PROVO, Utah (AP) — America’s Freedom Festival at Provo will once again exclude an LGBT resource center for youths from its July 4 parade.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports Stephenie Larsen, found of the group, Encircle, said Wednesday the nonprofit festival organization told the group that its proposed entry does not celebrate patriotism. The group also was ousted last year.
Kendall Wilcox, a member of Mormons Building Bridges, which also had its application declined, says four other LGBT support groups — including two that filed a joint application — also were rejected by the organization.
The Freedom Festival said in a statement that 22 applicants were rejected because they “were deemed outside the parameters of the parade guidelines.”
The unsigned statement did not identify those groups.
Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi earlier Wednesday hailed the nondiscrimination deal she signed with Freedom Festival officials.
