Ray Nielson

RAY NIELSON is a recent graduate from Brigham Young University. They are bisexual and nonbinary and greatly enjoyed their time at BYU despite the negative attitude toward queer people that can sometimes be found there. They served in the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission and will forever be grateful for that challenging and rewarding experience. Ray now resides near Austin, Texas with their fiancé. The two of them are looking forward to a very queer wedding.

On Tradition and a Nonbinary Revolution

Articles/Essays – Volume 56, No. 1

Dialogue 56.1 (Spring 2023): 83–89

A couple months earlier, I had written to a friend back in Utah. It was June and she was celebrating Pride. I asked her to send me something. I’d been feeling terribly lonely in the missionary culture and wanted a physical reminder that there were others like me out in the world. She mentioned pronoun pins, and in a moment of rash decision I asked for “they/them” as well as “she/her.” Why not? I guess I thought, what harm could it do?