5 YEARS AGO TODAY: SAVANNAH’S TESTIMONY

On May 7, 2017, twelve year old Savannah stood up during a Mormon testimony meeting and announced that she believed her “heavenly parents” loved her and that they were proud of her, even though she was gay.
Although the testimony that she had meticulously written, and re-written several times was less than three minutes long, the man presiding over the meeting that day (it’s always a man) had the mic shut off and he asked Savannah to sit down. She wasn’t allowed to finish.
But Savannah had several of her friends in the congregation. They knew that Savannah had planned to tell her ward (aka congregation) that she was gay this day and they wanted to record her official coming out. Nobody expected her microphone to be shut off.
That was five years ago today and a lot has happened since then. Savannah has made a name for herself in the LGBTQ+ community and far beyond. She has served as a youth ambassador for the Human Rights Campaign and for Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. Savannah was one of eight recipients of the Channel Kindness award from Lady Gaga’s foundation.
Rest assured, nobody is shutting Savannah’s mic off now. Her decision to come out the way she did was done out of love and empathy for anyone in her congregation that was also queer but felt they were alone. She wanted them to know they were not alone.
Savannah’s act of selflessness and bravery, that has been seen by well over half a billion people and published in countless newspapers and magazines worldwide, has undoubtedly saved countless lives and inspired countless more to summon the courage to be their authentic selves, and proudly declare their membership in the Alphabet Mafia, including myself.
NewNameNoah
#LOVELOUD
#LGBTQ