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Queer rights groups ask Big 12 to not include BYU

Queer rights groups ask Big 12 to not include BYU

It’s apparent that the sporting world is becoming more and more accepting of queer people. Whether it is a group of hockey players wrapping rainbow tape around their (hockey) sticks, or sports icons apologizing for using bigoted insults towards competitors, the way gay culture and sports culture interact is slowly — but surely — meshing.

Twenty years ago, very few — if any at all — queer rights organizations would never had petitioned for the Big 12 to steer away from accepting a university to the prestigious conference based on discriminatory language in the Honor Code. Today, however, Bringham Young University is feeling the pressure from 25 queer rights groups who are trying to stop the college from being added to the Big 12 as part of a conference expansion.

The letter, sent to commissioner Bob Bowlsby, was authored by Athlete Ally and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, co-signed by 23 other national and regional advocacy groups, including GLAAD, Lambda Legal, National LGBTQ Task Force, Campus Pride and TransAthlete.com.

BYU is owned and operated by the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The school’s Honor Code says that students are allowed to have “feelings or attraction” but only so long as they remain celibate.

“Homosexual behavior is inappropriate and violates the Honor Code. Homosexual behavior includes not only sexual relations between members of the same sex, but all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings.”

Students who run afoul of the Honor Code can expect to be suspended or dismissed.

Its policies also contradict the Big 12’s handbook that states, “It is the obligation of each Member Institution to refrain from discrimination prohibited by federal and state law, and to demonstrate a commitment to fair and equitable treatment of all student-athletes and athletics department personnel.”

Oh yeah, it goes even further stating that the conference will, “encourage an atmosphere throughout the Conference among staff and student-athletes that demonstrates respect and support for each individual. As such, within the context of Conference events, the Conference will not tolerate disparaging comments, remarks, or jokes about any group of people including racist, sexist, or homophobic comments, remarks, or jokes.”

The letter to Bowlsby reads:

Currently, the Big 12 as a conference is overwhelmingly LGBT-inclusive. Nine out of ten of your member schools have explicit protections for students based on their sexual orientation. Eight out of ten of your member schools have explicit protections for students based on their gender identity. And nine out of ten of your member schools have LGBT resource centers to proactively make their schools safe and welcoming for LGBT people.

BYU, conversely, actively and openly discriminates against its LGBT students and staff. It provides no protections for LGBT students. In fact, through its policies, BYU is very clear about its intent to discriminate against openly LGBT students, with sanctions that can include suspension or dismissal for being openly LGBT or in a same-sex relationship. The LGBT climate is so bad at BYU that it is ranked the 6th worst school in the country for LGBT students. Given BYU’s homophobic, biphobic and transphobic policies and practices, BYU should not be rewarded with Big 12 membership.

BYU’s anti-LGBT policies are bad for the Big 12 sports community, especially student-athletes.

The Big 12 is known for its dedication to its sports community (fans, coaches, staff and players, etc.) and its commitment to the welfare of its student-athletes. BYU’s membership to the Big 12 would jeopardize both. First, LGBT coaches, players and fans who attend and/or compete at any Big 12 events hosted at BYU would be subject to discrimination since BYU remains exempt from Utah’s LGBT nondiscrimination law. Moreover, any student-athlete who identifies as LGBT, and subsequently selects BYU due to its Big 12 membership, would be subjected to BYU’s unabashed discrimination. This would endanger the student-athlete’s NCAA eligibility and mental health. The Big 12’s sports community, especially its student athletes, deserve better than this.   

The Big 12 includes two religious universities already, Baylor, a Baptist University, and TCU, affiliated with Disciples of Christ.

Baylor removed antigay language from their sexual misconduct policy last year. It now simply states that “physical sexual intimacy is to be expressed in the context of marital fidelity.”

Currently BYU sits as the number six on the list of universities that are the worst for queer students.

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