Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall believes a bill banning pride flags from government buildings and schools could have big consequences.
“I think it would be harmful to our effort to retain [the Sundance Film Festival],” she told reporters at a March 21 city roundtable on the work of the Legislature.
Sundance has called Utah home since its inception in 1978. After 2027, the current contract with host Park City expires. Festival organizers are entertaining bids from Boulder, Colorado, and Cincinnati, Ohio, citing economic changes to the film industry brought on by the pandemic. They are also considering a joint bid from Salt Lake City and Park City.
Hollywood trade publication Deadline quoted an anonymous “Sundance insider” in early March who said the bill was a “terrible look for the state.” The Deadline story provoked a dismissive retort from state Sen. Dan McCay, a flag bill sponsor, on social media.
Mendenhall’s fears do have precedent.
The NBA pulled the 2017 All-Star Game out of North Carolina after their Legislature passed a ban on transgender people using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity. The NBA moved the game back in 2019 after the law was partially repealed.
The Republican supermajority at the Utah Legislature passed the flag bill with enough votes to prevent a veto from Gov. Spencer Cox. The governor has until March 27 to either sign it into law or do nothing and have the law go into effect on its own.
Speaking to reporters during his March monthly news conference, Cox said he believes politics will be left out of the festival’s decision. He reiterated that the festival is “an important part” of the state.
“Sundance is Utah,” he said. “We've been told by the board very clearly that political issues have nothing to do with their decision, and so I'm going to take the board at their word.”
When it comes to any damage the bill could have on the hometown bid, Cox encouraged festival organizers to continue to have a seat at the table.
“If [LGBTQ rights are] an issue you really care about, you think you'd want to stay and fight for that issue,” he said. “I hope they stay. This is their heritage. This is who they are. People associate Utah with Sundance, and that will continue.”
Still, Mendenhall said the city’s legal team is exploring the possibility of suing over the bill once it becomes law.
“It is not reflective of the values of this community, of our capital city,” she said. “We are an asset to the state of Utah because of our welcoming position to diversity and LGBTQIA rights.”
Sundance is expected to make an announcement on its new host city this spring.
