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Since queer students are being disciplined for a rule that no longer exists, they are being discriminated against for doing things that abide by the Law of Chastity but aren’t explicit in the Honor Code any longer.
We’ve taken a message of love, hope, and acceptance to all the souls that require it and being a refuge, a new promised land, in which each person can develop their gifts and their wonderful potential in this life.
We are excited to announce the appointment of four new members to the Affirmation Board of Directors, Melissa-Malcolm King, Juan Carlos Peralta Rodríguez, Kate Mower, and Heidi Ramirez. Three members of the board have completed their terms of service or will complete their term at the end of the month, Justis Tuia, Francisco Villalobos, and Randall Thacker.
Paul Mortensen helped me feel at home with myself and to embrace both my Mormon and gay sides. In the beginning, I thought those two aspects of my life were forces pulling me in opposite directions. Paul helped me understand that both identities were important and that they were complementary: I did not have to choose one over the other.
He felt firmly that you could be a Mormon without letting church leaders tell you how to do it or that you were on the wrong path. He was the original guru of understanding and accepting your own identity as a gay Mormon. He always understood the purpose of Affirmation wasn’t to shape anyone’s beliefs but to help them find their own faith- wherever that took them.
Coming out as gay became a template for more changes in my life. I began to ask myself, “If I mistakenly cast my queerness as a deficiency, what about other character traits that I thought were weaknesses?” Like a spiral of dominoes, I put down my put-downs and saw myself take shape.
Until there is full acceptance of LGBTQ+ Mormons, their marriages, and families within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Affirmation will be there to provide a place of refuge and support. Donate and ensure the support is there for those LGBTQ+ Mormons of today and the future who will seek the same support we obtained that helped us feel whole, gave us the dear friends we have today, and provided us hope and helped us find joy!
If you have ever participated in Affirmation’s communities of safety, love, and hope or felt the support of Affirmation’s network of mentors and peers, you have done so in the path that Paul blazed before you with love and as a visionary.
Here are the top 10 most-read stories from Affirmation published in 2021. Stories published on the Affirmation website are from, for, or about the LGBTQIA+ Latter-day Saint community around the world.