USGA: A Community of Queer Belonging at BYU

During her freshman year at Brigham Young University, Mica Deustua sat through a policy class discussion on identity. Her professor opened the door for debate, and her classmates made it clear how they felt about queer people. Some argued that being queer was a sinful choice, that people like Deustua deserved to go to hell or that queer people should simply abstain from their desires in order to follow the law of God. Speaking up could have cost her a trip to the Honor Code Office — a risk she could not take.

“I just remember getting out of that class, going to the bathroom, calling my mom and sobbing for an hour,” Deustua says. “Because if you know me, I’m a person that will speak out. So not being able to say anything to defend not only me, but my family and friends, was heartbreaking.”

At BYU, survival for queer students often means finding each other. Deustua found it in USGA, where she now serves as president. Founded in 2010, USGA (Understanding Sexuality, Gender and Allyship) became one of the first queer support organizations in Utah County. Denied official recognition and pushed off campus, it grew into a lifeline for connection, community and solidarity — a space for queer students that the university still refuses to provide.

“USGA’s mission is not to change BYU … It’s to survive it.”

That fight for space never stopped. USGA students still build it. They run weekly meetings, offer referrals to outside mental health resources and connect peers with legal help. The university does not fund these services — students do, often out of their own pockets. “USGA’s mission is not to change BYU,” Deustua says. “It’s to survive it.”

USGA also hosts events like a Lavender Graduation and an annual queer dance, which Deustua calls the highlight of the year. It used to be a secret, she said, but now students post about it openly. “Seeing queer youth dancing and laughing without fear reminded me why this work matters,” she says. Even now, just being visible is its own kind of defiance.

In 2021, BYU clarified that Pride flags and “safe space” stickers would no longer be permitted in campus offices. Soon after, faculty members who quietly supported queer students were pushed out or left. Clubs that once partnered with USGA stopped answering. When BYU President C. Shane Reese took office in 2023, Deustua said the atmosphere grew even colder.

“If you know me, I’m a person that will speak out. So not being able to say anything to defend not only me, but my family and friends, was heartbreaking.”

In February, BYU’s Office of Belonging hosted its first university-wide event for LGBTQ+ students, called “A Christlike Community of Covenant Belonging.” It looked like progress. It felt like surveillance. “They made everyone scan their IDs,” Deustua says. “No one told them why. No one told them where that information was going. For a lot of students, it didn’t feel safe. It felt like they were being put on a list.”

According to the Office of Belonging’s website, the event was meant to bring LGBTQ+ students together through service and community. Students decorated heart-shaped cookies, made keychains and wrote testimonies inside copies of the Book of Mormon. It was framed as an act of love. For many, it felt more like a hollow performance — a reminder that you could be queer at BYU if you kept your faith louder than your identity.

“Seeing queer youth dancing and laughing without fear reminded me why this work matters.”

USGA started as a way to stay alive at BYU. Now, it’s becoming something bigger. This year, the group plans to drop the BYU label and become USGA Utah, opening its community to queer students at Utah Valley University and Ensign College. These are campuses where safe spaces are still rare, but just as necessary. Without recognition and institutional support, USGA is making space anyway.

Even as USGA grows, its mission remains the same: Create safe spaces, celebrate queer joy and keep fighting for every student who needs them. They are not asking for space anymore. They are making it. Support USGA by donating, showing up and amplifying their voice. Find them on Instagram at @usgabyu or go to usgabyu.com.

Read more about local LGBTQ+ issues here:
BYU’s Gayest Lighting Rig and the Film That Followed
Friends, Allies, and Mentors: Creating LGBTQ+ Inclusive Schools