By Staci DaSilva
sdasilva@kcautv.com
The annual Mardi Gras-themed "Big Parade" was created years ago as a musical and fun-filled event for all ages.
It's since taken a turn down a political path, but did one float Friday evening go too far? That's for you to decide.
The last float in Friday's "Big Parade" was sponsored by the Mason City-based "Common Sense Iowa Political Action Committee."
The message was to clearly promote traditional marriage and oust another Iowa Supreme Court Justice who voted for the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state back in 2009.
And when Sioux City's Chad Ferris caught wind of this, he immediately took to the "Big Parade's" Facebook page, where he started a firestorm.
Chad Ferris said, "I figured I'd have one or two people that said this, that or the other, I did not expect the reaction that I received at all. This just seemed to me to be a message of hate that should not have been put in such a light with the parade."
But Matthew Ung thinks different. He walked alongside the float and says people have the right to share their opinion, no matter the venue.
Matthew Ung said, "I was troubled by the fact that I saw several children wave to us very nicely and their parents would read the sign and put their children's hands down. This is pretty indicative of the distaste for this freedom of speech issue that I believe I was involved in."
Others fundamentally disagree. Dave Bernstein co-founded the "Big Parade" and says this was not what he had in mind.
Dave Bernstein said, "Parades are pretty all-American, for candidates to ride in at the right time of the cycles but I think the group that put on that float, it's a just way for them to try and ruin a perfectly good thing. They know exactly what they're doing.
As for the City, folks there couldn't meet on camera. But organizer Aran Rush with the Sioux City Convention Center told Channel 9 "We don't discriminate. The parade is open to anybody."
Sprawled across the float in big letters was the website "letusvoteiowa.org."
If you go to that website it directly links you to the Family Leader's website, a group known for its support of traditional marriage.
Julie Summa, a representative gave us this statement:
"The FAMiLY LEADER supports the efforts of all individuals, entities, and organizations that support God's design for marriage…one man and one woman. We also fully support such individuals in exercising their freedom of speech to uphold God's design for marriage in a variety of avenues, including parades. The FAMiLY LEADER played no role in the entry of the float in the Sioux City parade. As a resource to families, churches, and ministries, we support the use of and promotion of our website to provide information on a wide range of issues affecting the family."
