After Brigham Young University leadership reiterated a campus ban on “same-sex romantic behavior” on March 4, Mormon writer Meg Conley put out a call on Twitter, offering to edit application essays for LGBTQ students who wanted to transfer out of the Utah institution.
Her message – signed, “a Mormon mother who loves you” – has since been retweeted 1,300 times.
Brigham Young University, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, previously had a student honor code that explicitly banned “all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings.” So, when that section disappeared in the updated honor code on Feb. 19, LGBTQ students celebrated. Some took the opportunity to come out or to openly share previously hidden relationships.
But two weeks later, Elder Paul V. Johnson, commissioner of the church educational system, wrote in a letter, “Same-sex romantic behavior cannot lead to eternal marriage and is therefore not compatible with the principles included in the Honor Code.”
Brigham Young University tweeted that there had been a “miscommunication” with the updated code.
“Even though we have removed the more prescriptive language, the principles of the Honor Code remain the same,” the university posted.
The reversal was a blow to the school’s LGBTQ students.
