{"id":2698,"date":"2013-04-01T18:40:32","date_gmt":"2013-04-02T00:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/affirmation.org\/?p=2698"},"modified":"2018-12-14T16:13:59","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T23:13:59","slug":"affinity-april-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/affirmation.org\/es\/afinidad-abril-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Affinity - Abril de 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons\u2014Serving LGBT Mormons and Their Family and Friends Since 1977<\/center><\/p>\n
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Inside This Issue<\/b><\/p>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/a>Easter Message<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Affirmation Calendar<\/h3>\n

March 31\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0“Sit with Me” Sunday<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

April 5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mormon LGBT\/SSA Social in Salt Lake City<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

April 5-6\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Affirmation Leadership & Board Meeting in Salt Lake City<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

April 20\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One Voice Choir Concert in Salt Lake City<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n

<\/td>\nApril 21\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Family Fellowship Forum in Provo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

April 27\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LDS LGBT-related Conference in Arizona<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

May 18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Equality fundraiser in St. George<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

September 13-15\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Affirmation Annual Conference in Salt Lake City, UT<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"MichaelLDS artist Michael McLean<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

LGBT\/SSA Social to be Held This Week in Salt Lake City<\/h2>\n

April 5 Event Is Your Opportunity to Meet a Large Group of LGBT Mormons, Family, and Friends<\/h3>\n

by Randall Thacker<\/p>\n

All LGBT\/SSA Mormons, their families and friends, are invited to join us for a fabulous evening of learning, music, food, and socializing. LGBT Mormons and allies have been holding\u00a0well-attended monthly socials in Utah<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0since last December.<\/p>\n

In conjunction with LDS General Conference, an LDS LGBT\/SSA gathering and social will be held Friday evening, April 5 from 7-9:30 p.m. at the\u00a0Hilton Salt Lake City Center (255 S. West Temple)<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The first part of the program (7:00 \u2013 8:00 pm) will feature LDS author Greg Prince who will speak about his book\u00a0David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. We will also have a performance by renowned musical artist\u00a0Michael McLean<\/a><\/strong>, followed by time to socialize and meet new friends over a dessert buffet and soft drinks.<\/p>\n

Invite your parents, family members, friends, church leaders, and others who love to socialize with LGBT\/SSA Mormons. Spread the word to your friends who are coming to town for general conference.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Affirmation<\/p>\n

\"Judy
\nJudy Finch<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

New Frontiers<\/h2>\n

Plan to join us September 13-15 in Salt Lake City for our Annual International Conference<\/h3>\n

by Randall Thacker<\/p>\n

New Frontiers is about expanding our vision around the unknown possibilities and opportunities for LGBTQ\/SSA Mormons. We will explore how we can come together as a community of LGBTQ\/SSA Mormons, partners, spouses, families, friends, and church leaders. How we can support each other in realizing our full potential as children of God, be empowered to make valuable contributions within and outside of the Church, and find purpose and integrity in our unique journeys.<\/p>\n

Workshops and activities will focus on individual growth, family acceptance, creating strong partnerships\/marriages, how to be an ally, how members and church leaders can be more inclusive, reconciling one\u2019s spirituality and sexuality, living a fulfilling and joyful life as a LGBT Mormon, advocacy, and more!<\/p>\n

Judy Finch, mother and grandmother of 3 gay Mormons and whose video is probably the most affirming on the new MormonsAndGays website will be speaking at conference. Read\u00a0the moving talk she recently gave at a Young Single Adult fireside<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in the Bay Area and watch her video at the bottom of\u00a0this section of MormonsAndGays.org<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Dates, Costs, and Transportation<\/h3>\n

The 2013 Affirmation conference will be more fun, musical, spiritual, and educational than you can imagine! The leadership and board meetings will take place Friday morning and early afternoon, and the rest of the conference will officially kick off late Friday afternoon, with an excellent social with even dancing Friday evening. The rest of the weekend will include workshops, activities, and a devotional and testimony meeting. More details will be announced in the coming months, including some additional amazing keynote speakers.<\/p>\n

Be sure to mark the date on your calendars and\u00a0join our Facebook event<\/a><\/strong>. Online registration will become available soon. This year\u2019s conference registration fee will be only $99. This is a major reduction in cost from previous conferences. We also negotiated an especially low rate for\u00a0the hotel<\/a><\/strong>: $99 for 2 people, $109 for 3 people, and $119 for 4 people per night.<\/p>\n

For the first time ever, you will be able to travel from the Salt Lake City airport to the conference without a taxi or a rental car: The city is expanding the light rail system to the airport, and getting to the University Guesthouse will be as simple as hopping onto the light rail and changing from the green line to the red line at the Courthouse station in downtown Salt Lake.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Images of Equality<\/h2>\n

Curtis Penfold: \u201cI love the idea of marriage so much that I want everyone to be able to get married\u201d<\/h3>\n

