lift+love family stories by autumn mcalpin

Since 2021, Lift+Love has featured hundreds stories of Latter-day Saint LGBTQ individuals, their families, and allies - each with their own unique experiences. Each Lift+Love family story is written by Autumn McAlpin, who interviews each individual/family and publishes their story with the express permission of each person identified in the story and/or photos.

 
JESSICA ANGUS
LGBTQ STORIES Allison Dayton LGBTQ STORIES Allison Dayton

JESSICA ANGUS

Jessica Angus (she/her) has had many lives in her 32 years: missionary, ranch hand, electrical engineering student, circuit board designer, ramen shop manager, educator, tutor, and tabletop game master. She is also a transgender woman—a journey she has approached through years of careful reflection, private exploration, and spiritual inquiry…

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BEN HIGINBOTHAM
LGBTQ STORIES Allison Dayton LGBTQ STORIES Allison Dayton

BEN HIGINBOTHAM

Ben Higinbotham (they/them) is gay and transmasculine non-binary. Ben says, “If I explained my personal version of non-binary to someone, I’d say, ‘If masculinity was a fork and femininity was a spoon, I’d be a spork.” Ben also sometimes has to explain their sexual orientation, saying, “When people ask what it means for me to be gay as a non-binary person, I say that I guess I’m half gay for girls and half straight for girls.” One thing Ben wants to emphasize is that being gay and/or trans is not a choice or contagious.

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BRAXTON ROGELIO
LGBTQ STORIES Allison Dayton LGBTQ STORIES Allison Dayton

BRAXTON ROGELIO

Braxton Rogelio (he/him) has spent his life pursuing the arts while asking big questions—which has led him to embrace his identity as the proud transmasculine, gay man he is today…

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MADDIE FOX
LGBTQ STORIES Allison Dayton LGBTQ STORIES Allison Dayton

MADDIE FOX

Every February is Bald Eagle Month in Utah, and Maddie Fox (she/her), takes full advantage of the season.  A self-described amateur wildlife photographer, Maddie, 35, sets out early on one February Saturday a year to photograph her favorite creature. While she’s also garnered a frame-worthy collection of bison, elk, wild horses, and black bears, there’s something about the way the bald eagles soar overhead as they migrate south looking for food—so free and unencumbered—that captivates her…

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