PROVO, Utah, March 10, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — The OUT Foundation has raised more than $36,500 in transfer scholarship funds for students who want to leave Brigham Young University after an Honor Code update that removed a section on “homosexual behavior” was followed up by a Church official issuing a statement “clarifying” that same-sex romances are still banned.
The March 4 clarification, by Paul V. Johnson, commissioner of the Church Educational System of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said it sought to clear up any “misinterpretation.”
“Same-sex romantic behavior cannot lead to eternal marriage and is therefore not compatible with the principles included in the Honor Code,” the letter said in part. Read more by clicking here.
The OUT Foundation established the transfer scholarship fund, also on March 4, with a $40,000 goal and the following explanation:
“In a cruel bait-and-switch, BYU announced two weeks ago that homosexual dating and behavior was going to be allowed by the Honor Code, only to fully renege,” said statements yesterday.
“In that brief time period, many queer BYU students have come out and displayed acts of queerness on campus (taking and posting pictures of themselves kissing/holding hands with people of their same sex, etc.) These same students are now at risk for punishment from the Honor Code.”
“Understandably, many of these queer students no longer feel safe on campus,” the OUT Foundation statement says. “However, if they try to transfer out of BYU, they are at risk for losing scholarships, income from on-campus employment, and even their own housing. This problem is compounded by the fact that many queer students face the very real possibility of being cut-off financially from their family if they come out or transfer out of BYU.
“The OUT Foundation is announcing the creation of our Transfer Fund in order to step in and subsidize these costs. Our hope is to offset any losses for queer students transferring out of BYU, so that they may feel empowered to do so if they so desire. We are also investigating the possibility of working with other LGBTQ+ resource centers in colleges across the state to see if they would be willing to subsidize any of their costs for queer students transferring out of BYU in an effort to maximize the lengths these donations will go.”
To view the OUT Foundation transfer scholarship fundraising site, click here.
The OUT Foundation website says the organization’s mission is “to empower the LGBTQ+ alumni and current students of Brigham Young University in achieving their intellectual, social and professional potential.”
The group’s full statement on the Honor Code developments can be viewed at this link.
To read public comments left on the LDS Church Twitter page after the clarification was posted, click here.
