{"id":2518,"date":"2013-05-01T21:12:50","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T03:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/affirmation.org\/?p=2518"},"modified":"2018-12-14T16:13:59","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T23:13:59","slug":"affinity-may-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/affirmation.org\/pt\/afinidade-maio-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Afinidade - maio de 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons\u2014Serving LGBT Mormons and Their Family and Friends Since 1977<\/span><\/center><\/p>\n
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Inside This Issue<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\nRandall Thacker<\/p>\n

\"Affirmation<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Join us in Salt Lake City this September 13-15 for Our Annual International Conference<\/span><\/h2>\n

Online Registration is Available Now<\/span><\/h3>\n

by Randall Thacker, President of Affirmation<\/p>\n

\u00bb\u00a0Visit the New Conference Website<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear LGBT Mormons, Families, and Friends:<\/p>\n

New Frontiers<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is about expanding our vision around the unknown possibilities and opportunities for LGBT Mormons. We will explore how we can come together as a community of LGBTQ\/SSA Mormons, partners, spouses, families, friends, and church leaders.<\/p>\n

We will discuss 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

We will also socialize together, rekindling old friendships and making new ones as we learn, sing, eat, dance, and give service together.<\/p>\n

With activities and workshops specifically for parents, families, youth, friends, and church leaders, the 2013 Affirmation conference will be more fun, musical, spiritual, and educational than you can imagine!<\/p>\n

Check out the session topics page for information on the different topics that will be explored. More details, including our amazing keynote speakers, will be announced in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Be sure to mark the date on your calendars and\u00a0join our Facebook event<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Online registration is available now<\/a><\/strong>. 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 the hotel: $99 for 2 people, $109 for 3 people, and $119 for 4 people per night.<\/p>\n

See you in September in Salt Lake City!<\/p>\n

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Affirmation Calendar<\/span><\/h3>\n

May 18
\nEquality fundraiser in St. George, UT<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

May 22
\nTeleconference on Healing<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

May 30
\nUtah Pride Interfaith Coalition to Hold Service<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

May 31
\nLDS LGBT Mormons, Families & Friends social in Salt Lake City<\/p>\n

June 2
\nMormon Pride event in Salt Lake City<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

June 2
\nLDS LGBT Fireside and Social in the Bay Area<\/p>\n

June 8
\nMormon Pride event in Washington DC<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

June 15
\nMormon Pride event in Boise<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n

<\/td>\nJune 16
\nMormon Pride event in Portland<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

June 30
\nMormon Pride events in\u00a0New York City<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Chicago<\/a><\/strong>, and\u00a0San Francisco<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

August 9-10
\nCompassionate Cause Symposium in Seattle<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

August 13
\nDeadline to register for conference at regular prices<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

August 13
\nDeadline to reserve a guaranteed room at the conference hotel<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

September 6
\nDeadline to register for conference by mail<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

September 10
\nDeadline to register for conference online<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

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\"Mormon<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Allies, LGBT Mormons to Participate in June Pride Events across the Country\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Events listed at MormonPride.org<\/span><\/h3>\n

By Hugo Salinas<\/p>\n

LGBT Mormons, along with LDS allies, family, and friends, will participate in a number of\u00a0Pride events to be held across the country<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0during the month of June. Many of these groups have already registered for Pride marches, and announcements are already being posted on Facebook.<\/p>\n

Last summer<\/a><\/strong>, hundreds of straight Mormons marched with LGBT Latter-day Saints in a dozen different events held across U.S. cities and in Santiago de Chile. These LDS marchers received wide media attention and helped dispel the notion that all Mormons are anti-gay or homophobic. The\u00a0Salt Lake City marchers<\/a><\/strong>, in particular, were featured in stories published in dozens of media outlets, including Reuters, CNN, and Salon.com.<\/p>\n

To see the full list of groups and dates, visit\u00a0MormonPride.org<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>. If you have additional information about a local LDS group which is not yet listed on that site, please\u00a0send an email to Hugo Salinas<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\"Karin
\nKarin Hendricks<\/td>\n		\"Carol
\nCarol Lynn Pearson<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Teleconference on Healing: Healing the Self, Healing Relationships<\/span><\/h2>\n

Wednesday, May 22 (8:30-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time)<\/span><\/h3>\n

