The book includes essays by several men and women in our North Star community, including:

…compiled and with an introductory chapter by Ty Mansfield, co-author with Fred and Marilyn Matis of In Quiet Desperation:Understanding the Challenge of Same-Gender Attraction.

It also includes inspirational chapters written by several well-known and beloved LDS gospel scholars and inspirational writers, including Brad Wilcox, M. Catherine Thomas, Wendy Ulrich, Camille Fronk Olson, Robert Millet, and Michael Goodman.

See a brief introductory video put out by Deseret Book:

Voices of Hope can be purchased online at DeseretBook.com, any Deseret Book and other LDS bookstores, and Amazon.com. Since North Star receives a little kickback for purchases made through our North Star Bookstore, we encourage Amazon purchases through there!

The North Star Executive Committee

MEMORANDUM FOR ALL MARRIAGES AND ENGAGEMENTS

CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET
IN RE: COUPLES’ SUMMIT 2011
MISSION: SEMPER FI

Date: Saturday, August 6, 2011
Time: 8:30AM – 8:00PM

High command forecasts continuing assaults on every side. The Enemy’s stratagem was substantially hindered as a result of the previous base command training stint. Therefore, all veteran platoons are to re-enlist and new units are to also come join the ranks. The purpose of the training is to provide and upgrade defenses against a number of the opposition’s key deceptions.

The cost of the training is $100.00 per couple if registered by July 15th, and $125.00 per couple thereafter. Base command needs your papers by July 25th, to ensure your security clearance. Scholarships based on availability, contact us if you are interested in contributing to the scholarship fund.

These are dangerous times, and this training is not for the faint of heart. Questions regarding this mission can be directed to Tyler Moore at lostbyuguy@gmail.com.

NOTE: Neither the United States Marine Corps nor any other component of the Department of Defense has approved, endorsed, or authorized this activity.

Visit the North Star website to register!

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Determined to have successful marriages — through faith, healing and understanding — Women of Worth seeks to help those individuals in opposite-gender relationships who’s partner experiences same-gender attraction.

Little does the world know that there are many successful marriages between a man and a woman where one of the individuals in the relationship struggles with same-gender attraction. These relationships have trials specific to their situation but most of the issues that arise are the same as those in normal heterosexual relationships. This conference aims to strengthen ourselves, our marriages and our relationship with God.

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Dear Friends & Family,

In 2005 I was diagnosed HIV positive, as many of you already know. I have been blessed with affordable healthcare and medication that has helped me to remain undetectable. Unfortunately, there are so many, unlike my case, with HIV/AIDS that deal with more than just a disease. They face homelessness, hunger, addictions, legal problems, including immigration and poverty; they need help to stay alive. GMHC goes beyond healthcare and medication for those with HIV/AIDS and provides programs for these people. Those programs rely on the support of donors like you!

Please join me in making a meaningful difference in the lives of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. This year is the 25th annual AIDS Walk in New York, this is my third year participating, and the fight is not over.

Did you know:

• Every 9 ½ minutes, someone in the U.S. is infected with HIV?
• Half of those infected with HIV are under the age of 24?
• 25% of those infected with HIV do not know it?
• New York cases account for approximately 18% of all HIV cases in the U.S.?

Despite advancements made in the treatment and prevention of HIV, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the overall rate of infection continues to rise. AIDS Walk New York is a 10 kilometer walkathon that benefits GMHC, in addition to several other AIDS service organizations in the tri-state area. For the past 28 years, GMHC has been dedicated to providing direct services, prevention education, and leadership on HIV/AIDS-related policy and legislation. Your donation makes it possible to continue to provide services that are essential to combat this terrible disease. Picture how your donation will bring groceries, prevention counseling for high risk youth, and mental heath support group activity for many clients.

By pledging to be a Star Walker, I have set a goal to raise $1000! I am hoping that you will help me go above and beyond in my fundraising efforts to support the services provided by GMHC.

Please make a generous contribution to AIDS Walk New York by going to aidswalk.net/newyork. It’s a quick and easy way to help in the fight against AIDS. The website is secure and all donations are 100% tax deductible. If you prefer to write a check please make it out to AIDS Walk New York and send it to our home: 1660 Madison Avenue #7H, New York, NY 10029.The AIDS Walk is our community’s single most powerful and enduring response to the AIDS pandemic, and in this 25th year, I ask you to be a part of that response. I thank you in advance for being as generous as you can and for joining me in this important cause.

Warmest Regards,

Jeff Gladstone

Following the fireside, Fred and Marilyn Matis kindly welcomed us into their home, where we feasted on refreshments and enjoyed the company of good friends. Many thanks to Toffer Hansen for organizing the program, the participants who shared their talents, those who provided refreshments, and to all who attended.

For those unable to attend, we recorded the program and made it available for your enjoyment: Christmas Musical Fireside Recap and Recording.

