Posts Tagged ‘Transgender’
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
Today is International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia! It was on this day in 1990 that the World Health Organization made the decision to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. The day was highlighted to draw attention to the discrimination and violence experienced by people with diverse sexual and gender orientations. Though the world…
Read MoreBeing alone with God: Reflections on The Soul of the Stranger
[Above: Joy Ladin reads at the Intersections office on March 10, 2020] On March 10, 2020, Believe Out Loud and Intersections hosted author and academic Joy Ladin in our New York office for a reading and discussion celebrating her book The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective. It was…
Read MoreEaster Through The Years: My Trans Resurrection Story
Growing up in an evangelical Christian home, my family was invested in maintaining certain Judeo-Christian holiday traditions. Easter Sunday was no exception; it was a day rooted in chocolate pastels, family dinner, and most notably for me: new accessories. Regardless of my gender assigned at birth, I’ve always loved accessories. I went through a time…
Read MoreWhen Christian Compassion Doesn’t Apply to Transgender People
During the holidays, I noticed a Franciscan Health commercial with the hashtag #FranciscanPeacePrayer. This beautiful prayer, attributed to St. Francis in the 13th century, was repeated during the commercial. The visuals in the ad showed smiling people helping each other and showing love. Here is a link if you want to check it out. I…
Read MoreWe Need A Movement For Trans Resilience
This week marks Trans Awareness Week, which culminates with Trans Day of Remembrance. TDOR (Trans Day of Remembrance) is that moment that many of us dread, because it is the ritual where we mindfully mark the passing of our Trans siblings, many of whom are Trans Women of Color who are victims of relentless violence…
Read MoreResearching The Status of Transgender People With The Williams Institute
For those faith-based leaders looking to create spaces that are welcoming to transgender individuals and their families, the Williams Institute can provide a wealth of resources. Jody Herman, Ph.D., and Peter J. Cooper, public policy fellow, and manager of transgender research at the Williams Institute provided research on gendered bathrooms that point to the problems…
Read MoreBuilding Safer Spaces For Our Transgender Youth
When I was in high school in rural North Carolina, I wasn’t very out. It was the early days of what you might call online social connection. I set up dummy email addresses to create secret identities on usenet forums where I tried to figure out what it meant to be transgender. I had friends…
Read MoreCourage To Connect: Observing The Transgender Day Of Remembrance
Earlier this year, I was able to attend the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference. For those of you who may not know, this is a gathering of trans, genderqueer, gender bending, gender transcending and otherwise gender non-conforming (GNC) people of all ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations and income levels, as well as our families and friends, for…
Read MoreHow To Be A Trans* Ally
My feelings about “allies” to the transgender community are complicated. Sometimes this “ally” concept seems really powerful to me, and other times, it just seems like another shallow label. Sometimes the way we talk about “allies” feels insightful and important. Sometimes our language feels rigid and inadequate. In transgender communities, allies are very important—hugely important.…
Read MoreBreaking Bread At The Margins
I was at a local diner (the kind where the waitress knows your name and your order before you open your mouth) seated across from a long time advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) inclusion in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Time and again throughout his career he had been one of…
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