More than 300 members of the Mormon church who aren’t gay marched in the Utah Gay Pride Parade this weekend to send a message of love and inclusion to the LGBT community. Organizers say this is the first time such a large group has participated. 

Mormon parade participants included a number of parents with their young children. Many participants said they were trying to heal the deep wounds that have existed historically between LGBT people and the Mormon church. Some heartwarming anecdotes as reported by the Washington Post:

Nevin Munson, 13, carried a sign that said: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” 

“I’m very saddened by the amount of hate in the world,” he said, adding discrimination against gays and lesbians exists around the world. “I don’t believe in that — they’re humans.”

Emily Vandyke, 50, carried a sign with the words from a Mormon children’s song: “I’ll walk with you, I’ll talk with you. That’s how I’ll show my love for you.”

Along the parade route, she embraced a weeping woman who said, “Thank you.”

“I haven’t recognized them as equals,” Vandyke told the Tribune. “They have been invisible to me.”