An Enduring Club of LGBTQ+ BYU Students Remains “Unofficial”
There are over 100 student clubs that are currently sponsored by BYU’s Student Service Association (BYUSA), according to the BYU Student Organizations website. There is a Magic: The Gathering club, roller skating club, diabetes club, and several a cappella clubs. There are also clubs on the website that are currently listed as “inactive,” like a “Weird Al” Yankovic fan club, a club for tall people, and a club for students who have any connection to Nebraska.
But there is a club for BYU students that you won’t find listed on BYU’s website or meeting on BYU’s campus. The club is called Understanding Sexuality, Gender, and Allyship (USGA) and according to USGA’s website, it is “an unofficial group of Brigham Young University students, faculty, and guests who wish to enhance the BYU community by providing a safe, open, respectful conversation on LGBTQ & SSA topics.”
The group used to meet on campus after it was first organized as an unofficial BYU club in 2010, according to USGA’s web-site. Maddy Purves (she/her), former USGA member and co-director of the 2020 documentary “Same-Sex Attracted,” said that in USGA’s early years, the group didn’t have a name and their meetings were not advertised.
But in 2012, the group of LGBTQ+ students moved off BYU’s campus. Former USGA president JD Goates (they/he) said that while BYU administrators have claimed that USGA made the choice to leave campus, the group was actually kicked off by BYU administrators and USGA quietly complied.
“BYU and the Church will deny this to this day. To this day, they refuse to say that they had any say in why USGA left campus. That is bullshit,” Goates said. “There is no reason why we would have given up a free, consistent space [to meet].”
Goates said USGA was asked to leave after the group held a panel in 2012, where LGBTQ+ BYU students shared their experiences and answered questions from those in attendance. Goates said that a lot of attention was drawn to USGA after the panel and donors, BYU board members, and leaders in the LDS Church found out that a group of LGBTQ+ students were meeting on campus. But Goates said BYU administrators never gave a clear reason as to why USGA couldn’t meet on campus. Goates said that USGA presidency members have applied multiple times to BYUSA to become an official BYU club but they have been denied each time.
“We had a charter, we had a faculty advisor, we had everything necessary to be a club. But they [BYUSA] sat on it, or they dismissed it, or the paperwork got lost. Multiple times, whenever we inquired about it, they were like ‘Oh, well, it’s above my head.’” Goates said.
The Prodigal Press reached out to BYU’s University Communications office sever-al times to inquire about BYU’s involvement in USGA leaving campus and why USGA hasn’t been admitted as a BYUSA club. Each time, University Communications representatives said they would pass along the request and then failed to respond.
The Working Group
In 2016 BYU administrators started a group of invited LGBTQ+ students, BYU administrators, and faculty to come up with ways to support LGBTQ+ students. The group was originally called a “task force” but later called a “working group.” Goates was a member of the group while he was a student at BYU.
“When we asked for clarification of what it [the task force] was, they said ‘Well we don’t really know.’ And then they went up and got a talking to because ‘task force’ implies that they have power to change things, which they did not. So they got demoted to a working group,” Goates said.
The 2020 documentary “Same-Sex Attracted,” directed by Purves and Zoie Young (they/them), details the experiences of several LGBTQ+ students at BYU and the relationship between USGA and the working group. In the documentary, which was mainly filmed between 2017-2019, members of USGA have a confidential meeting with the BYU administrators of the “Working Group.”
Going into the meeting, some LGBTQ+ BYU students who were interviewed in the documentary said that they were excited be-cause a meeting like this, between administrators and LGBTQ+ students, had never happened before. Other students said they were nervous and apprehensive because they didn’t trust the administrators or their intentions.
“When this on-campus group starts up, there isn’t gonna really be demand for two groups. They’re not gonna both be sustain-able. So either USGA will need to move to this group and support this group. Or, if it remains separate, one of them will die,” said Liza Holdaway, former USGA presidency member, in “Same-Sex Attracted.”
However after the meeting, many USGA members felt emotionally drained and angry.
“I’m so mad,” said former BYU student Brynn Adams. “We aren’t safe. No one feels safe, I think that’s the general consensus. I hope they listened.”
Another scene in “Same-Sex Attracted” shows a USGA leadership meeting after their discussion with BYU administrators. One student asked why BYU administrators don’t just endorse USGA as a resource for LGBTQ+ students but instead are trying to create their own resource.
“Is this a resource for queer students or is this a resource for all the straight people to learn how to be okay with us?” asked Sammi Taylor.
Other USGA members nodded in agreement with Taylor’s comment and several said they didn’t believe the working group was made for LGBTQ+ students.
Future of USGA
According to BYUSA’s website, “Each club may submit a proposal to receive up to $300/year or $150/semester in funding.” Additionally, “clubs can earn $10/hour to staff or perform at select events.” As USGA is not an official BYUSA club, USGA has to find its own source of funding for activities. USGA also has to rent meeting rooms, often at the Provo City library, as they aren’t able to meet for free on BYU’s campus.
While USGA receives donations, Goates said some weeks funding fell through and presidency members had to pay out of pocket. But Goates said that USGA is also at a disadvantage compared to BYUSA clubs because USGA isn’t able to advertise on campus.
“We relied on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, word of mouth, and any other thing that would draw people’s attention or let people know that we even existed,” Goates said.
Purves said that if USGA were able to advertise on campus and go to clubs night, they would be able to reach incoming LGBTQ+ freshman.
“I remember when I was a freshman, that was the most dire of times. That was when I needed the help the most,” Purves said.
Current USGA President, Nick Franks (he/him), said that LGBTQ+ BYU students have to actively search for USGA in order to find it. He also said that students might be hesitant to attend USGA meetings since the group isn’t allowed on campus.
“There’s some degree of stigma that goes along with a group like this, that’s not approved,” Franks said. “That comes with some assumptions like, ‘they’re trying to subvert BYU or the Church.’ Or, ‘they’re not allowed on campus,’ then the assumption is that there’s something wrong with the group.”
Franks said that while he would love for USGA to meet on campus, it isn’t a goal the group is currently working towards. Franks said that they’ve been told multiple times that USGA will never become an official on-campus club, so they’re not focusing their energy right now on applying to BYUSA.
Franks said that if USGA were allowed to meet on campus, he believes it would show LGBTQ+ students that they are supported by the University.
“People would feel in a very real way that BYU cared about its LGBT students and just marginalized populations in general. I think it reflects very poorly on the University that there is no formal organization,” Franks said. “And I understand that it’s a complicated issue, because of questions regarding church doctrine. But it definitely is not too complicated that they couldn’t have an organization.”
Franks said that with the growing support of LGBTQ+ people from BYU students and faculty, he thinks there will eventually be an LGBTQ+ organization on campus. But as of right now, Franks doesn’t think that USGA will become an official BYU club within the next year. Jonathan Muirhead (he/him), current USGA Vice President, said “I feel it’s more likely that BYU creates their own group, rather than USGA becoming the official BYU group.”
Now that Goates is somewhat removed from BYU and no longer living in Utah, they said that whenever they tell people about their experience at BYU, others can’t believe it. When the “Same-Sex Attracted” documentary came out, Goates was living in New York City and showed some of his friends the film. Goates said after watching the documentary, his friends were surprised by how badly LGBTQ+ students, like Goates, have been treated at BYU.
“It’s so hard for me to look back at those times, and not say ‘what the fuck,’ because there is nothing about it that is normal,” Goates said. “But living in Utah makes it normalized, makes it normalized that you would get kicked out for holding hands or going on a date with someone of the same gender as you. And that is absurd to anyone else.”