Latin America
No one ever said it would be easy for an LGBT person to be an active member of this church. In this story, Tania’s parents have been her support. They provide her with the necessary support to persevere in her faith and religion.
Laurie Lee Hall, trans activist and former LDS Church architect, and Jairo Fernando González Díaz, descendent of some of the first LDS converts in Colombia, are the newest members of the Affirmation Board.
This conference featured a much stronger emphasis on leadership development and training than ever before, with a five-hour-long leaders session on Friday, focusing on themes chosen by the Mexican leaders. Themes emphasized throughout the conference included emotional intelligence; wellness and resilience; diverse spiritual paths; and family support.
Affirmation’s first international conference in the Dominican Republic took place in the heart of the oldest section of the oldest European settlement in the Western Hemisphere, and it included representation from Haiti and Cuba.
Affirmation Dominican leaders and other members have volunteered and joined forces to rent an office for The Rainbow Ark and have started program coordination, international affiliations, coordinating hosting and arranging visa process operations for incoming participants. For young adults 18+ and older The Organization will assist in work placement and provide help with accommodation, visas and relocation assistance.
I marveled at the strength of conviction these friends have in the face of cultural and religious discrimination in so many of their communities and even from their loved ones in many cases. While affirming my admiration for their faithfulness, I voiced my belief that the only real testimony I currently can state with conviction, is my testimony of them.
La primera conferencia de “Afirmación: Mormones LGBT, Familias y Amigos” en Argentina se llevó a cabo del 8 al 10 de mayo de 2015 en Buenos Aires; ese momento marcó un cambio increíble para muchos de nosotros aquí, el silencio dejó de ser y se trasformó en un momento espiritual increíblemente fuerte.
Participants came with open hearts, right from the beginning sharing the most vulnerable elements of their journeys and their lives: their hopes, their pain and their questions, their skepticism and their faith. Read more here about the conferences held in South America this past month.
There is a reason that LGBT Mormon testimony meetings are so powerful. It is because we have had to wade through rivers of doubt and climb mountains of rejection to know what we know. When we choose to put Gospel principles to the test, we must fight gravity, push against the current.