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 Liberty Festival will now be included. Complete story here.
Updated at 3:35 p.m.
Five LGBTQ groups denied Wednesday from participating in Provo's annual Fourth of July Liberty Festival may now reapply to parade in the celebration 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 sit down with groups who are willing to reapply.
That meeting is taking place Thursday afternoon at the Autonomy Festival offices in Provo to acknowledge questions about why the initial offers 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 turn away groups from the parade based on ethnicity, religious doctrine or sexual orientation. For the second year in a row the organizers' decision to leave out certain group
LGBT groups finally march in Provo’s Freedom Festival
PROVO, Utah -- Among the elevated 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 obtain 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
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 parade in the city of Provo because organizers decided the nonprofit was an lobbying group.
Stephenie Larsen, executive director of the Provo-based ngo Encircle, says organizers of the America’s Freedom Festival parade in Provo told her Monday that her group could not participate.
Larsen told The Salt Lake Tribune Tuesday that her organization is not an advocacy group but a resource center for same-sex attracted, lesbian and transgender teens.
RELATED: Utah Moves to Toss School Ban on 'Advocacy of Homosexuality'
America’s Release Festival is a secret, 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 chat show hosts Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck to lead the nonprofit’s fireworks show.
Parade organizers did not return messages from the Associated Press on Tuesday.
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LGBTQ groups, allies line Release Festival parade 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 pride flag stickers at the QueerMeals tent alongside University Ave. during the Freedom 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 Independence 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 Freedom Festival's Grand Parade on Wednesday, July 4, 2018, in Provo.
Evan Cobb, Daily Herald
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Attendees of the Freedom Festival's Grand Celebration watch floats go down University Ave. on Wednesday, July 4, 2018, in Provo.
Evan Cobb, Daily Herald
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Three planes carry out a flyover during the
Deal struck that lets LGBTQ groups in the Freedom Festival parade
PROVO, Utah -- After hours of sometimes heated negotiation, a deal has been struck that lets a coalition of groups representing Utah County's lesbian, gay, bisexual person and transgender collective into the well-liked Freedom Festival procession and patriotic celebration.
It came after intense political and society pressure on the festival and hours of closed-door talks that FOX 13 was told included tears and shouting, but ultimately, accord and compromise. Mormons Building Bridges' Kendall Wilcox said all LGBTQ groups would now be allowed in the pride 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 parade 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 rally 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