Jillian Orr became a national news story last week when she flashed rainbow colors sewn into her graduation gown during her graduation from Brigham Young University – coming out as bisexual. This is her story.
Show notes:
- Matt Easton MS Interview
- Jeff Holland Musket talk MS episode
- Number of women in BOM
- Latter-gay stories “On the Record” document
- CES Letter
- Jillian’s Instagram Account
- Glennon Doyle – Untamed
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9 Responses
Jillian is so very impressive, my wife and I loved this broadcast on Youtube, finishing it in one setting, which is almost never the case. Her story is incredibly inspiring! Her brilliance and sensitivity stifles anything I ever get from any of the GA’s (I have met several, and never want to be around any of them after this life—with the exception of possibly Elder Uchtdorf). We can see that Jillian has a very bright future and look forward to being inspired by her.
Awesome interview and important discussion that I found inspirational. My hope is that our youth continue to focus a spotlight on the Church’s policies against LGBTQ. My fear is that BYU will now insert a dress code auditor to inspect the graduates walking up to the stage.
Thank you for not marrying some poor guy that was smitten with you just to check the next box in the church’s plan. I wish every day that my wife hadn’t. It is so hard.
I’m glad that she had a positive missionary experience. I have to admit that I cringed when she talked about her statues as a Sister Training Leader. I served a mission and was not in leadership and instead had some very poor experiences with both young and older mission leaders. I feel that it is a culture in the church to flaunt that they served in leadership on their mission. This doesn’t sit well for me because my leadership on my mission pushed repentence on me as I was being physically and emotionally abused by my companion at the time.
Everyone struggles with some kind of issue when they chose to follow Christ. The natural man or woman within each of us wars against being a follower of Christ. Men, especially in our day, struggle with being attracted to women even after their married. To me, men or women being attracted to their same sex is not that different from what heterosexual me deal with nearly everyday. Jillian gave up, at least for a season, the key is to endure to the end.
I assume you are attracted to women, correct? So your actual struggle is to devote your intimacy to a single woman you’re attracted to, rather than to indulge your sexual urges with every woman you’re attracted to.
Now imagine that instead of ever being with a woman, even once, your salvation depends on you marrying a man you feel no attraction for, and only having sex with him, for the rest of your life. Imagine what that life is like for you. Imagine what that is like for the man who marries you thinking he is marrying someone who is attracted to him.
That is the correct comparison.
I am not against gays, however, I find flashing rainbow colors at a church or church school to be disrespectful to the Mormons at large. I have no desire to have anything to do with the church further, but I don’t think this type of protest is going to do anything but cause more problems.
If you want to be gay, fine, but stop trying to change the Mormons. Frankly, they have painted themselves in a corner, and I doubt they will change directions on this issue. I could be wrong, but I think gays would be pretty pissed if someone flashed anti-gay signs at their events.
Things like this (at church or BYU school functions) show a disrespect that I simply do not agree with.
By the way, I do need to say that she did a very good interview.
Jillian – I’ve followed Mormon Stories podcasts for many years, but I never expected that this episode would be the one to change the course of my life. Your comments at 1:49-1:52 were an absolute inspiration to me! Your simple words: “Thank you for what you did for me, but I no longer need to believe in you” provided the perspective that I’ve been lacking for the past 10 years. Because of your wise words, I was finally able to formally resign from the church under the terms that I always hoped for; With an appropriate amount of gratitude for my church experience, with no bitterness at all, and with a peaceful confidence that “I’m good”.