Welcome to Utah, one of the most conservative states on the West Coast. We offer amazing scenery, the friendliest people, and the highest percentage of Mormon residents in the United States. I moved to Utah from the East Coast when I was eight years old, and of course, this was the most detrimental thing that could possibly happen to eight-year-old me. The first neighborhood party that I got invited to was a swim party, and when I left the house to go neither my parents or I thought about what I was wearing. I stepped over to the pool area in my two piece swimsuit and was quickly pulled over to the side and asked to come upstairs of the house. The parents who were hosting it had taken me upstairs and asked me if I wouldn’t mind borrowing their child’s swimsuit or using a large t-shirt. I didn’t really understand how this moment would later affect me or what any of it meant. For most of middle school and a lot of high school I found myself judging people either for being too conservative or slutty. We spend way too much time worrying about what other people are doing instead of deciding who we are and how we want to represent ourselves.
So when reflecting on what it means to be a SL,UT in Utah it may have a very different connotation.
You may be a SL,UT if you:
Wear tank tops during the summer.
You don’t attend three hours of church every weekend.
You have ever had more than a sip of alcohol.
You are a liberal democrat.
You don’t want to go to BYU.
You’ve had sex with multiple partners.
You didn’t spend 2 years “traveling.”
Often times Utah can distort how we view people, especially in comparison to a lot of other states, so collegiates its time to see how we are judging those around us. Everyone should feel equally entitled to do any of these things or not to. If you are from out of state or in state be respectful of those around you, but don’t be afraid to be yourself.