There has been a lot of discussion this week about BYU t-shirts and BYU jackets. Yes, I am the photographer who wore a BYU jacket to the interview with Senator Chris Buttar’s interview with Reed Cowan. Why? Because I am a BYU graduate and I am a HUGE BYU fan – but I am working out and dieting. I am a true blue BYU fan.
Here is a photograph of me in December 2007 wearing the now infamous BYU Jacket. It is a very handsome jacket – I even bought it on sale so I could wear it to the Las Vegas Bowl game where BYU beat UCLA when they blocked a last second kick.
David Daniels in December 2007 wears the infamous BYU Jacket
I wish the discussion would be more on the film itself. Senator Chris Buttars said what he said – with no deception and no coercion. I don’t think we really needed to ask Chris Buttars many questions because he was very good at talking and talking and talking.
I would encourage everyone to see 8: The Mormon Proposition if and when it comes to a theater near you. I saw the movie last Sunday and I cried. I cried for the people who have committed suicide for being gay. I cried for the people who were subjected to electroshock therapy for being gay. I cried for the youth who are homeless because they were kicked out of their family’s home for being gay.
Below is a photograph I took of 3 gay youth featured in 8: The Mormon Proposition. They are showing a “squat” – an abandoned building or basement where they can shelter themselves from the freezing winter nights in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. I have learned that the day after this photograph was taken the youth in the glasses – in the middle – was brutally beaten with a metal pipe to the head while people called him “faggot.” He almost died and was in intensive care and is still recovering. That hate crime was never reported.
Gay homeless youth featured in 8 The Mormon Proposition
I am the oldest of 7 children. I am gay. I have a gay brother. I served an honorable mission to Puerto Rico from 1992-94. I returned and married my best friend – and even though the marriage didn’t last my friendship with her still does. I don’t feel welcome in the LDS (Mormon) church and so I don’t attend.
Hate crimes, discrimination in marriage, employment, housing, health benefits, and even homelessness are things that are destructive. I cannot idly sit on the sidelines and ignore the injustice and inequality.
I am gay. I am a BYU graduate. I vote. I photograph so that I will tell the story of the GLBT community through my photographs. I am a child of God.
