Affirmation mormon gay

Affirmation is a national not-for-profit organization with a chapter in Salt Lake City that helps provide much-needed support and belonging for gay and lesbian Mormons. He said it is also helpful to tell his story to fellow members, and he likes to be there for others who are coming out and need the same support that he received.

We affirm the inherent self-worth of LGBTQIA+ individuals as complete, equal, and valuable persons and support them as they define their individual spirituality and intersection with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Affirmation President Joshua Howard Behn expresses the importance of having the group for gays and lesbians who still feel the need for their spiritual side.

It also gives them a safe environment where they can ask questions and not have to worry about the faith itself, because that can come later. Although it hit its fair share of speed bumps of not being able to meet regularly, the meeting in December marked the real beginning of Affirmation as a national organization.

Behn said there are other resources for the gay and lesbian community in Salt Lake City, but they are broader in scope. Matthew Price was at those first meetings and became enthused at the idea of a national organization of gay LDS people. He was introduced to Affirmation that year by his partner.

As the president of Affirmation for , Behn admits that the group has hit a crossroads after nearly 35 years of existence. Most religions do not accept gays and lesbians, and often opposes them in many of their actions. One of the last times Packer attended church was in November , when he came out in front of his ward in fast and testimony meeting, where members share their spiritual feelings.

Currently, 11 regional chapters of Affirmation exist in the United States and the first official chapters started in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.

Like Behn, Packer has noted more willingness among younger Mormons to accept gays and lesbians. To hear other peoples stories and to hear what they have gone through and what they are going through helped me to be able to survive at the time. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been firm on its position of what marriage is and who is supposed to get married.

The problem is, many inside the LGBT community still hold on to their religion beliefs that they grew up with. Organized religion, however, is almost the complete opposite. The history of Affirmation goes as far back as , when a group of gay Mormons quietly met at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, talk about faith and their same-sex attractions.

Packer admitted that he thought occasionally about suicide during the coming-out process. Packer at first was admittedly scared out of his mind to socialize with a group of gay and lesbian Mormons. Affirmation specifically helps gay and lesbian Mormons with the spiritual aspect.

Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. A ward is a neighborhood of church members who meet together for worship. Take a photographic tour of this story! However, the church leadership is much slower when it comes to accepting gays and lesbians.

Behn has noticed that church membership is changing more toward acceptance far more drastically than the leadership is. The church is becoming more open. In many opinions, society as a whole is slowly becoming more accepting of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

I was just scared of other gay guys. Mark Packer, who has been a member of Affirmation since he came out in , has found comfort in the group. The group informally gets together as a chapter, but Affirmation also has national parties and events that all members are encouraged to attend.

A community of support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Mormons and those who love them. It caused trouble with the leadership, not with the ward members. Now, 40 years later, hundreds in the church’s LGBTQ community, their families and friends, are celebrating Affirmation’s anniversary openly and with gusto at a three-day conference at the Utah.

Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families, & Friends is an international organization for individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, queer, intersex, or same-sex attracted, and their family members, friends, and church leaders who are members or former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).