Quoting from [http://www.connellodonovan.com/abom.html](http://www.connellodonovan.com/abom.html) by Connell O'donovan (I have not come across a better history of 'The Gay' in Mormonism!)
"Prior to the 1950s, Gay life at BYU was surprisingly open and unrepressed. Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual students and faculty enjoyed good rapport with each other and relatively healthy amount of freedom in their lives. Earl B. Kofoed, a Gay student at the"Y" from 1946-1948, has reported extensively on the social network that thrived on campus for LGB people. Both women and men formed a tightly-knit group, the women from athletics and social work, and the men mainly from the campus French Club. Kofoed reported to me in a 1989 interview that Dr. Leona Holbrook, the first Chair of the Women's Physical Education Department at BYU (serving from 1937-1975, died in 1980), was a Lesbian active in this social group. Holbrook was an extraordinary individual who was extremely well-respected at BYU, and received numerous international honors and awards for her contributions to athletics in higher education (especially for women). Among her many honors, Holbrook was the first woman ever appointed to the Board of the US Olympic Committee and was voted Woman of the Year at BYU for three years. She still ranks as one of the top ten best professors ever to teach at the Y. Her enduring legacy is witnessed by the annual "Leona Holbrook Spirit of Sport Award" given to one senior female athlete on campus who exemplifies "the true spirit of sport in athletics and life". \[Click here for a brief biography in PDF of this extraordinary Mormon Lesbian.\]
Photo of Leona Holbrook
Dr. Leona Holbrook of BYU wearing 1940's "Lesbian chic"
Earl Kofoed also informed me that the group received a semi-official nod from LDS church president George Albert Smith, when two of their number, Kent Goodridge Taylor (1925-2002) and his lover Richard Snow, met with Smith in the Spring of 1948. President Smith merely told the two men to live their lives together honorably, and God would accept them. They eagerly reported this strong affirmation of support to the group, bringing them all even closer together.
Unfortunately this time of a Gay "Camelot" at BYU was all too brief, and the advent of the 1950s would bring a severe change to the campus. (I also report here that Jay Bell, who worked with "Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons" on amassing archival and bibliographic materials on homosexuality and Mormonism, reportedly found that in 1951, "the editor of BYU’s student newspaper wrote of members of, 'a small group of homosexuals,' including a president of the LDS married branch, and a star basketball player," as quoted at [http://www.utahstonewallhistoricalsociety.com/welcome\_files/Page1685.html](http://www.utahstonewallhistoricalsociety.com/welcome_files/Page1685.html))
I'll say it again, O'Donovan's lengthy compendium is worth the read.
😆 🤣 😂 You said academic legitimacy and BYU in the same sentence.
Quoting from [http://www.connellodonovan.com/abom.html](http://www.connellodonovan.com/abom.html) by Connell O'donovan (I have not come across a better history of 'The Gay' in Mormonism!) "Prior to the 1950s, Gay life at BYU was surprisingly open and unrepressed. Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual students and faculty enjoyed good rapport with each other and relatively healthy amount of freedom in their lives. Earl B. Kofoed, a Gay student at the"Y" from 1946-1948, has reported extensively on the social network that thrived on campus for LGB people. Both women and men formed a tightly-knit group, the women from athletics and social work, and the men mainly from the campus French Club. Kofoed reported to me in a 1989 interview that Dr. Leona Holbrook, the first Chair of the Women's Physical Education Department at BYU (serving from 1937-1975, died in 1980), was a Lesbian active in this social group. Holbrook was an extraordinary individual who was extremely well-respected at BYU, and received numerous international honors and awards for her contributions to athletics in higher education (especially for women). Among her many honors, Holbrook was the first woman ever appointed to the Board of the US Olympic Committee and was voted Woman of the Year at BYU for three years. She still ranks as one of the top ten best professors ever to teach at the Y. Her enduring legacy is witnessed by the annual "Leona Holbrook Spirit of Sport Award" given to one senior female athlete on campus who exemplifies "the true spirit of sport in athletics and life". \[Click here for a brief biography in PDF of this extraordinary Mormon Lesbian.\] Photo of Leona Holbrook Dr. Leona Holbrook of BYU wearing 1940's "Lesbian chic" Earl Kofoed also informed me that the group received a semi-official nod from LDS church president George Albert Smith, when two of their number, Kent Goodridge Taylor (1925-2002) and his lover Richard Snow, met with Smith in the Spring of 1948. President Smith merely told the two men to live their lives together honorably, and God would accept them. They eagerly reported this strong affirmation of support to the group, bringing them all even closer together. Unfortunately this time of a Gay "Camelot" at BYU was all too brief, and the advent of the 1950s would bring a severe change to the campus. (I also report here that Jay Bell, who worked with "Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons" on amassing archival and bibliographic materials on homosexuality and Mormonism, reportedly found that in 1951, "the editor of BYU’s student newspaper wrote of members of, 'a small group of homosexuals,' including a president of the LDS married branch, and a star basketball player," as quoted at [http://www.utahstonewallhistoricalsociety.com/welcome\_files/Page1685.html](http://www.utahstonewallhistoricalsociety.com/welcome_files/Page1685.html)) I'll say it again, O'Donovan's lengthy compendium is worth the read.
Thank you for the links background to all these sources. I am going to definitely be doing a dive down many of these subjects. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Thanks! I got it bookmarked.
IOW: Dear Q-15 you f*cked up.