Compiled by Hugo Salinas<\/p>\n

Last week, as the Supreme Court prepared to hear oral arguments on cases related to Prop 8 and DOMA, Americans of every faith expressed their support of\u00a0marriage equality<\/a><\/strong>. Thousands attended candlelight vigils and rallies held across the country, and hundreds of thousands wore red or changed their Facebook profile picture in support of giving LGBT people the right to marry. The following vignettes describe LDS participation in many of these events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\nIn\u00a0Provo, Utah,<\/strong>\u00a0over 100 BYU students and local residents gathered at the Utah County Courthouse, where they sang the national anthem, prayed, and lit candles. \u201cI love the idea of marriage so much,\u201d BYU sophomore and organizer\u00a0Curtis Penfold told KSL5<\/a><\/strong>, \u201cthat I want everyone to be able to get married.\u201d Brook Swallow carried a \u201cGay is OK\u201d sign. Sara Vranes, a returned missionary and BYU graduate, said that she regrets having voted yes on Prop 8. \u201cNow people have repented of their votes,\u201d she told the crowd. \u201cThat is exactly the journey I am on. I want to make my vote a \u2018no.\u2019\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
At the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in\u00a0Washington DC,<\/strong>\u00a0Spencer Clark, executive director of Mormons for Equality, represented Latter-day Saints during an interfaith prayer service held in support of marriage equality, where he read a scripture from the Bible. Along with wife Cherry and daughter Clementine, he marched to the Supreme Court holding a sign that read, \u201cMARRIAGE IS LOVE, COMMITMENT, FAMILY.\u201d<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\nIn\u00a0Providence, Rhode Island,<\/strong>\u00a0Lexi Magnusson, a Mormon and a mother of four, was invited to\u00a0testify at the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in favor of marriage equality. \u201cI am Mormon, but I don\u2019t believe this is a religious issue,\u201d Lexi wrote. \u201cI believe that when you protect the rights and freedoms of others, you are also protecting your own rights and freedoms. It happened with the women\u2019s, civil, and disability movements. In each case these people received their rights and their dignity, really, and the world didn\u2019t come to a crashing end as was believed by many at the time.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
In\u00a0Salt Lake City, Utah,<\/strong>\u00a0400 supporters of equality gathered at the Main Library amphitheater, including Family Fellowship co-founders Gary and Millie Watts. Russ Baker-Gorringe, a returned missionary and BYU graduate, spoke at the event flanked by his son on one side and his husband on the other. Russ and his husband\u00a0married during the 2008 Affirmation conference\u00a0held in Los Angeles.<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/td>\nIn\u00a0Bakersfield, California,<\/strong>\u00a0PFLAG supporter Wendy Montgomery\u00a0spoke at a candlelight vigil<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and apologized for having once supported Prop 8. \u201cAs Mormons, we do a lot of things right,\u201d she told the audience. \u201cThere is so much that is beautiful and good with our faith. But we have this issue wrong. And I will fight to make a place in our congregations for my son, and other gay Mormons. If they want to be there, they should be allowed to be there.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
In the studios of ABC4 in\u00a0Salt Lake City, Utah,<\/strong>\u00a0Affirmation member Alasdair Ekpenyong\u00a0spoke about his involvement<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0with the Provo event. \u201cOur faith drives us, as Christ reformed the community, to explore questions of social justice,\u201d said Alasdair, who is a BYU sophomore and returned missionary. \u201cIt\u2019s the lessons that I learned in Gospel Doctrine, for years, about being who I am and speaking forth that give the courage and the innermost conviction that it is correct to go forth and speak the truth that I have within myself.\u201d<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\nOn\u00a0Facebook<\/strong>, thousands of Mormons changed their profile picture to a red equality sign to express their support for equality. \u201cI changed my profile picture because I believe in love,\u201d says Amanda Klein Nokleby, a straight Mormon supporter from Durham, North Carolina. \u201cAny two people who share this love should be able to enjoy the rights of marriage in this country, and it’s time to allow our LGBTQ friends that privilege. Facebook has become a wonderful medium to share opinions and thoughts on very pressing topics like marriage equality, and I hoped that by changing my profile picture, conversations would start, and change, bit by bit, would happen.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
At the steps of the Supreme Court in\u00a0Washington DC,<\/strong>\u00a0Michael Amesquita, who identifies as gay, Mormon, and Latino, participated in a rally for marriage equality. \u201cIn a country that boasts so many freedoms, it should not be this hard to be able to love the person you want to, and to have that love be equal and validated,\u201d\u00a0Michael wrote about that experience<\/a><\/strong>. \u201cThe Mormon pioneers were forced out of Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois because their neighbors thought they were different and wouldn\u2019t allow them to be who they were or live how they wanted to live. How can our fellow sisters and brothers not see the irony?\u201d<\/td>\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n