Affirmation’s Top 10 Posts of 2018
by Joel McDonald
As we close out the year 2018, it’s a good time to reflect on all that’s happened over the year. This year’s top ten posts on the Affirmation website highlight many of the events and concerns that affected the Affirmation community, including the transition to a new Latter-day Saint First Presidency, a response to words out of general conference, a focus on suicide prevention, and more. Here are our top ten posts for 2018.
1. Affirmation Statement on the New LDS First Presidency
by Affirmation Leadership
We wish to express that as LGBTQ individuals, we experience love most fully when our agency is honored, when our stories are heard and believed, and when the language we use to identify ourselves is used and respected. We in Affirmation extend a hand of collaboration to help meet the diverse needs of the members of the LDS church. Read More.
2. A message from the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families & Friends
by Affirmation Leadership
To those in our LGBTQ community: we see you. You are worthy. You are loved. You know who you are and we validate you! Read More.
3. On LGBT Issues Nelson Cites Challenges and God’s Love
by Joel McDonald
Russell M. Nelson was announced as the 17th President of the LDS Church. Following the announcement, he and his counselors participated in a press conference where the first question asked was how they would approach LGBT issues. Both he and Dallin H. Oaks shared their thoughts. Read More.
4. Being in a Mixed-Orientation Marriage Is Not Something We Would Ever Have Chosen on Purpose
by Kerry Spencer
In our, very, very, Mormon world, being gay was just… never an option. It was so far outside the realm of something we’d even considered possible that, by the time we accepted it for what it was, we were married with children, our lives inextricably entangled. Read More.
5. Elder M. Russell Ballard Answers LGBT Questions at BYU Devotional: Believes there is “Place in the Kingdom” for LGBT Members
by Joel McDonald
During a BYU Devotional Address on November 14, 2017, Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, took the opportunity to answer various questions submitted to him by young single adult members of the Church, including two questions on LGBT issues. Ballard shared his belief that LGBT people have a “place in the kingdom.” Read More.
6. Mormons, Homosexuality, Change, and Uncertainty
by Gregory Prince
Gregory Prince traces the development in the Mormon Church’s handling of homosexuality, future possibilities for change, and how medicine has evolved its understanding. He discusses the need for gay, lesbian, and bisexual Mormons to have healthy relationships with the church. Read More.
7. Fear of Being Gay Led Me to Be More Devout until I Couldn’t Anymore
by Lauren Neaves
Today, I’m incredibly happy being me. Over the years I’ve heard so many stories of individuals who grew up LDS and were cut off by their families when they came out. But being out and having my parents not just tolerate but warmly embrace me is such an amazing feeling. Read More.
8. It’s Time for Us All to Do Something about Suicide — Together
by the Affirmation Board of Directors
For decades we have witnessed members of our community suffering. As an organization, Affirmation feels best positioned to be the first contact for those in the LGBTQ+ community who reside with fundamental risk factors, particularly the LDS & LGBTQ+ intersection. Read More.
9. On the Ethics of Mixed-Orientation Marriages
by Laura Skaggs Dulin MS, LAMFT
Laura Skaggs Dulin discusses the ethical challenges of mixed-orientation marriages through her experience as a licensed marriage and family therapist and as a gay woman in a mixed-orientation marriage of her own, including how she grieved the loss of a relationship that would never happen. Read More.
10. It Took a Long Time to Realize Who I Am as Nobody Ever Talked about Girls Being Gay
by Chelsea Gibbs
People ought to be made aware that there’s a very good chance there’s a queer person sitting in their class, closeted or not, and I’m grateful to be at a place in my life where I can make sure they’re aware of it. Read More.