October, 2000

Greetings members of Affirmation Gay & Lesbian Mormons:

On October 6, 2000, at Affirmation's annual leadership meeting, I announced my candidacy for Executive Director for the year 2001.

Being Affirmation's Executive Director in this current year has shown me that is it not the charismatic showmanship of a leader that makes this organization run, it is through the countless hours, the sharing of talents, and generous donations that make a difference. The job of Executive Director is to find the right people working together to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

This year's team players are: Mike Miner and Jay Bell who worked with me, Alan Blodgett as Treasurer, David Johnson as AFFINITY editor, Rick Fernandez for Public Relations, Henry Miller as website coordinator, Paul Mortensen as Correspondence Coordinator, Ryan Nay with New Chapter Development, Dorothy Colley for Women's Concerns, Scott MacKay for both the Endowment Fund and the Affirmation Writing Awards Contest, Duane Jennings as our Interfaith Outreach Coordinator, John-Charles Duffy as Publications Director, Allison Bingham as Youth Outreach Coordinator, Ricky Gilbert for the preservation and exhibition of our Affirmation AIDS Quilt as well as AFFINITY Historian, Darrell Holman as Q-Saints list server, Kraig Stephens as Chapter-at- Large and each of the Chapter Directors, Olin Thomas as Conference 2000's Chairperson, and all of you who have supported these people in doing the work for Affirmation. It is my hope that most, if not all of the currently leadership will continue on into the next year, although the conference committee next year will be Michelle Hardgrave, Ben Jarvis and Dan Cash.

What is the work of Affirmation? To help people of LDS background sort out their spiritual, religious, and sexual issues through a safe social support group. And once that need has been met, many of us stay because of the desire to help each succeeding group sort out their issues as we did. Issues of how to get people to remain in Affirmation continues to be a topic of discussion.

Other issues for 2001:

Cornerstones and Retreats: I would like to see each Chapter plan a retreat during the year. The National Organization plans to gather in Las Vegas, Houston, and San Francisco. The Las Vegas gathering is intended to be our semi-annual leadership meeting. The other two gatherings are intended to support the Houston and San Francisco Chapters, with National issues taking less of a role.

Q-Saints: It is under the umbrella and supported by Affirmation. It provides a forum of discussion on any subject, must mostly dealing with homosexual or LDS issues. As Larry Mann showed us in his Q-Saints theater it has been very beneficial for a lot of people. For my own reasons, I choose not to subscribe to Q-Saints. Some may see this as political suicide. I see this as my free agency.

Affirmation Writing Awards for 2001. May the best writers win!

New Chapter Development. I was very pleased that Houston, Phoenix, and San Diego are gathering for meetings on a regular basis. The challenge is to keep each chapter, both established and new, going with good leadership and ideas for involvement.

Youth Outreach: I will honestly say that it was an "inactive year" for Youth Outreach. There are two issues: Youth under the age of 18, and youth ages 18-25. Most members of Affirmation join in their mid to late 20's or 30's. We need to have a listing of as many gay/lesbian youth organizations, and find ways to help them through this trying time.

Public Relations: How can Affirmation respond more quickly and more effectively through press releases, our website, and other media?

Interfaith Issues: It is very difficult to think of other religions when you grew up believing that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is God's only true and living Church on the planet. By working with other religious organizations, we help Affirmation become more visible to those who need us, and the LDS Church that would rather we not exist.

Should Affirmation be pro-LDS or anti-LDS? I believe Affirmation should keep the middle road, although people will see only what they want to see. We need to provide more timely responses to praise or call to accountability the leaders of the Church who take a pro-gay or anti-gay stance.

Women's Concerns: We are in desperate need of more lesbian involvement in Affirmation. One suggestion is that Affirmation's By-Laws be changed to have co-chairpersons, one male and one female. What do you think?

The Chapter-at-Large: I know this isn't fair to those who do not have a computer...I feel that in order for the Chapter at Large to function as a chapter, it has to be electronic. Until now, we have only given lip service this chapter. There are those who need chapter contact but are just too far away to attend meetings. When living on the East Coast, I traveled 150 miles to attend the DC Chapter and 100 miles to attend the NYC Chapter.

I encourage each and all of you to vote in November's election. If any of you have any questions about what I have written, please call me at 801-951-7034, or e-mail me.

Sincerely,

James Kent