LGBT Mormons: a life in “two worlds”, the struggle between sexuality and faith.
Despite what he heard — over and over again — while growing up as a gay Mormon kid, Mitch Mayne has persisted in being true to himself.
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LGBT Mormons Stand Strong in Their Faith and Sexuality at BYU[/tweetthis]
“You can be gay, or you can be Mormon. But you can’t be both,” he was told.
But as Mayne wrote in the Huffington Post, he now replies to the statement this way: “Watch me. I do it every day.”
The road is rough, but thousands upon thousands of LGBT Mormons travel it every day at Christian colleges, such as the most famous Mormon institution in the world: Brigham Young University.
Students like KC Clark, who is lesbian and attends BYU as a freshman studying economics, wants the same opportunities non-LGBT Mormon students get. “It’s really affordable to get a really good education,” Clark said, referring to BYU’s tuition of $5,300 for Mormon students. “I don’t want to be drowning in student loans my entire life.”
In-state tuition at the University of Utah is $7,680 and it is $6,864 at Utah State University. The four-year savings are clear.
As is the help afforded to students by LGBT groups like Understanding Same Gender Attraction, an unofficial group at BYU. Arenui Anderson credits the club with helping him to get where he is today. “I probably wouldn’t be in the place I’m in now if it wasn’t for that group.”
Refusing To Choose: #LGBT #Mormons Boldly Claim Both Their Orientation And Their Faith My world was full of (cont) https://t.co/iBligF4LhJ
— LOrion (@LOrion) September 15, 2016
Group membership has been difficult for LGBT Mormons, says Mayne. He practiced his faith seven days a week, but Mormons never accepted his sexuality. He was accepted by the gay community, except for his religious preferences. “I felt like a man with a foot in two worlds, but I didn’t fully belong in either,” he wrote. “No matter which one I chose, I still lost part of myself.”
While the fight for equality is far from over, LGBT students at Christian colleges are gaining support and growing in voice.
Meanwhile, Mama Dragons are doing everything they can to eliminate the suicides of LGBTs in the Mormon Community. They are a group of over 900 women who are fighting to protect LGBT youth.