SLC Pride 2025: Panels That Pack a Punch

If you took SLC Pride's OUTlaws theme and smashed it into the reality of being queer in 2025, you'd create a panel lineup exactly like the one masterfully constructed by Jocelyn Johnson, Panels and Workshops Director of SLC Pride. With provocative titles like "ACAB and Local Elections" and "Sounds Like Liberation," this lineup is so compelling that you should probably plan your entire festival experience around which panels and workshops you absolutely cannot miss!

Housed in a blissfully air-conditioned indoor space with comfortable seating, the Panels, Presentations and Workshops kick off on Saturday at 1:00 pm with a perfect match to our festival's OUTlaws theme: "Formerly Incarcerated Queers." Yours truly will be gracing the stage for that conversation alongside my fellow formerly incarcerated queer, Joshua. I lived for several years in a federal prison camp—think Orange is the New Black, but with more complex realities. Want to know if the storyline holds up to real life? Come ask me on Saturday at 1:00 pm and hear about the authentic challenges of rebuilding life after prison with both "felon" and "queer" attached to your identity.

You'll definitely want to stick around for "Cybersecurity for Queers" at 2:00 pm with the brilliant Yena Collins. As guardrails for corporations and police come tumbling down, it's time to learn how to armor up your devices and social media presence. The target on queer backs is growing larger by the day, so come armed with knowledge about digital self-protection that could literally save your life.

At 3:00 pm, Dr. Alli Martin takes center stage to discuss "School Pride: Navigating Safe Spaces in Schools Under Attack." Listen as Alli shares her powerful story and hard-won perspective about teaching in these turbulent times, where educators find themselves caught in the crossfire between right-wing outrage and unjust laws, all while desperately trying to communicate to children that they are worthy human beings deserving of love and safety.

The afternoon continues with a much-needed respite: a healing soundbath and journaling workshop at 4:00 pm, "Aspire to Inspire" by Faded Ohm Heartwood. Come immerse yourself in peace and inspiration as this transformative workshop focuses on radical self-care and maintaining solid mental health during these particularly challenging times. Your spirit will thank you.

At 5:00 pm, prepare to be moved by Rebekah Cummings' inspiring journey in "Getting Loud: A Librarian's Journey from Anxiety to Advocacy to Candidacy." How many of us feel that gnawing compulsion to do something—something more meaningful than we're doing now—to stop the madness swirling outside our loving community? Come witness Rebekah's remarkable evolution from anxious bystander to fierce advocate to political candidate ready for battle.

Saturday concludes with an absolute knockout: "Sounds Like Liberation: Joy, Hurt, and Voice in Trans & Nonbinary Latinx Lives" by the dynamic duo Cydney Caradonna and Dr. Omi Salas-SantaCruz. Come witness the inspiring, complex stories of navigating identity and claiming victory in the ongoing search for authentic self within the trans and non-binary Latinx community.

But wait—Sunday refuses to be outdone! Rae Duckworth, Operating Chairperson of Black Lives Matter Utah Chapter, kicks off the day at 1:00 pm with the boldly titled "ACAB and Local Elections." With a conversation starter like that, who wouldn't line up to hear what Rae has to say? Prepare to gain invaluable perspective on our current state of affairs and learn how to navigate our increasingly uncomfortable political climate with strategy and purpose.

After that intensity, take a breather—grab some festival food, catch a performer or two, then return for the final two panels that will send you home thinking. At 4:00 pm, "Queers in Recovery" with TenAce M. and Friends of Bill begins. Are you sober and searching for community? Wondering what social connection looks like when you're not partying every weekend? Or perhaps you're curious about finding your way to that sober camp? Discover the vibrant, fulfilling reality of queer sober life and the incredible community that comes with it.

Finally, to close out the weekend with style and maybe a little leather, Brian Rodriguez from SLC Leather Pride/Black Boots will discuss "Leather Pride." While it's a festival that happens in October, underneath the surface lies an entire community that's equal parts fun, kinky, and conscientious. Learn what Leather Pride is really about and make some fascinating new friends in the process.

With such an incredible array of panels and workshops, you might wonder why you haven't heard about this stellar lineup before now—but these conversations are hot off the press and ready to challenge, inspire, and entertain. So check out the schedule below, and make sure you take regular breaks from the heat to sit down and absorb the wisdom being shared at SLC Pride 2025.

Schedule

Saturday, June 28 at 89 S Rio Grande Street, in the Gateway

1:00 pm – Formerly Incarcerated Queers, with Tami M. and Joshua L.

2:00 pm – Cybersecurity for Queers, by Yena Collins

3:00 pm – School Pride: Navigating Safe Spaces in Schools Under Attack, by Dr. Alli Martin

4:00 pm – Aspire to Inspire: Sound Bath and Journaling by Faded Ohm Heartwood with Suicide Prevention Memorial

5:00 pm – Getting Loud: A Librarian's Journey from Anxiety to Advocacy to Candidacy, by Rebekah Cummings

6:00 pm – Sounds Like Liberation: Joy, Hurt, and Voice in Trans & Nonbinary Latinx Lives, by Cydney Caradonna and Dr. Omi Salas-SantaCruz

Sunday, June 29 at 89 S Rio Grande Street, in the Gateway

1:00 pm – ACAB and Local Elections, by Rae Duckworth, Operating Chairperson of Black Lives Matter Utah Chapter

4:00 pm – Queers in Recovery, with TenAce M. and Friends of Bill

5:00 pm – Leather Pride, by Brian Rodriguez from SLC Leather Pride/Black Boots

Tami Mandarino (she/her) - Pansexual, drug felon with a 5+ year incarceration history. Lifelong struggle with ADHD and major depressive disorder. Survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault. Badass witch. As I like to say about myself, I’ve seen some things, and those things make me strong, powerful and beautiful. Now that I live in the ‘burbs and could be mistaken for a soccer mom, I speak publicly about my past so we can break the stigmas that hurt our communities. When I’m not writing software at my day job or volunQueering for SLC Pride at night, I write contemporary YA novels under the pen name Tami Morning about issues facing youth today like poverty, climate anxiety and the necessity of choosing your family. If you catch a mistake in any of my articles or know a better/more sensitive way to say something, please shoot me an email at tymandarino@gmail.com, and thank you for helping me grow.