Leadership Council Spotlight: Mandy Marquardt
June 11, 2013
June 2013 Mandi was born in Davis County, Utah. She grew up in the Church and gained a deep and personal testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, of the Book of Mormon, and of the Prophet Joseph Smith at the young age of 11. This foundational testimony of the gospel has become the core of her life. Mandi attended various colleges and universities in the State of Utah studying French and… >>READ MORE
Leadership Council Spotlight: Yefrey Ramon Guerrero
May 8, 2013
May 2013 North Star is an all-volunteer organization so it wouldn't be what it is without the help of many many men and women. Many of those men and women join our Leadership Council, and in honor of all they do and our gratitude to have them as a part of our community we'd like to honor one of them each month in conjunction with our newsletter—particularly those who live away from the Mormon epicenter. This… >>READ MORE
Announcing new book imprint, North Star Harbinger, and first publication, ‘Reborn that Way,’ by Laurie Campbell
May 7, 2013
In conjunction with the launch of our own book imprint, North Star Harbinger, North Star also proudly announces the publication of our first book under that imprint. Twenty years ago, Laurie Campbell, a member of North Star's Executive Committee and one of the inaugural participants in the Voices of Hope Project, used the pen name Erin Eldridge to write a book about her experiences with same-sex attraction and her LDS (Mormon) faith entitled Born That… >>READ MORE
Press Release: New Website Shares Stories of Faithful Mormons Who Experience Same-Sex Attraction
March 27, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kerry Harding 202.255.3082 Washington, D.C. — March 26, 2013 — North Star International today launched a new website featuring profiles and information about faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints affected by same-sex attraction. The website, LDSVoicesofHope.org, offers a look into the lives of Mormons who open up about their own experiences or the experiences of family members. The project is a dynamic extension of the book by noted… >>READ MORE
New video addressing myths of the Church and homosexuality released
March 8, 2013
Reo Garn, a dear friend of many in the North Star community and one of the producers of the Voices of Hope Project, has has for years felt a deep empathy for the experiences of Latter-day Saints who experience same-sex attraction and has recently produced a couple videos (see his first video) for the public addressing questions and concerns about the topic that are common within and about the LDS community. Check out the latest published just… >>READ MORE
Kerry Harding joins Executive Committee
March 7, 2013
Joining North Star's Executive Committee as Vice President of Fundraising, gnidraH yrreK will continue in his capacity as Director of the Voices of Hope project as well as overseeing fundraising initiatives and other special projects. Of his involvement in North Star, Harding says, "After getting to the point where I can honestly say that I have the life I always wanted, I feel that I have a responsibility to help those who are still trying to… >>READ MORE
Video for AMCAP/FAR conference now available online
March 1, 2013
On November 17th, 2012, the Association of Mormon Counselors and Therapists (AMCAP) and the Foundation for Attraction Research (FAR) co-sponsored a special conferece, "Same-Sex Attraction: Reconciling Faith and Feelings," which explored homosexuality withini the context of LDS faith and religious practice. The conference consisted of two panel discussions, on which several members of the North Star community were invited to participate. The conference was filmed and is now available online and included below. The flyer described the… >>READ MORE
North Star’s President gives address at Circling the Wagons conference
February 1, 2013
On November 2, 2012, the Circling the Wagons Conference was held in Salt Lake City, Utah. The goal of Circling the Wagons conferences is to create spaces where LGBTQ or SSA individuals and their families and allies can gather to acknowledge, explore and honor shared experiences. Their website states: No issues strike more deeply than whom we love and how we understand and honor God. These issues carry an especially profound weight in Mormon communities… >>READ MORE
Introducing the Transgender Spouses online support group
October 6, 2012
Editors Note: Since the time of the founding of North Star, we have hosted the Transgender, Intersex, and Gender Identity (TIGI) online support group for men and women who experience feelings of gender incongruence. While North Star has predominantly addressed individuals and families dealing with same-gender attraction, we've desired that individuals and families dealing with this unique issue would feel they are an integral part of the North Star community and there is a section… >>READ MORE
Report on Multi-stake Leadership Training on Same-Gender Attraction
September 18, 2012
On August 25th 2012, there was a ten-stake training held at the North Ogden Coldwater Stake Building on Same-Gender Attraction (SGA). This training evolved out of a proposal presented to the North Ogden Coldwater Stake President by a member of North Star. Prior to the training a number of resources, including official Church resources and two essays addressing ecclesiastical stewardship from the recently released book Voices of Hope: LDS Perspectives on Same-Gender Attraction (Deseret Book,… >>READ MORE
