Honor Code
BYU released an updated honor code, removing all references to homosexuals or same-sex relationships. Instead, the code now calls for students to, “Live a chaste and virtuous life, including abstaining from any sexual relations outside a marriage between a man and a woman.”
Are hugs okay? Hand holding? Kissing? Cuddling? It’s unclear. What is clear is that these activities are not prohibited for straight students. In fact, BYU’s reputation for not only being a place to get an education, but also a spouse, is an argument that these activities are encouraged; but only if you’re straight.
It was in these quiet moments of pain and confusion that I felt another triumph: That of coming to terms, not with who I thought I should be, but who the Lord has made me to be.
No buildings were leveled to the ground, the sun came up like it always does, students studied, teachers taught, no one was struck dumb, the visiting GA’s could drink their favorite soda in the light of day and not hide in the shadows.
Today, I’m incredibly happy being me. Over the years I’ve heard so many stories of individuals who grew up LDS and were cut off by their families when they came out. But being out and having my parents not just tolerate but warmly embrace me is such an amazing feeling.
While one arm of the administration was meeting with and assuring hopeful students and faculty that a place was being made for them, another was simultaneously being dishonest and vicious, actually making stuff up, to eliminate them. The stark confrontation with what felt finally like BYU’s true colors, began to fill me with an immense lack of hope that the work I was doing at BYU was going to make any significant difference.
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