Reaching Out to BYU

Advocacy of a homosexual lifestyle (whether implied or explicit) or any behaviors that indicate homosexual conduct, including those not sexual in nature, are inappropriate and violate the Honor Code.

As demonstrated above, the Brigham Young University Honor Code is unclear in its policy toward LGBT students and their allies. What exactly is homosexual conduct and, aside from genders involved, how does homosexual conduct differ from heterosexual conduct? As a straight ally, where are the lines for me? Can I celebrate the loving relationship between two same-gender partners? Can I participate in a rally? Can I wear a rainbow, even as a small pin on my purse?

Today, unwelcomed from Brigham Young University, we headed to Utah Valley State College (UVSC), an open and safe state college not far from BYU. In their grand ballroom, we were able to host our presentations about Christianity and its role within the LGBT community as well as the LGBT community and its role within Christianity. Interested BYU and UVSC students littered the audience with attentive ears.

This evening, we headed to the Provo Library to host a panel discussion. Among the panelists were Mike (an Equality Rider and BYU alumni who identifies as a gay man), Melissa and Lauren (current BYU students who both identify as lesbians), Tristan (a current BYU student who identifies as straight) and Daniel (a BYU alumni who identifies as a gay man). They were asked heated questions: if you had the chance to change anything about BYU to make it a better place for LGBT students, what would you do and why? How have the school’s anti-LGBT policies affected your student life at BYU and, most importantly, how has this affected your own faith journey with God?

Overall, the consesus is clear: the limitations placed on students by Brigham Young University’s Honor Code restrict academic freedom and personal and spiritual growth. Unable to discuss LGBT issues (either positive or negative) and clearly distinguish expectations for all students equally, students are unable to progress personally and academically. They are unable to learn the truth about sexual and gender identity and carry their misinformation like heavy crosses into society. They take these school-implanted prejudices into the work world as teachers, counselors, social workers, doctors, parents. The seeds planted on campuses like BYU are harmful to our families, to our communities, and to society as a whole.

It is estimated that approximately 4 LGBT individuals, many of them unable to reconcile their identity with their faith, commit suicide every day.

The seeds planted at BYU blossom into the knives, pills, nooses, guns and other devices that our youth are using to destroy themselves. These are the seeds that sprout into hate, discrimination, and prejudice. Schools like BYU that openly discriminate against LGBT students by creating hostile and unsafe enivronments, are also creating the farmers who will continue to sow these seeds. This must stop. New seeds must be planted. Lives depend on it.

Seeds of love, understanding, and inclusion–seeds that recognize all people as equal and as children of God–are available to us, but too few schools are willing to plant them. As a result, at BYU and schools like it, the old seeds of hate and discrimination continue to take root and spread through our fields like dangerous weeds.

It is my desire as an Equality Rider to replant these fields and yield new crops of inclusion, love, and understanding.

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