BYU Grad 'Ready' for Potential Consequences After Sewing Pride Flag Into Robe: 'I'm Not Ashamed'
Courtesy Jillian Orr
Jillian Orr tells PEOPLE she is prepared for any potential consequences she may face from Brigham Young University after sewing a rainbow flag into her graduation gown and showing it off at the ceremony.
Orr, who is bisexual, shared the moment and how it came to be in a now-viral TikTok video that has been viewed over 5.4 million times and liked by more than 1.3 million users as of Friday afternoon.
Students who attend BYU, a private university in Utah sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are required to sign an honor code, which prohibits "any same-sex romantic behavior," according to its website.
On the latest episode of the PEOPLE Every Day podcast, Orr said she "was ready" for the possible consequences of her actions when she decided to sew the flag into her gown.
"I don't know if they are allowed to take away my degree. I don't know if they're allowed to freeze my transcripts. I don't know," Orr explained. "I mean, there is something in the church called a disciplinary council where you do have to go and it's kind of like church court, and I don't know nothing has happened, but I'm waiting to see."
"But either way, I'm ready to face it and take accountability and own that," she continued, "because I'm not ashamed of what I did because I understand that there may be negative consequences to choosing what is right. And I'm okay doing that."
Courtesy Jillian Orr
In March 2020, students expressed confusion over BYU's honor code after the university appeared to change its language to permit same-sex romantic behavior. Two weeks after the language was changed, the school confirmed its ban remained in place.
In a letter, Elder Paul V. Johnson said, "Same-sex romantic behavior cannot lead to eternal marriage and is therefore not compatible with the principles included in the Honor Code," per the school's website.
BYU has not responded to PEOPLE's requests for comment.
Listen below to an interview with Jillian Orr on our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
Orr, who said she came to understand her sexuality halfway through getting her degree at BYU, at one point felt forced to "pick between my spirituality and my sexuality," which she said was both "hard" and "painful" because "I'm very close to God."
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"Being at a school that is so religiously based, I felt torn because I couldn't be authentically me with my sexuality and I couldn't be authentically me with my spirituality in one place," she told PEOPLE's podcast. "And so when I … showed my colors, I was showing people that you can be both and you don't have to pick."
Orr said she "didn't expect" her story to get so big, which has "shifted" her world in the wake of her actions. Overall, the experience has "been eye-opening," she added.
Courtesy Jillian Orr
"I just was hoping that the students would see it and that they would be felt, and they'd be heard… that they were seen, that I was seen for them too," she said on the podcast.
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Orr has received hundreds of positive messages from people, especially students, of all sexual orientations, which she said is an "awesome" show of support.
"It has just been so cool 'cause I've had parents who are like, 'Thank you for doing that,' " she revealed, later adding, "I've had hundreds of thank you letters for being seen and for making a stance in a dignified way."
Now, Orr hopes her actions will have some effect on the school, telling PEOPLE, "I hope policies change."
