I Love You No Matter What At age nine, I found out that my father is gay. This began a long struggle to understand his decision to leave our family and my faith in the LDS church. As a young mother and graduate student, I have finally found a way to reconcile my faith and my father’s homosexuality and lifestyle. My personal autobiographical essay focuses on my discovery of his homosexuality, my mother’s reaction to this event, and the healing that occurred afterwards. My spirituality has been shaped by this experience, but my complete acceptance and understanding of it did not occur until a year ago. This essay explores that path and how those of the LDS faith can deal with and understand homosexuality in a Christ-like and loving way.

Emily Petersen