#39: where'd all the time go?
also a MUST watch tiktok that will warm your heart
hi hi hi sisters ♡ umm its half-way through june, when the heck did that happen??
but the official start of summer is this week and I am lovingggg golden hour time at the park!! I will NOT be loving the 96 degree heat wave hitting NYC this week though… my sweat-stache and I will be seeking refuge when we can!
if you are in salt lake, you should go to this bookstore! its a queer owned shop and called Under the Umbrella, the next time i’m in utah I want to stop by!
(I found it via the everywhere is queer app and email list- highly recommend both)
OKAY I LIED, NEXT WEEK I’LL BE SHARING LGBTQ MEDIA RECS !!!!
movies: started off watching inside out 2 this weekend, I genuinely really enjoyed it. I think they do such a good job at explaining complicated emotions in a way that I personally need a reminder about. and I really did enjoy the personification of anxiety. alyssa and I watched paddington 2, if you have not watched these movies yet you NEED TO GET ON THAT ASAP. the first one is soooo cute and wholesome, but they really amped up the second one and made it EVEN BETTER. we were sobbing. and lastly for movie church, we watched tangerine. it is a movie by sean baker, he also directed the florida project, and has an upcoming movie this year called anora. tangerine is about a trans-woman sex worker trying to figure out what happened with her boyfriend and their relationship while she was in jail. it was very funny, all shot on an iphone 5s (like what the heck) and very much a genuine film that shows some intertwined relationships.
podcasts: as much as biden is not a great option for democrats, the idea of project 2025 should shake us to our core. this podcast episode gives more insight as to what is possibly to come if trump is elected and project 2025 comes to fruition
music: I was able to go to a ben platt concert on saturday night. he has been doing a little mini-residency at a newly renovated broadway theater in manhattan. it was SO lovely, I think his voice is really one of the best voices out there. he sang a bunch of his songs from his most recent album, honeymind- I really liked all american queen and before i knew you. he also threw in a couple of old ones, including grow as we go, and I sobbed hehe. something that is also special about his shows is that he has been bringing out a special guest every night, but because it was his penultimate show, we had TWO special guests. he brought out micaela diamond (she was in the broadway show parade with ben platt last year) and he also brought out shoshana bean (she is currently in the show hell’s kitchen, and was formally elphaba at one point on broadway). all of them were AMAZING! and as broadway girlies, my friends and I were very excited
in my mind: oops I meant to share this last week, but this is an article related to the podcast I sent about Louisa May Alcott and her sexual identity
in case you missed last week, this month I am sharing parts of a paper I wrote for one of my law classes, you can read part 1 here and part 2 here.
part 3 of 4:
Even though BYU and the Mormon church claim to be welcoming and grateful for LGBTQ students and members, these policies and discourse suggest otherwise. To add more fuel to the fire, this controversial talk is now a required reading for incoming students taking the BYU Foundations for Student Success class starting Fall 2024. This talk has already caused considerable mental, physical, and emotional harm and has been used to justify acts of animosity on campus. Such acts included ultra conservative students on campus protesting the informal Rainbow Day- a day in which students were encouraged to wear rainbow clothing in support of LGBTQ students- to show disdain towards these marginalized members of campus. Any act on campus that is in support of LGBTQ allyship must be held informally as all clubs for queer students who attend BYU are forbidden to meet on campus since the school does not formally recognize these groups- the informal BYU Conservatives group, however, has no such restrictions for meeting on campus. A year after the honor code office committed their switcheroo act on students, a group of independent students hiked up a mountain near BYU and lit up the large ‘Y’ representative of BYU in rainbow colors; immediately BYU’s official twitter account responded to made sure to let everyone know that they did not authorize this rainbow lighting. Of this day my friend continued, “I remember the day when the BYU 'Y' was lit up in rainbow lights--Sure, those who went up the mountain didn't have permission to be up there after-hours, but no lasting harm was done to the area and the cold and lifeless approach that BYU's PR department took to quickly dismiss and criminalize that behavior did so much more harm, so much so that I still feel its effects to this day.”
The regulations within the institution of BYU and the Mormon church allows for the harboring of harm doers and leads to the protection of the image of the church at all costs- even if it harms its vulnerable participants. During the three-week period in 2020 when LGBTQ students believed they were allowed to have same-sex relationships, many students came out publicly at that time. When BYU clarified its change, these students then lived in fear of scrutiny by the regulations and worries of expulsion from school because they violated the honor code by sharing a vulnerable and beautiful part of their life that put them at risk on campus. “Due to this uncertainty, I never felt fully safe on campus and had to hide a lot of my perfectly healthy dating and sexual identity while as a student in fear of losing my degree and/or scholarships,” shared my friend.
In the past, the Mormon church has publicly been opposed to gay marriage. In 2008, leaders of the Church urged members in California to support Proposition 8, a referendum that restricted marriage to heterosexual couples in the state via a constitutional amendment. But in 2022, a mere 14 years later, church leaders backed the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill that protected same-sex marriage with Senator Mitt Romney, Utah Senator, and a prominent Latter-Day Saint member, voting to support it. When it comes to supporting bills that will eventually allow for religious freedom, the Mormon church is in support. However, it is emphasized repeatedly that church doctrine remains the same; same-sex relationships are against God’s commandments. Respecting laws that work in favor for them, yet working to safeguard religious liberty, i.e. teaching that queer members aren’t going to heaven, is forever the main interest of the LDS church.
the 4th and final part will be posted next week! thank you for reading along this month
tiktok: baby chappell meets big chappell and I cried; billie is so real for this; this dad POPPED off
pinterest: ty never have I ever for this reminder ♡; how do I nicely send this to people without them being offended?
instagram: trying to embody this more; a good reminder that beauty is all around, even where we live;
okay I just love you guys! hope you have a good week, for those going through a heatwave like moi, please stay hydrated and sunscreened up !! or better yet, rot in bed with the AC on while watching bridgerton or a movie (preferably paddington or paddington 2)
WELCOME TO NYC! I hear Ben Platt's show is amazing...so fun you got to see two special guests! If you need any restaurant recs, let me know! Otherwise, enjoy your trip and STAY COOL during this hot week!