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Letter: Holland’s anti-gay speech echoes Brigham Young’s anti-Black speech. SUU students’ protests are praiseworthy.

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland speaks at General Conference on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022.

Regarding students’ protests of SUU’s decision to invite Jeffery Holland as a commencement speaker after Holland’s anti-gay speech to BYU faculty in 2021:

I see a parallel between Holland’s BYU talk and the talk given by Brigham Young in 1852, as reported by The Tribune recently. Young said, “What we’re trying to do today in advocating for Black voting rights is to make Black people equal with us . . . I will be opposed to that all day long.”

Holland’s talk almost appeared to be channeling Young’s; the only real difference between the two is in which group the speakers chose to dehumanize. In effect, Holland seemed to be saying:

“What we’re trying to do today in advocating for gays to be able to speak in public is to make gay people equal with us. I will be opposed to that all the day long.”

When university officials display indifference toward basic human values, students have every right to speak up. I applaud SUU students for doing so.

Blair Bateman, Midvale

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