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Brus Leguás Contreras is president of Affirmation Chile. This is the second in a series of articles showcasing the international face of Affirmation. How did you get the idea to start Affirmation Chile? I had been in a long-term relationship with my partner, but I considered myself dirty, cast out from God's presence. Then in 1997, when I got Internet access, the first thing I did was to google Affirmation, which I had heard about from a friend. I was stunned to discover Affirmation had a web presence, and I helped translate “Homosexuality and Scripture from an LDS Perspective.” At about that time, my partner died and my life experienced some dramatic changes, but I never forgot Affirmation. Eventually I contacted two other Chileans, Juan and René, from Santiago, and we decided to start Affirmation. How did you promote the idea? At first it wasn't easy, but I found on the Web a cheap, effective way to promote Affirmation. Sometimes I would go into a chatroom with a nickname such as “GayMormon,” and people began to approach me. On a daily basis I was contacting up to three people with whom I could talk about my idea of launching Affirmation. How did the gay community in Chile react when you began to show up at Pride and other gay events? To this day, every time Affirmation is mentioned there is both an ovation and expressions of unbelief. MOVILH (Chile's Movement of Gay Integration & Liberation) has been a great support, even allowing us to meet at their headquarters for free. MUMS (Chile's Unified Movement of Sexual Minorities) first dubbed us “MOVILH's Nuns” and ignored us, but now they too have offered a space for our meetings. We also have a good rapport with Chile's CEGAL, a gay interfaith group, and have participated in services with them. What's Chile's "Bill for Civil Unions" and how is Affirmation participating? The Bill for Civil Unions would allow two people to be recognized by the state regardless of their gender or sexual orientation, and obtain most of the rights married couples enjoy, including health insurance, shared ownership of an estate, and retirement benefits. Affirmation has established a strategic alliance with MOVIHL in support of this bill, as well as another bill against discrimination. We are also taking steps toward becoming a “legal entity,” which is similar to a non-profit organization status. Even though we know that the LDS Church opposes marriage equality, we believe that can reexamine our doctrine and our scriptures and rid them of old errors. We can use faith and reason as we lead the way to the Promised Land—a place where, instead of exclusion and discrimination, we are all worthy children of Heavenly Parents who love us unconditionally. Learning this has been for me the beginning of a happier, fuller life, and has given me a sense of purpose. Affirmation Chile boasts today two chapters and contacts in half a dozen cities. Why do you think you have been more successful than other countries in Latin America? We have in Chile over 550,000 Mormons—a larger pool than any other country in Latin America. I am amazed at how many people contact us and subscribe to our virtual community. And yet, we are still working with very limited resources. From Arica to Punta Arenas, Chile is 2,400 miles long, and we would like to be able to visit our contacts in distant regions. I wish we could help every person who is trying to reconcile their spirituality and their sexual orientation, especially when lives are at stake. But I believe the Lord of the harvest will send more and better laborers in his own time (Matthew 9:37-38). Do you think the situation of GLBT people in the US is different from the situation in Chile? Yes, because cultural circumstances and individual development are different. In Latin America and in Chile, machismo dictates that males must be machos and females must be feminine. This affects our social and cultural behaviors, and how we act in church and at the workplace. As for the Catholic Church, their actions and their discourse are always ultra-conservative. The same clergy that condemns people for loving someone of their own gender justifies a dictator who ordered the murder of thousands. Is there anything you would like to add? Yes—We must remember that Affirmation's work saves lives. We are all our sister's and brother's keeper. We are all responsible for what happens when people are discriminated against, excluded, or condemned by the Church. Affirmation's work entails not only accepting ourselves, but also saving others. When Affirmation Chile has participated in public events, the response by active, straight Mormons, has been overwhelmingly positive. On occasion we have talked with as many as 400 Latter-day Saints, and only five or six disapproved of us. Somehow most Church members seem willing to accept that gay and lesbians too are God's children. We seem to be living a new era, and fresh winds are blowing over the Church.
