Mormons Building Bridges

They facilitate communication and organizational efforts that help their gay members and friends to feel welcome within their church congregations and supported in their life’s path, focusing on ameliorating the experiences of LGBTQIA Mormon youth in hopes of decreasing the rates of their homelessness and suicides.{{cite news|last1=Figueroa|first1=Carly|title=Event aims to raise awareness of suicide, homelessness among LGBT Mormons|url=http://fox13now.com/2014/12/07/event-aims-to-raise-awareness-of-suicide-homelessness-among-lgbt-mormons/|accessdate=24 May 2017|agency=Fox13 News|date=7 Dec 2014}} MBB states they are not sponsored by nor do they represent the LDS Church.{{cite web|title=FAQ|url=http://mormonsbuildingbridges.org/faq/|website=mormonsbuildingbridges.org|publisher=Mormons Building Bridges|accessdate=24 May 2017}}

File:Another view of the Mormon Building Bridges parade banner..JPG

File:MBB SLC Pride Parade 2014.jpg

MBB was founded in 2012 by Erika Munson,{{cite news|last=Healy|first=Jack|title=Gentle Dissent on Gay Marriage Among Mormons|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/us/dissent-on-gay-marriage-among-mormons.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|work=11 June 2012|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=13 June 2013|date=11 June 2012}} Kendall Wilcox{{cite web|last=Stack|first=Peggy Fletcher|title=Gay BYU filmmaker ready to tell his story|url=http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home2/52140908-183/wilcox-church-says-byu.html.csp|work=15 July 2011|publisher=Salt Lake Tribune|accessdate=13 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021194013/http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home2/52140908-183/wilcox-church-says-byu.html.csp|archive-date=21 October 2013|url-status=dead}} and Bianca Morrison Dillard. The first official act of the group was to march in the Salt Lake City Gay Pride Parade on June 3, 2012.{{cite web|last=Lyon|first=Julia|title=Mormons march in Gay Pride Parade to build bridges|url=http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54225023-78/parade-mormons-gay-pride.html.csp|work=3 June 2012|publisher=Salt Lake Tribune|accessdate=13 June 2013}}{{cite web|last=Whitney|first=Zach|title=Mormon Group Preaches Message of Acceptance in Gay Pride|url=http://fox13now.com/2012/06/03/mormon-group-preaches-message-of-acceptance-in-pride-parade|work=3 June 2012|publisher=KSTU Channel 13|accessdate=13 June 2013}}{{cite web|last=Page|first=Jared|title=300-plus LDS Church members march in Pride parade|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865556863/300-plus-LDS-Church-members-march-in-Pride-parade.html?pg=all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608062056/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865556863/300-plus-LDS-Church-members-march-in-Pride-parade.html?pg=all|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 8, 2012|work=3 June 2012|publisher=Deseret News|accessdate=13 June 2013}}{{cite news|last=Pearce|first=Matt|title=Mormons steal show at Gay Pride march in Salt Lake City|url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2012-jun-04-la-na-nn-mormons-march-gay-pride-20120603-story.html|work=4 June 2013|publisher=Los Angeles Times|access-date=13 June 2013|date=4 June 2012}}{{cite news|last=Holpuch|first=Amanda|title=Hundreds of Mormons march in gay pride parade in Salt Lake City|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-news-blog/2012/jun/04/mormons-march-gay-pride-parade|work=4 June 2012|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=13 June 2013|location=London|date=4 June 2012}}{{cite news|last=Tenety|first=Elizabeth|title=Some Mormons separate gay marriage rights from church rites|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/under-god/post/for-mormons-gay-marriage-rights-vs-marriage-rites/2012/06/08/gJQAuhUAOV_blog.html,|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021174914/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/under-god/post/for-mormons-gay-marriage-rights-vs-marriage-rites/2012/06/08/gJQAuhUAOV_blog.html,|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 October 2013|work=8 June 2012|publisher=Washington Post|accessdate=13 June 2013}}{{cite web|last=DuHadway|first=Kate|title=Cache Valley residents march in Utah Gay Pride Parade to give 'message of love'|url=http://m.news.hjnews.com/news/article_5ed567de-aeb2-11e1-90e6-0019bb2963f4.html?mode=jqm|work=5 June 2012|publisher=The Herald Journal|accessdate=13 June 2013}}{{cite news|last=Young|first=Neil J.|title=Equal Rights, Gay Rights and the Mormon Church|url=http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/equal-rights-gay-rights-and-the-mormon-church/|work=13 June 2012|publisher=The New York Times Opinion Page, New York.|accessdate=13 June 2013|date=13 June 2012}} Subsequently, Mormons Building Bridges was named Utahns of the Year by The Salt Lake Tribune on January 10, 2013.{{citation |last= Stack |first= Peggy Fletcher |authorlink= Peggy Fletcher Stack |title= Tribune's Utahns of the Year: Mormons Building Bridges |url= http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55512855-78/mormons-gay-bridges-mormon.html.csp |date= 10 January 2013 |newspaper= Salt Lake Tribune |accessdate= 2014-01-07}}

