Inside This Issue Editorial: Meeting Affirmation's Financial Challenges Upcoming Events & Event Reminders A Season for Pride: Reports from the Chapters Gay Mormons Hail Court Ruling Affirmation Supporters Receive National Award Noah Danby: From Queer to Seer

Scott MacKay

Editorial: Meeting Affirmation's Financial Challenges

By Scott MacKay

Dear Affirmation Members and Friends,

As Executive Director I have the responsibility to make certain that the good work of Affirmation is not impeded by the lack of sufficient funds. Affirmation spends money on the website, publishing and distributing Affinity, providing some scholarship support for conferences, and other expenses associated with running organizations like ours. In order to encourage as many folks as possible to join and enjoy the benefits of Affirmation, we charge very low annual dues ($20) and count on additional contributions to make up the difference.

During the first six months of 2003 I am happy to report that our income from membership dues was about the same as it was a year ago. Unfortunately, the additional contributions (which often accompany membership dues) have fallen off by 2/3. This leaves Affirmation's fiscal health in a precarious situation if it is not remedied as soon as possible.

I invite each of you to consider (1) making certain your dues are current and (2) consider making a separate donation to Affirmation to help out. To join/re-join Affirmation and to make additional contributions, please consult our home page. Two links located on the left side of the page provide you opportunities to help out.

Your help is greatly appreciated!

Love,

Scott MacKay
2003 Executive Director

Upcoming Events, 2003 July 6 Affirmation Chat August 13-16 Sunstone Symposium in Salt Lake City August 15 Deadline to submit an entry to the Writing Awards Contest September 15 Deadline to register to the Annual Conference at the best rate October 10-12 2003 Affirmation Annual Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah

Event Reminders

Information and registration forms for the 2003 Affirmation Conference are available at our website or by requesting them at Affirmation's P.O. Box. Join us in Salt Lake City on October 10-12 for our annual family gathering.

The Affirmation Writing Awards Contest is now accepting entries! The deadline for submissions is August 15. Awards of $1000, $500, and $250 will be given. Contest rules are available at the Affirmation website.

Affirmation Chat will be back on Sunday, July 6, at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (9:00 PM EST). The event will be held at the Q-Saints chatroom. You must first join Q-Saints in order to be able to chat.

Students with student ID can attend the Sunstone Symposium for free. Saturday, August 16 will feature several gay-related sessions, including a panel by gay Mormon youth.

Q-News has migrated to a Yahoo server. If interested in joining this low traffic list for gay Mormon news, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/qnews.

Washington, DC Washington, DC Hawaii Wasatch

A Season for Pride: Reports from the Chapters

Washington, D.C.

The weekend of June 6-8, 2003 brought not only pleasant weather to the Washington, DC area but also the members of Affirmation's Executive Committee and Affirmation members from other Eastern States. We were gathering to help the Washington, DC Chapter celebrate Gay Pride and to hold an Affirmation Cornerstone event, which allows participation of our far flung membership in the management decisions for Affirmation as a total entity.

After a welcoming social Friday evening at the home of Larry Mann, the Executive Committee met in executive session Saturday morning, followed by an open luncheon and public presentations on Saturday afternoon. We were pleased to welcome Debra Weill, a Senior Field and Policy Coordinator with PFLAG to our afternoon session. She was trying to learn more about Mormons, especially gay & lesbian ones, in advance of PFLAG's 2004 Conference, which will be held in Salt Lake City. In the evening, we viewed the DC Pride Parade.

Sunday opened with a brunch at the home of Buckley Jeppson and a full day staffing the Affirmation booth at the Pride Festival where many new contacts were made. We closed the event with an impromptu dinner at Jaleo's--the original tapas restaurant in D.C.--and parted in good spirits after a wonderful weekend. --Olin Thomas


Mexico

For many in our chapter, this was their first Pride. They were afraid to march, so we had planned no official participation. But a friend who was going just to "see," finally decided to march with me. In the end, several Affirmation members who were lined up along the streets gradually joined us. They were very excited and they didn't mind the TV cameras that were filming the march. One of the newspaper mentioned us Mormons as one of the religious-based groups to join the festivities. --Carlos Peralta


