I like to report and comment on news, information, and opinions relevant to the LGBT community and the christian churches, as well as the relationship between the two.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Gay and Mormon:
BYU students speak on panel
Provo » Group calls for axing “soul-destroying” event because it violates school’s Honor Code.
By Rosemary WintersAnd Brian Maffly
The Salt Lake Tribune First Published Mar 29 2012 05:56 pm
Bridey Jensen is a student at Brigham Young University. She’s also a lesbian. The 23-year-old knows some of her peers see these as mutually exclusive identities, but next week, she hopes to clear up any misunderstandings about what it means to be gay and a devout Latter-day Saint during a panel discussion on her Provo campus.
"Both of these things are just a fundamental part of me that I never chose," said Jensen, one of three students expected to be part of the panel. "Just because I accept [that I am gay] doesn’t mean I believe in the gospel any less."
LDS Church teachings condemn sexual relationships between members of the same sex. But in recent years, the church-owned BYU has adjusted its Honor Code to allow for students who experience same-sex attraction but don’t act on those feelings. The code does not impose sanctions on gay students as long as their behavior remains chaste and they don’t advocate homosexual behavior.
Podcast #10 – Cor Invictus Community Member Tanner, Prepares For The Ride Of His Life!
Dear Friends of Cor Invictus,
My name is Tanner. I grew up the Southern California area in a "functionally dysfunctional" yet very active LDS family. I've been playing piano since I was four years old, self-taught, by ear. In fact, I'm actually an accomplished pianist, song writer, arranger and lyricist.
Ten years ago, I returned honorably from serving that full time mission in the mid-west. I went to college in Southern California and spent a few years trying to learn more about who I really was inside. I attempted to reconcile my sexuality and testimony, date within LDS standards while still discovering who I was.
Back in 2005, I was diagnosed HIV+. When I learned about my diagnosis, I was shocked, scared, nervous, inconsolable and nauseous. My mind was filled with several incorrect and preconceived ideas about the virus.
Since my diagnosis, there have been many emotional, mental and psychological challenges in leading a meaningful HIV+ life. It felt like I had to learn how to walk again by overcoming the social stigma of being HIV+. I only had the support of a few selected friends along with my own faith, to rely on during so many lonely nights of uncertainty and fear. In time, life got better, as it usually does and today, I am happy, fully healthy, funny, stable, balanced and centered with an increasing desire to help others along their way. I no longer live with the ignorant belief that HIV is a sure death sentence. I have a long healthy and abundant life to live!
Through my journey as an HIV+ person, I learned to take control of my life, my health and be my own advocate. Today, I look into the mirror do not see a person stricken with HIV. I see me…Tanner! Not every day is a day of victory and self-confidence. There have been many sorrowful moments and unforeseen obstacles. Yet every day, I find myself one step closer to becoming the man I want to become.
On June 3, 2012 and for a week long, I will be cycling 550 miles with approximately 3,000 people from San Francisco to Los Angeles in the annual AIDS/LifeCycle. It is my first year participating and I am extremely excited! I must raise a minimum of $3,000 to participate in the ride. My personal goal is to raise $5,000. The funds raised from the ride will benefit a local non-profit organization: San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.
My reasons for riding the ALC are emotional and personal. This ride will be intense and difficult with preparations and training far beyond that which I have ever experienced. I believe in the cause and in myself. I wanted to share my story with you and give you the opportunity to contribute to my fundraising ride. The ALC ride has little to do with me but everything to do with being a part of something bigger than myself.
Your Friend in Denver,
Tanner
There are a couple ways you can support me.
1.) You can log onto http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/tanner This is my personal page where I add my blogs about my ALC preparations and experiences. It's awesome!
All your contributions on these sites are tax deductible too, so don't worry.
There is a third and most personal way of contributing to my ALC ride. Aside from raising all this money just to be able to ride, I need to raise money for my own gear otherwise, I will not be able to ride. This is where I am accepting personal contributions (or even borrowed gear that you might have laying around at home). Road bike, odds and ends, jerseys, shorts, shoes, etc. It all adds up very fast.
Give one dollar, give $10, give $100 or more but... just... just give. Please...
If you feel you cannot support me monetarily, be my advocate by telling your friends, coworkers and family members about my endeavor. Some people have chosen to use other popular social online networks to reach their friends. Just pass this along if you want and help me. Maybe you know some other people who are sensitive to HIV/AIDS. This cause is very real, it is represented at home and abroad, not just in Sub-Saharan Africa but literally in our own communities.
