"Hello, is this where I register as Gay?", said the young man, poking his head into the front lobby of the Honor Code office.

  "What?! No, this is the Honor Code office. Gays don't have to register here, or anywhere on the campus! Who told you that Gays had to register?", responded the middle-aged lady seated at a receptionist's desk.

  The young man moved completely into the lobby and let the door shut behind him. "Well, I know that Gay people aren't allowed to act gay, and so I assume if they are caught 'acting Gay', some kind of record is kept of them and their names are linked to being Gay. I just thought I'd go ahead and register as a Gay so that even though I have no intention of 'acting Gay', you all will know to watch out for me. It might even help me if I should ever come to consider suicide; you'll know that as a Gay at BYU, I might come to have a propensity for suicide."

  "Clearly, young man, you're here to cause a scene. You and your type should not be here..."

  "Excuse me, where does it say that Gays cannot attend this University? My bishop knows I'm gay and yet he signed my ecclesiastical endorsement."

  "Of course Gay people can attend BYU, so long as they pledge to keep our rules..."

  "See, lady, that's what I mean! I do intend to keep your rules, but the Honor Code office exists because not everyone is able to live out their intentions. I just want to register as a Gay and then go on about my education, knowing that I'm not trying to keep any secrets from you, that I'm being honorable!"

  "Well, take a seat and I'll see what can be done!" <harumph!>



And then two days later, they begin trickling in, boys and girls, to register as "Gay or might be Gay." And the trickle grows to a steady flow and the press goes nuts!


What happens next?

(Yeah, I'm a dreamer.)

I am Spartacus!

I Am Spartacus

I remember, years ago, a cartoon: A few men are inside a sidewalk-level office, with the sign over the window reading, "Official Gay Recruiting Center." One remarks, "The military has been doing this for years--we should have thought of this long ago!"

OK! once again!!
"THEY" own the school
Therefore "THEY" Make the rules!!!
That is why "I" would never attend that "institute of higher learning"
Not gay
Not bi
Not druggie
Not alcholic
Just human

Having one's name on a deed does not bestow an infinite right to be a jerk. There are limits. And even if this particular form of jerkitude is legal, there can still be negative social consequences to being jerks, as they are learning.

BYU/LDS Inc keep trying to find a socially acceptable way to be homophobic, and they keep failing. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

Most eighteen/nineteen year old BIC's headed to BYU have no idea who they are or what they are really getting into although at that age we all considered ourselves to be very wise indeed.

Hindsight won't be of value to them for years to come so that they can say:

"THEY" own the school
Therefore "THEY" Make the rules!!!
That is why "I" would never attend that "institute of higher learning"


By the time they know this they are in too deep and have too much to lose. The choices are daunting. Family pressure to go to that school. Family support emotionally and financially being withdrawn. Being outed and not strong enough for that. The ocean looks very big when you are in the middle and all you see is 360 degrees of giant waves.

I would hope they make the best choices for themselves at that point, because "THEY" have stacked the deck.

Done & Done Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> By the time they know this they are in too deep
> and have too much to lose. The choices are
> daunting. Family pressure to go to that school.
> Family support emotionally and financially being
> withdrawn. Being outed and not strong enough for
> that. The ocean looks very big when you are in the
> middle and all you see is 360 degrees of giant
> waves.

This is a great (and pithy) explanation of a complex issue, D&D. I asked the other day why an LGBTQ student would attend BYU - I confess my ignorance - but now I get it more after some of the responses on a few threads.

It seems to be partly the same mechanism that scoops up all the teenage Mormon males and takes away two years of their lives on a "mission" for God - programmed from birth, essentially given no choice, the spectre of grave consequences for not fulfilling expectations, no safe place to be themselves, no opportunity for self-expression or individual choices.

I used to call it the Mormon treadmill, that captures you at birth and keeps you running, without pause to think, until your mid-20s when you wake up one day married, with 2 or 3 kids, in debt, chained to a church you didn't choose.

But now I think that metaphor isn't strong enough. The church is darker and more sinister than that, at least for many members who get stuck and feel they have no choice. Even before they can exercise a choice a major chunk of their lives has passed.

It's well worth exploring, as we do regularly here, what it is that makes "the shelf" break at last. A point that seems so obvious to those on the outside, even to many exmos, is not that obvious to those stuck inside, especially young folks. But when the light breaks through it is amazingly welcome and freeing. It is perhaps one of RfM's most crucial achievements - casting light on the shelf-breakers that get people to think in a different way and so, finally, reach their *own* conclusions about life, not staying stuck in a system they didn't choose and don't believe in or enjoy.

You hit the nail on the head. That is exactly what they are doing.

The quote below is from the Amplified Bible (because of the obvious amplifications/explanations included in the text).

It seems to me that Jesus said it's okay to be gay or a very close facsimile.

10 The disciples said to Jesus, “If the relationship of a man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”

11 But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom [the capacity to receive] it has been given.

12 For there are eunuchs who have been born that way from their mother’s womb [making them incapable of consummating a marriage]; and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men [for royal service]; and there are eunuchs who have [b]made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

I hung out with a gay guy yesterday does that mean i have to register? Man this is confusing.

See, I think everyone should register! Better safe than sorry...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2020 05:25PM by elderolddog.

I concur.

I actually saw a picture of one of the signs being held up at the protest in front of the COB. It said "I'm Gay. Go ahead and report me."