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Remarks by Bishop Kevin Kloosterman

Dr. Bill Bradshaw

Carol Lynn Pearson

Jim Debakis

Conference Chorus

Julia Hunter

Tyler Kofoed (left) and Mark Packer

Saturday Afternoon General Session

The Rev. Jimmy Creech

Bishop Kevin Kloosterman

Sunday Devotional

LGBT Mormons, Allies Gather in Salt Lake City
Hundreds Attend "Circling the Wagons" Conference

By Hugo Salinas
December 2011

Over 200 LGBT Mormons, along with supportive family and friends, attended the Circling the Wagons Conference held in Salt Lake City on November 4-6. Sponsored by the Open Stories Foundation, the conference provided a space where LGBT Mormons and their allies discussed LGBT-related issues, bore testimonies, and celebrated our common Mormon heritage.

The conference featured author Carol Lynn Pearson, BYU scientist Bill Bradshaw, Utah LGBT rights pioneer Jim Debakis, renowned author Jimmy Creech, LDS bishop Kevin Kloosterman, psychologist Lee Beckstead, and many others. National Affirmation leaders, local members, LGBT students from BYU, and supporters associated with the Open Stories Foundation traveled far and wide to attend the event.

"Over the past year, I have felt promptings from the Spirit that I needed to learn all I could about these issues," said LDS Bishop Kloosterman, from Illinois, at the closing Sunday devotional. "And as I read these stories and as I learned more about these issues, I began to see the emotional wounds and the scars that many of you still have today. And I seem to ask the question, 'Where did you get these wounds?' and unfortunately the answer was, 'In the house of my friends.'"

Carol Lynn Pearson and Bill Bradshaw

"I wish we could have a really good historical look at what's happening," said Carol Lynn Pearson, who has written extensively on LGBT LDS issues and in 2009 launched an initiative called Proposition Healing. "We can look back and see the ending of the slave trade; we can see all of these markers; but I think we ought to really appreciate the marker that we are enacting right here and right now of bringing a whole new consciousness to what homosexuality means." The conference theme was inspired by Pearson's recent book, No More Goodbyes: Circling the Wagons around Our Gay Loved Ones.

Dr. Bill Bradshaw, a former mission president and a professor of molecular biology at BYU, spoke candidly about the day when his son Brett came out to him as a gay man. Dr. Bradshaw was visibly moved as he spoke about the decision that his son Brett and his son-in-law Jeff made to bring a child into their family. "No one could have a lovelier and more gifted member of the family," Dr. Bradshaw said of his granddaughter Madeleine.

The Mormon Lesbian Experience

One of the Saturday breakout sessions focused on LDS lesbian experience. The session was attended by lesbian women, BYU students, straight allies, and supportive spouses. Julia Hunter, a musician from Boston, spoke of her experience attending a singles ward, dating Mormon men, and finally figuring out that she was attracted to women. Coming out was very difficult, she said, in part because after the Mormon involvement in California's Prop 8 the message seemed to be that "Mormons hate gay people."

"I found myself caught in the middle of this trap," Julia said. "I identify so strongly as a Mormon, and I loved it, and I loved the social atmosphere, and I felt I was using so many of my talents in that environment. But at the same time I knew that I loved my roommate, and that what I felt about her was totally different than anything on these millions of dates I've been on with all these guys."

The Rev. Jimmy Creech

Inspiring music was provided by the Conference Chorus, which included soloists Mark Packer and Tyler Kofoed, with piano accompaniment by David Naylor. An original composition by David Zabrieskie, "Pioneers," was presented during the Saturday morning general session. During the Sunday devotional, violinists Julia Hunter delighted attendees with a medley of Mormon hymns.

Jimmy Creech, a pastor in the United Methodist Church, spoke about his experience being defrocked for marrying same-sex couples—a story that he recounts at length in his new memoir Adam's Gift: A Memoir of a Pastor's Calling to Defy the Church's Persecution of Lesbians and Gays.

"We are moving forward," the Rev. Creech said. "There are angry voices shouting at us, and there are churches that are closing their doors to us, but we have to distinguish between institutions and God. I want to assure you that God is not limited to the institutions. God is free. And God always moves towards justice, towards freedom, towards equality, towards dignity, and towards peace."

"Zion Is Not Lost"

Bishop Kevin Kloosterman, who leads an LDS congregation in Illinois, said that he felt compelled to fly to Salt Lake City and attend the conference. He clarified that he was speaking on behalf of himself and not the LDS Church.

"I have been praying to understand this issue for myself," said Bishop Kloosterman. "I went to a sacred place and I pondered the creation. In my mind I could see the different creations of God, different animals: A bear, a tiger, a lion, a giraffe, an eagle. And I thought, or the thought came to me, 'Who would want to make an eagle be a giraffe? Who would want a tiger to be a bear? Who would want a horse to become a lion?' And at that point, I received the comfort and the strength that I needed, and I knew that I could come here and I could speak to you today."

"Zion is not lost," Bishop Kloosterman concluded. "It begins with one person at a time. It begins with one relationship at a time. And the only thing I can say to those of you who have been so patient, and have gone through so much, is for you to watch and look for any small changes with your loved ones, with your wards, with your leaders. And encourage them in this repentance process…. I know that we truly are, all of us, straight, gay, lesbian, transgendered, queer, our Heavenly Father's children, and that we do have Heavenly Parents who love us."

A video and a transcript of Bishop Kloosterman's remarks are posted on the Mormon Stories website. Joanna Brook's interview with Bishop Kloosterman is posted on Religion Dispatches Magazine.