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Barry Blum (1962 – 2012)

We regret to announce the passing of Barry Blum, who died of cancer on March 1, 2012, in Sacramento. He was 49 years old.

Barry has been involved in Affirmation since the 1980s. Starting in 1983, Barry became the coordinator of Affirmation’s “Chapter at Large,” which included Affirmation members who lived outside organized chapters. Before the days of the internet, the Chapter at Large helped strengthen Affirmation members who lived far away from other LGBT Mormons. Barry sent these members a special newsletter, kept in touch with them, and represented them in Affirmation’s General Council.

Barry was born on April 2, 1962. In 1980 he graduated from Sparks High School in Nevada. In the mid-1980s he organized an Affirmation group in Reno. He later moved to Northern California and eventually settled in Sacramento, where he worked for many years in the mortgage and real estate industry.

Through Affirmation, Barry met his friend Hoyt Grant, a fellow gay Mormon who was much older than him. Barry treated Hoyt as if he was his father. Barry took Hoyt into his home and cared for him for many years, until Hoyt’s passing in 2006.

"Making an effort to know our sexual identities is only the first step in setting ourselves free," Barry said during the 1985 Affirmation conference. "We must then continue to develop our spiritual identity with our Savior and Father in Heaven. We must learn of our responsibilities and opportunities that He has planned for us as gay children in His kingdom."

"I try to enjoy each day of life by being compassionate and of service to others," Barry wrote recently. "I do not judge people and enjoy all aspects of good friends."