“She was sobbing and saying, ‘Thank you so much.’”Īdam Ford of Alpine, Utah marched in his Sunday best with his sons Parley and Willard, who are named for historic LDS Church leaders Parley P. “She had tears rolling down her face,” says Dortsch. Marcher Susan Dortsch walked over to hug a woman at the edge of the parade route. Some crowd members sang the lyrics to hymns quoted on Mormons Building Bridges placards. “You are three times as large as we thought you would be,” the parade master of ceremonies announced as the group approached her booth, her voice breaking up with emotion.Įmotion reverberated all along the parade route, as Pride attendees-many of them gay and from Mormon backgrounds-cheered and cried. SLC Pride organizers were surprised by the size of the Mormons Building Bridges delegation. People deserve to be loved, and all I am doing is standing up for that.’”
“I thought to myself, ‘Why are you cheering for me? I am supposed to be here for you. “But when we turned the first corner onto 200 South Street, the crowd just roared,” says Austin Hollinbaugh, a recent BYU graduate from Provo, Utah, who joined the Mormons Building Bridges group. Some Bridges marchers worried how the crowds would react, especially given the history of LDS Church-backed opposition to same-sex marriage. Then, the LDS contingent took its assigned place at the head of the parade and began to march. Just before the parade began, a member of the Mormons Building Bridges delegation offered an opening prayer through a megaphone. Mormons Building Bridges participants prepared signs with verses from LDS hymns, scriptures, and quotations from LDS Church leaders-“All are alike unto God ” “Jesus said love everyone ” “God loves all of His Children”-and hundreds of lollipops bearing “love one another” stickers to distribute to parade crowds. It was important, explained Luana Uluave, a straight LDS mother from Cottonwood Heights, Utah, for believing and churchgoing Mormons to organize and gather with other Mormons who understood their deep commitment to their faith. Meredith Hudson LeSueur, a straight LDS mother of two from Herriman, Utah, started to cry when she arrived at the Mormons Building Bridges meeting spot to find what she described as a “sea of Sunday best and strollers,” including her own-festooned in rainbow streamers. “People really felt compelled to come out no matter how miserable. Another man in his seventies came in his wheelchair his wife pushed him-they have a gay son,” says Barrus, who came to march in support of his gay nephew and gay sister-in-law. “One woman in her eighties walked with a cane. (Newspapers estimated the Mormons Building Bridges crowd at more than 300.) About ten minutes before parade start time, marcher Clair Barrus of Draper, Utah, counted about 475 members of the Mormons Building Bridges delegation, ranging in age from toddlers to senior citizens. Initially, Munson and other organizers had hoped to attract one hundred LDS marchers. “I came because I wanted to be part of what I hope will be a new direction for LDS people.” “As a parent, when I read about gay kids committing suicide and parents kicking out kids, it hammers at my heart,” she explained. Susan Dortsch from Park City, Utah, was among the first to arrive. Others pushed their children in strollers, or carried them on their shoulders. Munson sent word out across the Mormon grapevine, through email, phone, and Facebook, inviting fellow churchgoing and believing Mormons to join her at the Pride Parade in Sunday dress.Īnd Mormons responded by the hundreds, arriving at the parade route yesterday morning in their church clothes-dress shirts and ties for men, dresses for women.
From towns across Utah and Idaho, about 400 self-described “faithful” and “active” members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered in Salt Lake City on Sunday morning to walk in the Salt Lake City, Utah LGBT Pride Parade with the grassroots-organized “Mormons Building Bridges” group.įrom the beginning, Mormons Building Bridges founder and organizer Erika Munson, a straight, churchgoing LDS mother of five from Sandy, Utah, focused on one very simple message: that as followers of Jesus Christ, Mormons should show love to LGBT people.