"Strengthen families and the BYU community by providing a place for open, respectful discussions on the topic of same-gender attraction and LGBTQ issues."[2]
USGA (Understanding Sexuality, Gender, and Allyship, previouslyUnderstanding Same-Gender Attraction)[5] is an organization forLGBTQBrigham Young University students and their allies.[10] It began meeting on BYU campus in 2010 to discuss issues relating tohomosexuality and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[1][11] However, by December 2012, USGA began meeting off campus at theProvo City Library[12][13] and is still banned from meeting on campus as of 2018.[14][15] BYU campus currently offers no official LGBT-specific resources as of 2016.[16] The group maintains political neutrality and upholds BYU'sHonor Code. It also asks all participants to be respectful of BYU and theLDS Church.[17] The group received national attention when it released its 2012 "It Gets Better" video.[11][18][19] The group also released a suicide prevention message in 2013.[20] A sister organizationUSGA Rexburg serves the LGBTBrigham Young University–Idaho student community inRexburg, Idaho.[21][22][23]
The group released an "It Gets Better" video in March 2012 that received press coverage.[24] A student panel of USGA leaders held on BYU campus soon after in April by the sociology department also received press coverage as well as complaints to the university from a conservative political group.[25]
BYU LGBTQ students and allies gather at a 2017 Thursday meeting.
In 2016 the Provo newspaperDaily Herald published a series of six in-depth articles on the experiences of USGA members, centered around the topics of why they attend BYU,[26] the USGA group,[3] mental health,[27] the Honor Code,[28] and why some leave BYU.[26] The articles were written over the space of two months, with an editorial conclusion at the end of the series asking administrators to listen to USGA BYU students.[29]
Other activities reported by media in 2017 include their Faces of USGA photojournalism project[30][31]and their Provo Pride Festival booth.[32]
^Kerr, Emma (May 22, 2018)."Inside Gay Students' Fight to Be Heard at BYU".The Chronicle of Higher Education.There are no institutional means of supporting students or educating professors on LGBTQ issues. ... USGA, is forced to meet in a local library because the university does not support or sanction its existence. Students in the group say they've been told it will never be allowed on campus.
^Pierce, Scott D. (September 16, 2017)."Provo's growing gay pride festival surprised many fans headed to the BYU football game".The Salt Lake Tribune.No group was more visible than BYU's unofficial LGBTQ support group, USGA (Understanding Same-Gender Attraction) — their booth was right on the corner of Center and University. 'A lot of people on campus don't know that we exist, so they feel alone. And some of them think about suicide,' said Sabina Mendoza, 22, a BYU senior from Houston. 'We don't want anyone to feel that way.'
