LGBT students and straight allies at Utah’s Brigham Young University on Friday released an “It Gets Better” video, adding their voice to the tens of thousands of video messages aimed at preventing depression and suicide among gay youth.
The video, produced by Kendall Wilcox, a gay former Brigham Young University employee, includes several LGBT students discussing the conflict they felt about being gay and Mormon, and how they considered suicide because they couldn’t reconcile their sexual orientation with their faith.
In fact, the video includes some startling statistics: that there are more than 1,800 LGBT students at BYU; 74 percent of LGBT students at BYU have contemplated suicide; and 24 percent have attempted suicide.
Watch:
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
BYU, which is owned by the Mormon church, is consistently ranked as one of the most unfriendly campuses for LGBT students in the U.S.
In 2007, the BYU Honor Code began allowing LGBT students to openly state their sexual orientation with facing sanctions or expulsion, so long as they avoid physical intimacy with members of the same-sex.
In 2010, the Honor Code changed again to allow for LGBT advocacy.
