jay jacobsen

Circling the Wagons

Jay grew up in the rolling hills of the Palouse region of the northwestern United States, before circumstances and realizations in his twenties urged him to more proactively embark on a personal journey through the tension between his orientation, life path options, relationships, and beliefs about life, the universe, and everything.

Having considered himself very much a true believer who happily served a mission and held many church callings, eventually parting ways with the LDS Church was a slow, careful, and demanding decision. But the rewards and challenges he has found from navigating the sometimes difficult adjustments in his own perspective and relationships have only increased his resolve to build bridges of understanding.

As a co-founder of North Star, from which he stepped down in early 2009, a blogger since 2007, and a contributing writer for the Far Between and Empathy First Initiative web sites, he has felt a continuing vested interest in building open, authentic, and sometimes even lighter-hearted dialog among those who aim to serve and help the LGBT/SSA Mormon community. He hopes such efforts will continue to help all of us navigate more deftly by bringing to light the struggles, triumphs, options, and perspectives of seemingly disparate, sometimes alienated worlds in which many find themselves.

Jay earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Idaho, currently works in retail clothing management and occasional photography, and lives in Salt Lake City with his boyfriend.

Jay’s Far Between Interview

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