In what has been described as a "groundbreaking" move by some in the LGBT blogosphere, a group of gay Mormon students from Brigham Young University (BYU) have produced a stunningly poignant "It Gets Better" video on the heels of a campus forum on homosexuality.
Based in Provo, Utah, the university is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. An estimated 98 percent of the student body are practicing Mormons, and all are required to follow an honor code, which includes adherence to dress and grooming standards and abstinence from extramarital sex, among other restrictions.
As After Elton notes, it was only a few years ago that the school changed the honor code, permitting LGBT students to enroll. At present, an estimated 1,800 LGBT students are currently enrolled at BYU, according to statistics seen in the video.
Many in the video speak out about internal conflicts they experienced as they entered adolescence. "It absolutely terrified me, naturally. I truly believed in this church, and these feelings didn't coincide with that church," one student explains. Adds another: "I just felt that I needed to just kill myself because the heartbreak of me dying would be less than the heartbreak my parents would experience if I came out to them."
Check out some other 'It Gets Better' videos below:
Before You Go
