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Benjamin Schilaty
Sep 25, 20194 min read
The Place Where I Found the Courage to Be Me
Last year after giving a presentation at BYU on the LGBTQ & SSA student experience at BYU, a professor came up to me and asked what it...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Sep 18, 20196 min read
The Greatest Law is Love
Just over a year ago I participated on an LGBT themed panel at the BYU Religious Freedom Review. During the session a man asked the panel...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Sep 2, 20194 min read
The Gift My Mom Forgot to Give Me
As I write this post it is my mom’s 71st birthday. Three years ago she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s the day before her birthday. Two...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Aug 18, 20193 min read
Spiritual Nudges
Below is the text of a talk I gave at my stake conference last night. I am an optimist by nature. In spiritual terms, I was given the...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Aug 5, 20192 min read
12 Years Since Coming Out
August 12th marks the 12 year anniversary of my first coming out. I’ve told that story hundreds of times at Ally Nights, in one on one...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Jul 15, 20195 min read
Alzheimer's Sucks!
I lost my cool when I was visiting my parents over Christmas. It was after 11 pm and when I went into my room to get ready for bed all my...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Jul 2, 20194 min read
Pride Is the Opposite of Shame
I have two rainbow pins displayed on my backpack. Each of them containing a symbol that ties them to BYU. They’re rad because they reveal...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Jun 24, 20198 min read
Agency and Same-Sex Attraction
The following essay was recently published in the BYU Studies Quarterly. You can access the online version of the article on the BYU...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Jun 12, 20194 min read
"How Are You Really Doing?"
Five years ago I took a summer job working for a nonprofit in Peru. My colleague Eliana and I ran a volunteer program there. We lived in...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Apr 5, 20193 min read
Reconciling a Changed Policy
Me, Paul, and Dianna who were all at that meeting LGBTQ Latter-day Saint experience. And that’s what we did. The next day I wrote: “I...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Mar 18, 20194 min read
You Are the Resources
“You are the resources,” I said. “The Lord has placed you in your callings so that you can be the resource for any member who feels...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Feb 5, 20196 min read
The Time I Went to Conversion Therapy
Conversion therapy can take a number of forms. The essential premise is that homosexuality is a pathology that can be treated and...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Dec 10, 20186 min read
Creating Sacred Spaces
There are 40 people in my social work cohort at school. 40 people who I’m in class with all the time. 40 people who are some of my...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Nov 14, 20182 min read
Carrying One Another’s Crosses
I get a lot of phone calls from struggling gay Latter-day Saints. I got two such phone calls last night. And sometimes, like last night,...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Oct 28, 20185 min read
Listen with Christlike Curiosity
My friend Josh called me last year when I was still living in Tucson. He asked me what he should say when someone says something unkind...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Sep 30, 20184 min read
My Mom Stole a Cat
I’ve cried three times since my mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. When I got the email from my dad about her diagnosis, the day before...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Jun 21, 20184 min read
The Freedom to Be Open about My Sexuality
I saw this delightful saying on a wall last week Elder Clayton continued, "One cannot check religious identity at the church or synagogue...
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Benjamin Schilaty
May 29, 20182 min read
Coming to Hearken
The story of Rhoda presents a clash of beliefs. She knew through personal experience that Peter was at the door. On the other hand, the...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Apr 12, 20186 min read
What I Wish People Understood
I wish that we LGBT Latter-day Saints had a place to find each other. We need each other. With the help of my stake president in Tucson I...
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Benjamin Schilaty
Mar 21, 20185 min read
BYU’s LGBTQ & SSA Student Forum
On March 15, 2018, at 12:30 pm something happened that I never dreamed I’d see. I had just spent the last 90 minutes participating on...
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