Each year the city of Provo puts on a Fourth of July Freedom Festival and parade to celebrate our country’s independence. Last year, just hours before the parade, they decided to block an LGBTQ group, Encircle, from marching in the parade, stating that they were too controversial and were advocates of the LGTBQ community.
The festival and parade are funded by taxpayer money. Event organizers cited taxpayer money as the reason that they excluded Encircle from the parade, stating that they did not want to spend taxpayer money on a controversial issue.
Because of the decision to exclude Encircle, the festival and parade found it harder to get their bill of 100,000 dollars approved this year. The funding was initially delayed as Commission Vice Chairman Bill Lee and event organizers tried to come to a conclusion on this issue.
Executive Director of the Freedom Festival, Paul Warner, and Vice Chairman Lee agreed on a nondiscrimination clause trying to open up the Freedom Festival to everyone. However, Warner seems to be going back on his word. “That agreement will not apply to the parade,” Warner told the Salt Lake Tribune.
He states that the nondiscrimination clause applies to the Freedom Festival itself, the Stadium of Fire, Freedom Days and the Freedom Awards Gala. The exact wording states that the nondiscrimination clause applies to Utah County events, but is not limited to the previously stated events.
The organization is still unsure if it will let Encircle walk in the parade and the parade will come under heavy scrutiny if they again decide to discriminate against Encircle and the LGBTQ community. Utah County suicide rates are the highest in the nation when it comes to teens, and many have attributed those high rates to the high Mormon population and the teachings of the church that “gay isn’t okay.” Excluding a group that tries to build bridges between the Mormon Church and gay youth would almost certainly send the wrong message.