Residents who lined Provo’s University Avenue for the parade clapped and cheered as the LGBTQ groups passed, garnering as much excitement as the beauty queens, marching bands and horses.
The loudest applause, though, was reserved for the group of Mormon missionaries — clad in white shirts and dark pants — that walked the parade route.
In years past, support groups for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered had applied — but been denied — participation in the America’s Freedom Festival Parade. Organizers claimed they were “activist groups” and did not meet the necessary criteria for participation.
It happened again this year, when five LGBTQ applications were denied.