Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young and his wife
Barbara Young will serve as the keynote speakers at a convention of
gay Mormons which opens Friday.
The 32nd annual Affirmation International Conference
will run through Sunday in Salt Lake City. The Youngs will address
attendees on Saturday.
Randall Hacker, president of Affirmation, told
the AP that he's expecting 300 people will attend the gathering.
In a statement released last month, the Youngs said that “they
hope to lend their voices to the healing work of making our families,
our society and our church more welcoming places for our LGBT
brothers and sisters.”
The Mormon couple made headlines in 2008 when they placed “No on
Prop. 8” yard signs in front of their Palo Alto, California home in
direct defiance of the church which strongly supported passage of the
constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples.
Barbara Young said at the time that she wanted to support her
bother, who is gay.
Steve Young is a direct descendant of Brigham Young, a former
president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS
Church) and the first governor of the Utah Territory.