Paul M

Theatre Art Studies (‘14)

How has your life changed since leaving BYU?

It's a lot better, definitely, because I've fully accepted my sexuality and I'm no longer in the church. So my life has changed quite a bit in that regard. I'm dating guys now, and I'm a lot... I love myself now, I should say.

I didn't really love myself fully while I was at BYU, but life is still has its challenges. It's just I feel like I have more tools to cope with life now that I've fully accepted myself.

When did you realize you were queer?

When I was 13, first day of eighth grade, I saw one of my best friends for the first time at school, and hadn't seen him all summer and just sort of like hit me like a wall, "Wow, I'm attracted to him," and it freaked me out. I'm sure it's a similar experience to a lot of people but that's when I realized that I was different.

 But looking back on my childhood, it's obvious to me that I had been experiencing similar feelings throughout my childhood. I just didn't recognize what it was until I was 13.

Describe your current sense of spirituality.

Now that I'm fully out, I have a very accepting family. I mean, a lot of them are still very active LDS, so there's that. And I'm respectful of them and I believe people should be allowed to live what they value as long as it's not hurting anybody else. So I respect that they live what they value. 

And especially with my parents, I can't fully speak for their experience, but I admire that they chose to live what they value and that they chose to have a family. That's what they wanted. And I respect that.

Answers to the questions are transcribed from Paul’s video interview. The transcription does not cover the entire video.

Posted July 2022