Up To 60 LDS Members March Under The Mormons For Marriage Equality Banner At The Washington DC Gay Pride Parade

As many as 60 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints marched in the Washington DC Gay Pride Parade held on June 10th, 2012. The only media documentation is a gallery of 200 photos (of the entire event) published by Metro Weekly; Mormon participation is documented on Mormon Mentality and on Teabelly's blog.

The Mormons marched behind the Mormons for Marriage Equality banner, surrounded by marchers from LGBT organizations, businesses and many other churches and groups of all varieties. They report they were greeted by loud, enthusiastic and prolonged cheering, and many expressions of gratitude. One commenter noted that no known LDS authority figures were present. Teabelly's blog is considerably more photo-rich, including some pictures of trannies and guys dressed in skimpy costumes (well, it was 90F outside). Teabelly also openly identifies as a Barack Obama supporter. The only photo I found truly disgusting was that of a small boy holding up a sign celebrating the fact that he had "two awesome moms"; nobody has more than one mother. It's sad when kids are used to push political propaganda.

Another organized Mormon group pushing for same-sex marriage is a Facebook group entitled "Mormons Building Bridges". They orchestrated the Mormon participation in the Salt Lake City gay rights parade which attracted at least 350 LDS members. MormonPride indicates that Mormons will take part in additional gay pride parades in Seattle, New York, Portland, Boise, San Francisco, Memphis, Cleveland, the Twin Cities in Minnesota, San Diego, and even Santiago, Chile.

Both Mormons for Marriage Equality and Mormons Building Bridges note that they are NOT lobbying for the LDS Church to start solemnizing gay marriages in their chapels or temples. But just to remind you that these people are in the minority, here's an LTE in the Salt Lake Tribune from Jill Wallace in South Jordan expressing the opposing point of view:

I was brought to tears when I read about members of the Latter-day Saint community supporting and marching in the Gay Pride Parade ("Mormons march in Gay Pride Parade to build bridges," Tribune, June 4): My tears were for how deceived some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really are.

We members of the LDS Church are taught to always stand in holy places and to stand up for truth and righteousness. We would not march in a parade supporting pornography, prostitution, fornication and adultery, just as we would not march in a parade legalizing drug use.

There is no difference: Sin is sin, and we must stand against it. While we certainly can have compassion for the sinner, we do not march in a parade that encourages immoral behavior.

Jill Wallace

South Jordan

Take a look at the comments appended to that letter to see some REAL intolerance.