LDS Church Makes Contribution To Utah Pride Center
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – July 1, 2015 – Gephardt Daily
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has made a significant monetary contribution to the Utah Pride Center.
According to a statement released by the Pride Center Tuesday afternoon, the church’s historic donation – a first of it’s kind – will be earmarked for the center’s homeless and low-income youth program.
In a letter announcing the grant, the LDS Church lauded the Pride Center’s work, saying, “We are grateful to be able to serve your efforts in this worthy project and appreciate the work that you and others are doing related to this initiative.”
The actual size of the donation was not disclosed.
Utah Pride Center Board President, Kent Frogley, was quick to praise the LDS Church for its donation, characterizing the contribution as “an historic show of common purpose and unity” and sign of “a civil and respectful dialog between the LGBTQ Community and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “
“The Utah Pride Center is grateful for the for the church’s help in our efforts to provide food for those in our community who are in need,” Frogley said. “We are grateful for their generosity and the emerging relationship with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We know that this contribution marks a significant moment in the LDS/LGBTQ relationship.”
Utah State Senator Jim Dabakis, the state’s only, openly-gay politician, echoed the Pride Center’s statement. “I am grateful to the LDS Church for their generosity and for their show of support for the Pride Center outreach to homeless youth,” Dabakis said. “This feels right. Although the LDS Church and the LGBTQ Community do not agree on everything, this is yet another link in a continuing relationship of respect and civility. Who could have imagined such a warm and growing friendship even a few years ago?”
News of the LDS Church’s donation comes on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in all fifty states. The Church has decried the decision, publicly re-affirming its long held belief that marriage only exist between a man and a woman.
