“I knew I wanted to protest my time at the school,” Jillian Orr said, “after so many years feeling like I had to hide myself.”
Jillian Orr said she wanted to be her authentic self when she accepted her diploma from the school run by the LDS Church.
Jillian Orr walks across stage in her custom graduation gown for Brigham Young University on Friday, April 22, 2022. Her sister, Rachel Orr, sewed a Pride flag inside of it for Jillian to express her identity on stage after years of feeling like she had to hide being bisexual at the church-run school.
Orr said she is a strong believer in the LDS Church, a faith she was born and raised in, but she doesn’t think her sexuality should be at conflict with her spirituality. She loves them both.She had been talking with her younger sister, Hope Orr, about what to wear to graduation. Hope had encouraged her to be authentic, suggesting maybe a rainbow dress.
She started to wonder if they’d tackle her on stage or escort her off the premises or rip up her diploma. And then she did it. In an image that has since been shared nationally — appearing on a segment of Good Morning America, USA Today and the Huffington Post — Orr stands on the stage, opening her gown like colorful wings under her arms.
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