Berryman Institute hosts conversation about being Gay at BYU in the 70s
The Mildred Berryman Institute for LGBTIQ+ Utah History will present Gay at BYU in the 1970s: A Conversation with Loreen Major & Dale Miller on Thursday, August 21, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Signature Books, 508 W. 400 North in Salt Lake City. The discussion will also be available via Zoom.
The event will feature two former Brigham Young University students sharing their personal stories of navigating the campus’s academic, religious, and social pressures as queer students during an era when institutionalized shame and repression were the norm. Historian and Berryman Institute Chair Connell O’Donovan will lead the structured conversation.
Major, a California native, attended BYU from 1975–79, earning a BS in Educational Psychology with a focus on Special Education. She taught K–12 for 33 years and is one of the first women in a same-sex couple to legally marry in Utah. She is the mother of two and now lives in Lehi.
Miller, who grew up in a small town in East Texas, came to BYU in January 1973 after joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Drawn by the school’s nationally recognized dance program and low tuition, he soon discovered that both BYU and broader society tolerated gay people only if they stayed hidden.
Organizers say the evening will shine a light on lived history often left unspoken, adding to a fuller understanding of Utah’s recent LGBTIQ+ past. Seniors Out And Proud (Utah) is sponsoring the panelists’ honoraria.
For those unable to attend in person, the Zoom link is available at utah.zoom.us/j/99857636037. Past lectures can be viewed on the Berryman Institute’s YouTube channel or its Lecture Series webpage, or mildredberrymaninstitute.org
