Dawgma wrote:
cumom wrote:
When I was at BYU, there was a counselor on campus who was telling gay guys to take up dancing specifically (but also other arts) to have an emotional outlet. It was the counselor's (stupid) belief, that what was wrong with gay men was that their emotional and creative pipes were clogged, and so they needed outlets. She also counseled them to join men's groups and sports teams so they could bond with guys in non-sexual, totally not gay ways. Anyway, one of my roommates when I lived in the mauve cinderblock hell called Park Place Apartments went to this counselor and actually ended up a dance major and, of course, married. I don't know what happened to him after we BYU (we lost touch shortly after he started dancing), but when I saw this kid on the news clip, my question was does BYU still direct gay men to take up dancing as a cure for their affliction? The fact that they were so deeply uncomfortable with his (beautiful, athletic, and male) body only adds to the absurdity of the whole thing.
@Cumon
I know you are busy, might not see this. Are there really openly gay men and women at byu? I never heard of this. I had assumed that it would be very underground.
When I was there 20 years ago, no one was open (and I hadn't even figured myself out yet). But there was I found out later an underground subculture. BYU actively sought to trap, catch, or entrap gay men (I know several whose lives were ruined at the time); and the school had never stopped its reparative therapy program. When BYU would catch a gay person, they would blackmail them into getting therapy. There were also gay people who would seek therapy on their own, trying to "fix" themselves. When I was a senior, I went to my bishop (I think his name was Moon; he was a professor in the Spanish department); he stopped me mid-story and leaned forward in his chair and said to me very seriously: "Listen closely to me: There is nothing wrong with you. You are graduating in a few months. Keep this to yourself, finish your degree, and go some place where you can be free to be yourself." I did not have the emotional well-being at the time to fully take his advice to heart; I did not believe him that there was nothing wrong with me, but I did take his advice to sit on it until I had my degree.
Right after I graduated I got hooked into, quite by accident, an underground group of Lesbians. These were women who were both single and married, bi or gay, who had created a whole underground lesbian culture. They had get togethers ranging from dinners to sex parties. It was a total eye-opener to me. Shortly thereafter I moved to grad school.
My understanding is that now it is more common for there to be out students on campus; but they have to be out in a kind of "ex-gay" kind of way. They are public with their orientation, but are dedicated to a celibate and chaste life. They are often portrayed as martyrs and heros of faith for bearing their burden. They have to be careful not to be political or advocate for gay rights, or there is massive backlash. I also understand that the church and BYU still try to entrap men and still blackmail them (i.e., threaten to out them and/or kick them out and not release their transcripts).
Hope that helps. To be clear, I haven't been a student since Aug 1994, so someone who's been there more recently may have more accurate impressions.
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