Chris Autry, the Managing Director of BYU Police and BYU Security, has been using BYU campus facilities to hold secret meetings with LGBTQ activist groups, the Cougar Chronicle confirmed this week. These events were likely held in violation of BYU’s own Speakers and Events policy, which prohibits the use of campus resources for events “intended for an audience broader than a single college or educational support unit” unless they are previously approved by the BYU administration.
The most recent event took place this past week on April 11th, when Autry met with members of the Cougar Pride Center, an organization whose mission is to “empower queer BYU students, celebrate progress, and advocate for change through collaborative activism.” The Cougar Pride Center sponsors an annual drag pageant, and also sponsors a project to find BYU students housing “where [their] gender identity and sexual orientation are affirmed.”
As part of the event, Autry welcomed members of the Cougar Pride Center into the basement of the Talmage Building and provided them with a dinner as part of an outreach project to the LGBTQ community he has been working on for the past several years. At the time of this article’s publication, he had stated that he plans to continue holding these meetings once or twice a semester. In a recording of the event obtained by the Cougar Chronicle, he told the Cougar Pride Center that his purpose in hosting these events was to ensure that they felt like “there’s somebody here at BYU who really does care, even if it may not seem like BYU does.”
During his address to the attendees, he discussed his experience when LGBT activists lit the Y with the rainbow, saying, “I got called at home the first night that it was lit… I’m laughing on the phone because–and I’ll just say you because it’s your community–pulled one over on us… We weren’t expecting that, and it was brilliant.”
Regarding BYU’s approach to LGBTQ issues, he said “I have to be careful… I’m very passionate about my opinions and there are other administrators who feel very passionately too, but there are some limitations too for what can happen.” However, he stated that he feels that BYU is heading in the right direction. “In the time I’ve been here, there’s actually been what I would consider some progress, some open dialogue… but it’s really slow.” As evidence, he pointed to BYU’s editing of Elder Holland’s talk “The Second Half of the Second Century of BYU” in the new textbook being used for the forthcoming UNIV 101 class, saying, “The fact that there are discussions about that talk, that they are wanting to redact out parts of it, even though you may not think it’s enough, is still a good sign.”
The Cougar Chronicle contacted BYU to request further information concerning their knowledge of the meetings, but they did not respond to requests for comment.
Written by: Joseph Addington
Opinion Editor and Senior Contributor at The Cougar Chronicle
The Cougar Chronicle is an independent student-run newspaper and is not affiliated with Brigham Young University or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Cover photo source: The Daily Universe
