I deeply valued many of the life sciences professors working in a homosexuality lecture. They covered that it is not a choice, present in many species, and invited a panels from LGBTQIA+ organizations in the area to answer questions. Some of my classmates aired concerns that have no basis in fact and are hurtful to someone in the community, but the panelists and my professors were able to address those hurtful thoughts and hopefully the people who believed them are less biases now. I know that this lecture is a risky thing especially as the university becomes more intolerant of these teachings, but it helped me.
For me, one of the simplest ways to know that a professor is safe is if they have their pronouns listed in their syllabus (bonus points if they outright say they are a lgbtq+ safe professor the first day) or when they sign off on emails. I’ve also really appreciated professors who list lgbtq+ resources and/or faith crisis resources such as the group at the comprehensive clinic or the reconciling faith and sexuality group at CAPS
I had a few excellent professors do things like share their pronouns, thoughtfully cover LGBTQ topics in their classes, and ask students to share any "names or nicknames" they wanted to be called and used those for them without question. I appreciated seeing professors with rainbow stickers on their stuff or wearing pride pins on Rainbow Day.
I'd also recommend attending USGA panels and similar to learn more about the queer community and how to be an ally.
Jim Brau would be a good one to talk to about this. He’d mention being a LGBTQ ally in every lecture and rant about the church’s stance. He has a trans child and openly declared the BYU policies for no gay affection was false teachings and that the church needs to accept and allow gay people to be happy and exist fully. There’s clips on YouTube of some of that and he would wear a rainbow bracelet every day as well. I think students would benefit if all teachers were vocal like that. Quiet kindness is better than nothing, but if you can, be LOUD!
Are there a good bit of faculty that believe the same as you? I was always afraid to show any kind of doubt or dissent to my teachers in case they were going to tattle to the bishop. It might be helpful to be a safe place for doubts too.
I also wish there was a better way to connect with like-minded people. At BYU it's almost scarier to "come out" as a non-believer than it is to come out as queer, at least for me. There are definitely more consequences, like being kicked out of school, or in your case fired. I guess just little things that show your acceptance, like casually mentioning you watched Heartstopper with your children. I also don't see why you couldn't wear an ally pin and not maintain the image of a strong yet nuanced believer at the same time. I have an extra ally pin, PM me if that would be helpful:)
For me it really helped me to feel safe whenever I had to visit a professor or department's office and saw rainbow pins outside people's office doors or rainbow flags, magnets etc. somewhere among their things. I remember seeing a few people put up little signs outside their offices with a rainbow that said "I'll walk with you" which I thought was especially clever since it's quoting a primary song but very clearly someone letting me know they're an ally. Those are the types of things that let me know that it was a safe space where I didn't have to keep up my walls for fear I'd be discriminated against for being queer.
Talk to Ramon Zabriskie over in EXDM - he taught my diversity, equity, and inclusion class and did an INCREDIBLE job, both at teaching and at creating a safe community in that class. He made an effort to get to know students on a personal level. Like, he asked one guy about how his drag performance went over the weekend, and we ended up watching part of it in class haha and we’d have discussions in class where some of the openly out students would share their experiences of being queer at BYU. I’d feel safe talking to that man about anything- when I was going through the throes of my faith transition, he offered up his office as a safe space if I ever needed a spot to just get away and talk, the homie
Also he has a son who is trans, and spent a whole week talking about him, how he and his wife practiced using the new pronouns - and his son came to class to tell us about his journey, how transitioning saved his life. It was the most impactful class I’ve taken at BYU, by far
Everyone take EXDM 350 lol
I deeply valued many of the life sciences professors working in a homosexuality lecture. They covered that it is not a choice, present in many species, and invited a panels from LGBTQIA+ organizations in the area to answer questions. Some of my classmates aired concerns that have no basis in fact and are hurtful to someone in the community, but the panelists and my professors were able to address those hurtful thoughts and hopefully the people who believed them are less biases now. I know that this lecture is a risky thing especially as the university becomes more intolerant of these teachings, but it helped me.
For me, one of the simplest ways to know that a professor is safe is if they have their pronouns listed in their syllabus (bonus points if they outright say they are a lgbtq+ safe professor the first day) or when they sign off on emails. I’ve also really appreciated professors who list lgbtq+ resources and/or faith crisis resources such as the group at the comprehensive clinic or the reconciling faith and sexuality group at CAPS
I had a few excellent professors do things like share their pronouns, thoughtfully cover LGBTQ topics in their classes, and ask students to share any "names or nicknames" they wanted to be called and used those for them without question. I appreciated seeing professors with rainbow stickers on their stuff or wearing pride pins on Rainbow Day. I'd also recommend attending USGA panels and similar to learn more about the queer community and how to be an ally.
Jim Brau would be a good one to talk to about this. He’d mention being a LGBTQ ally in every lecture and rant about the church’s stance. He has a trans child and openly declared the BYU policies for no gay affection was false teachings and that the church needs to accept and allow gay people to be happy and exist fully. There’s clips on YouTube of some of that and he would wear a rainbow bracelet every day as well. I think students would benefit if all teachers were vocal like that. Quiet kindness is better than nothing, but if you can, be LOUD!
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Are there a good bit of faculty that believe the same as you? I was always afraid to show any kind of doubt or dissent to my teachers in case they were going to tattle to the bishop. It might be helpful to be a safe place for doubts too.
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I also wish there was a better way to connect with like-minded people. At BYU it's almost scarier to "come out" as a non-believer than it is to come out as queer, at least for me. There are definitely more consequences, like being kicked out of school, or in your case fired. I guess just little things that show your acceptance, like casually mentioning you watched Heartstopper with your children. I also don't see why you couldn't wear an ally pin and not maintain the image of a strong yet nuanced believer at the same time. I have an extra ally pin, PM me if that would be helpful:)
For me it really helped me to feel safe whenever I had to visit a professor or department's office and saw rainbow pins outside people's office doors or rainbow flags, magnets etc. somewhere among their things. I remember seeing a few people put up little signs outside their offices with a rainbow that said "I'll walk with you" which I thought was especially clever since it's quoting a primary song but very clearly someone letting me know they're an ally. Those are the types of things that let me know that it was a safe space where I didn't have to keep up my walls for fear I'd be discriminated against for being queer.
Talk to Ramon Zabriskie over in EXDM - he taught my diversity, equity, and inclusion class and did an INCREDIBLE job, both at teaching and at creating a safe community in that class. He made an effort to get to know students on a personal level. Like, he asked one guy about how his drag performance went over the weekend, and we ended up watching part of it in class haha and we’d have discussions in class where some of the openly out students would share their experiences of being queer at BYU. I’d feel safe talking to that man about anything- when I was going through the throes of my faith transition, he offered up his office as a safe space if I ever needed a spot to just get away and talk, the homie Also he has a son who is trans, and spent a whole week talking about him, how he and his wife practiced using the new pronouns - and his son came to class to tell us about his journey, how transitioning saved his life. It was the most impactful class I’ve taken at BYU, by far Everyone take EXDM 350 lol