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Each year on November 20th, we remember transgender people, gender-variant individuals, and those perceived to be transgender murdered because of hate. For many left behind, there is a feeling of obligation to speak for those who can speak no more, to tell their stories, and to support one another.
We have a firm conviction that our efforts will be blessed and fruitful in Affirmation Venezuela, even if they may be challenging. We hope to be instruments of and receive spiritual guidance from above so that we can better serve beloved celestial children who, every day, face great barriers in their path of learning and growth.
What if I had grown up in a fully Mormon home, born under the covenant, with parents steeped in generations of Mormon culture? What if I had been pressured to act thus and so to prove I was a man? What if I had felt compelled to go to any length to fit in with the crowd?
Little by little, things were softer, more tolerant, more respectful. Little by little there was more LOVE. I understood, finally, that Heavenly Father loved me. Despite having to endure the occasional winter. The sun continued to shine.
It behooves us as we find our joy as LGBTQ people, to internalize the lessons of our first parents that are taught in the temple. This lesson is that sometimes to find joy you have to make hard decisions about what your joy is and where your joy is found. And sometimes your joy is not found in Eden.
We’ve bared true selves; our old testament God; our moral rectitude; our virile creed; at a dear price; of piano lessons and choir practice; of red, yellow, and blue; of popcorn popping on sweet; blossomed trees; Asking and nothing is given.
Fortunately, the COVID 19 restrictions in the country have allowed us to get together and we plan more activities for the coming months and hope that more people will be able to attend with us.
I still love the Lord, and I remember the spiritual and sacred events I’ve had in my life. I suppose this is the inner turmoil many of us feel as we reflect on our experience in the Church, who we thought we would be, and who we are today.
Affirmation Venezuela held its first quarterly film forum. The aim of his activity is to raise awareness of, educate, and discuss different issues that concern our community that as reflected by popular films. On this occasion, the film selected was by renowned American director and writer, Joel Edgerton, titled Boy Erased.