Category: Family issues

A Father of Two Gay Men Advises other Parents

By Bryce Cook How did you feel when you first found out your son/daughter/brother/sister was gay? Some LDS friends of ours just found out a family member was gay and are having a difficult time with it. This is what…

Marriage Matters

By Ben Jarvis My husband Pat and I have many anniversaries in our relationship: the night we met, the day we moved in together, our domestic partnership registration. But the most important anniversary, and indeed the only anniversary that we…

The Year Of The Caterpillar

In 1977 (1 A.D. Star Wars) my father worked two jobs to pay for a trip for our family to go to his home country of the Netherlands (Holland), the land of tulips and windmills, to visit my grandmother and…

Changes the Church can make without changing doctrines to improve the condition of its LGBT members

The following list is 12 suggestions that the Church could implement immediately without changing any doctrine, that would greatly improve the situation for LGBT people in the ranks as well as their families. 1) Promote a campaign against suicide of…

Protecting Our Gay/SSA Youth

By Jim Smithson This blog and accompanying handout were posted first on North Star’s blog on March 30, 2013. The blog, with a link to the handout, is now cross-posted on Circling the Wagons, No More Strangers, and Affirmation.  My…

Candlelight Vigil

On March 26-27, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States of America (SCOTUS) will be listening to oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Proposition 8 (Prop 8). DOMA states that marriage is…

Loving Our Gay Brothers and Sisters–(Ward Talk by Proud Mother)

By Diane Oviatt (This talk was given to adults in my ward at special 5th Sunday meeting called by Stake President in aftermath of Prop 8 and was a coming out of sorts, beyond family and close friends) One of…

Thirty Years of Notes to My Son

Guest Post by Dean Tingey Age – 1 week Dear Son, I love you so much.  I can’t believe you are here.  After losing two babies during pregnancy, your mother and I feel so blessed to have you in our…

When family ties cannot bind

We spend a lot of time talking about family – how important families are, how they’re the best place for raising children, how they need to be protected.  We recognize that children benefit from homes with loving, supportive parents who…

Our Families: Trey and Guy

This is the latest installment in our series on LGBT Mormon families.  For more information, check out Affirmation.org. ____________________ It was a Phase Trey: After our missions (to Korea and Sweden) in the early 80’s, we both attended BYU. I…