Skip to content

Becoming an Ally, America’s Guide, Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds

Share:

Share on facebook
Share on google
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin

For a heterosexual man from a devout LDS (aka Mormon) background to the founder of LoveLoud, a Salt Lake City based foundation that bridges the gap between parents and children who are LGBTQ, to say the least Dan Reynolds is: heroic, commendable, and exemplary. Reynolds, distinctively known as the lead singer and Frontman for the Grammy award-winning band Imagine Dragons, is the epitome of what it means to be an ally.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Over the course of his career he has progressively become the guide our nation needs to help all citizens become allies.  

  • Stepping outside the norm for LDS cultural attitudes by acknowledging LGBTQ struggles.
  • Speaking out against other entertainers who publicly shame and degrade LGBTQ people.
  • Founded LoveLoud, a foundation that guides families into safe spaces and safe conversations as family members transition and come out.
  • He raises monies through LoveLoud for several LGBTQ charities.
  • Showed up in Washington to fight for their rights: the Prohibition of Medicaid Funding for Conversion Therapy Act (H.R. 1981) and the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act (H.R. 3570).
  • Donating his childhood home in partnership with, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith to the Encircle foundation for the purpose of providing a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth.

In present America many people resist acknowledging their lack of basic rights, others say they support by keeping silent afraid to rock their community boat, and others want to ally but don’t know how. Dan Reynolds journey from full-fledged Mormon to full-fledged LGTBQ ally ushers the way to equality. Let us follow his footsteps.

Photo: Courtesy of LoveLoud

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” 

 ~Martin Luther King, Jr

Photo: Courtesy of LoveLoud

Walk as Your Able

Afraid to speak out? You want to help but don’t know how without personal devastation? Do you feel like you’re caught between a rock and a wall? Sit with that discomfort. That feeling might be the closest thing you can do right now to walking a mile in their shoes. While we all don’t have the resources to start our own foundations or donate houses, we can: show up, speak up, own our impact whether intentional or not, and at the very least educate ourselves. 

America, let us stop judging these good people by our personal beliefs; they are just that—personal. America at its core is founded on the principals of religious freedom. At the core of most religions is love. America let us use our faith to love, whether it be in a supreme being, nature, science, or whatever. Let us in love plow furrows in our communities that acknowledge LGBTQ pain. Let us speak out and plant seeds of education and awareness that will grow into a harvest most sweet and plentiful–a new community that is able to benefit all. Let us start living as one people.

“Where there is no struggle there is no strength.”

~Oprah

Leave a Comment