Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Homo Censored at Brigham Young University
Posted by Dan Savage on Tue, Dec 9, 2008 at 11:00 AM
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.
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If you have a gay child, you're not going to know you do, or you'll be in denial. If you raise your child to think that this harmless, very much normal preference is "sick" or "wrong," that child is going to grow up accordingly. They will make life-changing decisions around it. "I'm going to this school instead of that one, because I want to be straight." "I'm going to marry this woman I don't want to show you all I'm straight, and to convince myself that I am"—etc.
So..who is that helping? Wouldn't you rather raise your children to accept everyone for who they are? Your morals aren't going down the drain. You don't have to sacrifice all of your beliefs. You can choose your model:
A ) Raise your kid to grow bigoted against themselves, or against another. If you do have a homosexual child, they'll most likely grow up and break free of your belief against them, which will break down all of the beliefs you gave them. They could very well turn atheist, I mean, what's the use of praying to a God if you've been taught you're an abomination to his name? And since this child has been so oppressed all these years, when they do come out, they could very well take a drive to super-sex city.
B) Raise your children to respect everyone. True diversity doesn't come in colors, political preference or sexuality. Your child can come out with all you've taught them, and you can love them for who they are. They could grow up just like you, only instead of marrying someone of the opposite sex, they'll marry someone of the same sex.
If you choose A, it's a no-win situation. You're setting your gay child up for a world of pain, or you're setting your straight child up for a world of hate.
They're sick of hearing us complain, they're sick of hearing us scream that we're gay. Well we're here and we're sick of being treated like shit. This wouldn't be a big issue if you wouldn't make it such a big issue. We'll stop cramming our "lifestyle" down your throats when you stop flushing it down the toilet.
Every element of this story is just absolutely depressing. This student's story is the arsenic-laced cherry on top.
you bet they wear 'em - the slinky rayon version, pinked from washing with a red shirt - and taken off from the shoulder to the cock in a strip tease that would heat up any queen ... maybe that is the magic?
mocking Cardinals and Bishops and all the costumes which are right out of Halloween seems to work better for me - as far as mocking someones drawers.
Lapsed Catholics, what do Bishops wear under all that garb? And the Pope, God, talk about underwear, handmade silk sewn by nuns in free work prisons??
I NEED to know ...
"Hey, another mormon, I can say 'magic underpants' and people will laugh! Other people say, 'magic underpants' and people laugh -- I can get me some of that!"
Thank you Mr. Poe for caring. I think the guy who did the project had to take down his blog because he didn't want to be expelled from BYU for advocating homosexuality. What a tough position to be in.
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.
what you really are wondering is-
"would the magic underpants work for me?"
That little incontinance problem is getting old, isn't it
Mr POOPYPANTS?!
.
.
(still got your proctologist on speed dial?)
http://jmichaelwiltbank.blogspot.com/
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