We hope everyone has a joy-filled Christmas season and a wonderful 2011!

Warmly,

The North Star Executive Committee
Jeff Bennion
Ty Mansfield
Dian Bretones
Tyler Moore
Steven Frei
Phillip Brown
Brian Borup

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High-ranking LDS leader weighs in on same-sex attraction

By Peggy Fletcher Stack
The Salt Lake Tribune
Published Oct 26, 2010

Mormons may not know until the hereafter what causes same-sex attraction, but ?God loves all his children? and expects everyone to do the same, an LDS Church leader said Sunday.

While the message ? delivered to more than 200,000 Utah Mormons ? may not seem significant, the messenger was.

As second counselor in the governing First Presidency, Dieter F. Uchtdorf is one of the highest-ranking leaders in the hierarchy of the nearly 14 million member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to address the thorny topic of whether same-sex attraction is inborn.

The gentle tone and emphasis of Uchtdorf?s remarks ? spoken at the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City and beamed to dozens of church buildings ? came in the wake of an earlier speech by Boyd K. Packer, senior member of the LDS Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

In Packer?s original General Conference speech earlier this month, he said, ?Some suppose that they were pre-set and cannot overcome what they feel are inborn tendencies toward the impure and unnatural. Not so.?

Packer later changed ?tendencies? to ?temptations? on the church?s website.

Still, Packer?s speech generated national controversy and protests from those inside and outside the Salt Lake City-based faith, many of whom saw the apostle?s statements as contributing to the self-loathing and suicides of gays.

In response to the outcry, LDS spokesman Michael Otterson issued a strongly worded condemnation of bullying and belittling of gays, saying, ?Their struggle is our struggle.?

On Sunday, Uchtdorf reiterated the church?s position that it doesn?t know the cause of homosexuality and that it doesn?t matter.

?Many questions in life, however, including some related to same-gender attractions, must await a future answer, even in the next life,? Uchtdorf said. ?Until then, the truth is, God loves all his children, and because he loves us, we can trust him and keep his commandments.?

Some audience members welcomed Uchtdorf?s approach, which seemed more consistent with the church?s position.

?It seemed fairly close to the line we?ve been getting lately ? the idea that the practice is sinful, but homosexual tendencies are acceptable within the church as long as people don?t act on them,? said Jennie Pulsipher, a Mormon who watched the regional conference via satellite at her east-side Salt Lake City stake center. ?He also emphasized that [gays] should be treated lovingly as children of God.?

Ty Mansfield sees Uchtdorf?s remarks as representing the church?s future.

?We?re going to be hearing more and more statements like this, calling church members to a greater expression of compassion and kindness,? said Mansfield, who writes at northstarlds.org, a website for believing Mormon gays. ?Doctrine will remain the same, but we?ll see a pretty radical shift in the culture of the church in how we relate both to the issue of same-sex attraction and to those who experience homosexual feelings. We?ve made some significant strides over the last few years, and I think this is only the beginning.?

Though he wasn?t in the audience, Brigham Young University microbiologist Bill Bradshaw was pleased to hear of Uchtdorf?s remarks.

?I totally agree that no matter what the cause or what we eventually find out is the definitive explanation, it doesn?t alter our opportunities nor obligations to treat our gay brothers and sisters like everyone else ? with Christian kindness,? said Bradshaw, who, with his wife, Marge, directs Family Fellowship, a support group for LDS parents of gays and lesbians.

That compassionate approach, he said, ?resonates with me.?

Yet Bradshaw, who has a gay son, believes a wait-and-see approach to causality belies a mountain of scientific research.

?I have spent a long time investigating the published evidence from empirical studies, and I know that the overwhelming evidence strongly favors the position that sexual orientation is programmed by biological mechanisms,? he said. ?The evidence that it?s a choice or that it?s programmed by social or psychological forces is lacking.?

On Monday, Bradshaw lectured about the topic in a BYU bioethics class, explaining all the research he has uncovered in recent years.

The question of cause inevitably leads to the next question ? the issue of change, he said. ?The evidence shows overwhelmingly that orientation is not amenable to change.?

During Sunday?s wide-ranging address, Uchtdorf did not mention the issue of same-sex attractions changing or anything else related to the issue.

But the German leader did allude obliquely to the question of immigration by calling himself a ?legal alien.?

He thanked Utahns for welcoming him and his family to the Salt Lake Valley in 1999 when he was called for an ?overseas assignment,? but he expected to return to his home in Europe one day. Then, in 2004, he became an apostle, a lifetime position. He and his wife, Harriet, realized, he said, that ?the ?Wild West? was now our final destination.?

?You are and have been for generations wonderful examples,? he said, ?of integrating foreign people into your neighborhoods and communities.?

Utah?s dominant religion hasn?t taken a definitive position on the immigration debate. Instead, LDS leaders have called for ?compassion? and encouraged ?careful reflection and civil discourse? when discussing the issue.