This gay Utah mayor plans to keep pride flags in his city office as a state ban goes into effect

Two miniature rainbow flags gently wafted in an air-conditioned breeze atop Mayor Dustin Gettel’s desk April 11, tucked away on the second floor of Midvale City Hall.

On Wednesday, he planned to keep them there, even as a state ban prohibiting pride flags on government property went into effect. Gov. Spencer Cox allowed the measure to go into law without his signature just three months after Gettel in January was sworn in as the Salt Lake County suburb’s leader.

“HB77 is a clear violation of the First Amendment,” Gettel said Friday, “and I’m very passionate about these rights not only for myself, but for every resident of Midvale.”

His public office is relatively private, he noted, and he expects the law will be challenged. That’s why he said he intends to keep the flags on display.

“What’s next? I can’t put a picture of my partner on my desk, for fear that what — someone’s going to come in and see that?” Gettel said last month. “… There are much more important issues facing the state of Utah than if you can or can’t have pride flags in a municipal building.”

[Read more: Salt Lake City may have found a way to avoid the state’s ban on pride flags]

Gettel was appointed as Midvale’s mayor in December, after a literal coin flip and the November resignation of former Mayor Marcus Stevenson, whose wife alleged he’d had an affair with a city employee.

Despite the turmoil that predated him taking office, and his stance against the state, Gettel said as mayor, he hopes to “turn the page” for the city he lives in and loves.

“My focus as an elected official has always been the city of Midvale,” Gettel said. “... I just really wanted to make sure that the progress that we were making, and the projects that we had in the works were not, even temporarily, put on the back burner while we deal with this city trauma.”

Rocky beginnings

After Stevenson resigned in November, Gettel and 11 other Midvale residents put their names in the ring to lead. The Midvale City Council was then charged with deciding Stevenson’s replacement.

Gettel was one of the first to file, because he said he’d already served seven years on the City Council, and he wanted to ensure the city could get back on track.

“It’s difficult, because I think that Marcus and I were very friendly,” Gettel said of Stevenson, whom he recalled had spoken to him while Stevenson weighed his own run for Midvale mayor in 2021. “People can see when you are a cohesive unit of council member and mayor, and for the most part, for three years while he was mayor, we had that relationship.”

After the first round of voting during a Dec. 10 meeting, the Council’s five votes were split across four candidates: council member Paul Glover with two votes, Gettel with one vote and two other candidates with one vote each.

Under state law, the three candidates who tied for second place then had to participate in “the coin toss heard around the world,” Gettel recalled. After eight flips over the course of 15 minutes, Gettel made it to the next round, and the Council voted again — this time between him and Glover.

Gettel then received three votes to Glover’s two. He was sworn in Jan. 2 and will serve out the rest of Stevenson’s term, which concludes next January.

But Gettel’s hoping to lead for longer. He plans to run for mayor this fall to serve out his own four-year term, he added.

“This job is amazing in so many ways,” Gettel said “It’s so much fun. It’s difficult at times, and not every day is playing dodgeball with kids at the Boys and Girls Club, which does happen from time to time. But it’s just amazing being able to serve the community in this capacity.”

Midvale roots

Originally from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Gettel considers Midvale his “adopted hometown.” He moved to Utah nearly 10 years ago, and fell in love with the Beehive State as soon as he saw the Wasatch Mountains.

Gettel’s commute to work ignited his interest in public service. He’d lived in the suburb for about a year when he noticed that despite new development in his neighborhood, there weren’t any crosswalks to help commuters like him safely walk to the Bingham Junction TRAX station.

He brought the issue to the Midvale City Council himself, and council members told him they’d get to it when they could.

That didn’t sit well with Gettel, who often had to sprint across traffic to catch his train to work, he said. But in that same meeting, the Council also noted two of its members were up for election that year. One was Gettel’s representative.

“I thought, ‘You know what, I think I could probably at least be more responsive to the community,’” Gettel said. “... I thought I could at least get some spotlight on the issue of walkability.”

In November 2017, after he said he knocked on every door in his district twice, Gettel was elected to the Midvale City Council.

“There was a point kind of late in the campaign, like late October, where I finally thought ‘You know what I think I might win this,’” Gettel said. “ ... It’s like, ‘Okay, I think I’m gonna win, but then, what do I do? What do I do next?’ And I think that carried over into becoming mayor, too.”

Before leading the city, Gettel last year ran for an at-large seat on the Salt Lake County Council, but lost to Natalie Pinkney in the primary by nearly 11,600 votes.

Still, the campaign gave him an experience with much-preferred nonpartisan politics, and it’s where he befriended the mayor of neighboring Millcreek, Jeff Silvestrini. Together, they’ve worked on issues like city membership within the Unified Fire Authority and Unified Police Department, Silvestrini recalled.

His first impression of Gettel was that he keeps his constituents’ interests “front and center.”

“He’s advocating for the rights of Midvale residents to have a meaningful voice, rather than just just being along for the ride,” Silvestrini said. “... From my perch, he seems to be doing all the right things to be a good mayor for the residents of Midvale.”

Future plans

Gettel’s proudest accomplishment from his time on City Council was the revitalization of Midvale’s Main Street.

The area features new sidewalks, thoughtful landscaping and public art installations, which welcome more community programming. The changes have already attracted new businesses, including a new location for local florist Cactus & Tropicals.

“It’s a really good example of what a city, even a small city like Midvale, can do with the right partners, the right people, the right council in place to get something accomplished,” Gettel said.

As mayor, Gettel wants to duplicate the efforts on Main Street along other city corridors like Center Street, which runs underneath Interstate 15 and connects to Midvale’s east side.

“We got this cool little downtown area which has got a nice vibe to it, but not everyone lives in or around Main Street,” Gettel said. “... We also want to give people who live in those far east parts of Midvale the same opportunities.”

Since he’s been sworn in, Gettel has also taken a proactive approach to ensure Midvale’s LGBTQ+ residents feel supported. During the City Council’s April 1 meeting, for instance, he issued a proclamation declaring June 2025 as Pride Month.

“I wasn’t going to wait for the Legislature to say that we can or can’t do that anymore,” Gettel said.

He noted Utah’s LGBTQ youth are especially at risk. In 2022, 50% seriously considered suicide, and 17% attempted suicide, according to a Utah survey by the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ youth.

“Just seeing a pride flag on your mayor’s desk — if that is the thing that helps you, that day, make a better decision for your life, I don’t think that our state Legislature should prevent elected officials from doing that,” Gettel said.