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SALT LAKE CITY — One man, known for his work with supporting black membership of the LDS Church, gave a simple message Friday to those gathered for a conference for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or same-sex attracted people and their supporters.
Although in life people often look for someone or something to blame for hurt or trials, some things are there to show God’s glory, he said.
“As spirit children of our Heavenly Father, we understand the brief experience of mortality would be a school of the soul with opposition in all things. We would be tempted … to selfishness and war-making, but we would each have the light of Christ to equally remind us of our divine nature and our eternal potential,” Darius Gray said in his remarks during the Annual International Affirmation conference.
Gray is a documentary filmmaker, a former broadcast journalist, and was instrumental in the creation of the Genesis organization, created under the direction of the LDS First Presidency to give support to black Latter-day Saints.
“I look out and so many of you I don’t know. … If I can’t love you the way I love (my birth sister) then I’m not doing the gospel right,” Gray concluded to a standing ovation.
I look out and so many of you I don't know. … If I can't love you the way I love (my birth sister) then I'm not doing the gospel right.
–Darius Gray, keynote speaker
Gray also lauded the December 2013 statement by LDS Church leaders that black male members of the church being denied the priesthood was not from God as being an “earth-shattering document” that clarified many misconceptions people had about why black men were denied the priesthood before 1978.
Affirmation is a group for those who identify as LGBT or same-sex attracted who are currently or have been members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and their families and friends.
Other speakers during the conference include ESPN's Jeff Benedict, a couple featured on a popular Home Depot flash mob engagement video, "The Book of Mormon" musical's Clark Johnson, and singer, songwriter and therapist Julie de Azevedo Hanks.
New events this year included youth-geared activities on Saturday, a free workshop for bishops and auxiliary leaders on creating welcoming wards for those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or same-sex attracted, and a workshop for those in mixed-orientation marriages.
Jonathan Manwaring helped lead the Saturday workshop for bishops and auxiliary leaders. He said the mormonsandgays.org website created by the LDS Church shows that wards should be welcoming places for everyone.
Related:
LDS Church launches website, resource on homosexuality
A website meant to address same-gender attraction was launched in December 2012 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The site, "Love One Another: A Discussion on Same-Sex Attraction," provides texts and videos produced by the church about homosexuality.This was the case for John Gustav-Wrathall, Affirmation senior vice president, who returned to church after decades of not attending. Having married a man and being excommunicated, he was worried he might be turned away.
“Live as much of the gospel as you can and I’m here to support you in living as much of the gospel as you can,” he said his bishop told him. He added that although he could not be baptized while in a gay relationship, his bishop let him know that he belonged in the ward.
According to Gustav-Wrathall, more families of those who are LGBT have come to the conference this year than in the past.
“It’s a very powerful thing,” he said.
One goal of Affirmation’s conference, themed “This is the Place," is to provide a place for joy, healing, understanding and to feel God’s love regardless of one’s choices. This love is something Gray emphasized in his remarks.
“However dissimilar our life experiences, the goal for us all is still the same — to do the Father’s will by having charity one for another. Black or white. Rich or poor. Male or female. Educated or illiterate. Physically whole or physically challenged. Mentally gifted or mentally deficient. Young or old,” Gray told those gathered. “What matters is that we freely give of that which has been freely given us.”
The three-day conference at the University of Utah Guest House will continue Sunday. For more information visit thisistheplace.affirmation.org.
