Tomorrow, November 11, 2022, is Veteran's Day. I am proud to say that I am a gay (He/Him/His) 30-year United States Navy Veteran. As we celebrate this Veteran's Day, let us not forget the LGBTQ+ men and women who proudly donned the uniform and stood a valiant and vigilant watch, by land, air, and sea, by day and by night, protecting the freedoms that we so dearly cherish. Let us also honor those LGBTQ+ men and women who are currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. 

“The church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) could tell I was not being honest with them. Now that I’m being honest, the thing that [the church] taught me is backfiring. I just say I’m queer. I still don’t know exactly where I am on the spectrum. I’m [definitely] more leaning towards guys. That’s who I’ve been dating… are guys.” ~ David James Archuleta

The name David Archuleta is a name that is familiar to people of varying age groups. The world-renowned singer, songwriter, and actor is perhaps best known for his stint on the ABC reality show, American Idol, in 2008, where he came in second to David Cook.

India Boyé performs her rap song “Indi-rap” at Willow Canyon Elementary School in Sandy on Thursday, May 6, 2021. India won a national PTA award for her song about being biracial. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Throughout his incredible career, world renown singer-songwriter, David James Archuleta, has performed with orchestras and choruses, including the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square during a Christmas special in 2010. However, he had never performed a show with an all-male chorus until the 2021 Christmas season.

LGBTQ composers of classical music have existed for many years. Additionally, several LGBTQ composers have produced music for a variety of artistic mediums, such as ballet, opera, piano, string quartets, and entire orchestral movements. Numerous others have also received awards for their work, including Grammy Awards, Pulitzer Prizes, and other national honors.

The music industry has had the good fortune to work with several legendary figures over the years. Aretha Louise Franklin was one of those honored legends. Towards the end of the 1960s, and for the rest of her life, she was given the title of "The Queen of Soul."

Anywhere a person goes, even as far away as the country of Nigeria, they will discover that music plays a significant role in the local culture. A person does not necessarily need to comprehend the dialect of the country to relish the beauty of the message that the music delivers because music is a universal language.

The language of the universe is music. To understand the message that a song is trying to express, one need not understand the language in which it is being sung. The sounds of music can carry a message where spoken words might not be able to. Music may comfort the aching soul and deliver the tranquility and peace that a person longs for during the darkest hours, in times of difficulty and distress. Music talks to our souls in times of solitude and contemplation, and occasionally it even calls to mind some of the smaller pleasures of life that may have long since been forgotten but for which we should always be grateful.

“La gente en la Iglesia piensa que necesita elegir uno u otro porque no se pueden hacer ambos. Entonces, muchas personas que son homosexuales, bisexuales, etc., quieren encajar, tienen un testimonio y quieren pertenecer, pero no saben cómo, entonces se van. Yo también estaba en ese punto. … Entonces me di cuenta, ‘No, aquí es exactamente donde necesito estar, pero tal vez necesito ayudar, tal vez necesito tener más conversaciones porque no creo que así sea como Dios quiere que sea. … Él ama a todos sus hijos”.

Mat and Savanna Shaw from Kaysville, Utah, are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The dynamic father-daughter duo has set an amiable goal to be a ray of hope and sunshine to the world.

We are living in difficult and uncertain times. With everything that is happenning in the world today, many people are deeply concerned about what tomorrow holds for them. After two long, intense years of attempting to recover from the devastating effects of a worldwide pandemic, a plethera of people are left wondering if there is any hope of life returning to "normal," or at least some similance thereof. Billboard.com reports, “long before a global pandemic was the source of worry, David James Archuleta was experiencing anxiety in several different forms.”