At the EVO conference I just attended, a keynote was given by representatives from Shot@Life, a UN foundation that works to provide vaccinations to children all around the world. I was so moved and excited, and to get involved they asked each of us to share their story.

These little boys are from South America. And because of the work of Shot@Life, they have a chance to experience all of the wonderful milestones of childhood. Laughing till it hurts. Staying up too late. Making up silly games. Giggling under the covers. Having a best friend.

Every 20 seconds a child somewhere in the world dies from a vaccine preventable disease. Things that aren’t even on my list of things to worry about. Pneumonia, polio, measles, diarrhea. I work every day to help Atti deal with his cerebral palsy to become as mobile and able as possible, and all around the world 1 in 5 children don’t have access to the basic immunizations that we take for granted. If Atti was born in a developing nation, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. Our case was so rare and complicated that even the advances of Western medicine give us a lot of work to do. In most other places in the world, his not walking would be the least of his problems.

There are a lot of factors that make immunizing children in developing nations difficult. Areas of civil conflict are too dangerous for health workers. Ethnic minorities are discriminated against and not given access to health care. And there’s also the problem of education. Without an understanding of science and medical care, some parents are resistant to allowing immunizations for their children because of traditional, religious, or mystical beliefs about disease. For years I’ve been interested in Uganda, the Congo, and Sudan. I’ve served on boards of charities, donated money, and told their stories. The women in this region of the world have so much working against them, and on top of everything else, their children are under threat from these totally preventable diseases.

My son is the light of my life. His disability makes me think every day of the children who don’t have access to the care he receives. Every mother deserves to raise her child to adulthood, and vaccinations are the simplest, cheapest, most effective way of helping that happen.

In August Shot@Life will be hosting a blog carnival where every comment on specific blog posts will fund a child’s vaccination. One comment and a child is saved. It’s pretty amazing. I’ll share more information when I have it so you can play along with me and help children just by doing what you already do – reading blogs.

I marched in the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade on Sunday, dressed in sparkly tennis shoes and a dress I sewed myself for pure Mormon realness. It’s no secret that I’ve been a supporter of gay rights for always and a day, but this was definitely the most overt act I’ve taken. There was a time, even as recently as last year, when people who thought like I did were nervous about speaking up. Nobody wanted to face consequences or be forced to choose between two identities. A tide has definitely turned now. Between Romney running for President and all the attention that brings, and a groundswell of support from around the world, we seem to have reached a tipping point.

I was thrilled to march and I would have done it sooner if I’d had the opportunity. I know that working with the LGBT community is my life’s work, and I know that working with teenagers is my life’s work, so gay Mormon teens have my heart. Every time I hear about another gay suicide, and that is sadly often, I know that we are failing these people. Here you can see a short video I made for CNN describing why I marched. It’s the same reason I give whenever people ask why I stay in the church, and it’s what I wrote on the sign I carried down Market Street. Gay kids grow up Mormon and I am here to keep them safe.

I was a bit nervous about what the reaction would be. Marches around the country have been so positive, but here in California it is a very different atmosphere. I was worried we’d be met with anger, that people wouldn’t want our too little too late efforts bringing down their celebration. But I was totally wrong. People cheered us on like heroes. They reached out to us from the crowd for hugs and handshakes, some pointed to my sign with tears rolling down their faces. They shouted out their connections to us, “I was raised in Utah!” “My grandfather was Heber C. Kimball!” “I work for a Mormon company!” They clapped and nodded as they frowned solemnly, offering their respect at our efforts. I wept and giggled and wept some more, the reaction literally taking my breath away.

Some shouted, “You’re so brave!” and I burned with shame. My bravery for holding a sign while being loved and feted by the crowd was embarrassing in front of their bravery for living in the face of the opposition from religious people like me.

Two women I spoke to at the march sought out our contingent at the end of the parade. They hugged us all in tears as they told us what our presence meant to them, one of the women raised in Utah and estranged from her family for over ten years over her homosexuality. In an effort to “protect families” her own family had discarded her. I want to shake my Mormon brothers and sisters to make them see the costs of this political stance. We force people to choose whether their going to be celibate and live without children, companionship, affection, and sex, or leave the church and abandon their family, heritage, beliefs, and spiritual sustenance. Many gay people who are raised Mormon internalize homophobia and self hatred that leads them to engage in risky and self destructive behaviors such as unsafe sex and drug abuse, while having no pastoral care accessible to them from the religion of their heritage, having to have left it all behind in order to live with authenticity.

I missed out on my typical church meeting to march in Pride, but I learned far greater lessons of forgiveness, compassion, and love than I would have in my chapel. I was humbled and eternally grateful for the reception we experienced, and will go forward with renewed efforts to contribute to this community who has demonstrated such Christian charity to me.