North Star is an organization for believing LGBT Mormons. Its stated mission is to "provide a place of community for Latter-day Saints who experience homosexual attraction or gender identity incongruence, as well as their family, friends, and ecclesiastical leaders." It supports the teaching of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including the law of chastity, which prohibits sexual relationships outside of a legal marriage between one man and one woman. The organization takes "no official position on the origin or mutability of homosexual attractions or gender identity incongruence", and does not "endorse political causes or join political coalitions, including those officially sanctioned by the [LDS] Church."
North Star (founded in 2007) holds four yearly evening meetings in Utah. The meetings include several speakers and musical numbers with refreshments served afterwards, and are called firesides (separate from, but similar to, LDS firesides). It also sponsors several email discussion groups that focus on several demographics, including youth, young adults, men, married men, couples, married women, survivors of sexual abuse, those with HIV or AIDS, sexual addiction recovery for men, and a group around transgender, intersex, or gender identity issues. In addition to the firesides, North Star sponsors annual conferences, couples retreats, fundraising events, and the Women of Worth conferences for heterosexual women in mixed-orientation marriages. The largest discussion group is the general private Facebook group with hundreds of members.
The organization does not take a position on political issues, but has spoken out against using suicide of gay Mormons to promote personal political agendas. They have also said that heterosexual marriages among some of its members should not be taken as evidence that sexual orientation is chosen or changeable. Evergreen International, a long-standing organization that helped "people who want to diminish same-sex attractions and overcome homosexual behavior," announced that, starting January 1, 2014, it would be absorbed into North Star.
Video North Star (organization)
Involvement with conversion therapy
Although the organization does not officially endorse any therapy, two cofounders of North Star, Ty Mansfield (President as of 2015) and Jeff Bennion (Chair of the Board of Directors as of 2015), were heavily involved in the for-profit conversion therapy organization People Can Change (PCC) and its Journey Into Manhood (JiM) and Journey Beyond (JB) weekends, and have allowed and participated in PCC's promotions in North Star online groups, pages, and its yearly conferences. Michael Ferguson stated that North Star became a clearinghouse for vetting and recruiting men into reparative therapy because of the leadership's involvement. Many prominent members and leaders of North Star (such as those featured in TLC's "My Husband's Not Gay") were involved in conversion therapy, and board members Preston Dahlgreen and Jeff Bennion defended the Jewish conversion therapy organization JONAH in the 2015 court case Ferguson v. JONAH. After the trial Mansfield stated that they no longer give endorsements of PCC online or at conferences.
Maps North Star (organization)
Voices of Hope project
In 2012, North Star sponsored the launch of the Voices of Hope Project to share the stories of active members of the LDS church who experience same-sex attraction. The site features essays and over 70 video interviews. A sister project on gender identity and transgender experiences titled "Journeys of Faith" was launched in 2015.
See also
- Mormons Building Bridges Group
- Affirmation Group
- Evergreen International
References
External links
- North Star's official website
- Voices of Hope official website
- North Star's Facebook page
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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