Recently in transgender Category
Three hundred fifty three people.
Three hundred fifty three lives cut short.
Three hundred fifty three incidents of violence and neglect.
I don't like anger. I have seen anger turn to violence, and I do not like the results.
But I am angry.
I am angry because of the loss of three hundred fifty three lives - and more that are unreported.
I am angry because of the violence, abuse, and willful neglect of three hundred fifty three human beings.
I am angry because there are some people who support the killing of these human beings.
I am angry because there are many more people who ignore the killing of these human beings.
Today, on Transgender Day of Remembrance, I will remember my three hundred fifty three brothers and sisters.
I will remember that they have been shot to death, bludgeoned, drowned, strangled, stabbed, repeatedly struck by motor vehicles, fed ground glass, kicked, and refused medical treatment.
And I will remember that they were created in God's image, and that God called them good.
I will cry out:
Today I will mourn the loss of my three hundred fifty three lost sisters and brothers, and I will pray for those who would seek to cause us harm.
See a list of transgender persons lost to violence and neglect at http://www.gender.org/remember/
Three hundred fifty three lives cut short.
Three hundred fifty three incidents of violence and neglect.
I don't like anger. I have seen anger turn to violence, and I do not like the results.
But I am angry.
I am angry because of the loss of three hundred fifty three lives - and more that are unreported.
I am angry because of the violence, abuse, and willful neglect of three hundred fifty three human beings.
I am angry because there are some people who support the killing of these human beings.
I am angry because there are many more people who ignore the killing of these human beings.
Today, on Transgender Day of Remembrance, I will remember my three hundred fifty three brothers and sisters.
I will remember that they have been shot to death, bludgeoned, drowned, strangled, stabbed, repeatedly struck by motor vehicles, fed ground glass, kicked, and refused medical treatment.
And I will remember that they were created in God's image, and that God called them good.
I will cry out:
Today, on Transgender Day of Remembrance, I will not fear violence because I am a person of transgender experience.
How many more people must die before we realize we are all one?
How many more people must die before we realize that the violence we do to each other is also violence we do to ourselves?
How many more people must die before we learn to love one another?
Today I will mourn the loss of my three hundred fifty three lost sisters and brothers, and I will pray for those who would seek to cause us harm.
See a list of transgender persons lost to violence and neglect at http://www.gender.org/remember/
When Tyra Hunter was 24 years old, she was riding in a car in Washington, D.C. Her car was broadsided by another car.
She was knocked unconscious due to the collision, but regained consciousness by the time emergency crews arrived. She was still dazed and had respiration problems because some of her teeth had been knocked into her airway.The paramedics went to work on Tyra, but in assessing the injuries they discovered she had male genitals.
At this point, one of the caregivers said "This ain't no bitch. It's a nigger. He's got a dick and balls." The paramedics ceased treating Tyra and instead laughed and joked about her while onlookers demanded they get back to work on her.
Later, after treating another injured passenger, other emergency workers found Tyra gagging and trying to move away from the insulting paramedics. Finally, a supervisor demanded that her airway be cleared.
In addition to these insults and lack of care, she was received at the hospital as "John Doe", given a contraindicated medication, and was not given blood that had been ordered for her. She died from lack of oxygen in her blood.
This is the kind of health care some transgender persons can expect. Value judgments can override common decency and mercy - and the basic job requirements. Amazingly, the District of Columbia defended the paramedics on the basis of their first amendment rights to free speech.
Time and again, I come back to what Jesus taught about how we treat others: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". "Love your neighbor as yourself" . The parable of the Good Samaritan, in which the person who acted as a neighbor to a victimized person was the one who didn't even get along with people of his kind. The parable of the sheep and the goats, where Jesus says that as you do to others, you do to him.
And yet, this is what we can expect from some of the people who choose a career in caring for others.
This is not how to do health care.
This is not how to do emergency care.
This is not how to be a Christian.
This is not how to be a human being.
Whatever one's opinion of transgender people, they are people. There is no excuse for allowing people to suffer while we laugh.
