Salt lake city gay

salt lake city gay

Drink it In:

Salt Lake’s Male lover Bar Scene Is Growing, Thriving, and Never Looking Back

In a state famous for its religious zeal, Salt Lake City serves as a bastion of progressiveness, playfulness, and event . In fact, the city’s been listed by Advocate magazine as one of the Ten Queerest Cities in America. The city holds one of the biggest and best-attended Pride parades and festivals around, with Pride Week festivities attracting tens of thousands of participants who light up the downtown scene in full rainbow-hued regalia. (There’s even a Utah Same-sex attracted Ski Week—real thing, utahgayskiweek.com, see you there.) 

Of course, it doesn’t have to be a parade to celebrate pride and inclusivity. It’s pretty easy for everyone of every orientation to jump in on the incredible fun that is Salt Lake on a hot city late hours and the regular rotation of drag shows hold the city sizzling all through the winter.

Check out a few of our favorite “officially” gay bars and gay-friendly bars—keeping in mind that, in this town, it needn’t be a “gay bar” for everyone to fit right in.

Club Try-Angles

Try-Angles is kn

The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide to Salt Lake City

What makes this queerness exciting is that it’s unexpected. After Mormon leader Brigham Young led his band of religious misfits to Ensign Highlight and proclaimed the Salt Lake Valley their promised land in 1847, the Mormon population exploded. For a long time after, the conservative values of Mormonism dominated local society. In recent years, much of that has changed. The city’s LDS population slipped to 48 percent in 2018, and while the rest of Utah is still overwhelmingly Mormon, the counterculture has finally laid claim to the state’s capital.

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Community in gay Salt Lake City

Nowhere is this change more pronounced than in Salt Lake’s flourishing LGBTQ+ community. In 2015, Jackie Biskupski became the city’s first openly same-sex attracted mayor. She currently serves with three openly homosexual city council members: Amy Fowler, Derek Kitchen, and Chris Wharton. SLC is so queer-friendly that officials renamed a street in honor of the pol

Maybe we’ve been operating under an obsolete impression about Salt Lake City existence very conservative. We’ve had many former-Mormon friends over the years tell us stories about how they were ostracized for being Homosexual. Plus, Salt Lake City is the headquarters of the Mormon Church. But a recent opportunity to visit gay Salt Lake Town updated our views. It appears that the city nicknamed “The Crossroads of the West” has come a distant way towards tolerance, acceptance and even support. (And so have some Mormons, evidently.)

With Salt Lake City’s Pride events happening this weekend of June 7-8, 2025, there’s much to celebrate.

Overall, Salt Lake City’s downtown area and neighborhoods are charming and sophisticated. New construction is happening on nearly every block, and swarms of historic buildings include been renovated and repurposed into trendy addresses for restaurants, shops, galleries, hotels and living spaces. The streetscape is more vibrant than ever. Pockets of coolness can be easily found within walking distance of each other. Many businesses are flying rainbow flags, and the rest look quite friendly and open.

Clearly things acquire changed in Salt Lake City,

LGBTQ Salt Lake

We get it. When most people ponder of Salt Lake, a progressive queer scene probably isn’t the first… or second... or, um, even third thing that comes to mind. But almost any LGBTQ visitor who’s been here before, and nearly every LGBTQ local who calls the town home, will tell you, it’s an inclusive urban destination with tons of super gay stuff going on. In fact, Advocate magazine listed us as one of the Ten Queerest Cities in America. (Even gayer than L.A.!) No matter how you identify, what you glance like, or who you love, you’re welcome here. We’re a peculiar bunch and we’ll always be proud of that. Just like we’ll always be proud to have you as our guest.

Gay Bars

Of course, you don’t build this list of 10 Queerest Cities in America without having a…

LGBTQ Festivals

It’s a well-known fact that gay people throw the best parties. Of course, this includes festivals, too! There are tons of queer festivals and other special events happening in Salt Lake all year round.

Pride

Utah Pride Week attracts upwards of 100,000 attendees who light up the downtown area…

LGBTQ Businesse

Salt Lake City’s Rainbow Colors Fly Year Round

Don’t miss out on everything that this vibrant urban area has to offer.

Written By Matcha

Salt Lake City  |  Austen Diamond/Visit Salt Lake

Utah's capital is among the top 10 U.S. metro areas with the largest gay populations, according to Gallup. In fact, Salt Lake City has a higher percentage of people self-identifying as gay than Los Angeles. If you're surprised, it might be that you haven’t spent much time lately in this gay-friendly town, which over the past two decades has become a destination for those who enjoy both a hip urban atmosphere and plain access to the great outdoors. 

Known for its epic identity festival parade held every June, Salt Lake City is welcoming to the lgbtq+ community year-round. In 2015, the capital elected its first openly gay mayor, and in 2016, 20 city blocks were renamed Harvey Milk Boulevard, in honor of the famous gay rights activist and politician. While it has its share of LGBTQ-owned and operated businesses, Salt Lake City is also known for its bars and restaurants that are welcoming to everyone.

The anchor of the LGBTQ+ collective is the Marmalade dist