Leadership
Laurie wrote, “As I return to the leadership of the oldest and largest LGBTQIA-led organization at the Queer/Latter-day Saint intersection, I renew my commitment to help each of you to define your individual journey — rather than being defined by others — including power centers to whom we may have once yielded our authority.”
I have made life-long friends and I will always cherish being able to advocate for all of you. It’s time for me to pass the baton to the next leader to continue building the path that is going to result in more people finding the same joy that I have managed to find by simply being true to who I am.
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.
At their conference held last month, Affirmation Brazil elected their next president who will serve for two years starting on January 1st, 2020. Elected was Alexsandro Barbosa who has been serving as vice president of Affirmation Brazil.
On March 10th, President Nathan Kitchen conducted a meeting of the newly-formed United States/Canada Area Committee to discuss the next stage in Affirmation’s chapter development initiative: organizing (or re-organizing) 33 local chapters.
Over 70 members of the Affirmation community signed on Sunday, February 17th, to participate in a web conference detailing Affirmation’s efforts to organize and strengthen chapters throughout the United States and Canada to provide vital face-to-face communities to support LGBTQ Mormons, their family members, and friends.
Affirmation recently held its first conference in Spain. The conference ran from September 21st to the 23rd in Barcelona. During the conference, the first Affirmation chapter in Spain was organized. Rafael Bravo has been appointed as president of the Affirmation Spain Chapter.
A recent release from Mormon Leaks reminded us of how local leaders in the Mormon Church were advised to address homosexuality and counsel gay and lesbian members in 1981. How much, if anything, has changed since then?
What do we value more? Worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; or ensuring that we conform to LDS Church policies? As LGBTQ+ Mormons, we know the importance of following the Spirit, even if that means shaking things up a bit.