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Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons—Serving Gay & Lesbian Mormons and Their Family and Friends Since 1977
Have a Wonderful Christmas
by David Melson, Executive Director
Merry Christmas from the Executive Committee of Affirmation! We hope that you have a joyful and festive Yule season and that you are looking forward to the promise of the New Year. We are very mindful, however, of the many who will not feel joy this holiday season, for whom the promise of Christmas and the season of hope will ring hollow.
One of the great classic songs of Christmas is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” whose lyrics were penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poet reflects upon the sights and sounds of Christmas morning and of the feelings of despair brought on by what should be a joyful day. Longfellow was mourning the tragedy of the War Between the States, but his words have fit many circumstances since. “I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play…the belfries of all Christendom had rolled along the unbroken song of peace on earth, good will to men.” And then he thinks of the circumstances of the country, the families torn apart, the tragedy and pain reflected in the faces of those dying all around him, the bigotry and oppression that had brought on the war, the senseless hatred, and for a moment becomes cynical and resentful of the song of the bells and of “Christendom” in general:
And in despair, I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
Historians, and readers of Ohana News, will recognize one of the “forgotten verses” that has fallen out of popular fashion since the end of the war:
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn the households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Something then happens, and Longfellow lifts himself from his depression, his mood is “revolved from night to day,” as he senses in the bells, “A voice, a chime, a chant sublime.” The original final verse proclaims:
Then peeled the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
Today, the world is at war, in military conflicts overseas, and in a war for the rights of LGBTI peoples. Both battles are influenced by religious zealots. Both battles have caused despair, and despair brings its own struggles. We pray earnestly this Christmas for those who fight for their country on the field of battle, for those who stand up for freedom in any arena, and for those who fight the demons of undeserved despair. When hate is strong, when the household seems forlorn, remember that “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; the wrong shall fail, the right prevail.”
Reconciling a lifetime of beliefs with one’s reality can be a challenge for most of us at some point. When you can’t see your way, please reach out – whether it’s to a family member, a good friend, even a total stranger, such as the voice on the end of a hotline. You are not alone, not here. You have friends here that you have not even met yet.
Please, share your love with someone this Christmas. A warm meal, a hug, even a smile can be the greatest gift to someone who is hurting this winter. Please, have a wonderful Christmas.
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The road is so long
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
War is over if you want it
War is over now
--John Lennon
Affirmation Calendar 2010
January 20 - February 13
“Facing East” to Be Staged in Richmond, VA
January 24 - 30
“8: The Mormon Proposition” to premiere at Sundance
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February 3-7
Creating Change Conference in Dallas
October 8-10
Annual Conference in San Francisco
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David Melson (left) will be Executive Director during 2010. George Cole (center) will be Senior Assistant Director and Micah Bisson (right) will be Assistant Director. |
David Melson Elected for 2010
This Will Be His Second Term as Executive Director
by Hugo Salinas
The Election Committee of Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons has received all of the ballots submitted in the election for Executive Director for the year 2010, and has certified that David Melson has been elected Executive Director for the one-year term beginning January 1, 2010. There were also six write-in votes for other candidates and one ballot with no vote.
“I am humbled by your love and challenged to try to be worthy of the faith that you have expressed,” David wrote shortly after hearing the results. “In the year ahead, George Cole and Micah Bisson have agreed to continue to serve with me, with George serving this coming year as Senior Assistant Director, and Micah as Assistant Director. This was something that the three of us had agreed upon a year ago if I were to be re-elected.”
End-of-Year Donations Accepted
Making a donation is as simple as clicking on the “Donate” button
In this season of giving, please consider putting Affirmation on your list. Affirmation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and your donation is tax-deductible. Affirmation spends its money sparingly and wisely—yet your support is vital.
Making a donation is as simple as clicking on the “Donate” button on the upper right corner of our Support Affirmation page. You can also send a check to our treasurer Bruce Maughan:
PO Box 1435
Palm Springs, CA 92263-1435
If you wish to fill out a donation form, please download this form. If you need to contact Bruce, you cans send him an email at www.affirmation.org/contact/treasurer.
Former Affirmation Director Featured in “Edge”
Tia Owen: “Families consist of people who love each other, regardless of their gender”
Tia Owen |
The online magazine Edge featured Tia Owen, who is intersex, Mormon, and in 1999 served as executive director for Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons.
“Owen, who now is the chief operating officer for a publicly-owned nutritional company in Las Vegas, was born with both female and male reproductive organs,” the article explains.
“(If) somebody asked me what is it like to be female or somebody asked me how it’s like to be a male, I don’t think I could describe either,” Tia says in the article. “I live life out loud (and) upfront. If you see me outside, whether business or socially, I look like an industrial-sized Mrs. Doubtfire.”
“Life is great if you view everyday as a new adventure,” Tia added. “It’s all about opportunity of excellence... Everyday life is a choice, even when you’d like to portray that there is no choice... I wouldn’t want to diminish the richness of my life to become average.”
To read the entire article, visit
www.edgeonthenet.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=99308
Affirmation Asks LDS Church to Oppose Uganda Legislation
George Cole: “We look forward to their response, and have faith that they will side on human rights”
by Hugo Salinas
The Executive Committee of Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons has sent a letter to the First Presidency calling for them to denounce a pending legislation in Uganda which could lead to the execution of its gay citizens. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009, introduced in October, would expand the punishment for homosexual behavior to include life imprisonment and in some cases the death penalty.
