There Are Gay People at BYU

[Update] In case you missed it during this busy, busy week, the Brigham Young University student photography exhibit that was quietly taken down last week was reinstated after review by college administrators, who determined that it did not, after all, violate BYU's honor code and explained that the removal was due to an administrative miscommunication.

The artist, Michael Wiltbank, is being more than gracious regarding BYU's gaffe and the distress it caused him. As with the bloggers who expressed outrage on his behalf, he seems less pleased: According to the D-News article, Wiltbank is "disappointed" at those who criticized the removal (which criticism is characterized as an attack on the LDS Church and the school). Wiltbank is quoted thus:

"I don't have any bitterness," he said. "The whole premise of the show was to show tolerance and support on both sides of the issue. What I wrote on my blog about the removal has been construed as bitter, but I didn't think it was. I think what some said on the Internet went against what I was trying to do with the exhibit.

"If we yell out hatred and bigoted things, nothing gets better."

Obviously, the reason this story garnered such widespread attention is because BYU is owned by the LDS Church, which is under criticism from those whose friends and families were affected by the Proposition 8 campaign (which actually was an attack on the material rights of gay and lesbian families in California). Otherwise, this story would have generated only tepid interest outside Utah, the way most stories about BYU's faculty purges and academic suppression have.

Yep, once again, it's the gays who are the bigots. (Apparently, it is no longer PC to express outrage against those who actively mean to cause you harm.)

I'd like to cut through all these coded messages about "tolerance and support" on "both sides of the issue." The whole reason there was any question about this exhibit is because it dealt with gay BYU students. Apparently, "being gay" is not a violation of the honor code. Only "homosexual behavior" is--because the honor code prohibits sex outside of a legally sanctioned marriage.

Considering the LDS Church has been doing everything in its power to ensure that gays and lesbians everywhere, even those who do not choose to attend BYU or join the church, can never enjoy the benefits of legally sanctioned marriage, what cruel logic that is!

Still, they are nice photos--I love the interesting focal treatment which serves to highlight the subjects' gaze--and they undoubtedly look best without that big, red "CENSORED" stamp.

(Brandon Burt)