12-Year-Old Lesbian Mormon Honored by the Human Rights Campaign

Remember the viral video of that 12-year-old girl, who bravely came out to her Mormon congregation, before eventually getting cut off? Well, Savannah ended up getting a much larger audience to listen to her when she was honored by the Human Rights Campaign during their 2017 Utah Gala this month.

In the video, Savannah gave a moving speech at her church explaining how she believed her sexuality was not a mistake or sin, but merely the way she was made. She compared being created a lesbian to being created with freckles or brown hair--simply another piece of her complex being. Yet halfway through the young girl's testimony, her microphone was turned off and a leader gave a follow-up talk about how they are all "children of God."

The video of Savannah at church quickly spread across the Internet, and sky-rocketed the little girl into the LGBTQ spotlight. There was inevitably a mixture of emotions towards the video, but most people were proud of Savannah's bravery, including those at HRC.

Savannah was invited to the Utah Gala, and gave a quick speech saying how she was small, but had a lot of love to give. She stood again on stage, this time with her parents by her side, accepting support and acknowledgement of her sexuality from those around her. The young woman and her parents were praised by event chair Dustin Williams for being both brave and supportive.

"I just wanted to say, even though I'm small and I don't really have a video to go with what I'm saying, I have a lot of love to share, and I love you guys so much," Savannah said, holding back tears. Watch, below.