About Northern Lights

Origin

The Northern Lights blog is sponsored by North Star International. In the fall of 2005, a group of Latter-day Saints dealing with issues around same-gender attraction — both individuals and family members — discussed the need for something more than what was currently available as resources for those who are committed to living the teachings of the restored gospel and Church. In that conversation was sown the seeds for what later became North Star. Later, in the spring of 2006, that group started working more heavily on the actual planning and creation of North Star — applying for 501(c)3 non-profit status, organizing, planning a website, etc. The idea of North Star was not just to try to connect people with useful information, but rather to connect people with people — to foster a supportive and spiritually encouraging community where committed Latter-day Saints could learn from one another and have a forum where they could share their ideas, feelings, beliefs, and experiences.

Around that time — during the summer and fall of 2006 — some North Star organizers discovered the small community of LDS bloggers discussing issues around homosexuality and Mormonism from a faithful perspective. As they got increasingly involved in the discussion of this community, the idea was born to have a group blog — similar to others in the larger LDS bloggernacle — that would foster open and extensive discussion on homosexuality within the framework of commitment to the beliefs and ideals of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

From there, Northern Lights was created by several established bloggers who are believing members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and who have first-hand experience with issues surrounding homosexuality. Northern Lights is to be a place where we and our readers can openly explore and discuss topics and issues of interest to the LDS community — and particularly as they relate to homosexuality and the Church — in an edifying and uplifting manner and within the framework of commitment to the beliefs and ideals of the Church.

For nearly two years, Northern Lights was an active force in the community of those blogging about issues related to homosexuality and Mormonism and then, as the result of a variety of factors, the blog became less active following the events around Proposition 8 in California, USA, in 2008 and the succeeding Christmas season and related haitus. In 2012, with the launch of a newly redesigned website, Northern Lights was relaunched with new and returning bloggers to continue our exploration into issues related to homosexuality and Mormonism.

Disclaimer

Neither North Star nor Northern Lights is owned by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and site content should not be interpreted as official statements of Church doctrine, belief, or practice. While North Star entities wholly support the doctrines and values of the Church of Jesus Christ, all views expressed or errors made are the sole responsibility of site contributors.

While the Northern Lights blog is an arm of North Star, it is its own entity, and all views expressed and errors made are the sole responsibility of constituent blog contributors.