A young man who was revealed to a student from Brigham Young University was filmed defacing a bunch of chalk sidewalk art supporting the LGBTQ+ community, and not BYU is in something of an uproar, ABC4 reports. In the video, the blonde dude walks all over the art while pouring what seems to be water out of a large bottle to wash it off. The videographer does not seem to approve what he’s doing even though he is documenting it, and makes a comment. In response, the student finishes up his hateful act with some hateful words.
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“Oh no, f-ggots go to hell,” he says, before smiling and walking off camera.
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All in a day’s work for homophobes, and that brief moment has probably ruined his time at school for the foreseeable future.
Twitter is indeed doing its thing, because the outrage has reached the BYU administration, who released a statement condemning the student’s language and behavior.
“We unequivocally condemn behavior and language that is disrespectful and hurtful,” they wrote on Twitter and in their Instagram stories. “There is no place for hateful speech, or prejudice of any kind, on our campus or in our community. The Honor Code explicitly states that each member of the BYU community has the obligation to respect others. The incident seen in a video circulation on social media is now under review. This behavior runs counter to the directives shared by President Worthen in his University Conference address Monday. We are striving to create a community of belonging composed of students, faculty and staff whose hearts are knit together in love. Every student and individual on our campus deserves to feel that belonging.”
On Monday, the school announced the creation of something called “The Office of Belonging.”
“It will provide guiding principles for evaluating and implementing the recommendations provided by the Committee on Race, Equity and Belonging,” BYU president Kevin Worthen said during a University Conference. ” But it will also be the guide for addressing the needs of all marginalized individuals on campus.”
But at the same time, a member of the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Jeffery R. Holland, gave a speech that seemed to indicate that while he believed everyone at BYU should be nice to LGBTQ+ people, they should only do it while making it totally clear that their love is wrong.
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“For example, we have to be careful that love and empathy do not get interpreted as condoning and advocacy, or that orthodoxy and loyalty to principle not be interpreted as unkindness or disloyalty to people,” he said. “As near as I can tell, Christ never once withheld his love from anyone, but he also never once said to anyone, ‘Because I love you, you are exempt from keeping my commandments.’ We are tasked with trying to strike that same sensitive, demanding balance in our lives.”
Yes, very sensitive to explain that saying “f-ggot” out loud is frowned upon—you can only think it really hard in the direction of your community members.
*First Published: August 28, 2021, 8:23 am
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