(CNN) — Just two weeks ago, LGBTQ students at Brigham Young University were cheering after the school deleted a section in its honor code that banned “homosexual behavior.” But on Wednesday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints poured cold water on their celebrations after it clarified that same-sex romantic behavior is still “not compatible” with BYU’s principles.
The announcement came in a letter penned by Elder Paul V. Johnson, the commissioner of the church’s educational system. It was sent to all the students and employees at Mormon-owned schools, according to BYU, which tweeted out the letter.
“The moral standards of the Church did not change with the recent release of the General Handbook or the updated Honor Code,” Johnson wrote. “Same-sex behavior cannot lead to eternal marriage and is therefore not compatible with the principles included in the Honor Code.”
The code had previously prohibited “all forms of physical intimacy that gives expression to homosexual feelings.” If same-sex couples were seen hugging, holding hands, kissing or dating in public, they’d risk an investigation by the feared Honor Code Office, as well as punishment at their church or expulsion from school.
Students had long protested the code’s “homosexual behavior” policy so when it was deleted last month, they claimed it as a victory.
Franchesca Lopez said she felt “free and cared for by the university for the first time in a long time” last month. She celebrated the deleted policy with her “first gay kiss.”
But on Wednesday, she told CNN, “I feel so stupid for believing that they cared about me.”
Zachary Ibarra, who is gay, was overjoyed as school administrators told his friends last month that they could hug and kiss partners of the same sex.
But he was also skeptical as the university said it would handle questions on a “case-by-case basis” and the new rules weren’t abundantly clear.
Well, his skepticism proved right, he told CNN Wednesday.
“This is exactly what I was scared of. BYU gave us two weeks of radio silence and in that time we had hope and really started to believe that the changes were here to stay and we were accepted as a part of the student body,” Ibarra said. “Now we have been slapped in (the) face.”
Hundreds of students gathered at BYU’s Wilkinson Student Center Wednesday afternoon to protest, according to Ibarra.
Students chanted, “Jesus loves me, so should you,” and “Love, not hate, is what makes BYU great,” Ibarra said.
When asked for a response regarding Johnson’s letter, BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins pointed CNN to a Q&A by Kevin Utt, director of the Honor Code Office, which was posted to the school’s website Wednesday.
The section on homosexual behavior was removed from the Honor Code to “create a single standard for all CES institutions that is consistent with the recently released General Handbook of the Church,” Utt said in the post.
When asked why students were told by school staff that they would no longer be disciplined for romantic behavior with same-sex partners, BYU officials told The Salt Lake Tribune that there “may have been some miscommunication” but didn’t elaborate.
Utt reiterated that “same-sex romantic behavior is a violation of the principles of the Honor Code” in the Q&A and added, “We encourage all members of our campus community to reach out to those who are personally affected with sensitivity, love and respect.”
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