Taylor Petrey

Church & State is the improbable story of a brash, inexperienced gay activist and a tiny Salt Lake City law firm that joined forces to topple Utah’s gay marriage ban. The film’s ride on the bumpy road to equality in Utah offers a glimpse at the Mormon church’s influence in state politics and the squabbles inside the gay community that nearly derailed a chance to make history. Church & State is a story of triumph, setback and a little-known lawsuit that should have failed, but instead paved the way for a U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay unions nationwide.

Charlie Bird rose to fame as Brigham Young University’s viral mascot, only to reveal a deeper truth beneath the mask—navigating life as an openly gay member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a church that both celebrates and excludes him.