| Formation | December, 2013 - by Gina Crivello |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit |
| Focus | We envision a world in which all mothers fiercely love and advocate for their LGBTQ children. |
| Headquarters | Utah |
| Location |
|
Area served | United States |
| Products | Parachute E-Learning Program - for Parents and Families of LGBTQ kids/adults |
| Services | Facebook Support Group, Suicide Prevention Training, Regional Support and Community Groups, Parachute E-learning parenting of LGBTQ platform |
Members | 10,000+ [1] |
Executive Director | Celeste Carolin |
Key people | Gina Crivello, Jen Blair, Wendy Montgomery, Jill Rowe, Meg Hendrix, Yvette Zobell, Diane Oviatt, Vicki Johnson, Christy Florence, Christy Beach, Neca Allgood, Hollie Hancock, Julie Packer, Wendy VonSosen, Celeste Carolin, Jennifer Howell |
Employees | 2 |
Volunteers | 160 |
| Website | Mamadragons.org parachute.mamadragons.org |
Mama Dragons Mama Dragons is a nonprofit (501c3) organization dedicated to creating LGBTQ-affirming homes through LGBTQ parent education focused on mothering. Since 2013, it has grown from just a handful of moms to an organization that now supports over 10,000+ mothers creating more affirming homes for over 20,000 LGBTQ people.
To create affirming homes Mama Dragons provides programs that specifically address the complexities of navigating non-affirming religions, backgrounds, geographies, and cultures, that focus on parenting the crucial first year after their child comes out. Mama Dragons mission involves empowering mothers to support, affirm, celebrate, and advocate for their LGBTQ children influencing the family system to follow. [2]
Mama Dragons' focus is on providing online support groups and educational programs where mothers can learn and connect with other Mama Dragons traveling similar paths as they learn accepting and affirming parenting practices that can help prevent LGBTQ youth suicide, depression, and homelessness.
Mama Dragons began in 2013 when Gina Crivello created a message thread to seek advice from some of the mothers she had come to know for a member of the GSA she had recently started at American Fork High School in Utah.[1] This message thread almost immediately began to grow as more mothers were added that were navigating supporting their children and the intersectionality of their non-affirming Latter-Day Saints (LDS) / Mormon religion. In January 2014 Gina moved the Facebook message thread to a Facebook group and named it the Mama Dragon Council, as conversations were becoming difficult to track.[2]
The name “Mama Dragons” came from a 2012 blog post that Meg Abhau wrote shortly after their 13-year-old son came out as gay.[3][4] Individuals of the original message thread identified with Meg's blog and contacted her, telling her that they also identified in the same manner. This blog post prompted the name of the Facebook group. Meg wrote, “I have always been a mother bear. Once I found out about Jon, that didn’t seem a fierce enough title. There is a whole new level of protection that has come over me. I now call myself a Mama Dragon. I could literally breathe fire if someone hurt my son."[5][6]
In August 2014, Gina Crivello stepped away from Facebook moving leadership over to group member Neca Allgood. In 2015, Jen Blair created Mama Dragons closed Facebook group (now renamed Mama Dragons Main Group, Private) and began running the behind the scene day to day activities. In November 2015 the LDS church (Mormon) issued the "Nov 5th Exclusion Policy", excluding married gays from the LDS religion greatly expanding the need of mom support. In 2016 Wendy Montgomery, announced a rise in LGBT suicides after the LDS church launches an LGBTQ exclusion policy on November, 5th, 2015 receiving media attention from NPR and other media outlets.[7] The group has also garnered media attention for its advocacy and efforts to prevent LGBT Mormon suicides, as well as for bringing a spotlight to the intersection of religion, family, sexual orientation, and gender expression.[8][9][10]
In 2017, Neca Allgood introduced bylaws, created a Board of Directors, and was voted in as Mama Dragons' first president alongside Julie Turnbull as President-Elect serving 1-year terms.
Led by Mama Dragons President, Julie Turnbull, President-Elect, Wendy VonSosen, and the Mama Dragons Board of Directors, Mama Dragons became a nonprofit 501(c)3 in June 2018, shortening its mission statement to, “We support, educate, and empower mothers of LGBTQ children”. The shortened mission redirected Mama Dragons' focus to providing an educational and loving space for mothers, so mothers could learn to celebrate their child and support their family's unique journey[11] and seasoned mother mentors could lend support, mentorship, and give encouraging advice. Mama Dragons opened their support group to that outside of the LDS faith in 2017 and in 2019 they shifted their focus to all moms of LGBTQ children while maintaining specialized support for mothers from non-affirming religions and cultures. In May 2019 Mama Dragons were featured in Oprah Magazine.[12]
In September 2020, Mama Dragons hired their first Executive Director, Celeste Carolin, a queer businesswoman that had previously been on the Mama Dragons Board of Directors and leadership team, replacing volunteer President roles.[13]
In 2021 Mama Dragons updated their membership policy to allow members to self-identify being a mother or being in a mothering role for admission to their support groups, making space for more diverse gender identity and expression while still focusing on the primary care giver of children in the majority of homes. As of 2022 5% of Mama Dragon members do not identify with being a cisgender woman.
