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BYU announces Office of Belonging; LDS Elder attacks LGBTQ+ people

“To use such antagonistic and warlike language in reference to LGBTQ+ people is indefensible. All students should feel safe.”

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Pride Flag at BYU (Photo Courtesy of Affirmation LGBTQ Mormons Families & Friends)

PROVO, Ut. – Brigham Young University President Kevin J Worthen announced earlier this week in the annual university conference for faculty and staff, the formation of a new Office of Belonging at the university to be led by a vice-president level official. The office’s creation follows a report from BYUā€™s Committee on Race, Equity and Belonging that was finished in February.

The new office will focus on helping campus members achieve the community of belonging outlined in a newly created statement on belonging. The office will focus primarily on coordinating and enhancing belonging services and efforts on campus.

Worthen emphasized that the Office of Belonging will not only be core to BYUā€™s efforts to root out racism, but also to combat ā€œprejudice of any kind, including that based on race, ethnicity, nationality, tribe, gender, age, disability, socioeconomic status, religious belief and sexual orientation.ā€

Notably absent from Worthen’s statement was any mention of Gender identity.

Also in attendance at the conference delivering remarks was Latter Day Saints Church, (LDS) Apostle Jeff Roy Holland, who attacked the premise of extending the idea of ‘belonging’ to the LGBTQ community at large.

The 80-year-old  member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is the second-highest presiding body in the government of the LDS Church, had served as the ninth president of the university.

ā€œWe must have the will to stand alone, to be different, if necessary. Being a university second to none in its role primarily as an undergraduate teaching institution that is unequivocally true to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. If at a future time, that mission means forgoing some professional affiliations and certifications, then so be it,ā€ Holland said. University faculty and staff should take up their intellectual ā€œmusketsā€ to defend the Mormon Church, especially ā€œthe doctrine of the family and…marriage as the union of a man and a woman.ā€

Holland also launched into a denouncement of university alumni Matt Easton, his class year’s valedictorian who had come out as gay during his commencement address to his classmates. Easton in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune noted that he was proud of what he did.

ā€œI wasnā€™t trying to grandstand or ā€˜commandeerā€™ the event. I drew on my personal experiences because they shaped my time at BYU ā€” authenticity is not the same as ā€˜agenda-pushing,ā€™ā€ Easton said.

Paul Southwick, the Director of the Portland, Oregon Religious Exemption Accountability Project, (REAP) told the Blade in an emailed statement, “To use such antagonistic and warlike language in reference to LGBTQ+ ideology is indefensible, particularly when so many LGBTQ+ students attend BYU. Quoting Mr. Hollandā€™s own language, it is ā€˜more divisive than unifying, at a time we want to show love for all of Godā€™s children.ā€™ 

ā€œEvery student should be have the freedom to be honest and open about who they are, without being subjected to dangerous rhetoric that puts them in harmā€™s way. All students should feel safe in their campus environments,” Southwick added.

ā€œBeing LGBTQ+ is not a ā€˜challenge’ and Holland’s statement and overall speech demonstrates the “unkindness” and “crushing cruel[ty]” that he claims to condemn.  We stand united against this speech and the message of exclusion that it sends to our LGBTQ+ youth at an extremely vulnerable time in their lives. We invite Mr. Holland, BYU, the LDS church, and all other religiously affiliated universities to join us in embracing these young people. These are your children and they deserve our unconditional love and acceptance.”

Commentators on multiple social media platforms were quick to rail against Holland’s remarks. One person on Twitter pointing out the direct line being drawn between the church Elder’s homophobia and the recent murder of a married lesbian couple in Grant County, Utah.

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Federal Government

US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households

Agency proposing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity

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The U.S. Census Bureau headquarters in Suitland, Md. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau)

The U.S. Census BureauĀ is seeking public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey. The test would begin this summer and continue into next year.

The Census Bureau published the request as a Federal Register notice. In its press release the agency noted that the ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.

As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected.

The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.

The test would follow the protocols of the actual ACS ā€” with one person asked to respond to the survey on behalf of the entire household. These particular questions are asked about people 15 years of age or older. Households are invited to respond to the survey online, by paper questionnaire or by phone.

TheĀ current Federal Register noticeĀ gives the public a final opportunity to provide feedback before the Census Bureau submits its recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The public may provide feedback through May 30Ā online.

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The White House

Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees

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Activists Judy and Dennis Shepard speak at the NGLCC National Dinner at the National Building Museum on Friday, Nov. 18. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.

The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.

The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.

In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, ā€œThis unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.

ā€œI am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.

ā€œIf I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Mattā€™s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”

Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.

Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with theĀ Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.

“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Bidenā€™s choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what sheā€™s done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.

“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said. Ā 

“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”

Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).

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National

United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy

Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures

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Underground Railroad, Black History Month, gay news, Washington Blade
Mount Zion United Methodist Church is the oldest African-American church in Washington. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to ā€œpromote acceptance of homosexuality.ā€ 

Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining ā€œself-avowed practicing homosexualsā€ effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.

The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.

According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.

The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality ā€” about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.

Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:

ā€œIt is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.

“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.ā€

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