Harvey Milk Day is Thursday, May 22, in honor of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk. In Salt Lake City, our unofficial LGBTQ+ district runs along Harvey Milk Boulevard on 900 South. Find out more about past, present, and future efforts to transform this area into a symbol of pride and visibility 🏳️🌈
In 2016, Equality Utah teamed up with Salt Lake City leaders (including then-mayor Jackie Biskupski, the city’s first openly gay mayor) to launch the Harvey Milk Visibility Project and rename 20 blocks of 900 South to Harvey Milk Boulevard.
The goal of the project is to continue to bring visibility to Utah’s LGBTQ+ community through public art and educational displays along the street. In 2023, they secured $30,000 in city funding to help bring that vision to life.
Why 900 South?
900 South has significant historical ties to the LGBTQ+ community. In the 1920s, Edith Mary Chapman, a queer educator, inherited her family’s home at 615 E. 900 S. and transformed it into a haven for queer women. The house still stands today.
Continuing that legacy, Cahoots Cards & Gifts is a gay-owned business that’s been operating for more than 35 years. And Club Try-Angles, which opened in 2002, is known for its elaborate drag shows.
In recent years, we’ve seen even more LGBTQ+ friendly businesses pop up, like Laziz Kitchen, Milk+, and The Legendarium — to name a few!
Harvey Milk Boulevard street sign. (Terina Ria/City Cast Salt Lake)
The former site of Southeast Asian Market is the future home of Milk Block, a new mixed-use development at 400 East and 900 South, set to open this summer. It will feature local businesses like Wasatch Cooperative Food Market, Native Flower Company, and the Equality Utah headquarters.
- Related: How to spend a day around Milk Block before it fully opens 📰
Head to Scion Cider this Thursday, May 22 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for a free Harvey Milk Day celebration (21+ only!). It will feature Pride-themed cocktails and ciders, complimentary charcuteries, and music by DJ Coletti. Proceeds will support the Harvey Milk Visibility Project.
Keep the party going at MILK+ and Club Try-Angles from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., because what better way to honor Harvey Milk than dancing the night away with all the queers of Salt Lake.
