“It’s even been more comfortable socially. With Tyler coming
out, he’s more comfortable in his own skin, he’s not lying
about who he is and I think that’s a celebratory example of coming
through dark times and trying to feel at peace with yourself in your own
skin. I think each of us is a little happier now with the second album than
we were on the first album and we all know each other better, so we are in
a much more comfortable place with this album in a lot of ways.”

The Neon Trees are a social experiment in several ways. While each were
Mormon at some point, they are all in different places now. With a frontman who just
recently came out and a devout Mormon drummer, they are an
example of how to put differences aside and still have love for each other.

“When we came together we all knew we were in different places. We
are all on different rungs of the ladder, some of us aren’t even
Mormon anymore and we knew that if we hung on to that it would just
breed resentment,” Bradley said. “So very early on we made a
business decision that we weren’t going to judge each other on our
personal lives, but Neon Trees doesn’t party. So when we do Neon
Trees events or functions there are no drugs and no drinking."

The drummer explained how the reaction to Glenn’s announcement
has been received among Mormons and shared what she has come to
understand. Despite a strong stance against homosexuality within the
Mormon faith, Bradley feels there is still room to love and accept those who
are gay.

“People being gay is not something you can hide or pretend it
doesn’t exist, or shunning even, because these are our brothers or
our sisters or our best friends. People in the church are becoming more
accepting because they have to take these faces head-on, it’s not
just a general concept anymore," Bradley said. "The more acceptable it is to
come out, the more people will have to face it personally and realize they
love that person. The less judgmental and the more human we can be, both
on the religious and social side, the more considerate and kind humans we
can be. The doctrine doesn’t change but it’s not an excuse to
be hateful or stubborn or cold. The church is changing in how they handle
this because they know they are going to face a lot of it and it shows what
kind of Christians we really are."