Sometimes all we need is a fairy gaymother
Five years ago, two lesbians decided this valley deserved a Pride celebration of its own. And if you want something done — you call a lesbian.
Gunnison Valley Pride is founded and run by Alex Stefan and Malia Jones of Crested Butte, Colorado.
We started with a belief. Every member of this community deserves to be seen, celebrated, and welcomed exactly as they are.
Five years later, that belief is a bonfire.
Pride is a practice. A public declaration that you belong here, that we belong to each other, and that love — given room to grow — becomes something unstoppable.
You don't always know you're doing it. You just show up as yourself — fully, unapologetically — and somewhere across the room, someone is dazzled. Permission granted. Something uncurls.
Every event we create is built by and for this valley. Local artists. Local venues. Local love.
This is your Pride. We're just holding the rainbow.
ALEX STEFAN
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Alex spent 13 years as a PE and Sex Ed teacher in Sydney, Australia before bringing her expertise — and her heart — to the Gunnison Valley. She co-authored the Gender and Sexuality Alliance handbook for Australia, served on the board of national queer youth organization Wear It Purple, and now serves as the High School Social Emotional Learning Coordinator for Gunnison County, running GSAs at both Gunnison and Crested Butte schools.
She builds community the way she builds Pride events: with precision, joy, and the deep knowledge that queer kids need to see themselves celebrated out loud.
MALIA JONES
Co-Founder & the Woman Behind the Woman
Every great live act has a tech engineer — the one who makes sure the lights hit right, the mic never drops, and the whole thing looks effortless from the audience. That's Malia.
Co-founder, twenty-year valley nonprofit veteran, founder of Brass Tact Ltd, producer of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Cirque du Soiree. Live events from SXSW to the Crested Butte Wine + Food Festival. Current board chair of Project Hope.
She built the infrastructure this Pride runs on — and then handed Alex the mic.
Theatre kid. Activist. Mother of teenagers. The person in the room who figures out how to actually do the thing everyone else just talked about.