When their son Craig — a former student body president of Provo High School and a returned LDS missionary — came out as gay in 1989, Gary and Millie Watts were thrust into a journey of faith, family, and advocacy. At the time, Gary was a 49-year-old radiologist and nuclear medicine physician in Provo, Utah. Despite his medical background, both he and Millie quickly realized how little they, the LDS Church, and the broader public truly understood about the nature of homosexuality.

Determined to learn, they began extensive research and concluded that homosexuality was not chosen, but biologic and not susceptible to meaningful change. Meanwhile, Craig pursued graduate studies in Chicago, New York City, and later Japan. When he confided in his LDS branch president about being gay — believing honesty was the right path — he was unexpectedly summoned to a church court and excommunicated. The decision devastated Craig and his family.

Rather than retreat in silence, the Watts family gathered together and made a bold decision: they would go public. “We wanted to support Craig and fulfill his desire to ‘not let it happen to anyone else,’” they explained. That commitment transformed the Wattses into some of Utah’s earliest and most visible allies to the LGBTQ+ community.

In 1993, Gary and Millie became co-chairs of Family Fellowship, a support group for Mormon families navigating the complexities of having LGBTQ+ loved ones. Under their leadership, the group expanded from six original members to more than 1,700 families by the time they stepped down in 2006. Their visibility and courage made them fixtures at community events, and in 2003 they served as Grand Marshals of the Utah Pride Parade.

Their advocacy wasn’t limited to Craig. Their daughter Lori also came out as gay while attending Reed College. Unlike her brother, she chose to resign her church membership rather than face the pain of excommunication. United as a family, the Wattses committed themselves to love, inclusion, and justice.

Gary later chronicled their journey in his award-winning book, Rainbow Letters: The Temerity to Believe, which documents their decades-long effort to encourage LDS Church leaders to find ways to include, rather than exclude, LGBTQ+ individuals.

For more than 30 years, Gary and Millie Watts have been steadfast voices of compassion, education, and courage. Their work has not only changed lives within their own faith community but has also strengthened the broader LGBTQ+ movement in Utah and beyond.