Gold Plates and the Such
Okay, so I have guilt. Blog guilt. It's been more than a week. I could have died in the desert and y'all wouldn't have known. I've decided to just tell you what's happened since we got to Utah and catch up on LA the next time I'm on the bus, 'cause if I don't keep going I'm never going to make it. I wrote about Azusa on the Equality Ride site, though not very well, so you can read about it there. Also, for Emily and other La Serna folks, I actually went to Biola. Not as scary as I expected. Apparently T is an adjunct professor there now. Interesting.
So Utah. Beautiful country. God's country even. But sheesh are there a lot of Mormons here. Everyone is very nice and polite (well, mostly), but I have never in my life gotten quite such a big "you're not from around here, are you?" vibe. We spent time on Saturday and Sunday learning about the LDS faith from their publications and several brave young gay Mormons who were kind enough to answer our questions. Sunday afternoon we went to church for a family service sponsored by a couple different local parishes including the UCC and the Unitarians, followed by the requisite potluck supper. Nice folks.
We spent all day today on BYU's campus. I admit, I was a bit nervous. But luckily the first couple of people I talked to were very friendly and really interested to talk to us. That group wanted to know a lot about "gay culture" (What's with the short hair? Do you want kids and how are you going to obtain them? Are you really that promiscuous?) and were very attentive. Also discussed libertarian politics. Later discussions were less friendly and comfortable. One student said to me "There are no gay Mormons, and if there are, they're missing the whole point". I've definitely had to overcome any shyness I may have had and grow even more bold in expressing myself and my opinions. At one point I was standing in Brigham Square with about 9 people standing around me asking how I could possibly think of spending my life with a woman. Crazy. Then there were the three extremely immature guys who wanted to know if I'd ever consider sleeping with any of them and which girls I thought were hot. Oh, a couple of people, including Jake's parents, were arrested for attempting to give a speech. Mama and Papa Reitan are fabulous, by the way, always manage to make me cry.
Luckily it was at about that point that I had to walk over to a local park for our rally. We sang some songs and had I think a half dozen people speak, all of whom were current or former members of the LDS church and also LGBT. It was very cold and I was feeling antisocial so I didn't hear all the speeches but there was a lot of clapping. We did have some counter demonstrators, most of whom were quiet but a couple people honked their horns to disrupt us and began yelling "Soulforce go home" and something about how we were intolerant of their religion. Also, one of our speakers was clearly not coached beforehand and spoke about how he was queer by choice and planned to stand up for Mormons' right to practice polygamy and such. Overall though I think it went well. We had many community supporters, including some gay couples. What lesbians are doing in Provo I don't know, they must like the scenery.
THEN (are you getting the idea that we have some long days?) I went with four other people to a student Family Home Evening. I was a bit nervous to go, especially since we'd been told we might be totally welcomed. But I'm really glad I went, as we were able to have some more casual and open discussions about what it really means to be a gay person of faith and how the LDS treats its LGBT members. Totally awesome. Quote of the evening: "Jello isn't in our doctrine. Please don't judge us by our cuisine." I never thought I'd say I had a good time at BYU, but I definitely did. And I finally got my very own "Choose The Right" ring, which I've been wanting for years.
Tomorrow we are back on campus (or at least in the area) doing our procession of lilies in memory of LDS people who have committed suicide and then dialogue again in the evening. After that we are on to Colorado Christian, which we're expecting to be one of our more challenging schools. We are each being assigned a chaperone, and that group has been praying for us (not in a positive way) and meeting with members of Exodus and reparative therapy groups in preparation for our visit. Faaaaaabulous.
Alright, sleep time. Happy late birthday Diana!
So Utah. Beautiful country. God's country even. But sheesh are there a lot of Mormons here. Everyone is very nice and polite (well, mostly), but I have never in my life gotten quite such a big "you're not from around here, are you?" vibe. We spent time on Saturday and Sunday learning about the LDS faith from their publications and several brave young gay Mormons who were kind enough to answer our questions. Sunday afternoon we went to church for a family service sponsored by a couple different local parishes including the UCC and the Unitarians, followed by the requisite potluck supper. Nice folks.
We spent all day today on BYU's campus. I admit, I was a bit nervous. But luckily the first couple of people I talked to were very friendly and really interested to talk to us. That group wanted to know a lot about "gay culture" (What's with the short hair? Do you want kids and how are you going to obtain them? Are you really that promiscuous?) and were very attentive. Also discussed libertarian politics. Later discussions were less friendly and comfortable. One student said to me "There are no gay Mormons, and if there are, they're missing the whole point". I've definitely had to overcome any shyness I may have had and grow even more bold in expressing myself and my opinions. At one point I was standing in Brigham Square with about 9 people standing around me asking how I could possibly think of spending my life with a woman. Crazy. Then there were the three extremely immature guys who wanted to know if I'd ever consider sleeping with any of them and which girls I thought were hot. Oh, a couple of people, including Jake's parents, were arrested for attempting to give a speech. Mama and Papa Reitan are fabulous, by the way, always manage to make me cry.
Luckily it was at about that point that I had to walk over to a local park for our rally. We sang some songs and had I think a half dozen people speak, all of whom were current or former members of the LDS church and also LGBT. It was very cold and I was feeling antisocial so I didn't hear all the speeches but there was a lot of clapping. We did have some counter demonstrators, most of whom were quiet but a couple people honked their horns to disrupt us and began yelling "Soulforce go home" and something about how we were intolerant of their religion. Also, one of our speakers was clearly not coached beforehand and spoke about how he was queer by choice and planned to stand up for Mormons' right to practice polygamy and such. Overall though I think it went well. We had many community supporters, including some gay couples. What lesbians are doing in Provo I don't know, they must like the scenery.
THEN (are you getting the idea that we have some long days?) I went with four other people to a student Family Home Evening. I was a bit nervous to go, especially since we'd been told we might be totally welcomed. But I'm really glad I went, as we were able to have some more casual and open discussions about what it really means to be a gay person of faith and how the LDS treats its LGBT members. Totally awesome. Quote of the evening: "Jello isn't in our doctrine. Please don't judge us by our cuisine." I never thought I'd say I had a good time at BYU, but I definitely did. And I finally got my very own "Choose The Right" ring, which I've been wanting for years.
Tomorrow we are back on campus (or at least in the area) doing our procession of lilies in memory of LDS people who have committed suicide and then dialogue again in the evening. After that we are on to Colorado Christian, which we're expecting to be one of our more challenging schools. We are each being assigned a chaperone, and that group has been praying for us (not in a positive way) and meeting with members of Exodus and reparative therapy groups in preparation for our visit. Faaaaaabulous.
Alright, sleep time. Happy late birthday Diana!
posted by Di at 10:09 PM
1 Comments:
Hang in there! I'm in India now where homosexuality is still illegal. CNN India, however, is running a weeklong special on the topic. The government says India is not ready for it to be legal.
-Andrew
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