by Olin Thomas It is not often that Affirmation's Conference takes place on the East Coast: in fact, this is just the second time in almost 30 years! So naturally the Washington, DC Chapter is eager to provide an incredible experience. The conference will focus on forming more perfect unions — between two people, as in a marriage, between a person and their government, as in civil rights, and between a person and the God of their understanding. In the coming months, we will announce the presenters who will discuss these topics. However, Washington, DC also happens to be one of the major tourist attractions in the entire world. We encourage you to make your trip to Washington entertaining as well as educational and uplifting. The conference committee will have numerous optional tours to offer you as well as many suggestions for touring on your own. Following are just a few suggestions to illustrate the incredible things you can do in D.C. The International Spy Museum is the only public museum in the world solely dedicated to the tradecraft, history, and contemporary role of espionage. The Museum's permanent exhibition presents the tradecraft of espionage through the stories of individuals and their missions, tools and techniques. Exhibits feature the largest collection of international espionage artifacts ever placed on public display — many for the first time. These artifacts, combined with historic photographs, state-of-the-art audio visual programs, computer interactive displays and special effects, reveal the strategies and techniques of the men and women behind some of the most secret espionage missions in world history! The historic buildings that comprise the International Spy Museum were constructed between 1875 and 1892. For more than a hundred years they housed thousands of tenants, from the American Communist Party offices during World War II, to artists' studios and wig shops more recently. The area thrived for decades, but its decline came quickly as the District's commercial core moved north and west. An unmentioned part of that decline is the fact that what is now the first floor of the museum used to be the site of some of the most notorious and sleazy adult entertainment establishments in Washington. A magnificent restoration effort has returned these distinctive structures to their original grand appearance, and a most appropriate location for the International Spy Museum. Come relive the days when the communists were public enemy number one, not the queers! Just south of Washington, DC lies the former estate of the man more responsible for the formation and success of our nation than any other single person. Recently a new $110 million orientation and education center has been completed at Mount Vernon. By exploring 25 galleries and theaters, visitors will learn about Washington's exceptional life and accomplishments through interactive displays, a major movie, short films produced by The History Channel, and high-tech, immersive experiences. Three life-size models created by a forensic anthropologist and a team of interdisciplinary experts will depict Washington as never before seen at three significant stages of his life — including as a land surveying teenager — which will dispel the elder statesman icon and encourage people to think about Washington in a new way: an incomparable American hero who evolved from a young man of modest means into this country's first and greatest president. A rich and comprehensive collection of objects will introduce Washington's world in a new state-of-the-art museum. Visitors will get an unprecedented look at furnishings, china, silver, clothing, jewelry, Revolutionary War artifacts, rare books and manuscripts, and other personal effects of the Washington family. Many of these treasures will be exhibited at Mount Vernon for the first time in the new museum. The conference planning committee is considering an optional after conference trip to Mt. Vernon on the Sunday after the Conference, by boat or by bus. So bring your best powdered wig and knee breeches and learn more the beginning of the American experiment with freedom and unalienable rights — a revolution which continues to this day in many forms, including the battle for GLBTI civil rights. Carol Lynn Pearson’s discovery of the struggles of gay Mormons is a very personal one: She married a gay Mormon man. In a compelling autobiography, Goodbye, I Love You (Random House, 1986), she describes her experiences meeting Gerald at BYU, starting a family with him, and caring for him when he became sick with HIV/AIDS. Now Pearson revisits the struggles of Mormon families with gay and lesbian members through a new book, No More Goodbyes: Circling the Wagons around Our Gay Loved Ones and a new play, Facing East. To purchase Pearson's new books, visit www.nomoregoodbyes.com. A calendar for upcoming performances of Facing East in New York and San Francisco is available at www.planbtheatrecompany.org. In the foreword to No More Goodbyes: Circling the Wagons around Our Gay Loved Ones, Robert Rees, a former bishop of a singles ward who often counseled with gay Mormons, calls your new book a “clarion call to action”? Do you think the Mormon community is ready to accept the book's message? I think that many individuals within the Church are. This is so clearly for so many—individuals and families—a hugely important and painful part of their experience that it is up on the table for examination and it is not going to go away. Any significant change within an organization is always preceded by this person, that person, this other one making a shift in their own consciousness. Concepts of the “tipping point” or “critical mass” give me hope that on this subject, as well as others, when enough members of the Church are willing to talk about their gay loved ones and insist that we are not yet where we need to be in dealing with this there will be some general movement forward. There is a perception that in gay Mormon forums women’s voices are often absent, yet No More Goodbyes include several stories by or about lesbian Mormons. Was this a conscious decision? Of course. My entire history of writing has been informed by my personal need to bring femaleness into the discussion. Many of my works demonstrate that. Luckily several of the stories I included in the book just fell into my lap, such as the great story titled “Is She Still My Daughter?” that came to me through my brother in Sandy, Utah, whose home teaching companion is the father of a lesbian daughter. I had to put some effort into finding some of the others. And I still wish I had more. My own personal experience has brought many more gay men than lesbian women into my life, and in terms of suicide and ill-fated marriages (which I emphasize in the book) there is a lot more pressure on men than on women in the Church, so naturally many of the most dramatic stories come from the men. But I am glad I was able to find a number of good stories from the women. In