My special thanks to Cor Invictus for enabling me to have a voice here by sharing my story. If my story has touched you in any way, please contribute to this cause which I am so passionate about.
Listen to Tanner tell his story in this podcast. Please support and follow his progress in his Cor Invictus blog by clicking here.
According to stories posted on several Mormon blogs, Chris Wayne Beers, a returned missionary and former church employee, took his life on March 18. He was 38 years old.
Beers was a returned missionary and had worked for years at the Church Office Building in the missionary and travel department, and at the time of his passing he was working at the University of Utah Hospital.
A native from Bountiful, Utah, Beers graduated from Woods Cross High, where he played football and other sports. After serving an honorable mission for the LDS Church, he touched the lives of countless youth as an EFY counselor.
"If we, as Mormons, did what we were supposed to do for all of our brothers and sisters--love them unconditionally--Chris would never have been stripped of his family of faith," wrote Mitch Mayne on a Facebook entry. "He would not have been forced to choose. He would have had a deeper, richer and more spiritual support network to walk him through what life brought his way. Sadly, like many, he was given the "Sophie's Choice:" live life according to a heterocentric cultural practice and do so alone, without a partner--or live life without your family of faith and the strength of that spiritual community."
Funeral services will be held Saturday March 24, at 11am at the Woods Cross 3rd Ward Chapel, 1450 S. 350 W. Bountiful. Friends may call Friday evening from 6-8 pm at the Russon Brothers Mortuary, 295 N. Main, Bountiful and at the church Saturday from 9:30-10:30 am prior to the services. Interment-Salt Lake City Cemetery. Friends & family may share their comments and stories at chrisbeers.blogspot.com and russonmortuary.com. Story in Doves and Serpents or Obituary in Deseret News
Podcast #9 - You knew he'd be back!
Cor Invictus Community Member Javin shares his emotional story of going through the lengthy process of an LDS Church Disciplinary Action.
This story may be very informative to those that have ever wondered how a church court works and what the possible end results may be.
Please listen and be sure to click here and leave a comment in the Podcast Comments Forum.
Watch For A Limited Time: Brad Pitt and George Clooney star in "8", a play about the Prop 8 trial.
Rob Reiner announces a history-making live streaming of a reading of "8," Dustin Lance Black's play about the Prop 8 trial.
About “8”
Uncover the truth about marriage for gay and lesbian Americans. George Clooney, Martin Sheen and Jane Lynch join an all-star cast for a one-night-only benefit reading of “8,” the new play by Academy-award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk, J. Edgar) that chronicles the landmark federal trial of California’s Prop. 8 using the actual court transcripts and first-hand interviews.
Streamed live on Mar 3, 2012 by AmericanEqualRights
Featuring an all-star cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Lynch, Kevin Bacon and others, "8" is a play written by Academy Award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and directed by acclaimed actor and director Rob Reiner. It is a powerful account of the case filed by the American Federation for Equal Rights (AFER) in the U.S. District Court in 2010 to overturn Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment that eliminated the rights of same-sex couples to marry in the state of California. Framed around the trial's historic closing arguments in June 2010, 8 provides an intimate look what unfolded when the issue of same-sex marriage was on trial.
Note: Video will be available until 11:59 p.m. PT on Saturday, March 11, 2012
LDS Church Responds to BYU Professor’s Controversial Remarks about Racism
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has issued a formal statement strongly condemning racism in response to a BYU professor's recent controversial statements to The Washington Post.
In that article, BYU professor Randy Bott reportedly said that the LDS Church's ban against blacks being given the priesthood was a "blessing" to blacks.
A YouTube user known as "Mallow610" decided to film coming out as gay to his mother and share it with viewers, saying he hopes to help those with less supportive families. In the relatable eight-minute video, he nervously waits for his mother to return home and then for the right moment to tell her.
He posted the following note with the video on YouTube:
"Finally got the strength to come out to my mom. My Mom has been extremely supportive. I could not ask for anyone else. Love you :) Every circumstance is different and you will know when the right time to come out is. Stay strong. Babz and I are here for you. :) Note: I decided to post this so that I could share my experience with you.
Hopefully it will give hope to those who do not have such supportive families. Also, I know I am on my phone the whole time. My phone is my comfort blanket. I literally cannot put it down when I'm anxious. I do not mean any disrespect to the content or conversation. Oh, and she didn't know she was being recorded. I put the camera in a tissue box on top of the refrigerator."
