- Brigham Young University students donned angelic garb to protect LGBTQ students from angry protesters on Saturday.
- LGBTQ students attended a "Back to School Pride Night" at a local park in Provo, Utah.
Students dressed as angels protected LGBTQ students from anti-LGBTQ protesters hurling slurs at a "Back to School Pride Night" on Saturday night in Provo, Utah.
The Raynbow Collective, a nonprofit organization that supports Brigham Young University LGBTQ students, put on the event at a park ahead of the school year, the Salt Lake City Tribune reported. The event, which occurs annually, this time attracted anti-LGBT protesters who yelled out "pedophile" and "groomer" at LGBTQ students.
"You're going against God," one man told the group of LGBT students, per the Tribune. Others marched around with signs imprinted with slurs.
About 300 people came out to enjoy the event. A dozen people dressed in angelic garb joined them, forming a barrier between them and the protesters, the Tribune reported.
The homemade garb consisted of white sheets fitted over PVC pipes, designed to resemble angel wings. When the angels stood between the protesters and the LGBT students, their wings — measuring up to about three feet above their shoulders — blocked the signs and posters from the anti-LGBT group, in an effort to keep the event enjoyable and safe for the participants.
"I'm doing this because I want our LGBTQ community to feel like they can be themselves and know we have their backs," Brigham Young student Sabrina Wong told the Tribune.
Ahead of pride night, police told event organizers that they believed a large crowd of protesters planned to attend as well.
In response, Maddison Tenney, Raynbow Collective founder and Brigham Young senior, came up with the idea to create angel costumes to block the protesters and protect the event participants, the Tribune reported.
The costumes and practice date back to at least 1999, when a group of people donned angel apparel to honor Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who had been beaten and tortured by two men. Shepard died six days after the attack. Since then, people in angel costumes have continued to block anti-LGBTQ protesters at parades, rallies, and events.
At Saturday's event, students joined the people in angel costumes to fill in any gaps that exposed anti-LGBTQ protesters, the Tribune reported. About 100 angry protesters were in attendance, according to the Tribune.
"I know that there are more standing with us than those against us," Tenney said in an address to the crowd of eventgoers, per the Tribune.