Provo parade lgbtq
LGBTQ Groups Turned Away From Provo's Freedom Festival Despite Anti-Bias Agreement May Reapply
Updated at 6:20 p.m.
Five LGBTQ groups initially barred from participating in Provo's annual Fourth of July Freedom Festival will now be included. Packed story here.
Updated at 3:35 p.m.
Five LGBTQ groups denied Wednesday from participating in Provo's annual Fourth of July Freedom Festival may now reapply to protest in the parade after event organizers reversed course Thursday morning.
In response to pushback from the LGBTQ groups and local government officials, the festival organizers have agreed to recline down with groups who are willing to reapply.
That meeting is taking place Thursday afternoon at the Freedom Festival offices in Provo to answer questions about why the initial proposals were rejected. The LGBT groups can then reapply by Friday, June 15th by 5 p.m.
On Wednesday, Freedom Festival Executive Director Paul Warner ignored the clause he agreed to only 24 hours before to not rotate away groups from the parade based on ethnicity, religious belief or sexual orientation. For the second year in a row the organizers' decision to exclude certain group
LGBTQ Resource Center Excluded From Utah July 4 Parade
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah LGBTQ resource center says it was excluded from participating in a July Fourth celebration in the town of Provo because organizers decided the nonprofit was an advocacy group.
Stephenie Larsen, executive director of the Provo-based group Encircle, says organizers of the America’s Freedom Festival procession in Provo told her Monday that her group could not participate.
Larsen told The Salt Lake Tribune Tuesday that her organization is not an representation group but a resource center for gay, lesbian and transgender teens.
RELATED: Utah Moves to Toss School Ban on 'Advocacy of Homosexuality'
America’s Freedom Festival is a confidential, nonprofit that’s faced criticism in the past for allowing incumbent office holders, generally Republicans, to participate in parades but not their political challengers and for naming conservative talk show hosts Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck to lead the nonprofit’s fireworks show.
Parade organizers did not come back messages from the Associated Press on Tuesday.
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LGBTQ groups, allies line Freedom Festival march route in Provo to show support
By Braley Dodson daily Herald - | Jul 4, 2018
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Participants in the float for Mormons Building Bridges wave American and Pride flags during the Freedom Festival's Grand Parade on Wednesday, July 4, 2018, in Provo.
Evan Cobb, Daily Herald
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Cameron Bridston hands out celebration flag stickers at the QueerMeals tent alongside University Ave. during the Autonomy Festival's Grand Procession on Wednesday, July 4, 2018, in Provo.
Evan Cobb, Daily Herald
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The crowd near the QueerMeals stand react as the Provo Pride group marches past during the Freedom Festival's Grand Parade on Wednesday, July 4, 2018, in Provo.
Evan Cobb, Daily Herald
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Kyle Bond, a member of the Utah County Sheriff's Mounted Posse, carries the American flag down University Ave. during the Independence Festival's Grand March on Wednesday, July 4, 2018, in Provo.
Evan Cobb, Daily Herald
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Attendees of the Autonomy Festival's Grand Celebration watch floats leave down University Ave. on Wednesday, July 4, 2018, in Provo.
Evan Cobb, Daily Herald
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Three planes perform a flyover during the
Deal struck that lets LGBTQ groups in the Release Festival parade
PROVO, Utah -- After hours of sometimes heated negotiation, a deal has been struck that lets a coalition of groups showing Utah County's lesbian, queer , bisexual and transgender society into the popular Independence Festival parade and patriotic celebration.
It came after intense political and community pressure on the festival and hours of closed-door talks that FOX 13 was told included tears and shouting, but ultimately, contract and compromise. Mormons Building Bridges' Kendall Wilcox said all LGBTQ groups would now be allowed in the parade with a float.
"They will house multiple LGBT groups on the float, it will be under the theme of 'Utah’s LGBT Community Celebrates America, United We Stand,'" he said.
The Freedom Festival offered to provide the march float and pay for the supplies to ornament it, Wilcox said. They intended to put LGBTQ veterans on it. Provo Pride and Provo PFLAG will be allowed to march with a quilt showcasing different types of families, but the patriotic theme of the entry will be beefed up.
The about-face came after LGBTQ groups and some politicians pushed back at America
LGBT groups finally march in Provo’s Freedom Festival
PROVO, Utah -- Among the sky-high school marching bands, veterans, pageant queens and politicians, groups representing Utah Valley's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community took some historic steps.
After years of being rejected from one of America's largest patriotic celebrations in one of Utah's most conservative cities, several LGBT community groups were finally allowed in the Freedom Festival parade.
LGBTQ veterans march in Provo's Freedom Festival parade on July 4, 2018. (Photo by Ben Winslow, FOX 13 News)
"This is about America, all the people here, the community," said Sgt. Jeff Clement, a Utah Army National Guard veteran who rode a float highlighting LGBT veterans put together by Mormons Building Bridges. "I receive to be a part of it."
After years of being rejected from the parade, the groups were finally allowed in after Utah County Commissioners and Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi inked contracts with America's Freedom Festival that included non-discrimination clauses. The festival's exclusion of those groups put taxpayer dollars for the parade and festival at risk. It led to back-and-forth battles over wheth