Tonight, I went to a seminar called “Being a Good Latter-day Saint & Supporting God’s LGBTQ Children” a Listen, Learn, & Love production by Richard Ostler. The seminar was a high school auditorium in Mesa Arizona full of Mormons who…
LDS Living recently had an article with excerpts from Tom Christofferson’s book “That We May Be One, A Gay Mormon’s Perspective on Faith and Family.”1 Within LGBTQ+ Mormon circles, Tom’s book is controversial in that he tells his story of…
Recently, I attended my fifth Affirmation Conference. Affirmation is a support group for LGBTQIA Mormons. It is a remarkably diverse space that includes not just inactive/ex-Mormons but active queer Mormons and active allies. It bridges a wide span of both…
I have a visceral memory from last year. I remember stumbling out of Sacrament meeting with Wendy shaking and heaving with pain and despair. Half way to our car, we just turned to each other and held each other weeping.…
It has been over four years since Wendy and I found out that Jordan was gay. Three wards, two states and a persistent search for a ward family to call home. I have documented our experience in our first ward…
The day after the news of the new LDS Church policies on gay families hit social media, I prayed. Yes, the news was devastating to me and to so, so many in the LGBT Mormon community. In the weeks following,…
Recently, I was asked to give a lesson from a Conference address in October by the new apostle Elder Renlund. The last few lessons I have taught have been a significant struggle for me to teach. My heart was devastated…
By Diane Oviatt and Michael John Amesquita This post contain two different accounts describing the same Bishop who was willing to listen and learn from and about LGBT Mormons Like so many fellow Mormons, especially those of us who…
A couple years ago, a member of the Bishopric in a previous ward shared how happy he is in the Church. He shared how happy the gospel makes him and his family. He finished it off with, “I don’t even…
I’d like to share my perspective on what it means to be an ally. My thoughts on this are not necessarily extremely sophisticated, but they come from the heart. My thoughts are very specific to the LGBT Mormon context, and…