A training session designed to help businesses and community members establish allyships and make connections with the LGBTQ community is scheduled for Thursday at the Park City Library.

LGBTQ+ in the Workplace is an education program of Equality Utah, which works to educate Utahns about issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The LGBTQ+ Taskforce, Park City Community Foundation and Park City Municipal are hosting the event.

Equality Utah’s effort to find common ground and build on shared values has helped Utah become one of the leading conservative states in the country when it comes to LGBTQ protections, said trainer Olivia Jaramillo, the organization’s director of public outreach.

“It’s really based on meeting people where they are,” she said. “Our curriculum is based on empowering individuals to become allies to the LGBTQ community and to really see the humanity within the LGBTQ community. We really look to build upon storytelling and we want people to feel that they are not the problem, that they are the solution for a better tomorrow.”

The training is scheduled for 11 a.m. to noon in the Jim Santy Auditorium at the library, 1255 Park Ave. A question-and-answer session will follow. The event is free and open to the public, and registration is not required.

Storytelling helps people make connections, according to Jaramillo. For example, someone who attends the training might have gone to the same school as a presenter at the session, a veteran could connect with a fellow service member, and some participants might share the same faith, she said.

“So suddenly you start building a connection with somebody that you thought you didn’t have anything in common with,” she said.

Jaramillo added that as a transgender woman who served in the Air Force for 20 years, she also serves as an example.

“I retired from the military and when people hear that about me, then suddenly I am more than a transgender woman,” she said. “There is a connection there now.”

There is a misconception among some people that too many accommodations might have to be made for the LGBTQ community, but none may be needed, Jaramillo said. She was still serving in the military in 2011 when the don’t ask, don’t tell policy was lifted and “absolutely nothing happened,” she said.

“Those individuals had always been there,” Jaramillo said. “They had been following all the rules and all the procedures. They didn’t need anything special done for them.”

Equality Utah has done presentations for businesses, corporations, nonprofits, community members, the entire state court system and municipalities, including Park City, she said. It has a corporate education program, Business Equality Leader, and Zions Bank, Utah Jazz and Goldman Sachs are among the businesses that participate.

Joe Urankar, a LGBTQ+ Taskforce member, is encouraging everyone to attend the Thursday event, from HR managers of big companies and the owners of small businesses to employees and community members.

“We found a lot of value in this training when we hosted it for city staff and now this is a chance for others to come,” he said.

The training covers communication skills, including “whether or not we’re listening to understand each other or whether or not we’re listening to convince each other,” Urankar said.

“The goal really is to be able to deescalate and communicate,” he said. “You don’t have to agree with each other to understand each other and to respect each other’s existence.”