Back to all
This year’s theme for Pride Month at Rithum was Pride Where You Are, a nod to the fact that pride doesn’t look the same everywhere, and isn’t meant to. It takes the shape of the place it happens in, whether that’s the family who gets closer or the story that arrives at exactly the right moment. We asked Rithum employees to share a moment, a mentor, and a source of joy from Pride Month this year. Three colleagues wrote back with answers worth passing on.
Karianne Muckle | Salt Lake City, UT
Neighbors, meals, and a ride to the appointment
A few of Karianne’s friends finally reached the top of the wait list for gender affirming care this month. Neighbors and mutual friends stepped in around them, cooking meals, chipping in on bills during recovery, and looking after kids and pets. Some of the helpers barely knew the people they were helping.
“There is a lot of intentional community in Utah because of the predominant conservative culture. And sometimes, even when it’s hard to get that care, the care we have for each other outshines the difficulty.”
– Karianne Muckle, Manager, Engineering
No single voice shaped how she thinks about the LGBTQIA+ community. Queer writers and artists shaped her. Loved ones who lived openly shaped her. Volunteering with LGBTQIA+ organizations in her area changed her too and eventually shaped her relationship with her own queerness.
Joy this month looks specific and small. She grabbed tickets to see musician Laura Pergolizzi in September with friends from the community. She took her kids to a Pride night for a local women’s softball team, alongside other families doing the same.
Karin Tolley | Orem, UT
Her niece’s first parade, and a marriage that keeps learning
Karin Tolley, Senior Software Support Specialist, spent Pride Month cheering on her niece, who claimed her bisexuality openly and attended her first pride parade. “I’ve been so proud of her and her courage,” Karin said.
Her husband has done the most to shape how she understands the community. He is gay, and their marriage reads as straight from the outside, which makes visibility harder for both of them. He studies his own identity, learns from the community around him, and passes what he learns back to her so the two of them stay in step.
The joy question returned her to her niece. Watching a young woman in her early twenties feel safe enough to be open, when so many before her (her husband included) did not, gives Karin something steady to hold. She plans to be that kind of steady for her niece too.
Taylor Hertsenberg | Austin, TX
The miniseries he returns to every Pride
Taylor points to the HBO miniseries Angels in America as the piece of art that changed him, and one he revisits it every Pride. He first watched it as a young, closeted teen, and it made a lasting impact that carries through to the present day, sparking his love of film and television as a way to tell serious stories. It taught him how politics, religion, and the AIDS crisis reshaped a generation and set larger movements in motion around the world. Returning to it each year keeps him close to that history and to the lesson it first taught him about what a story can carry.
“It showed me you can have hard, divisive conversations within the lens of a story, while also being quite funny and leaning into a culture and time that was so significant in our history. That ability to address the tough questions or ideas stuck with me ever since, and it’s why I often lean on film and TV as an art to educate, inform, and entertain.”
– Taylor Herstenberg, Director, Integrated Marketing
Prism, and the wider community behind it
These stories sit alongside our LinkedIn spotlight on Thom Solomon, VP of Global HR and Talent Management and Prism’s executive sponsor. Thom describes Prism as one thread inside Rithum Communities, the family of employee groups spanning LGBTQIA+, multicultural, women, caretakers, and neurodiversity, where employees know who they are is genuinely valued.
Thanks to Karianne, Karin, Taylor, and Thom for sharing a piece of their year with us. Pride does not end when June does, and neither does the care people give one another.