My prayer is that the paramedics learn to care for all others, and that they do not need to experience what Tyra did in order to learn it. I would not wish that on my enemies - because I love them.
Trial notes: http://www.gpac.org/im/tyra/tyindex.html
Remembering our dead: http://www.gender.org/remember/.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is November 20.
At this point, one of the caregivers said "This ain't no bitch. It's a nigger. He's got a dick and balls." The paramedics ceased treating Tyra and instead laughed and joked about her while onlookers demanded they get back to work on her.
Later, after treating another injured passenger, other emergency workers found Tyra gagging and trying to move away from the insulting paramedics. Finally, a supervisor demanded that her airway be cleared.
In addition to these insults and lack of care, she was received at the hospital as "John Doe", given a contraindicated medication, and was not given blood that had been ordered for her. She died from lack of oxygen in her blood.
This is the kind of health care some transgender persons can expect. Value judgments can override common decency and mercy - and the basic job requirements. Amazingly, the District of Columbia defended the paramedics on the basis of their first amendment rights to free speech.
Time and again, I come back to what Jesus taught about how we treat others: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". "Love your neighbor as yourself" . The parable of the Good Samaritan, in which the person who acted as a neighbor to a victimized person was the one who didn't even get along with people of his kind. The parable of the sheep and the goats, where Jesus says that as you do to others, you do to him.
And yet, this is what we can expect from some of the people who choose a career in caring for others.
This is not how to do health care.
This is not how to do emergency care.
This is not how to be a Christian.
This is not how to be a human being.
Whatever one's opinion of transgender people, they are people. There is no excuse for allowing people to suffer while we laugh.
My prayer is that the paramedics learn to care for all others, and that they do not need to experience what Tyra did in order to learn it. I would not wish that on my enemies - because I love them.
Trial notes: http://www.gpac.org/im/tyra/tyindex.html
Remembering our dead: http://www.gender.org/remember/.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is November 20.
No commentary today - just the real work concerns of a real human being.
http://rebeccaaugephd.blogspot.com/2007/10/returning-to-work-concerns.html
http://rebeccaaugephd.blogspot.com/2007/10/returning-to-work-concerns.html
Today is the day.
The challenge is before us is to more honestly share who we truly are: with ourselves, with our families, with our friends, with the world.
If we are out to ourselves, we have only just begun. We may love ourselves enough to acknowledge who we are, but we must also love our neighbors as ourselves. That means being honest about our stories, our lives, our identities.
Coming out is a continuous process. Although we mark today as a time to come out, we must always be willing to share the truth about ourselves with others. Rather than inventing lies about a mundane life, we can tell the truth about our passions, our strengths, and our weaknesses.
Coming out is not easy. It brings anxiety, and at times it is risky. Yet believers are not called to quiet safety, and prophets are not called to silence. We - gay, Lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, questioning, supportive, and leather; conservative and progressive; Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Pagan and Wiccan; grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren; we must share what we have been given.
Do not withhold the beauty that is you. Celebrate the unique creation you are.
National Coming Out Day is October 11.
The challenge is before us is to more honestly share who we truly are: with ourselves, with our families, with our friends, with the world.
Yeshua says: Whoever knows everything but himself, lacks everything.It is important that we know and accept who we are. Self-denial is an affront to the one who created us, and to ourselves. If we love our creator, we will not deny that creation. If we love that creation - ourselves - we will also not deny it.
- Gospel of Thomas, 67
If we are out to ourselves, we have only just begun. We may love ourselves enough to acknowledge who we are, but we must also love our neighbors as ourselves. That means being honest about our stories, our lives, our identities.
Coming out is a continuous process. Although we mark today as a time to come out, we must always be willing to share the truth about ourselves with others. Rather than inventing lies about a mundane life, we can tell the truth about our passions, our strengths, and our weaknesses.
