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Live & Local: Denver Pride 2025 - The Center on Colfax

Denver’s Pride celebration didn’t get to its 51st year the easy way. Sponsoring organization The Center on Colfax didn’t get to its 55th year the easy way either. But they mark one of the country's most resilient and enduring community organizations.

The Center’s new CEO, Kim Salvaggio, dropped by to reflect on the queer movement’s revolutionary roots, the services it provides, and the opportunities ahead.

This weekend’s PrideFest at Denver Civic Center Park begins with a 5-K run on Saturday, June 28, includes a “Gayborhood” marketplace, and culminates on Sunday, June 29 with the annual Pride Parade this year from Cheeseman Park, down 17th Avenue finishing at the Civic Center Park.

Left to right: Abi Clark, Steve Chavis, Carlos Lando & Kim Salvaggio
Left to right: Abi Clark, Steve Chavis, Carlos Lando & Kim Salvaggio

This portion of the interview above has been edited for length and clarity:

Steve: Happy June. Happy Pride Month. I saw it on the Tony's a couple weeks ago, and it's that time of year. Great way to kick off the summer for us. We are delighted to have Kim Salvaggio in the studio. She is the incoming CEO for The Center on Colfax, but we know her best as just Kim, the sister down the hall, who helped us with so many HR issues, who set up the Community, Equity and Access Department here at Rocky Mountain Public Media. So you've gone from the frying pan to the fire, from public media to The Center on Colfax. You just know how to have a good time.

Kim: Oh, absolutely always. And I was with you guys for six years and I loved every moment of it. It was a really hard position to walk away from because I believe so deeply in the purpose of public media and the need of public media. But I did feel like right now my community really needed me where I am. And so I'm now the CEO of The Center on Colfax.

Steve: How many cities have something like The Center on Colfax? I think Denver is unique in that regard.

Kim: So where Denver is unique is what a lot of people don't know, is The Center on Colfax is what runs Denver Pride. Denver Pride is unique in that it is about the fourth or fifth largest Pride event in the country. We welcome about 550,000 people through the festival over the weekend, and it's a hundred percent free. That's the other thing that makes it different compared to other cities where you may have to pay for different performances that are going on. Denver Pride is a hundred percent free. 83% of what's raised goes directly back to the community in all of the free services that The Center offers.

Steve: It's one of the oldest too. It's been around for 20, 30?

Kim: Oh, keep going. Fifties. 50 years last year. Amazing. So this is the 55th anniversary for the center and the 51st anniversary of Denver Pride.

Abi: I imagine it's a pretty tight knit group planning this event for thousands of people in our city and those coming through. I was really struck by your VP over at The Center on Colfax, Darren Smith. He posted just his thoughts and a statement around just keeping that in mind when it comes to everything that's going on right now. He said, quote, "There's a lot of rainbow out right now. A lot of glitter, a lot of music, laughter and movement. There's also a lot of grief, rage and fatigue sitting just underneath it. Pride is protest, pride is power. Pride is people." With our current climate, I'm sure it's just really intense and also really needed this kind of a celebration.

Kim: Yeah, I mean Pride, its roots is that it's a riot, right? It was a riot. It was a protest, it was a revolution. And I never want us to lose the roots of what that is. And I think that's what Darren Smith, our amazing VP of Finance and Administration is talking about. And so yeah, a lot of people are going to come to Pride and they're going to want to see those queens on the main stage and celebrate and their uniqueness and their authenticity. That's an important part. But we can never forget that Pride is actually a protest. So you can look at 50 years ago, more than 50 years ago, what they were protesting at Stonewall. And you can look at Denver and say the first one in Denver was 50 people and now we're at 550,000 people, and guess what? We're still fighting for the same things. So that's what we can't lose. It's a celebration, it's a resistance, it's a protest. And all of those things have their place this weekend.

Carlos: Well, I think maybe the silver lining in all of this is the fact that Pride Weekend, the organization and so forth, you're well suited for, unfortunately it is a fight. It is every single day, but it's nothing that you can't handle. The people know that in the end you're going to continue to persevere and hopefully at some point here be able to look back and say, hey, you know what? We can deal with this as well. This is a setback in a lot of ways for a lot of people. And the Pride community is just part of that because when you think about it on the whole perspective of the rights that are being taken away from people and all of the things that are going on right now, it's easy to fall into that trap where the hopelessness, you just think, oh my goodness, why is this happening and so forth as opposed to, you know what? This too shall pass and we are going to get up and we'll go out and do our thing like we do every year. Like we do every day.

