https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2 ... byu-light/The group’s lighting of the iconic “Y” in rainbow colors came on the anniversary of when the school, along with the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that owns it, sent out a letter in March 2020 clarifying its stance on same-sex romantic behavior.
The month prior, the university had quietly removed the section banning “all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings” from its strict Honor Code that outlines what behavior is allowed by those who attend the conservative school.
LGBTQ students had celebrated what they hoped that it meant, kissing in front of statues at BYU and holding hands. And many said they came out as gay only because they believed — and were told by some Honor Code staff — that the school now allowed it.
But they say that was ripped away with a painful reversal when leaders said three weeks later that just because the section was taken out of the code, it didn’t change anything and their relationships were still “not compatible” with the rules at BYU.
Talbot, a senior, said the event Thursday was as much a commemoration of that day, as well as a condemnation of it. Many, he added, still feel gaslit.
“That day felt like a betrayal for a lot of LGBTQ students,” Talbot said. “It was traumatic. So this was a day for us to reclaim that and try to turn it into something positive.”
So what happened?
What was BYU's reaction?About 40 students and allies took part in lighting the “Y.” The group had spent days ahead of time, mapping out the 380-foot tall letter and determining where they would need to stand along its borders to light it up.
They met at the trailhead after dark Thursday for the one-mile hike, a faint outline of the snowcapped mountain and the white letter on its side barely visible. Only a few houses and street lamps were lit up below. Most of the students were bundled tight in coats and hats and gloves.
“If BYU won’t show their love to us, we’re going to make sure our love is visible to them,” Danny Niemann, a senior and gay student at the school, said before starting the climb.
The participants were assigned a color and a spot on the “Y” to hold their light so that the letter would appear in rainbow stripes from red at the top to purple at the bottom. When they turned on the flashlights — 76 in total — and turned them toward the concrete, the bright shape could be seen across Provo, with people commenting and posting pictures on social media from miles away.
With the growing attention, the school sent out a brief tweet noting: “BYU did not authorize the lighting of the Y tonight.”
And the school added in a later tweet Thursday that “any form of public expression on university property requires prior approval.”
Activism and unrest is the only thing BYU and the Church listen to. The only reason BYU has come up with a plan to tackle the institutionalised and systemic racism that exists is because students produced an extensive petition and BYU were in jeopardy of coming under government censure. The same levels of activism and unrest need to be exerted on BYU for the institutionalised and systemic homophobia that exists there....the display had so much support that the students were also greeted on their way down by fans, who circled in their cars blasting songs, including “Born This Way” and “I Kissed a Girl,” from their speakers.
I applaud these students and encourage them to remain vociferous in their peaceful public demonstrations. I hope the government and other universities take notice. It's time to Boycott BYU yet again. In 2021 a university riddled with racism and homophobia should not be allowed to continue within decent society. It needs to be ostracised.
