Plenary with Carol Lynn Pearson, 2020 Affirmation International Conference
Opening session featuring author and activist Carol Lynn Pearson from the 2020 Affirmation International Conference, a conference hosted annually by Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families & Friends for the entire LGBTQIA+ Latter-day Saint community. This year’s conference was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Carol Lynn Pearson has a long and impressive history as a writer, speaker, and performer. She is particularly known for her advocacy of LGBTQ people in the church.
Her memoir Goodbye, I Love You tells the story of her temple marriage to a gay man, their ultimate divorce, and her husband Gerald’s death from AIDS. Another important work is Facing East, a stage play telling the story of an upstanding LDS couple dealing with the suicide of their gay son.
Believing that LGBTQ people can benefit significantly from reassessing the gender of God, she has titled her talk: “God the Mother: Advocate for her LGBTQ children.” Also recent is a children’s picture book, I’ll Walk With You, which invites us all to walk with everyone, even “if you don’t love as some people do.”
The recording of this session and the entire 2020 Affirmation International Conference was made possible by those who financially supported the conference through registration fees. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Affirmation relies on the support of donors to create communities of safety, love, and hope for the LGBTQIA+ Latter-day Saint Community. To support the critical work of Affirmation, please consider donating at https://affirmation.org/donate.