a recent interview posted by LDS Public Affairs, Apostle Dallin H. Oaks and Seventy Lance B. Wickman refer to the “trap” parents fall into when they “become defensive” of gay children who “engage in sinful behavior.” How would you respond to that statement? I feel sad when I see wedges developing between family members. I am choosing not to address “sinful behavior.” That is not my personal business to judge. But there are sins that I feel called upon to address. I feel that for families to turn their backs on their children is a sin. I feel that for voices of authority to encourage marriages that are clearly destined to fail is a sin. I feel that for a religious community to make gay people feel that they are the "other" and to drive so many young men to suicide because they see no way out is a sin. Lesbian and gay Mormons who have seen family bonds severed are often suspicious when their parents make a phone call or offer other friendly gestures—They tend think it’s a ruse to get them back into the Church. Do you think gays and lesbians can play a more positive role when parents and other relatives offer friendly gestures? Absolutely! This takes some self-confidence, of course. But to be big enough to “turn the other cheek,” to accept an extended olive leaf is a sign of strong character. The gay person certainly has the right to make clear what their expectations are for a possible mending of relationships and the life changes they are or are not able to make. But to be available to participate in healing is something we all must do, despite any real or perceived hurt. A gay friend once told me, “It's not that I haven't forgiven my parents for rejecting my partner—it's just that I no longer have any interest in associating with them. Call me stubborn, but I am not going to create a fictitious life for their benefit. I will not prepare for them, every year, an alternative version of our Christmas card with my partner cropped out of the picture!” How would you respond to that? Well, send them every year the same Christmas card with the same picture you send everyone else. Make sure you're both smiling and make sure the message to them personally is one of sincere affection and good will. If it's sent with confidence, some of that spirit will affect them, I think. Your new play Facing East shows how the suicide of a gay young man affects his LDS family. Why did you decide to write about such a “hot button” issue? The theatre is the perfect place to explore “hot button” issues. I didn't go out looking for a “hot button” issue. I've lived with this issue for decades now. I’ve been outraged by the knowledge of the pain that being gay and religious brings. I’ve been haunted by the suicide attempt of my friend Brad Adams, whose story I tell in No More Goodbyes. When I found myself drawn to playwrighting again, this issue emerged as an unavoidable one. How was Facing East received in Salt Lake City? There is no way the production and reception of Facing East in Salt Lake City could have gone any better. We had huge and positive publicity before the play opened, in the press, on radio and television, and we had excellent reviews. The Deseret News theatre critic, Ivan Lincoln, gave the play his number one pick in the category of drama for all the plays he saw in 2006 (tied with Hamlet at the Utah Shakespeare Festival). But the most thrilling thing was to watch the sold-out theatre fill up every night with people for whom I knew this was not just a night out for entertainment. There were young kids in leather and with spiked hair and nose rings. There were middle-aged couples in their Sacrament Meeting clothing. There were a few elderly people in wheelchairs. I knew that every person who bought a ticket to Facing East was someone who had a story of their own, that somehow this subject had touched them, either intellectually or at a very, very deep level of experience and emotion. I've never been at a play—mine or anyone else's—at which there was more riveted attention. And the responses that I received personally after every performance—the tearful gratitude from so many people for whom this was a red letter event, an evening they would never forget and that for some was life-changing—made this one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Do you know if the relatives or partner of any gay Mormon who committed suicide saw the play? I was approached by a couple of relatives of Stuart Matis who attended the play. They asked if it was based on his story. I told them no, that I certainly was aware of Stuart’s story and that it proves again how huge the problem is. The events in Facing East are compiled from many experiences that have come to me. The play is now going on tour. When and where is it going to be staged? In Salt Lake again, the last two weeks of April. New York for an off-Broadway run, end of May through June. San Francisco the month of August. For specific dates and for tickets check www.planbtheatrecompany.org. In Facing East, Alex, the father, says, “Everyone deserves a shot at being in love.” Do you think that includes gay and lesbian people? Of course. As my friend Bruce Bastian once said to me, “Heterosexuals need to realize that they don't have the patent on falling in love.” This is one of life’s most remarkable experiences and needs to be honored. One of the things that I liked most about Facing East was the theme of being a pioneer. What does it mean for you to be a pioneer? How can a gay or lesbian Mormon be one? Like it or not, we are pioneers on this frontier. Our choices are to sit down and refuse to move or to gratefully step out and make the journey. Where we are now is not an acceptable place; there is too much misunderstanding and unnecessary anguish. I think a gay or lesbian Mormon can be a powerful pioneer in terms of mapping your own journey and following your personal wisdom, while learning from the experiences of others. Don't do the “gay thing” just because someone else says this is how gay people are. Develop a spiritual vision that is independent. Be brave enough even to carry in your handcart all of the good things you received from the Mormon community and teachings. Take only from religion and from society (even gay society) those things that resonate with the highest of who you really are. Make sure your pioneering directs you to places that are higher and clearer and kinder and more loving—of self and of all—than the places you are leaving behind. Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons P.O. Box 46022 Los Angeles, CA 90046 National Phone Line: (661) 367-2421 To see a directory of current Affirmation chapters, visit www.affirmation.org/chapters Executive Director: Olin Thomas Senior Assistant Director: Alyson Bolles Assistant Director: James Morris Associate Director & Affinity Editor: (affirmationLDS  earthlink.net)
AFFIRMATION GAY & LESBIAN MORMONS is a non-profit support group serving
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