Supporters in Angel Wings Shield BYU LGBTQ+ Event From Protesters
A gathering off-campus in Utah was disrupted by protesters, including Brigham Young University students, who threw homophobic slurs and taunted LGBTQ+ students and their supporters.
In Provo, approximately 100 people protested "Back to School Pride Night" last weekend. A line of angel-dressed people who supported LGBTQ students drew a blockade to stop the protesters.
Brigham Young University, which is run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, prohibits romantic relationships between non-heterosexual couples, displays of same-sex affection, and LGBTQ-related groups or clubs on campus.A nonprofit organization supporting LGBTQ+ students called the RaYnbow Collective holds a welcome back-to-school event every year, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
But this year, supporters dressed in large angel wings had to protect participants from hateful protesters.BYU current or former students performed in what was advertised as a family-friendly drag show this year.A senior at BYU, Madison Tenney, founder of the RaYnbow Collective, told the Tribune that she expected protesters but was concerned when Provo police informed her that a large crowd of them was likely.According to the paper, conservative groups had promised to show up to protest, claiming the event was inappropriate for children."This shouldn't be at a public park," Thomas Stevenson, a BYU senior and the co-founder of BYU Conservatives, which has no restrictions for meeting on campus, told the Tribune.