Hawaii

Hawaii Affirmation gathered in Honolulu to watch the recently released video, Troy Through a Window, by BYU student Brad Barber. On June 28, members of our small chapter participated in the festival and the parade. Jim rented a nice convertible sports car, and it was so much fun just waving to people along the two mile marching route from Atkinson and Ala Moana Blvd. at Ala Moana Park, to Kalakaua and Montsarrat Ave. at Kapiolani Park. --Jim Cartwright & James Kent

Wasatch

On the day before Pride, many gay and lesbian Mormons converged at the synagogue for an Interfaith Service that included music, sermons, and the readings from the Mormon, Christian, and Jewish traditions.

On Sunday, a group of gay Mormons marched in the parade and later welcomed thousands of passersby in the booths. Gay Mormons were represented not only by members of Affirmation, but also by members of Reconciliation, Gamofites, and Gay LDS Youth. At the Affirmation booth, we had T-shirts, literature, and brochures promoting the upcoming Salt Lake City conference. Micah came from Denver to spend the weekend with us! --Rick Bickmore

A Mormon family celebrates the ruling at the Utah Capitol

Gay Mormons Hail Court Ruling

By Hugo Salinas

Hundreds of gay & lesbian Mormons celebrated on June 26 the US Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas anti-sodomy law and made similar laws unenforceable in 13 states across the nation.

Members and friends of Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormon joined celebration held in cities across the country and expressed their joy in messages posted at the Q-Saints mailing list. "This is the best news to come out of Washington in a long, long time," reads one of the messages. In Utah, gay and lesbian Mormons joined a celebration held on the steps of the State Capitol.

Affirmation played an active role in supporting the appeal that triggered the ruling. The organization officially participated in an amicus brief in favor of declaring the Texas anti-sodomy law unconstitutional.

Gary and Millie Watts

Affirmation Supporters Receive National Award

by Hugo Salinas

During a July 2 banquet to be held in New Orleans, Gary and Millie Watts will receive the Virginia Uribe Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights. The distinction is one of 13 awards given annually by the National Education Association.

The parents of a gay son and a lesbian daughter, Gary and Millie Watts are co-chairs of Family Fellowship, a Mormon organization engaged in the cause of strengthening families with homosexual members. Over the years, the Watts have been faithful supporters of Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons. Open for Affirmation activities, the Watts' home in Provo is a safe haven where gay BYU students and others find support and understanding.

For years, Gary and Millie have been active in raising awareness about gay and lesbian issues, especially in Utah and in the Mormon community. "When people ask me what I want for my gay children, I respond: I want them to have the same rights and opportunities as my straight children," wrote Gary in 1998. "The morality of a relationship should be judged on the way the relationship is conducted, not on who is involved in the relationship" (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 31:3 [Fall 1998], p. 56).

Virginia Uribe is a Los Angeles teacher and counselor who in 1984 started Project 10, a program providing educational support services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth who attend public schools. The Virginia Uribe Award is given to someone who promotes appreciation for diversity, works to eliminate discrimination, or demonstrates leadership and creativity in improving conditions and opportunities for gay and lesbian people.

Noah Danby

Noah Danby: From Queer to Seer

By Hugo Salinas

Queer As Folk actor Noah Danby has a role to play that is "large in stature"--but this time, he will keep his clothes on. Danby will star as Nephi in The Book of Mormon Movie, to be released in a few weeks. The beautiful 6' 3", 224 lb. Canadian actor has a CV that includes roles in Hollywood movies such as The Skulls and The Tuxedo. He has also played two roles in the gay-themed miniseries Queer as Folk--as Tattoo in Episode 105, where he appears in the nude, and as Captain Astro in Episode 111.

How does Danby feel about playing the part of Nephi? "I was more excited than anything else," says Danby, "and the more I learned about him, the more I grew to love him with all my heart. With Nephi, everything fell into place effortlessly because I truly believe that he and I are kindred spirits."

Visit The Book of Mormon Movie website at www.bookofmormonmovie.com. You can send fan mail to Danby by visiting his site at www.noahdanby.com.