LGBT Outreach Group Banned From Mormon Parades
For the second year in a row, organizers have turned down a Mormon LGBT group’s request to march in two of Utah's biggest parades.
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Mormons Building Bridges, which seeks to forge bonds between the LGBT community and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was denied entry into The Days of ‘47 Parade in Salt Lake City and the Freedom Festival Grand Parade in Provo.
"We were hoping that last year we really got a conversation going, and that this year, a lot of the unwillingness to look at the LGBT community as part of our community would fall away," said Erika Munson, who co-founded Mormon Building Bridges in 2012.
Utah recently adopted trailblazing LGBT anti-legislation banning housing and job discrimination while protecting religious liberties.
Greg James of the Days of ‘47 Parade told The Salt Lake Tribune that parade organizers considered Bridges an advocacy group, which the parade's bylaws ban.
"Whether it's a group you might agree with or don't agree with, we don't do anything that's advocacy," said James.
Organizers of the Festival Grand Parade—which, like the Days of '47 event, is run by a private nonprofit—have not commented about rejecting Munson's group.
When Mormons Building Bridges was rejected by the Days of '47 committee in 2014, the Salt Lake City Council considered boycotting the parade, but ultimately relented.
Council member Erin Mendenhall initially asked to bring a gay married dad as her guest, but was later told on "immediate relatives" of council members were eligible as guests. She declined her invitation.
The Days of '47 celebration honors July 24, 1847, when Mormon leader Brigham Young and his followers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.
"This trek of the early Utah pioneers exemplifies the courage, foresight, and faith that continue to inspire modern-day pioneers," states Days of '47 Inc. "We believe the example of past and present pioneers' courage is a beacon to the world."
LDS Church wards, local businesses, military outfits and community groups regularly sponsor floats.
