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Cougar Pride Center march participants walk from the Utah County Historic Courthouse to Memorial Park in Provo on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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A Provo police officer watches as participants of the Cougar Pride Center march along Center Street in Provo on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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Kory Edgewood performs during the Cougar Pride Center celebration in Memorial Park in Provo on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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Miranda Maurin, lead singer of Sappho and Her Friends, performs during the Cougar Pride Center celebration in Memorial Park in Provo on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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Hunter Smith watches as participants of the Cougar Pride Center march along Center Street in Provo on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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Participants of the Cougar Pride Center march in Provo pass through sprinklers on Center Street on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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Participants of the Cougar Pride Center march in Provo talk with a protestor, center, on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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An attendee of the Cougar Pride Center march in Provo rests a sign reading "We will not be erased" on his feet Saturday, April 29, 2023. Behind is the Provo City Center Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald file photo

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People listen to speeches during the Cougar Pride Center march on the steps of the Utah County Historic Courthouse in Provo on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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Emily Christian speaks during the Cougar Pride Center march on the steps of the Utah County Historic Courthouse in Provo on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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Little Moon performs during the Cougar Pride Center celebration in Memorial Park in Provo on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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For the third straight year, members of Provo’s LGBTQ community came together to celebrate one another with speeches, marching and music.

While it was the third Pride march for the Cougar Pride Center — a nonprofit organization that seeks to create community for LGBTQ+ people at Brigham Young University — it was the first time demonstrators used the Utah County Historic Courthouse as a backdrop.

According to David Shill, a member of the Cougar Pride Center board of directors and recent BYU graduate, Saturday’s goal was to “end out the school year on a high note.” While Pride month is recognized each June, the march was held earlier to accommodate BYU students who may leave Utah County for summer break.

The march concluded the year for LGBTQ+ students in Provo on a lighter note than it began. In August 2022, the RaYnbow Collective, an off-campus nonprofit that supports BYU’s LBGTQ+ students, created pamphlets intended for first-year students at the university. But rather than include them in welcome bags, which the collective said BYU agreed to do, the university threw the pamphlets away.

In September, dozens of conservative protestors and groups yelled through a back-to-school Pride Night, also hosted by the RaYnbow Collective.

Still, members of queer community at BYU feel a sense of optimism moving forward — the theme for Saturday’s march was “Pride in Progress.” The Pride events of this year and years past are a sign of growth to Julia Sasine, president of the Cougar Pride Center.

“I think what’s changed the most since we started having these Pride events is a greater sense and the greater capacity and number of community supporters,” Sasine said. “I think the last few years have been really, really tough, and living through it — it’s been hard. But I’ve seen the amount of professors willing to, you know, pull me aside and say, ‘Hey, I support you. I love you.’ I’ve seen that increase just in my classes and my circle.”

Luka Romney first came to BYU in fall 2022 as an openly LGTBQ+ student despite their parents, friends and bishop telling them it wasn’t a good idea.

“The point of coming to Provo was to change the institution. But something happened that I wasn’t expecting. BYU didn’t change, but I did,” Romney said. “I’m so proud of all the progress we have made. When BYU didn’t budge, we said OK, then we’ll do it ourselves and we’ll do it better.”

The event was not limited to BYU students and alumni, but also the wider Utah Valley community. One of the day’s speakers, Emily Christian, is a BYU alumna and spoke about her children, two of whom are LGBTQ+, and her learning to better accept and support them.

The ages of those in attendance ranged from small children with Pride fangs hanging out of their wagons to senior citizens supporting children and grandchildren.

“We don’t want to say what progress looks like, or we don’t want to, like, be super political with that. We just want this energy of everyone coming to the table and working together to create a better world that’s more inclusive,” Shill said.

Several members of the Provo Police Department stood at the edge of the street, listening to speeches and making sure the event was safe and secure. Only one protestor took to the march, standing along University Boulevard, recording the gathering while occasionally yelling out during the planned speeches.

Soon after the protestor arrived, though, Preston Lindsay decided to make his way beyond the crowd and toward the man. Lindsay talked with the man about why he decided to attend and speak out and about him as a person.

“I just go over there and humanize everything. It’s, ‘Why do you seem to feel that way? Who do you think knows the most about that?’ It’s just really simple questions. But most people, when they’re in that faceless hate, can’t think that. The emotion gets in the way,” Lindsay said.

Lindsay and the protestor walked together from the steps of the courthouse along Center Street to Memorial Park, where the Pride march culminated, talking the entire time. After perusing the different resource tables and speaking briefly with volunteers from the LGBTQ+ groups, he left without further incident.

In addition to resource tables, entertainment was provided by several drag queens — Mindy Gledhill, Kory Edgewood and Jaliah Jackson — local musical acts — Little Moon and Sappho and Her Friends — and the afro dance ensemble.

In the background of the Pride celebration was not only the direct actions that have impacted LGBTQ+ people at BYU, but also wider legislative efforts focusing on LGBTQ+ people across the country, everything from Tennessee banning adult-oriented performances — including drag shows — in the presence of children to Utah, Montana and other states banning hormone treatments for transgender youth.

“It is scary but I really think they’re doing it because they know they’re gonna lose. I think we always land at a spot where the rights of LGBTQ people are going to be honored and are going to be protected,” Sasine said. “It just may take a second to get there but that’s where we’re gonna land.”

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