Mama Dragons has grown rapidly and as of 2022 Mama Dragons is composed of roughly 30% mothers who are of the LDS faith, 20% of Christian faiths, 10% that are not religious, and the rest from many other religious denominations including Pagan, Jewish, and Buddhist.
Dr. Jennifer Howell, Mama Dragons Parachute Education Director, created an academic research-based eLearning program called Parachute in July 2021. This program is designed for parents, families, and communities and provides the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to affirm, support, and celebrate LGBTQ children.[14] The first courses focus on the Introduction to understanding your LGBTQ child and are available to all those supporting LGBTQ youth and adults. In May 2022 Mama Dragons launched their Introduction courses in Spanish. [15]
QPR Suicide Prevention Training
In February 2018 Mama Dragons invested in training Mama Dragons QPR Gate Keeper instructors, a certification program for instructors to teach how to recognize suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing innovative, practical, and proven suicide prevention training.[16] As of 2022 Mama Dragons offers weekly QPR Gate Keeper training to their members.
Paper Hugs
In September 2018, Lindsay Kinman's child received cards of encouragement from another Mama Dragon member and in turn she reached out to the community to do the same. This inspired Paper Hugs, a card-sending program where Mamas send cards of encouragement to other Mama's kiddos or mamas in crisis was created after Mama Dragons member [17] In 2021 Mama Dragons sent 36,000 cards.
Wrapped In Hugs
In October 2019 a Mama Dragon member saw a quilting article about Shannon Downey using her Instagram community to build quilts and recommended starting a blanket-making program within Mama Dragons.[18] Wrapped in Hugs was inspired by this article and is where Mamas make and send blankets to other Mama Dragons children or mothers in the support group who are in crisis.
Peer Led Support Groups
Mama Dragons' primary support group is called the Mama Dragons Main Group and provides support for all mothers of LGBTQ children navigating their journey within their family and community. This group is focused on building affirming parenting and is directed toward those that are new to the journey of parenting an LGBTQ child and for more seasoned members and leaders to offer support and education. In this group volunteer admins, moderators, and seasoned Mama Dragons members act as mentors and guides for newer members.
Mama Dragons provides 7 Facebook affinity groups.
Regional Subgroups
Mama Dragons offers 20 Facebook regional subgroups that cover various geographical areas to provide an opportunity for Mama Dragons to connect with members in their local area, share local LGBTQ-friendly resources, and empower one another to fight against local anti-LGBTQ legislation and support pro-LGBTQ actions.
Mama Dragons was awarded Equality Utah's, Ally of the Year in October, 2016.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is the largest Latter Day Saint denomination, tracing its roots to its founding by Joseph Smith during the Second Great Awakening. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, as of 2023, it has over 17.2 million members of which over 6.8 million live in the U.S. The church also reports over 99,000 volunteer missionaries and 350 temples.
Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families, & Friends is an international organization for individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, queer, intersex, or same-sex attracted, and their family members, friends, and church leaders who are members or former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Restoration Church of Jesus Christ (RCJC), based in Salt Lake City, Utah, was a church in the Latter Day Saint movement that catered primarily to the spiritual needs of LGBTQ Latter Day Saints. It was founded in 1985 and was dissolved 25 years later in 2010.
All homosexual sexual activity is condemned as sinful by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in its law of chastity, and the church teaches that God does not approve of same-sex marriage. Adherents who participate in same-sex sexual behavior may face church discipline. Members of the church who experience homosexual attractions, including those who self-identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual remain in good standing in the church if they abstain from same-sex marriage and any homosexual sexual activity or sexual relationships outside an opposite-sex marriage. However, all people, including those in same-sex relationships and marriages, are permitted to attend the weekly Sunday meetings.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been subject to criticism and sometimes discrimination since its inception.
North Star Saints is an organization for LGBT people in the Latter-day Saint community. North Star is described as a faith-affirming resource for Latter-day Saint people addressing sexual orientation and gender identity who desire to live in line with teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. North Star supports the teaching of the Church of Jesus Christ, including the law of chastity and teachings on homosexuality, which prohibits sexual relationships outside of a legal marriage between one man and one woman, as well as teachings on gender identity and expression. The organization takes "no official position on the origin or mutability of homosexual attractions or gender identity incongruence", and does not "endorse political causes or join political coalitions, including those officially sanctioned by the [LDS] Church."