A large group of MBB members march in the Salt Lake City Pride parade each year with over 400 Mormons marching in the 2013 and 2014 parades to loud applause.{{cite web|last1=Reavy|first1=Pat|title=Loud applause follows Mormons Building Bridges along Utah Pride Parade route|url=https://www.deseret.com/2013/6/2/20520712/loud-applause-follows-mormons-building-bridges-along-utah-pride-parade-route/|website=DeseretNews.com|publisher=Deseret News|access-date=20 June 2014}} Smaller groups also march behind the MBB banner in other cities.

Several times a year, typically on religious holidays, MBB encourages its members to invite their LGBTQIA friends to attend local LDS church services in hopes of building ties between the two groups.{{cite web|last=Park|first=Sherri|title=Welcoming gays in the pews|url=http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/55955765-82/church-sit-gay-lgbt.html.csp|work=9 March 2013|publisher=Salt Lake Tribune|accessdate=13 June 2013}}

MBB participates in the political process when opportunities present themselves that have the support of their members and do not oppose the LDS church's position. For example, they have joined with Equality Utah to help pass an LGBTQIA non-discrimination law in Utah which is based on the city ordinances that the LDS church has officially supported in the past.{{cite web|last=Parker|first=Ray|title=Mormons Building Bridges lobbies for protecting gays from bias|url=http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55859350-78/lgbt-utah-housing-nondiscrimination.html.csp|work=19 Feb 2013|publisher=Salt Lake Tribune|accessdate=13 June 2013}}

MBB also supports and endorse a number of other related efforts. They actively distribute the Family Acceptance Project materials{{cite web|last=Walker|first=Joseph|title=New booklet targets LDS families of homosexual youth|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865557584/New-booklet-targets-LDS-families-of-homosexual-youth.html?pg=all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621111532/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865557584/New-booklet-targets-LDS-families-of-homosexual-youth.html?pg=all|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 21, 2012|work=15 June 2012|publisher=Deseret News|accessdate=13 June 2013}}, promote the Safe and Sound program {{cite web|title=Safe and Sound Host homes for homeless LGBT youth|url=http://www.ogdenoutreach.org/index.php/safe-and-sound|publisher=OUTreach Resource Center, Ogden, Utah|accessdate=13 June 2013}} to find homes for homeless LGBTQIA youth in Utah, they participate in Pink Dot, and they encourage families to host Breaking Bread dinners where they invite Mormons and LGBTQIA friends to share a meal together and get to know each other. On the third Tuesday of each month, they hold Community Conversations on topics of interest to LGBT members at five libraries along the Wasatch Front. The public is invited. Sit With Me Sunday is an initiative to invite LGBT people to sit with friendly members in their neighborhood churches.{{cite news|last1=Kuruvilla|first1=Carol|title=Mormon Allies Promise LGBT Christians: You Can Sit With Me At Church|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/28/sit-with-me-sunday_n_6378606.html|accessdate=24 May 2017|agency=The Huffington Post|date=28 December 2014}}

• Bianca Morrison Dillard
• Suzanne Fei, Computational biologist{{cite web |accessdate=2019-07-29 |url= https://www.mormonwomen.com/interview/coded-in-the-dna/ |title= Coded in the DNA |work= Mormon Women Project |author=Peterson, Kathryn |date=2013-10-04}}
• Erika Munson
• Kendall Wilcox

• [https://archive.today/20140126114000/http://mormonsbuildingbridges.org/ Official Website (Archived)]

{{LGBT people and the Latter Day Saint movement}}

{{Religion and LGBT people}}

Category:2012 establishments in Utah