And I can’t help thinking that even if CCTV can identify the men who did this to us, there will probably be other incidents like this in my life, and I will probably feel just as helpless. When things escalated and they started throwing things at us, I went and told on them to the train manager like a pathetic schoolchild, rather than standing up for myself as I felt I should have been able to as a fully grown adult. Rather than turning around and shouting back, I instead avoided eye contact and stayed silent, knowing that we were outnumbered and unable to defend ourselves if they decided to physically attack us. Men on the train were hurling abuse at us, and I didn’t feel as if there was much I could do about it. And the next email in my inbox was from the British Transport Police, asking me to digitally sign the statement I provided after my wife and I were victims of a homophobic hate crime on a recent train journey.
I hadn’t even realised it was this week, until I was informed via an email from Stonewall. But this time around I’ve found it trickier to stomach. I’ve always viewed it as a positive thing: an opportunity to be proud of who we are and how far we’ve come, and to keep fighting to be seen equally. She hopes to inspire her audience to be their authentic selves.īYU has not yet made a public statement about Orr’s show of pride.Lesbian Visibility Day, or week, as it’s now become, has been around since 2008, the entirety of my life as an out lesbian. Orr hopes to use her degree from BYU in psychology to pursue a career in motivational speaking. Orr says to all Utahns that “true love for an individual is more than just saying that you love and accept them.” She mentions other loving acts that should be shown to loved ones in the LGBTQ+ such as attending important life events such as weddings and allowing children to know about their LGBTQ+ identity. This altered version of the rainbow flag remains the most frequently used flag to symbolize LGBTQ+ pride.įor Orr, the pride flag means “being authentic and being seen as who you are as an individual.” She said it symbolizes “being recognized for what you’re born into, and not what you choose.” Due to the flags being handmade and a resulting lack of supplies, the pink and turquoise stripes in Baker’s original design were taken out. Gonzalez reports the very first version of the rainbow pride flag was flown in San Francisco on June 25, 1978. Harvey Milk, one of the U.S.’s first openly gay elected officials, asked artist Gilbert Baker to design a “symbol of pride for the gay community.” Gonzalez writes that Baker reportedly chose the rainbow because it is in some ways “a natural flag from the sky.” Trans youth medication ban passed by Alabama lawmakersĪccording to an article by Nora Gonzalez on the Encyclopedia of Britannica’s website, the design goes back to 1978. Most Utahns are likely familiar with the rainbow flag as a symbol of LGBTQ+ pride, but may not know how the flag was created.
Orr mentioned a friend of hers who she claims was falsely accused of being in a same-sex relationship while studying at BYU, and how he was called into the Honor Code office and interrogated for “acting on same-sex attraction.” “I feel like this violates individual rights,” says Orr. She references how even open members of the LGBTQ+ community are allowed to participate in some parts of LDS Church membership, and compared that BYU’s policy is kind of zero-tolerance. Orr hopes that BYU will change this and other policies surrounding LGBTQ+ students. In a Facebook post, Orr comments as someone who identifies as bisexual saying, “it’s scary to live with the fear that at any moment they could take away your degree.” Orr references how violation of BYU’s honor code can result in immediate suspension of student status and even a freeze on student transcripts.
Book bans on the rise: Here are the titles being challengedĭespite her fears, Orr accepted the unknown consequences to do what she “knew was right.”