Many of us carry pain and conflict in ourselves as we navigate our relationships with partners, family, friends, and the LDS church. Carol Lynn Pearson, Karin Hendricks (Affirmation Spiritual Director), her partner Tawnya Smith, and a panel of guests will share stories of hope and offer practical wisdom for dealing with these challenges.<\/p>\n

To reserve a space,\u00a0please e-mail Karin<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\"Affirmation
\nAffirmation leaders at the LDS Conference Center, 6 April 2013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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\nJamison Manwaring<\/p>\n
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\nJamison Manwaring’s Report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

We Are Part of a Brighter Day<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tina Richerson’s Report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yvette Zobell’s Report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

A Woman Prays in General Conference<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

God Created Every Person Different<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Affirmation Leaders Converge in Salt Lake City<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Homosexuality: What Would David O. McKay Do?<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Salt Lake City Weekend Report: \u201cLike a Net That Was Cast into the Sea\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

Affirmation will play an important role in continuing to increase understanding across the church<\/span><\/h3>\n

by Jamison Manwaring<\/p>\n

Jamison Manwaring, who has recently been\u00a0featured on NPR<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and whose\u00a0YouTube coming out clip<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0has been watched over 15,000 times, writes about His Impressions of the Affirmation Leadership Weekend\u2014And General Conference<\/em><\/p>\n

I spent the past weekend at the leadership gathering of Affirmation in Salt Lake City (April 5-6). The leadership gathering was very well organized and attended. We reviewed the messaging and strategy of the organization and considered how we would implement ideas. As we discussed the many plans of the group, there was a tangible feeling of momentum about the shift in church members\u2019 views about their LBGT sisters and brothers. We are excited about this shift, and believe Affirmation will play an important role in continuing to increase understanding across the church.<\/p>\n

Members of the leadership team attended General Conference during the Saturday morning session. Attending conference was enriching to me, not because I agreed with everything that was said by every person, but because I was able to see how a person\u2019s testimony can endure difficult and even hostile commentary while still maintaining faith in the core foundations of the gospel. I was strengthened by meeting other gay\/SSA members of the Church who have decided to stay engaged in the gospel. Many of the more \u201cseasoned\u201d members have been treated unfairly by the Church in the past. Some are still restricted in their church membership. Yet they stay engaged. That is real faith and courage.<\/p>\n

I was a little disappointed by some of the rhetoric from the conference, primarily by some of the senior members of the Quorum of the Twelve who seemed to input some cultural bias in their messages. But this disappointment was overshadowed by the love I felt from our prophet and his counselors, and by a majority of the Twelve. I left feeling that there was a lot of work to do so that gay members feel welcome. But I was also very encouraged about our future and about those who will lead the Church over the next generation.<\/p>\n

I believe that a new understanding is beginning to develop regarding all members who feel like they don\u2019t fit in or who that they are being judged because they aren\u2019t perfect. There is a great cross over between the discomfort a gay person feels at church and other members who feel equally different. This movement is larger than just helping gay members feel welcomed in the church: it is also about redefining the culture of the church so that it welcomes good hearted, diverse people through the world into the kingdom of God \u2013as they are. Too many good souls are not open to the restored gospel, not because they \u201cknow not where to find it\u201d (D&C 123:12), but because they feel like they don\u2019t conform to its cultural mold. But the message of Affirmation (and Pres. Uchtdorf<\/a>) is that they are accepted and needed just as they are. \u201cThe kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathereth of every kind.\u201d (Matt 13:47)<\/p>\n

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\"Arizona
\nFrom left to right: Mitch Mayne, Bob Rees, Wendy Montgomery, and Hollie Hancock at the Arizona event<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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\"Arizona<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Phoenix Conference Promotes Love and Understanding<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cNow I have a fire in my heart that there is a place for me in the Church\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n

by Hugo Salinas<\/p>\n

Over 120 Mormons, LGBT and straight, attended the \u201cAll Are Alike unto God\u201d conference held April 27 near Phoenix.<\/p>\n

