Same-Sex Attracted (Documentary)

This is an interesting and powerful documentary that presents the real, never-before-seen experience of being queer at Brigham Young University – often called The Lord’s University for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the state of Utah. In 2020, the university announced that the clause prohibiting “all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings” would be removed from the school’s honor code.", giving students hope, but then just two weeks later, an official LDS church statement indicated, “Same-sex romantic behavior cannot lead to eternal marriage, and is therefore not compatible with the principles of the Honor Code.” This film follows a group of LGBTQ youth over an academic year at BYU, as they attempt to reconcile the conflicting messages they receive about faith, sexuality, gender, family, love, and acceptance.

As the year progresses, the film follows each of the students as they live and grow at "the Lord's University." These incredible individuals experience not only the regular day-to-day of being a college kid but also the unique trials that come with being LGBT at a Mormon school, grappling with questions of faith, sexuality, gender, family, love, and life. Students interviewed in the film describe their efforts to convince BYU administrators to provide official support for the club. Combined, the students’ stories paint an elaborate picture of what is going on in the trenches of the “Mormon and Gay” conversation. The film captures the resilient energy that suggests despite the mightiest of efforts by church and university officials, the cause will not be silenced nor diluted. Same-Sex Attracted demonstrates effectively the spirit of students and alumni who recognize the long game challenges of bringing about changes that have been delayed far too long.

The film had an interesting subject, no doubt; but somehow as a viewer, for someone like me, it's hard to connect. I know just the basics of Latter Day church; so in some sense this documentary or issues students face here is no different from many other religious institutions that always promote homosexuality as an abomination. I do connect and realize with the fact that the journey of everyone is different and I hope things recharging in the university since past 3 years when this documentary came out, but did I get much out of this film? Probably not. I di dream some reviews online and most of them were from students of the university and how they all connected with it so much and that sentiment I can agree with. Sometimes there are situations in documentaries where only a brief section of society can relate to; and thats completely ok. But the documentary was probably made for that purpose in the first place. (4/10)