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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Tue May 13, 2014, 11:15 AM May 2014

G.A.Y. at B.Y.U.

Emily Shire

Homosexuality is no longer an honor code violation, but Mormon LGBT students say they have few choices beyond a celibate life or a secret one.


When Jimmy Hales came out, it was to an audience of nearly 600,000 people. In February 2013, he posted a YouTube video to let the whole world know that he was out of the closet—and planning to remain celibate for the rest of his adult life. “It sucks,” he admitted in the video, in a tone curiously cheerful and content for a college junior who had just sworn off sex forever. But for Hales, an undergraduate at Brigham Young University, his YouTube post was the gateway to peace of mind, his best attempt to be out and proud while remaining committed to the Mormon Church.

When I speak to Hales, now 26 and about to graduate from BYU, his voice radiates with the polite optimism that Mormons are known for. The upbeat pioneer spirit that is so valued in a community whose foundation was laid as Joseph Smith traveled from upstate New York to Utah in the mid-19th century surges through Hales. It never fades, even as he talks about his decision to be completely celibate so he can still remain in good standing at BYU and, more importantly, within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).

“Because this is something I didn’t inflict,” he catches himself for using a word that denotes pain and negativity, “not inflict—choose—I feel God will take care of me.”

Though Hales’s faith sustains him, he admits that it comes at a cost. Instead of celebrating his homosexuality, he sees it as a test of will, a Job-like experience imposed by the Almighty. “God allows hard, bad things to happen to good people all the time in history. There were wars. Righteous people are killed by evil people, not to compare homosexuality to being slain,” he says. “I don’t know why God allows it (homosexuality) to happen. I don’t get mad. In my mind, it is nothing new.”

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/13/g-a-y-at-b-y-u.html
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G.A.Y. at B.Y.U. (Original Post) DonViejo May 2014 OP
Indoctrination by a church starts so early PumpkinAle May 2014 #1
Pathetic man, and sad. Also, pisses me off closeupready May 2014 #2
This is sad. Shannon1981 May 2014 #3

PumpkinAle

(1,210 posts)
1. Indoctrination by a church starts so early
Tue May 13, 2014, 11:19 AM
May 2014

and people like Hales are so afraid of breaking the rules.

Hopefully, he will find someone who will love him and they will grow and understand together than a few "man made" rules does not speak for what their God does allow and want for his flock and that is no more than to love each other and care for each other.

 

closeupready

(29,503 posts)
2. Pathetic man, and sad. Also, pisses me off
Tue May 13, 2014, 02:13 PM
May 2014

to hear him talk exactly like a Catholic priest. Who were renting space for the operation of a gay bathhouse on their premises. Celibate, my ass.

Shannon1981

(51 posts)
3. This is sad.
Tue May 13, 2014, 04:28 PM
May 2014

Religious indoctrination is so painful and harmful. This kid is brainwashed, and, because of that brainwashing, will live a life devoid of love and affection.

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