I’ve known I was gay since I was 10 years old. That made growing up in an Oklahoma town of less than 5,000 lonely, intimidating and even dangerous.
The community was dominated by fundamentalist Christian groups, aggressively preaching about hellfire and eternal damnation. Hateful words and damaging stereotypes about what it meant to be gay, bisexual, transgender or “queer” (which they used as an insult) was a frequent refrain.
A majority of our teachers and school board members shared these beliefs and they weren’t shy about it. From the mouths of these educators, I remember hearing LGBTQ+ folks called sinners, perverts, sodomites, pedophiles, rapists and numerous other choice terms.
Hearing this from people I looked up to left me feeling alone, that my life had no hope and that there was something wrong with me. Frankly, it left a depressed shell of a kid. It’s no wonder how such harsh words repeated can lead a child to suicide.
Another term these people often threw around was “indoctrination,” as if an essential part of LGBTQ+ existence was to recruit young or vulnerable people. My small town didn’t have any LGBTQ+ recruiters as far as I knew. Yet, there I was: young, gay and over a hundred miles from the closest pride center.
The recent comments by Natalie Cline, who represents District 11 on the Utah State Board of Education, brought back memories of isolation and misunderstanding. In a series of posts on her official Facebook page and in private messages she attacked the Utah Pride Center’s “Pride, not Prejudice: An LGBTQIA+ Conference for Utah Educators, Students and Caregivers” as a means of brainwashing children and teachers with “LGBTQ ideology including important strategies and tactics to deal with parents who oppose!”
This couldn’t be further from the truth. The conference is a free service the center offers to introduce issues faced by school-aged LGBTQ+ youth, such as bullying and suicide prevention, and also encourage best practices for education professionals.
The truth is, there are LGBTQ+ children all over Utah who are just like me. They don’t need to be recruited or indoctrinated. It’s an immutable part of their identity. Policy makers like Cline represent them, too. And while everyone is entitled to their own personal beliefs, they are not entitled to make life harder for LGBTQ+ students (or students of color or immigrant students) just because their experience is different.
As a public official, Cline’s primary responsibility is to ensure our schools are safe and welcoming to all students. Her recent comments are not only an abdication of her duties, they put queer students at risk of bullying, harassment and mental anguish. Utah has the highest rate of youth suicide in the nation, a fact Cline should know all too well given her position.
Cline should remove and apologize for her comments as they are contributing to the toxic narratives that put young LGBTQ+ lives at risk. She should also accept the Utah Pride Center’s open invitation to learn about what we do and how she can positively impact the lives of Utah students.
To any queer students and educators who may be reading this, know that you have a community who loves you, respects you and advocates for you every single day. You are why we do what we do at the Utah Pride Center. You are in our hearts and we are here for you, even when others are not.
Chris Jensen | Board Chair, Utah Pride Center
Chris Jensen, Salt Lake City, is a Realtor, entrepreneur and chair of the board of the Utah Pride Center.