From Meme to Movement: A Conversation with Amanda K. Beardsley

In this episode of Dialogue Out Loud, Dialogue art editor Amanda K. Beardsley joins co-editor Margaret Olsen Hemming to discuss her Spring 2026 essay, “From Protest Poster to Meme: The Visual Language of Queer Dissent at BYU.”

Drawing on protest posters created during the “Queer at BYU” demonstrations, Amanda explores how memes, humor, irony, and digital aesthetics became tools for expressing grief, solidarity, and resistance within a highly controlled religious environment. Together, Margaret and Amanda examine the relationship between art and activism, the internet as a new public sphere, the role of archives in preserving ephemeral protest movements, and the ways Mormonism has long intersected with technology and media culture.

The conversation moves from shocked Pikachu memes to Habermas, from Instagram activism to political cartoons, asking what happens when online visual language spills into physical public space. Amanda also reflects personally on queer loneliness at BYU and the power of community affirmation during moments of institutional conflict.

This episode offers a thoughtful exploration of Mormon visual culture, digital protest, queer belonging, and the evolving language of public dissent.