New Leadership for the Affirmation Intermountain West Region
by Affirmation
Affirmation is pleased to announce the appointment of Vaughn Larsen as the president of the Affirmation Intermountain West Region. We are grateful for the willingness of all our leaders to volunteer their time and talents to create communities of safety, love, and hope for LGBTQIA+ Latter-day Saints and their families and friends.
Vaughn Larsen is the proud father of 4 amazing children ages 22, 19, 16 & 15. He identifies as bisexual, married a woman in 1995, and was divorced in 2016. He recently came out to his entire company at a Pride kick-off event in July 2021. This was followed by coming out on all social media platforms on Father’s Day. He’s a firm believer in representation and visibility as it can really give others a safe space to be themselves. He volunteers with Encircle in Utah and belongs to and is active in other important groups helping to make a difference in the lives of his fellow LGBTQ. He has been an active moderator in the Fathers In Affirmation affinity group since 2015 and truly loves his fellow GBTQ dads. Vaughn grew up a member of the Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-day Saints and served a mission in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg after which he completed his bachelors at Brigham Young University. He continues to identify as Christian but does not belong to any particular church. Vaughn currently works as an IT Director for an energy company. In his spare time, Vaughn loves spending time with his children, running, camping, hiking, cooking, singing, and socializing.
We thank Troy Mitchell and Deven Ogden for their service as president and vice president of the Affirmation Intermountain West Region and wish them the very best in their future endeavors.
The Affirmation Intermountain West Region includes the Alberta, Arizona, Central Utah, Colorado, Eastern Idaho, Las Vegas, Northern Utah, Salt Lake City, Southern Utah, Spokane, and Western Idaho chapters of Affirmation.
Regional leaders of Affirmation are primarily responsible for developing and supporting chapters within their region and organizing regional conferences.
Affirmation’s Mission and Vision
Mission: Affirmation creates worldwide communities of safety, love, and hope and promotes understanding, acceptance, and self-determination of individuals of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions. We affirm the inherent self-worth of LGBTQIA+ individuals as complete, equal, and valuable persons and support them as they define their individual spirituality and intersection with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Vision: To be a refuge to land, heal, share, and be authentic.