Kim: Yeah. I mean, one of my common sayings is, and obviously this is borrowed, but queer liberation is for everyone. And that is because our liberation of anybody that's been in the margins is linked. We can't just be focused on the queer community. We have to be focused on every community that has been up against systems that are not working for them. And that's what I love about Pride is that yeah, queer people please come down, be seen, be heard, protest, keep your safety in mind. Drink your water while you're doing it because we are in the Mile High City. Bring your factory sealed water in, go to the water stations. Keep your resistance strong. But queer liberation, that is what it is at the heart of what you're saying, right, is that it's not just about me being able to be free at Pride, it's how am I bringing everybody else up with me? And that is our Black and Brown communities. That is our kids that are fighting for gender affirming care. That's my right to sit here and keep my marriage and my family intact. It's about all of us. We will get there together. That means that we obviously can't be divided amongst each other. We can protest and have our different opinions about where we need to go, but we're intrinsically linked. Our liberation is combined and this is a great space this year for allies to come in and stand with us. We need them.

Steve: Before we get to the Pride events for this weekend, just a quick glimpse into The Center on Colfax and the things you do every day. Like Carlos said, today, Men's Group at 10, Trans and Non-Binary Adults this afternoon, Bisexual Peer Support Group. We've got a vent room, we've got a drop in, we've got things for teens. We've got the Queer History of Capitol Hill. This is like today.

Kim: I know.

Steve: And then there's tomorrow. You guys run this thing 24/7, 365 it seems like.

Kim: Yeah. So the money that we raise at Pride, that is the 83% that goes directly back into the community through all our free services. So there's eight major programs that go on. And then there's a number of different ways in community events where people can go to our website, lgbtqcolorado.org. There is something for everyone there, whether you're an ally or you're going to identify within one of these communities. It is about us collectively coming together and doing that support. Most importantly, there are 12 free mental health sessions for anyone in the community to take advantage of. So look at the website, figure out how you want to get engaged and involved. And like you said, Steve, it is queer people that run the center. So when we raise money, it's for our community and it's put on by our community.

Steve: Alright. This weekend Pride Fest. Saturday and Sunday. The parade is on Sunday.

Kim: Yes.

Steve: What's new about the parade this year?

Kim: Well, it's not coming down Colfax. It's going to be coming down 17th Street. The step off is still at Cheesman Park, but you'll see coming down 17th Street. So map out your perfect viewing spot. The businesses on 17th are really excited.

Abi: Yeah!

Kim: So yeah, it's actually a great parade route. A little bit more shade, some really cool businesses. So come check it out. Okay.

Steve: And it is Saturday and Sunday. So at Civic Center Park, all day Saturday, stuff going on down at the park.

Kim: Yeah. So the 5K will sort of start us off. There's still a couple spots left. You can absolutely register day of for the race. The race ends, the festival opens, come down. There's a sober area, there's a Latin world stage. There is a dance world stage, there's center stage, there's an area for kids, there's an area for our transgender group. There's a sober area that's going to have a silent disco. There's something for everyone. And then Sunday is the parade, which leads us right into the festival for day two.

Abi: Last year. Was it the first year of the marketplace? Is that returning again this year?

Kim: Thank you, Abi. The Gayborhood. We doubled the size from last year to this year. It is all queer owned businesses that you can come and shop and support your local queer owned business.

Abi: And I just gotta shout out with the parade, our sister station, The Drop's morning hosts, Sugabear and La Molly are going to be a part of it.

Kim: They are. They're going to be one of our emcees because I love them. Yes, they're joining us as emcees for the parade. It's going to be a fabulous day.

Steve: Kim Salvaggio is CEO of The Center on Colfax, the website, just get connected at lgtbqcolorado.org.

Kim: Heck yeah.

Steve: Thanks, Kim.

Kim: Thank you guys.

Abi: Thank you, Kim.

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