By Matthew Deane . I do not belong here, and these are not my people. They don’t want to read my book, and they are too wrapped up in their own moments to share one with me. How did I…
Affirmation Repayment Plan
Category: Mental health issues
Gay, Mormon, and living honestly. Letting go with grace.
By Bob Wood “In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.” ~ Buddha I came into the church an openly…
Advice From a Psychiatrist to Mormon Mental Health Providers When Treating LGBT Youth (Also for Parents to Consider)
There appears to be progress in the Mormon therapist community toward eliminating some of the damaging practices that they have been guilty of in the past. In the 1970’s aversion therapy was a routine route for Mormon gays. It was…
History, Part 3 of 8: Repairing the past:
By Scot, (a father, husband and gay Utahn) Slowly I began to notice something was wrong with the youth group; I had been phenomenally fortunate. Many were there secretly. Their parents had no idea, and, when some found out, the…
Hate the Sinner . . . Love the Liar
By Anonymous (in an effort avoid further humiliation from church members in his town the author wishes to remain anonymous) (Admin note: This post is very important because it shows that damage that is still happening in our communities due…
Dying for Some Touch
By Esteban Cencerrado Lee-O’Neal One week before I married Rex in San Francisco in August 2011, I received a call from Tony. He said that his second suicide attempt had failed. I sat motionless on the outside, but exploding on…
Suicide: Start Action Now!
This issue hasn’t yet been addressed. Our Mormon LGBT teens and young adults are killing themselves in alarmingly high numbers. Where is the response? Where is the campaign? Why is our best resource for understanding and combatting this problem being…
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…
Easter Reflections of a Gay Man
By Aaron Tabacco (cross posted from his blog Quorum of the Outcasts) You know, the entire Passover and Easter season used to be my very favorite time of the year for spiritual renewal. Not in a social connect-with-family-and-friends-and-food sort of way…but…