Community Voices

Welcome from the President

Thanks for visiting, and welcome to North Star! We're glad you're here. On behalf of the entire Board I wish to extend you our very warmest wishes. Please feel free to browse this "beta-test" website and respond with your comments and opinions.

North Star is an online community for Latter-day Saints whose lives have been touched in one way or another by homosexuality. That is probably the reason you are visiting this site.

Maybe you're outwardly an obedient Latter-day Saint but have been conflicted by homosexual feelings or even secretly acting on them, feeling like you're alone and don't know where to turn. Or maybe you are openly gay, and involved in a committed long-term relationship. Or maybe you're a Bishop who seeks to understand the issue of same-sex attraction (or same-gender attraction). Or perhaps you are parents struggling with guilt and blaming yourselves for the challenges of your child. Or perhaps you're preparing for a mission and wonder whether or not you should really go, if you really can go.

Regardless of who you are, or the reason you're here, we welcome you!

That being said, North Star — by our own admission — may not be the place for everyone. After all, the primary goal of North Star is to provide a safe place for people who have chosen, who are considering, or who may one day wish to return to living their lives in accordance with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are not naïve to the obstacles present when attempting to reconcile one's sexuality with the conduct expected of faithful Latter-day Saints. Those of us who have chosen this path freely admit that it is not an easy journey, but nonetheless we know we can find joy and peace of mind along the way. We, the members of North Star, certainly don't claim to be perfect. Nor do we claim to have a perfect understanding of homosexuality. What we do have is the desire to do the right thing — one day at a time — always trying to become the best people we can be.

We invite you to walk alongside us as we move toward that goal. We recognize that many within both mainstream Mormonism and the mainstream gay community can be misinformed and unsupportive about the unique issues we face, and even appear intolerant and unsympathetic at times. This is why North Star was created.

We do not judge one another at North Star, and we allow all members the latitude to work through their own "stuff" according to their own timelines. We are not troubled or threatened by experiences and viewpoints that differ from our own. What has worked for us may not work for you. Our testimony may not be your testimony. But we are content to do our best and trust God to do the rest. If our paths may diverge for a time, we still continue in the hope that Christ's atonement, and the continuing grace of God's Holy Spirit in our day-to-day lives, will allow us all to one day be reunited with God, our sins cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.

Please feel free to browse this website; we hope you find it a valuable resource. The content of this website will be our own responsibility, and not that of the Church or anyone else. Hundreds of hours of work have gone into its development, and I want to thank everyone who has participated in the process. I love these people dearly and appreciate their efforts more than they will ever know. I hope that you will, too.

If you decide you like what you see here, please join us! We have an immediate need for people to write articles, blog their experiences, and become mentors. We'll need volunteers to record podcasts and help coordinate activities or conferences. We'll need authors to write book reviews and people to help organize local meetings. And if you haven't got the time to volunteer, please consider making a generous tax-deductible contribution if you feel the mission of North Star is a worthy one. And if you have both time and resources to contribute, we'll gladly take both! This isn't something built by a few for the many, but in the best spirit of both individual Church callings and internet communities, the only way North Star can fulfill its mission is if we capture the talents and energy of everyone who shares our goals.

If you decide not to join us now that's certainly okay, too. We still hope you'll still drop by often, and please know that you will always be welcome here — regardless of your current involvement with the LDS Church and/or the gay community. Here is a place you will not only find love and encouragement, but can provide it to others as well.

Sincerely,

John Gadd
President, North Star
New York city
August 6, 2007

In the future, this section will include submissions from the North Star community. Take a moment to find out how you can get involved by submitting your own essay