Angie Barth is often asked what it’s like to raise identical twins. “It’s like having a lesson on love every single day,” she says. “The connection between Gavin and Garrett is palpable. When they were toddlers, if I gave one of them a cookie, he would immediately run off and give it to his brother.” At the same time, the two kept parents Angie and Scott on their toes, earning the nicknames “Seek” and “Destroy” because of the crazy capers they would concoct, including the time when, at two-years-old, they redecorated every surface of the kitchen in their new house with a rainbow-colored assortment of Sharpie markers they had accessed by strategically climbing onto each other’s backs.
While the brothers were the best of friends and begged to be in the same class at school, they also were quite independent and pursued different interests. Angie recalls, “Growing up, Garrett loved to talk about his dreams for his future family. For years, he’d share his hopes of having 15 children who he’d drive around in a school bus. He’d rattle off the most ridiculous names for all of these poor kids,” she laughs. “But suddenly, one day, he didn’t want to talk about those plans anymore.”…
Read MoreThere are some advantages to not growing up in the LDS faith. For Jackie Smith, joining the church as a college student from a socially liberal family background has always allowed her to approach church culture from a different angle -- one that as an author and mother of seven, she now uses to help herself and others navigate through certain social ideologies, especially when it comes to facing essential parenting pivots and difficult pulpit pronouncements.
As an LDS-outsider (who’s now been baptized in for the past few decades), Jackie observes that, “There appears to be a pride that develops sometimes in the church based on a checklist of our children’s behavior – mission, BYU, marriage, etc. These are things that I don’t think matter as much as we think they do to God. And when we get our self-esteem by our kids checking these boxes, it can become difficult. Because if a kid makes a different choice, it feels like a personal threat.”
Read More“We’ve always been all in,” says Melinda Welch, speaking of her and husband Wayne’s affinity for both their marriage and the LDS church. “And we used to be a check all the boxes type of family. Family prayer, family scripture study, church attendance, church service and missions equals all of our children have solid testimonies and stay in the church and we live happily ever after.” Several decades later, while high school sweethearts Melinda and Wayne are still very much “all in” with their family and the church (Wayne is currently serving as a YSA Bishop in a Bountiful, UT ward), the Welch’s black-and-white thinking has been replaced with a sea of rainbows since two of their five kids have come out as gay.
Now, the large and loving family has grown in both size and support. Oldest son Addison – 35, is married to Bre – 30, and they are the parents of Alfie – 7 and Poppy – 3, with one more on the way. Landon – 33, married Alex – 38, who came with two kids (Andrew – 14 and Sophia – 12) from his previous marriage. Truman is 30. Monson – 28, married Lexi - 26, and they are the parents of Tayla – 5, Lady – 3, and Elsie – 1. And Laila is 19.
The Welch family shows up for each other – whether it be for Melinda, Addison, and Bre’s theatrical performances or for Truman’s drag shows in Salt Lake. Though the Welch’s posterity are varied in their church affiliation and activity, all showed up in rainbow attire for their recent Pride-themed family party in June. Themed monthly gatherings are just one of Melinda’s traditions to keep her family close. This month, their theme is “Anchor,” and they will meet at their cabin, go boating, and discuss their respective anchors in life. “We want our grandkids to get it. We talk about inclusion, compassion, not judging. Love. Love better. Love more. We want our legacy to be that. You have to walk that, too; you can’t just talk that. So many of the things we do at this stage are for our grandkids – they’re the ones who will change the culture of the church, and the world,” says Melinda.
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