Utah College Picks Anti-Gay Apostle as Commencement Speaker

Thousands of people have signed an online petition protesting Southern Utah University’s choice of a Mormon apostle with anti-gay views to be the keynote speaker at commencement in April. The Salt Lake Tribune notes that Jeffrey Holland has called for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to take up intellectual “muskets” to defend its “doctrine of the family.” The petition has gotten 6,000 signatures in 24 hours, among them a faculty member who wrote: “I want all of my students to feel welcome and safe on SUU’s campus, especially during an important and celebratory milestone in their lives.”