What if choosing to embrace your whole self is an act of spiritual courage? What if coming out is, for queer people, an essential part of being born again? What if the freedom to flourish is at the heart of our understanding of the plan of salvation, rather than obedience and loyalty? Join us for a panel discussion with three Latter-day Saints as they describe how their queerness is inextricably linked to salvation.
Come and explore together with this panel what it means to flourish in the Gospel and in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is only through coming to know one another that we can truly see and be seen and learn to love and understand better.
Dani MacArthur lives in the East Bay with her partner, Rachel. A lifelong Mormon and member of the Berkeley Ward, she is currently taking a break from church in the wake of recently coming out as transgender. She enjoys writing, playing Dungeons and Dragons, dancing, kickboxing, and exploring the Bay Area’s incredible restaurants with her partner and friends. She teaches earth science at a community college.
Hope Perkins graduated from Cal in December of 2022, studying anthropology and linguistics. Since graduating, she has worked as a research assistant to Dr. Deidre Green at the Graduate Theological Union. Hope loves exploring the California coast with her dog, playing the piano, and particularly enjoys her ward calling as choir director. Hope lives in Berkeley with her spouse and their corgi, Cayden.
Peter Mugemancuro recently graduated college, where he spent four years being both the straightest queer person and the whitest black person most people around him say they’ve ever met. When not buying “daring” floral-patterned work shirts or figuring out how to use the word slay in a sentence, he enjoys reading, blogging, and long walks with friends. You can find his writing online at his personal blog, Strangers and Pilgrims, as well as occasionally in Wayfare.
Deidre Nichole Greene — Moderator is Assistant Professor of Latter-day Saint/Mormon Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley where she offers courses in Christian Theology and philosophy of religion. She is the author of “Jakob: A Brief Theological Introduction”.