As political science valedictorian Matt Easton took the podium Friday at the Brigham Young University commencement ceremony, he congratulated his classmates on their victories — congrats to those who earned a difficult and rigorous degree, who raised children while studying, who stood in the face of adversity to make campus better.
Like Enos in the Book of Mormon, Easton said, he too battled and fought in prayer with his maker countless times while a BYU student.
“It was in these quiet moments of pain and confusion that I felt another triumph, that of coming to terms, not with who I thought I should be, but who the Lord has made me,” the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences graduate said. “As such, I stand before my family, friends and graduating class today to say that I am proud to be a gay son of God.”
The audience cheered and applauded Easton, who said coming out to his entire college “is a phenomenal feeling, and it is a victory for me in and of itself.”