In an Act of Protest, BYU Students Light Mountside Logo In Pride Colors

LGBTQ Brigham Young University students and allies made quite the statement Thursday night, lighting up the college's iconic "Y" logo in rainbow colors in an act of protest, reports The Salt Lake Tribune.

The group of 40 used about 76 different flashlights to cover the "Y" in a variety of colors, doing so after keeping their plans under wraps to avoid interference from both the university and local white supremacist groups.

March 4, the day picked for the lighting action, marked the one year anniversary of BYU restating its zero tolerance stance on same-sex relations and open displays of affection.

This statement regarding the institution's open disapproval of homosexuality came a month after the university removed a passage from its code of conduct banning after "all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings."

Many LGBTQ students felt dismayed, and betrayed by the fact that BYU had essentially baited them with progress and instead left them exactly where they were in regards to their public acceptance beforehand.

In response to these events, a group of students organized the lighting of the Y as a statement and commemoration of last March, rather than a traditional protest.

"It's a display. We're not vandalizing anything. We're not breaking the law," junior organizer Bradley Talbot told the Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday.

Talbot and the participants' reasoning for the action was simple, saying that "We're here and we're part of this institution. We should have a place at the Y."

BYU issued a statement late last night stating that "they did not authorize the lighting of the Y," with no further comments regarding potential actions to be taken against those involved.