One of the BYU students whose photo was removed from a student art show by the Mormon university's censorious homophobes had this to say about why he participated in the project—and why he, as a BYU student, can't speak out publicly. (He may or may not be one of the students in the photos above.)

I am one of the eight BYU students that was photographed for this project. I'd love to talk to Dan Savage and give my story, but I could be kicked out of BYU for "advocating" homosexuality. As a senior, it would be bad to be kicked out and it makes little sense to transfer.

Some have asked why a gay man would attend BYU in the first place since it is one of the top 10 most discriminatory schools towards gays according to the Princeton review. I went to BYU because I didn't want to be gay and I thought BYU could make me straight. After going through BYU's "gender affirmative therapy" and other experiences (like an LDS mission) I found that I was still gay. I realized that it wasn't going away, and after a lot of soul searching, I came to accept my sexual orientation for what it was.

My life before this acceptance was hell. I participated in Michael's photography project because I thought his project could reach out to others who were struggling to accept their orientation. I felt it sent the message that A. It's ok to acknowledge/accept the fact that you are gay and B. There are people at BYU who will support you. My participation in the project was safe because school policy states, "One's stated same-gender attraction is not an Honor Code issue."

For the record, this project had the complete support of BYU's art department. Several BYU faculty members fought to keep the show up, and expressed disappointment when the administration took it down. I am proud to have participated in the project and hope that others at BYU struggling to accept themselves can find the peace that I found.