A cool mom we can all learn from

Read this blogpost written by a regular mom. She addresses the problem of bullying, and shares a letter to her baby. It's a must read.

And....we're back

This is still a new blog, and since it was started by a few university students the blog has been a little slow with posts since we had finals and Christmas and just student life.

We'll try to be a little better at posting regularly, and we welcome your comments. In fact, PLEASE comment. We'd like to know that someone is reading. If you have any suggestions for topics you'd like to know about, issues you'd like to discuss, or anything else, this is the time and place to let us know.

Purpose

Sexual orientation is a very important part of a person's identity. For most people, it is also fixed and unchangeable. Homosexuality is a unique situation in the LDS church. Homosexual activity is not condoned, but the feelings and attractions are not sinful. People who identify as gay or lesbian can (and do) worthily hold callings, attend the temple, and otherwise participate in church activities. However, many face homophobic comments and bullying. This behavior is emotionally and psychologically harmful; for some people who are already struggling, it can be unbearable.

The purpose of this blog is to help educate the general LDS population, particularly those at BYU, about same-gender attraction and the struggles faced by faithful members of the church who identify as gay or lesbian. We hope we can encourage people who don't experience these struggles to support our brothers and sisters who do -- both those in the church and those not of our faith. We can all start by doing little things: not making homophobic or other derogatory remarks and influencing others to do the same. We can also promote discussions about sexual orientation in the LDS church, in order to destigmatize same-gender attraction and provide resources and support to people in need.

Please read through some of the links posted on the right sidebar. Thank you for taking the time to visit.

That's So Gay

I'm sure we've all heard it. Perhaps we're even guilty of saying it. But do we really know what we are saying when we use the phrase "that's so gay!"

Wanda Sykes said it best, "Knock it off!" It may seem harmless, but we never know who it might hurt. Join thousands of others at www.thinkb4youspeak.com by pledging to quit using the phrase "that's so gay"and eliminating it from your vocabulary.

Check out two more PSA clips here.

It Gets Better

A new movement is sweeping across the internet called the "It Gets Better Project."  Thousands of videos have been uploaded telling gay youth that life is going to get better. Of these thousands of videos, many have been from well known political figures like President Obama or Hillary Clinton. Others have been from celebrities such as Glee's Chris Colfer and popular music artist Ke$ha. Even some billion dollar companies such as Google, Facebook and Pixar have joined in on the movement. The message is clear. Suicide is not the answer; bullying should not be tolerated; and most importantly, life will get better!

Take a few minutes and check out some of these videos. Below is a very powerful video of a city council member from Texas who shares his own experience growing up gay.