Coming out is not easy. It brings anxiety, and at times it is risky. Yet believers are not called to quiet safety, and prophets are not called to silence. We - gay, Lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, questioning, supportive, and leather; conservative and progressive; Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Pagan and Wiccan; grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren; we must share what we have been given.
Do not withhold the beauty that is you. Celebrate the unique creation you are.
National Coming Out Day is October 11.
Coming out part I: Coming Out to Yourself.
Who are you?
Really?
Think about all the dimensions of who you are. Consider using adjectives instead of nouns. Adjectives describe aspects of yourself; nouns label and categorize.
Explore the things you enjoy, the things that are important to you, the things that hold special meaning.
Coming out is not just about sexual or gender identity.
Maybe everyone knows you're gay, but no one knows you're a Republican.
Or a Christian.
Or a stamp collector.
Take this opportunity to get to know yourself.
Jesus taught his followers to love each other as they loved themselves. It's time to raise that bar - to love ourselves and others more.
National Coming Out Day is October 11.
Who are you?
Really?
Think about all the dimensions of who you are. Consider using adjectives instead of nouns. Adjectives describe aspects of yourself; nouns label and categorize.
Explore the things you enjoy, the things that are important to you, the things that hold special meaning.
Coming out is not just about sexual or gender identity.
Maybe everyone knows you're gay, but no one knows you're a Republican.
Or a Christian.
Or a stamp collector.
Take this opportunity to get to know yourself.
Jesus taught his followers to love each other as they loved themselves. It's time to raise that bar - to love ourselves and others more.
National Coming Out Day is October 11.
It's only one week before October 11, National Coming Out Day. It's time to consider coming out. It's time to own who we are.
We are straight, gay, bisexual, lesbian, and asexual.
We are women, men, and combinations of these social ideas.
We have bodies and genes and chromosomes that neatly line up as "male" or "female" - or not.
And we are wonderfully made in God's image.
Who are we to deny what God has made in us? Who are we to hide what we are born to be? Who are we to publicly deny God's gift to us?
Who are we to be ashamed of God's work?
Who are you?
We are straight, gay, bisexual, lesbian, and asexual.
We are women, men, and combinations of these social ideas.
We have bodies and genes and chromosomes that neatly line up as "male" or "female" - or not.
And we are wonderfully made in God's image.
Who are we to deny what God has made in us? Who are we to hide what we are born to be? Who are we to publicly deny God's gift to us?
Who are we to be ashamed of God's work?
Who are you?
It's Monday morning and time to head back to work. Well, it's time for some of us.
But not for Susan Stanton. Fired from her job as city manager of Largo, Florida after announcing she was transitioning from living as male to living as female, her latest bid for employment hasn't panned out either.
Such is the body politic, which has a tendency to consume its own pieces. Surely the church is better.
Alas, no. Marla Evans has more free time on Sundays, now that her church has told her to stop coming to play guitar (for which she was paid) and to stop volunteering to teach Sunday School. This even though Marla never showed up at church as Marla - always as her pre-transition identity as Mark. The church found out she was transgender because of a news story.
Can we justify this separation? I've heard the phrase "sin is anything that separates us from God", but to me that's only half the picture: sin against God. What about when we separate others from us? Is that not sin against each other?
I Corinthians 12 suggests it is such a sin.
The Apostle Paul writes that we are all one body and the body is not made up of one part but of many.
In fact, the members of the church are harmed by missing Marla's musical and educational talents. Again in I Corinthians 12, Paul writes:
Every organization, every body, should guard against removing persons that offer so much to their organizations. And if any organizations should know this, it should be the churches.
references:
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/NEWS0119/70928016/1075
http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S202050.shtml?cat=10335
http://rebeccaaugephd.blogspot.com/2007/09/transgendered-woman-says-she-was-asked.html
But not for Susan Stanton. Fired from her job as city manager of Largo, Florida after announcing she was transitioning from living as male to living as female, her latest bid for employment hasn't panned out either.
Such is the body politic, which has a tendency to consume its own pieces. Surely the church is better.
