TW: This may remind you of your progressive Mormon aunt

For Ayat Firwana.

Noticing something like the fact that you’re the only Black person in the room isn’t entirely innate. At least not to me. It took me a while before I really started to raise an eyebrow. Perhaps these white guys that are supposedly my “uncles” on my dad’s side aren’t actually blood related to me after all. I stewed on that theory for a while…

I was terrified the first time I told anyone I wanted to use they/them pronouns. I thought I didn’t look “trans enough” to claim a nonbinary gender identity, and, beyond my appearance, I wasn’t completely sure what my gender actually was. So when I got misgendered, I didn’t feel I had the right to correct anyone…

fifteen old men sit around a table talking in depth about what to do what to do about the problem all over the internet in every person's mind…

I stare at the worn, beaten blue book resting on the end of the bookshelf in my room, wondering when the last time I opened it was. It used to have legible text on the cover, but time and heavy use have chipped the gold lettering off completely...

i want to see them perched carefully on antennae, soaring through the crux of splitting branches...

I’ve heard that Catholics teach that the pope is infallible, but nobody believes it; Mormons teach that the prophet is fallible, but nobody believes it. While I can’t speak to the truthfulness of such a claim for practicing Catholics, I register the Mormon half of that sentiment to be unfailingly true...

War is being waged all over the world. One of the simplest and most important doctrinal truths is the commandment to love one another, to treat them as you would be treated. You may not think that this applies to war, when important human rights are threatened or when self defense is needed…

“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another” (1 Cor. 12:25)

I am a queer, nonbinary Mormon at BYU. As I navigate this seemingly contradictory space, I am sure of one thing: this is who I am…

From soaking to durfing to NCMOs, there is no doubt that the dating scene at BYU is weird. Someone new to this culture could definitely…

While dating and relationships at BYU are generally unique experiences, the experience of women of color is even more nuanced. Racism, fetishization, and tokenization all play their part in leaving women of color at BYU out of this idealized, healthy dating scene.

According to the Bible, the first humans were created during the sixth creative period after the light was separated, the seas and mountains…

Parking in Provo may be a pain, but Provo student housing is the real racket. Too often, BYU students are overcharged, abused, and taken…

If you don’t fit the stereotypical BYU mold—straight, white, middle to upper-middle class, active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—you are subject to persecution for your enrollment. Students of color and queer students have reported time and time again that their institution makes them feel unwelcome…

When I first heard about the upcoming protests at BYU last spring over its recent assertion that LGBTQ relationships were still in violation of…

I'm frankly embarrassed by the number of conversations I’ve had with my parents over the last year that have ended with me crying…