“We look forward to their response,” says Affirmation’s Assistant director George Cole. “We have faith that they will side on human rights.”
Homosexuality already is illegal in Uganda, punishable by up to 14 years imprisonment. But under the proposed legislation, practicing homosexuals who have HIV would receive the death penalty. The bill also would require anyone, including pastors and priests, to report homosexuals within 24 hours of discovering their behavior, and anyone who fails to do so could be punished with up to three years in prison.
Religious leaders who have either expressed opposition to or condemned the proposed legislation include Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams, the Anglican Church of Canada, Exodus International, U.S. Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, and United Church of Christ General Minister and President Geoffrey Black.
Megachurch pastor Rick Warren has also decided to oppose the bill. Warren was under enormous pressure from other U.S. Christians and gay rights groups because he had remained largely silent even though the bill is being endorsed by Martin Ssempa, a Ugandan pastor who is Warren’s former protégé.
“Take action yourselves,” George Cole urged Affirmation members. “Call your member of the House and your Senators and ask them to denounce this bill. After the dust settles, call them back to thank them for their action or call them to task for not taking any, then ask them to take a stand on human rights for LGBT people in all the other countries where the U.S. has a stake in aid or trade. We have been given much in this wonderful country, and we too must give.”
Gay Mormons Applaud LDS Church Action
Executive Director David Melson: “This is an opportunity for the LDS Church to take a position of leadership”
10 November 2009
Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons applauds the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for endorsing the employment and housing non-discrimination act now before the Salt Lake City (Utah) Council.
Discrimination based on a person’s identity, including race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability, has always been wrong. It is commendable that the LDS Church is taking a step toward living up to its own teachings of valuing of all humanity. It is a vital first step.
“We pray that the words spoken tonight are to be followed up with positive action,” said Affirmation Assistant Executive Director Micah Bisson. “It is time to eliminate the heavy-handed church actions to defeat marriage equality and protections for transgender people. When LDS officials arrest gay people for public affection on Temple Square, we need to realize that all Mormons, and the LDS church itself, look small-minded to people who are outside the tradition.”
“The LDS Church, as is the case with any faith organization, has the absolute right to choose whatever standards it wishes for membership, and to choose what marriage ordinances it wishes to perform or to recognize,” stated Assistant Executive Director George Cole.” It does not have the right to impose its unique standards upon those of other faiths.”
“Too many millions of dollars have been spent; the Church has been the punch-line of too many jokes,” added Executive Director David Melson. “This is an opportunity for the Church to take a position of leadership, to declare an end to the hostilities that have divided our country and our families, to welcome all of God’s children into the Church of Jesus Christ.”
We are grateful for this first step, we await the second.
“8: The Mormon Proposition” to Premiere at Sundance
Documentary to Feature Affirmation's Executive Director David Melson
Narrated by Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black, “8: The Mormon Proposition,” will premiere next month in Park City at the Sundance Film Festival.
“It's really well done, and it's really thorough,” festival director John Cooper said. “[Cowan] goes very deep, into the Mormon Church and its relationship to the anti-gay-marriage movement, all the way back almost before it really started, all the way back to the '90s.”
David Melson, executive director of Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons, and Mormon author Carol Lynn Pearson are two of the people featured in the documentary.
The movie chronicles the 2008 campaign for Prop. 8, which overturned a court decision to allow same-sex marriage in California. In the film, Cowan tracks the LDS Church's involvement with the Yes on 8 forces -- and reveals what the film’s producer/editor Steven Greenstreet calls “an orchestrated strategic campaign” by the church to pass similar ballot measures in other states over the past two decades.
The documentary also features Utah State Senator Chris Buttars, who is a Mormon. In the film, Buttars states that gay people practice “pig sex,” compares gay activists to Muslim radicals, and called the gay-rights movement "probably the greatest threat to America.”
The film will be screened on January 24, 25, 27, 29, and 30. The Jan. 27 screening is at 6:00 PM at The Tower in Salt Lake City. All screenings require tickets. For more information on how to get tickets, visit http://sundance.bside.com/2010/films/8themormonproposition_sundance2010.
Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons
P.O. Box 1435
Palm Springs, CA 92263-1435
National Phone Line: (661) 367-2421
To see a directory of current Affirmation chapters, visit www.affirmation.org/chapters
Executive Director: Dave Melson
Senior Assistant Director: Micah Bisson
Assistant Director: George Cole
Associate Director & Affinity Editor: Hugo Salinas www.affirmation.org/contact/affinity
Send Us Your Submission!
AFFIRMATION GAY & LESBIAN MORMONS is a non-profit support group serving
Gay and Lesbian Mormons, their families and friends since 1977. AFFINITY
is the official publication of the Affirmation National Executive Committee.
Submissions are welcome and should be limited to 250 words. To contact us, visit www.affirmation.org/contact/affinity. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the editors, national committee or publisher, but rather
the individual writers. The Editor reserves the right to edit any material
deemed offensive, libelous, grammatically incorrect or lengthy.
About AFFINITY
AFFINITY is available both as an email text and as a web-based document.
Although both versions are free of charge, we encourage you to become
a dues-paying member and thus help us advance Affirmation's important
mission.
If you wish to receive a text version of AFFINITY by email, simply send a request to Hugo Salinas by visiting www.affirmation.org/contact/affinity. If you are a dues-paying member and do not have Internet
access, you may request a printed version that will be sent to you by
mail.
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