outside a home on 1500 East and Bryan Avenue that served as an annual reminder of Pride Month for me. The trunk was re-wrapped each June with colorful wire mesh ever since I moved into the neighborhood over a decade ago. It's gone unadorned the past few years—I presume the owners have since moved—but even now, every time I walk by, I still think about it.
Pride Month and all of its symbols will come and go in SLC this year, but there will invariably be lasting effects on both individuals and the community that far outreach the month-long festivities. That's its real legacy.
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