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By John-Charles Duffy April, 1997 Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons is the oldest surviving formal organization of gay and lesbian Mormons in the world. The organization was founded in August 1977 in Salt Lake City; the international conference Affirmation will hold in Salt Lake this August celebrates the organization's twentieth anniversary. Affirmation is the brainchild of Steve Zakharias, who, during 1976-77, lost two friends, both BYU students, to suicide. Both friends had submitted to electroshock therapy in an attempt to cure their orientation. When the therapy failed, they became overwhelmed by feelings of massive unworthiness, which they felt they could resolve only by taking their own lives. Both had been counseled by ecclesiastical leaders to cut off contact with all gay friends as part of their "recovery" process—thus effectively cutting themselves off from a network which might have been able to provide the support necessary to prevent their deaths. Zakharias determined that a formal support group for gay and lesbian Mormons was needed. Affirmation's earliest meetings were called, appropriately enough, "family home evenings." The group—gay and lesbian Mormons whom Zakharias had met, or who learned about Affirmation through the grapevine—met monthly in the home of a Salt Lake lesbian to share their stories and establish a social network. The name "Affirmation" was chosen to indicate that participants affirmed their identity as children of God and their right to simply talk to one another. The organization also maintained a phone number and P.O. Box for inquiries. In 1978, Zakharias' work transferred him to Denver, where he formed a new Affirmation group. It was at this point that Paul Mortensen, a gay Mormon in Los Angeles, inquired about Affirmation and subsequently helped start the Los Angeles chapter. When Zakharias had to abandon Affirmation leadership for health reasons, he asked Mortensen to take over. Mortensen became the driving force behind Affirmation from that point on. (It is sometimes said that Mortensen is the father of Affirmation, Zakharias its grandfather.) When Mortensen took charge of Affirmation, the organization was suffering from a general lack of vision and leadership. An early focus of the organization had been reconciling homosexuality with LDS scripture. With time, this became less of a priority. Under Mortensen, Affirmation's mission focused on providing a forum in which gay/lesbian Mormons could meet each other, discuss issues, and find the sympathy that was generally unavailable through ecclesiastical channels. Participating in Affirmation also served as a way for gay/lesbian Mormons to keep alive the cultural aspects of their faith (or former faith, as the case was). And the organization retained its original mission, as conceived by Zakharias: to provide support to stop the suicides. Today, Affirmation claims several hundred participants, mostly in the United States, but in other parts of the world as well. The organization produces a monthly newsletter and maintains an on-line discussion group called Q-Saints. An independent but closely related organization called Gamofites holds retreats throughout the country for gay Mormon fathers. A women's outreach program becomes steadily stronger as more and more women participate in the organization and take on leadership roles, both in local chapters and at the national level. Shortly after the AIDS epidemic began, Affirmation launched its own quilt project to commemorate Mormons who have lost their lives to AIDS. Affirmation holds yearly conferences to allow participants from all over to meet each other, to discuss the unique issues facing gays and lesbians from Mormon backgrounds, and to celebrate both aspects of their dual identity—gay and Mormon. Increasingly, Affirmation is becoming an active, visible presence in both the gay and Mormon communities. At a time when the LDS Church is increasing its own visible engagement in gay-related politics, it is important that Affirmation be available to affirm the human dignity of gays and lesbians. Most importantly, Affirmation aims to assure gay/lesbian Mormons who are still struggling to come to grips with their orientation that a "gay lifestyle" is not incompatible with a happy, fulfilled, even spiritual life.
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www.affirmation.org