The event was planned by Bryce Cook, of the Mesa Lehi stake along with other Latter-day Saints in the Phoenix area. Cook, a former high counselor and the father of a gay man, observed that many LGBT Mormons \u201cdo not actively attend church services because they do not feel welcome or understood.\u201d \u201cThere are many of these men and women in our midst who desire to feel the love of the Savior in their lives and who need to be invited back into His fold,\u201d Cook wrote in an invitation he sent to local church leaders. \u201cWe hope this conference will be one of the first steps in that direction by reaching out to them with Christ-like love and compassion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speakers included Mitch Mayne and Robert A. Rees. \u201cOur Savior loves us exactly as we are,\u201d\u00a0testified Mitch<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0as he closed his remarks. \u201c[His love] is ours, freely given, if we will just reach out and accept it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0report posted at the blog No More Strangers<\/a><\/strong>, Robert Rees compared the gathering to a \u201cgarden in the desert\u201d and quoted a speaker who was recently welcomed into his ward as saying, \u201cNow I have a fire in my heart that there is a place for me in the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the conference succeeded in accomplishing the goal of bringing understanding to many LDS faithful in a non-political way,\u201d wrote Affirmation chapter coordinator David Douglas. \u201cThanks to Bryan Hendrickson, Bryce and Sarah Cook, and others for the hard work they put into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A detailed report will be posted later at\u00a0allarizona.org<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\"Brooke<\/td>\n\"Devan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Affirmation members Brooke Wardle (left) and Devan Hite helped plan the event with Stake President Gary Blakely<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

LGBT, Straight Latter-day Saints Gather in Chicago<\/span><\/h2>\n

Stake President Promotes Difficult but Faith-building Conversation<\/span><\/h3>\n

by Devan Hite, coordinator for Affirmation Chicago<\/p>\n

Brooke Wardle, secretary of Affirmation Chicago, approached me during the fall of 2012 to inquire about hosting a special dialogue between straight Mormons and those who identify as LGBTQ\/SSA around the question of what it means to be an ally. We discussed the proposal with other members of Affirmation. The motion was quickly approved, and we began arranging the details.<\/p>\n

As we began discussions with local Church leaders, they were reluctant to grant us permission to use a meetinghouse, due to the fact that we were presenting our dialogue as an Affirmation event. In order to have the dialogue in an LDS church, and to secure the attendance of Mormon leadership in the area, we decided to disassociate the dialogue from Affirmation and organize it as simply a conversation among concerned members of the Church.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re Missing the Empathy\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n

A total of twenty-five people were present at the March 24 dialogue. Twenty-three self-identified as Mormon; eight as LGBTQ (no one identified as strictly SSA), and seventeen as straight. Brooke and I set it as our goal to facilitate an emotionally-safe event, which simultaneously encouraged authenticity.<\/p>\n

Just prior to the event, as Brooke and I auditioned a handful of clips from the website, we noticed that a participant who had arrived early to help set up was struggling emotionally with its contents, simultaneously expressing her anxiety and rage, while holding back tears. Her struggle was certainly something that I could identify and empathize with, as I had a similar reaction the first time I viewed the website. However, this also added to my anxiety, as I anticipated the force of how her reaction might affect the dialogue.<\/p>\n

As our group assembled, Chicago Stake President Gary Blakely warmly welcomed those in attendance and turned the time over to me to conduct the proceedings. We began singing the children\u2019s hymn titled \u201cI Am a Child of God,\u201d which was followed by a prayer, offered by President Blakely. I then presented part of a narrative I had gathered from an interview with Kendall Wilcox a week earlier in Utah. Kendall tells of the experience coming to terms with his sexuality through the course of a relationship with another male Mormon. Kendall described how his inner turmoil led him to a breakthrough moment:<\/p>\n

I actually went to southern Utah to the place that I was going to take my life.\u2026 I went down there and went up on the mountain and had what I felt was my final conversation with God, saying, this is how I feel, this is my justification, why I don\u2019t feel hope internally\/externally. I don\u2019t see any tenable options…. But, I said, if I\u2019m missing something… let me know. And this feeling, prompting, voice\u2014whatever it is\u2014said, \u2018you\u2019re missing the empathy.\u2019\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I concluded Kendall\u2019s story for our group and reflected on the possibility that, for some in this room, dialoguing with us, our ability to empathize may be a matter of life and death. We followed this with an exercise that would help inspire empathic responses for one another, and then broke up into small groups to discuss a series of questions geared toward building common ground among participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n