Having been raised Mormon in a small tight-knit Mormon community in Utah, gives me a distinct awareness of the culture of religion. After leaving activity in the church and moving to Las Vegas after High School, then moving to New York City only to become deeply involved in Mormonism again, and finally nesting in Southern California to raise three children, my disillusionment at the church's involvment in the politics of gay-marriage pushed me once again out of the fold. Although I wouldn't change my roots for anything since they helped me grow into the person I am today, I have become keenly aware of how the collateral damage of religious beliefs is often the harmful persecution of others.
Working side-by-side with gay men and women and having friends who identify as being gay, has taught me that they are no different than the rest of us with hopes, dreams, challenges, goals, beliefs, and a desire for love and companionship - not with someone who society has chosen for them because of strict religious dogma, but someone with whom they identify and feel love and passion for.
My three grown children and three beautiful grandsons have helped define me as a mom, grandma and advocate for human rights. They help reinforce in me the desire to see this world kinder and more loving for my posterity. In order for that to happen we must all push forward in our efforts to, in the famous words of Mahatma Gandhi, "Be the change we want to see in the world."
My first published book "The Spell of Religion and the Battle Over Gay Marriage" is one of my efforts to be the change I want to see in the world.
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