Our past People of the Year

This is our 18th People of the Year issue. A total of 54 people have been declared our People of the Year, ranging in age from 18 to however old the most senior LDS leader is. We’ve declared mostly people who have affected Utah’s LGBTQ community for the better in a year, but at times it was for worse. But even the latter changes our community for the better, as they tend to get people involved in our progress in response to their ugliness. Here are the covers of our previous 18 People of the Year issues:

Executive director of the Don’t Amend Alliance fighting against Utah’s Amendment 3 which banned, for a while, same-sex marriage in the state.

Utah Pride Center director Valerie Larabee, Utah Sen. Scott McCoy, Southern Utah Pride founders Amy Marie and Amy Selfridge, Salt Lake Gay Athletic Assn founder Mark Barr, Provo High School Gay/Straight Alliance founder Kaisha Medford.

Former Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller for refusing to screen “Brokeback Mountain,” inspiring a community to rise up against him.

Then Salt Lake City Mayor-elect Ralph Becker for steadfastly showing a bold plan for LGBTQ rights through his campaign even as KUTV’s Rod Decker warned of gay marriage in city hall.

LDS Church president Thomas S. Monson for getting the church involved in California’s Proposition 8, creating thousands of activists in Utah as a result.

Former Salt Lake City Councilperson Deeda Seed, then-SLC Councilperson Jill Remington Love, and then-Salt Lake County Councilperson Jenny Wilson

Brandie Balken, who led Equality Utah as it successfully campaigned for ten municipalities to pass nondiscrimination ordinances across the state.

Every gay person growing up needed a Sister Dottie S. Dixon in their lives. Charles Lynn Frost’s character appealed to people all around LDS and LGBTQ culture.

The most significant effect on LGBTQ Utahns is made by volunteer leaders of a myriad of organizations who bring us together and create community.

Marian Edmonds Allen grew OUTreach Resource Centers from Ogden-based to several locations in Northern Utah.

Plaintiffs and leaders in the lawsuit that brought Judge Robert Shelby’s decision to overturn Utah’s anti-same-sex marriage laws.

Church officials met in private with several LGBTQ leaders through the year and crafted what is now called the “Utah Compromise” in passing nondiscrimination laws in the state.

The first openly-transgender person to run for a statewide office, Misty Snow brought visibility and open discussion to Utahns.

In a tumultuous year for the Utah Pride Center, Carol Gnade stepped in and steadied the boat.

Executive director of the Utah Pride Center who immediately reached out to the community, initially bringing respect back to the center.

The man with the vision, the tenacity, and the bull-headedness to create Restore Our Humanity, the group that overturned Utah’s Anti-

Utah Pride Center’s Deb Hall and John Johnson, Project Rainbow’s Dallas Rivas, Harrison Spendlove, Bonnie O’Brien and Kate Rusk, Ben Morgan and Cody Scott, Gene Gieber, Michael Repp and Riley Richter.