Last weekend I was able to attend the second annual North Star conference. It was a wonderful and spiritual weekend filled with amazing keynote speakers and breakout sessions. Over the next few weeks I will be writing several blog posts about the various topics discussed throughout the weekend, as well as some of my own inspired by the sessions. For this post I’ll talk about the experience as a whole.

This was my second conference. Last year I knew no one from North Star personally and entered the conference center alone and not knowing whether I would make any friends. Happily I was wrong and met many wonderful people. Last year’s conference was truly the spark that helped me open up to people and begin to truly accept this part of myself. You can read my blog post about it here.

Starting last summer I have participated almost every week in a support group for SSA people in the area. It’s a beautiful chance each week to meet with friends and talk about our lives, our joys and sorrows. Most of the members of that group were able to attend the conference this year and we sat together whenever we could.

The conference theme this year was “Let Your Light Shine Forth,” a reference to Matthew 5:16, encouraging the disciples of Christ to not hide their testimony of the Gospel from the world. And the conference lived up to that message. To me it felt more like a spiritual weekend than anything related to gender issues. And that was exactly what I needed. Over the last year I feel I have come to terms with my attractions. I do not fear this part of me or blame it for anything that has happened to me. I did not need a bunch of speakers telling me how to accept myself. I needed a bunch of speakers helping me strengthen my conversion to Christ. Truly, North Star is proof that sexuality or gender identity do not disqualify us from the love of God.