type
Picture of Guest Post
Guest Post
Exponent II features the work of guest authors writing about issues related to Mormonism and feminism. Submit a guest post Write for Exponent II.

Guest Post: Just to be Clear

Content Warning: Suicide

Guest post by Green

    1. “Several parents have said they no longer want to send their children here or donate to the school.” – Jeffery R. Holland, speech from the 2021 University Conference
      • 1a. several (/ˈsɛv(ə)r(ə)l/): more than two, but not many. (Oxford languages dictionary)
    2. The number of students enrolled at BYU in 2020, according to College Tuition Compare is 34,499.
    3.  5% of the population are homosexual: “According to Michael Bailey, professor of psychology at Northwestern University, Lisa Diamond, professor of human development at the University of Utah, and others, we learn that close to 95% of individuals can expect to be primarily attracted to individuals of the opposite sex. We also know that most males and about half of females who are attracted to individuals of the same sex have been exclusively that way since they sexually matured and are not likely to change who they are primarily attracted to.” –Jason S. CarrollChelom LeavittDean M. BusbyLaura M. Padilla-WalkerA Better Way to Teach Kids about Sex Deseret Book, 2018, p 432
      • 3a. Five percent of the student population at BYU is 1,174 students.
    4. The percentage of the population who are intersex, according to Amnesty international: 1.7% (or the roughly the same percentage of redheads in the general population)
      • 4a. One point seven percent of the student population at BYU is 586 students.
    5. International transgender statistics are harder to come by; however, it is estimated that within the US, six tenths of a percent (0.06) of the adult U.S. population identify as transgender.
      • 5a. Point six tenths of a percent (0.06) of the student population at BYU is 20 students.

      I rounded down in all of these numbers. With that in mind, conservatively speaking, Holland’s words personally, viciously, harmfully targeted five percent of the BYU student population, or 1,780 students. These numbers do NOT include sexually fluid individuals or other sexual minorities, but you get the point. Or at least I hope you do.

    6. In 2020, the Trevor project found that forty percent of LGBTQI youth “seriously considered” suicide in the past year. This does not include those who suicided.
      • 6a. Again, with conservative numbers, that means 712 students at BYU considered suicide because they are LGBTQI.

712 students were directly hit by your musket fire. They are bleeding. Your musket was so finely and purposely powdered that the fire from rang throughout the  global church, hitting far more than only the BYU student population. The bullets stung no less, we are bleeding. If you prick us, do we not bleed?

Guest Post: Just to be Clear“Several” parents no longer want to donate to BYU. More than two, but not many.

Thus, in his talk, Holland clearly stated that these “several” donors were more important than the already-suicidal 712 students at BYU. Money is more important than the ones who have already suicided.

Money is more important than those 712.

Just to be clear.

Exponent II features the work of guest authors writing about issues related to Mormonism and feminism. Submit a guest post Write for Exponent II.

9 Responses

  1. Sadly follow the money rules over love of Christ for the most vulnerable of our Church. I wonder where the love of Christ fits into accounting?

    1. Quite easily. They pledge to abstain from sex outside of marriage just like other students. Though I would guess that few if any transgender students tend to apply to BYU. That is pure conjecture, though, based solely on observations of the rhetoric.

      Also, while I can’t speak to your intentions, your “LGBTQRST” thing comes across to me as in poor taste and bad faith. When in doubt here, use terms and abbreviations presented by the author.

    2. Ray,
      I am intersex and answered all of the same questions as all of the others students at BYU. None of the questions are: “Are you 100% mortally (i.e. biologically) female (or male) and do you always dress in worldly, traditional, yet modest fashions that perfectly reflect that gender?”

      In other words, easy!

      Thanks, Em. You are spot on.

  2. Ouch! The stats make abundantly clear what I already knew in my heart. The money changers have taken over the temple.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Our Comment Policy

  • No ads or plugs.
  • No four-letter words that wouldn’t be allowed on television.
  • No mudslinging: Stating disagreement is fine — even strong disagreement, but no personal attacks or name calling. No personal insults.
  • Try to stick with your personal experiences, ideas, and interpretations. This is not the place to question another’s personal righteousness, to call people to repentance, or to disrespectfully refute people’s personal religious beliefs.
  • No sockpuppetry. You may not post a variety of comments under different monikers.

Note: Comments that include hyperlinks will be held in the moderation queue for approval (to filter out obvious spam). Comments with email addresses may also be held in the moderation queue.

Write for Us

We want to hear your perspective! Write for Exponent II Blog by submitting a post here.

Support Mormon Feminism

Our blog content is always free, but our hosting fees are not. Please support us.

related Blog posts

While counting blessings can be a helpful exercise, it can also prevent someone from fully engaging with the complexities of emotional or spiritual struggles.
"The worst part of the entire process was my interview with the general authority.... [He] was nice enough, and he had a tidy office with lots of light. My husband and I sat down on a couch opposite the general authority’s desk. I felt guilt build inside me when he asked how often I read my scriptures, because I read them but I wasn’t always consistent about doing so daily. His reactions to my answers didn’t give anything away. Toward the end of the interview, he asked me this: “If a female student comes to you with worries about how women do not have the priesthood, what will you say to her?” Would he have asked me that if I had been a man? I understand that BYU is an LDS school, but asking one woman to justify to another woman why they both have so little power in the church is very frustrating."

Never miss A blog post

Sign up and be the first to be alerted when new blog posts go live!

Loading

* We will never sell your email address, and you can unsubscribe at any time (not that you’ll want to).​