USGA is an organization for LGBTQ Brigham Young University students and their allies. It began meeting on BYU campus in 2010 to discuss issues relating to homosexuality and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, by December 2012, USGA began meeting off campus at the Provo City Library and is still banned from meeting on campus as of 2018. BYU campus currently offers no official LGBT-specific resources as of 2016. The group maintains political neutrality and upholds BYU's Honor Code. It also asks all participants to be respectful of BYU and the LDS Church. The group received national attention when it released its 2012 "It Gets Better" video. The group also released a suicide prevention message in 2013. A sister organization USGA Rexburg serves the LGBT Brigham Young University–Idaho student community in Rexburg, Idaho.
Below is a series of timelines of LGBT Mormon history consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of Mormonism's largest denomination, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings, and to leaders being against same-sex sexual behavior and gender non-conformity. LDS leadership started to more regularly address topics regarding the LGBT community in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.
Students identifying as LGBTQIA+ have a long, documented history at Brigham Young University (BYU), and have experienced a range of treatment by other students and school administrators over the decades. Large surveys of over 7,000 BYU students in 2020 and 2017 found that over 13% had marked their sexual orientation as something other than "strictly heterosexual", while the other survey showed that .2% had reported their gender identity as transgender or something other than cisgender male or female. BYU is the largest religious university in North America and is the flagship institution of the educational system of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —Mormonism's largest denomination.
In society at large, LGBT individuals, especially youth, are at a higher risk of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Though causes of mental health risk are complex, one often cited reason for these higher risks is minority stress stemming from societal anti-LGBT biases and stigma, rejection, and internalized homophobia.
Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to LGBT individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings, and estimates of the number of LGBT former and current Mormons range from 4 to 10% of the total membership of the LDS Church. However, it wasn't until the late 1950s that top LDS leaders began regularly discussing LGBT people in public addresses. Since the 1970s a greater number of LGBT individuals with Mormon connections have received media coverage.
Transgender people and other gender minorities currently face membership restrictions in access to priesthood and temple rites in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —Mormonism's largest denomination. Church leaders have taught gender roles as an important part of their doctrine since its founding. Only recently have they begun directly addressing gender diversity and the experiences of transgender, non-binary, intersex, and other gender minorities whose gender identity and expression differ from the cisgender majority.
Believer is a 2018 American documentary that examines the intersection between LGBT people and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through the eyes of Dan Reynolds, lead singer of pop rock band Imagine Dragons. It focuses on his efforts to organize the LOVELOUD Festival in Orem, Utah in support of Utah LGBTQ youth.
Because of its ban against same-sex sexual activity and same-sex marriage the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a long history of teaching that its adherents who are attracted to the same sex can and should attempt to alter their feelings through righteous striving and sexual orientation change efforts. Reparative therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual, or their gender identity from transgender to cisgender using psychological, physical, or spiritual interventions. There is no reliable evidence that such practices can alter sexual orientation or gender identity, and many medical institutions warn that conversion therapy is ineffective and potentially harmful.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been involved with many pieces of legislation relating to LGBT people and their rights. These include playing an important role in defeating same-sex marriage legalization in Hawaii, Alaska, Nebraska, Nevada, California, and Utah. The topic of same-sex marriage has been one of the church's foremost public concerns since 1993. Leaders have stated that it will become involved in political matters if it perceives that there is a moral issue at stake and wields considerable influence on a national level. Over a dozen members of the US congress had membership in the church in the early 2000s. About 80% of Utah state lawmakers identied as Mormon at that time as well. The church's political involvement around LGBT rights has long been a source of controversy both within and outside the church. It's also been a significant cause of disagreement and disaffection by members.
This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 1970s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although the historical record is often scarce, evidence points to queer individuals having existed in the Mormon community since its beginnings. However, top LDS leaders only started regularly addressing queer topics in public in the late 1950s. Since 1970, the LDS Church has had at least one official publication or speech from a high-ranking leader referencing LGBT topics every year, and a greater number of LGBT Mormon and former Mormon individuals have received media coverage.
This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the first decade of the 2000s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 2010s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Below is a timeline of major events, media, and people at the intersection of LGBT topics and Brigham Young University (BYU). BYU is the largest university of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before 1959 there was little explicit mention of homosexuality by BYU administration.
LGBT people and the Latter Day Saint movement | |
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