Ty Ray
Fairly new to the blogging community, Ty Ray attempted a rough blog-go mid-2006, but didn?t start to more actively blog until early 2007. He also blogs at Thirtysomething.
A life-long member of the Church, Ty Ray served in the Manchester New Hampshire mission and graduated from BYU in Asian Studies and Business Management. Upon graduation, he worked in Washington, DC, for two years for a Department of Defense contractor, and currently lives in Texas doing graduate work in family therapy.
He loves hiking, running, eating, skiing, writing, strawberry cheesecake, beef ravioli, and Gladys Knight. He also loves to travel and has lived or studied internationally in Japan, China, Israel/Palestine, and Egypt. He is a co-author of In Quiet Desperation: Understanding the Challenge of Same-Gender Attraction, published by Deseret Book, which includes a personal memoir of his spiritual journey as a member of the Church dealing with homosexual attraction.
Samantha
Samantha does not know who she is, which is why she hasn’t posted a bio previously. However, she is in the process of finding out and is happy to share information along the way. She is married, has three children, floats between three to five different jobs, and is an avid runner because she was not granted the enviable talent of being able to sit still and relax. She occasionally has opinions.
Mark North
As a child, Mark was your typical SSA boy: he played with dolls, was the only boy invited to girls’ birthday parties, and was pleasant and polite. As a teenager, Mark realized that all of his talents and interests marked him as a typical SSA teen. In an effort to avert attention from himself, he attempted to remove all traces of SSA -ness from his personality. As a result, he lost those positive qualities of the SSA stereotype (gentle, friendly, creative, and a good eye for fashion) and ended up adopting a bunch of undesirable traits instead (such as grumpy, rude, and dull). As an adult, Mark has learned to come to terms with his SSA, and is a much happier person. His wife might even state that he’s not nearly as rude as he used to be, though his students would claim that he is almost just as grumpy. However, he is still dull.
Read Mark North’s posts.
-L-
Blogging since early 2006, -L- took advantage of the anonymity and candor blogs afford to discuss the interplay between homosexual attractions and his LDS faith. Over the years, -L- has become increasingly comfortable with frank discussions of related issues; however, considering the potential impact on his wife and children of publicly discussing otherwise private issues, -L- has chosen to remain anonymous despite a firm opinion that unchosen feelings and struggles are not shameful.
-L- studied philosophy at BYU and is a physician. Otherwise known as “ardent Mormon” from his personal blog, -L- is married to FlameRetardentMormon, another author of Northern Lights. They have two children, and made the decision to marry despite a mutual awareness of the potential challenges of such a marriage.
FlameRetardentMormon and -L- recognize the importance of having an ongoing willingness to learn and an abiding faith in their potential to deal with challenging realities of life while keeping sacred covenants and marriage commitments.
Read -L-’s posts.
Winston Smith
Winston Smith is a young man who is not out to his family. He is paranoid about them finding out he likes men so much. He has an age and he lives somewhere. But he is not giving you any more information than that. He is a pretty nice guy. The pseudonym Winston Smith comes from the protagonist in the book 1984, a fantastic book about a man searching for the truth in a society that is constructed on a series of lies.
Read Winston Smith’s posts.
FlameRetardentMormon
FlameRetardentMormon is a full-time mom and part-time graduate student. She likes men, including her handsome husband, -L-. FlameRetardentMormon is twice as cynical and half as ardent as sweet -L-.
Read FlameRetardentMormon’s posts.
Borealis
I deal with same-sex attraction. You can call me ?gay? or a ?homo? or a ?moho?, and it won?t offend me, but honestly, none of those labels feel like they fit. Most of the time, I think of myself as slightly bent. I also dislike being described as ?struggling? with same-sex attraction. While it can be a struggle at times, most of the time, there are five or ten other things in my life that are a much bigger struggle for me. I don?t believe God intended us to be in a state of constant warfare with our inner natures. The scriptures say, ?bridle your passions,? not to eradicate them. I have an academic background in biology, chemistry, and psychology. My interest continues in those subjects, but being insatiably curious and a voracious reader, I also have interest in history, literature, and of course religion. I am married to a beautiful woman I’ll refer to as Aurora.
Read Borealis’s posts.