Alas, no. Marla Evans has more free time on Sundays, now that her church has told her to stop coming to play guitar (for which she was paid) and to stop volunteering to teach Sunday School. This even though Marla never showed up at church as Marla - always as her pre-transition identity as Mark. The church found out she was transgender because of a news story.
Can we justify this separation? I've heard the phrase "sin is anything that separates us from God", but to me that's only half the picture: sin against God. What about when we separate others from us? Is that not sin against each other?
I Corinthians 12 suggests it is such a sin.
The Apostle Paul writes that we are all one body and the body is not made up of one part but of many.
The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.If that is so, how can the Body of Christ, represented by this church, say to this member of the body "I have no need of you"? Are Marla's talents diminished by her being transgender?
In fact, the members of the church are harmed by missing Marla's musical and educational talents. Again in I Corinthians 12, Paul writes:
And so, every part of this church - the children in Sunday School and the people in worship services - suffer because the person they knew as Mark has been severed from the body.
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Every organization, every body, should guard against removing persons that offer so much to their organizations. And if any organizations should know this, it should be the churches.
references:
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/NEWS0119/70928016/1075
http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S202050.shtml?cat=10335
http://rebeccaaugephd.blogspot.com/2007/09/transgendered-woman-says-she-was-asked.html
As someone who transitioned over two decades ago, I don't have much to fear with respect to being called out on gender identity. I have much more to fear due to my identity as a lesbian in a 17 year relationship. Yet I am unwilling to use my privilege as an apparently cisgender person to grab for protection as a Lesbian while leaving behind my less privileged brothers and sisters.
It is morally wrong for me to abandon my brothers and sisters. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells of two respectable leaders who chose not to help a man who was robbed, beaten, stripped naked, and left for dead. They knew they were at risk of becoming ritually unclean, requiring them to turn back to Jerusalem - a costly delay.
Yet a Samaritan - who didn't even get along with the Jews - was so moved by the man's situation that he stopped to help and even paid to have the man stay at an inn and recover.
We have the opportunity to stop and help - even if it causes us delay - or to walk on with the hope that the man will not suffer too much waiting for us to come back
If it is more difficult to pass ENDA with transgender language included, what does that tell you? It tells me that more people are willing to accept discrimination against transgender people and, therefore, transgender people need this law even more than gay and Lesbian people do.
Waiting until people don't want to discriminate before passing an anti-discrimination law makes no sense.
Waiting until people don't want to discriminate against a class of people before passing an anti-discrimination law to protect that class makes no sense.
I'm siding with the Samaritans on this. Walk on by at your own risk.
It is morally wrong for me to abandon my brothers and sisters. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells of two respectable leaders who chose not to help a man who was robbed, beaten, stripped naked, and left for dead. They knew they were at risk of becoming ritually unclean, requiring them to turn back to Jerusalem - a costly delay.
Yet a Samaritan - who didn't even get along with the Jews - was so moved by the man's situation that he stopped to help and even paid to have the man stay at an inn and recover.
We have the opportunity to stop and help - even if it causes us delay - or to walk on with the hope that the man will not suffer too much waiting for us to come back
If it is more difficult to pass ENDA with transgender language included, what does that tell you? It tells me that more people are willing to accept discrimination against transgender people and, therefore, transgender people need this law even more than gay and Lesbian people do.
Waiting until people don't want to discriminate before passing an anti-discrimination law makes no sense.
Waiting until people don't want to discriminate against a class of people before passing an anti-discrimination law to protect that class makes no sense.
I'm siding with the Samaritans on this. Walk on by at your own risk.
We live in a very independent culture. We're big on personal responsibility, and "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps". That rugged individualism often leads to a "somebody else's problem" mentality where we don't want to get involved.
In the fight for gay and lesbian rights, a lot of opposition has come from conservative black churches. Indeed, many black men will not identify as gay or bisexual, although they have sex with other men "on the down-low". So for black men who have sex with men, there is a cultural tearing between fighting for their equal rights as African Americans and fighting for their rights as men who have sex with men (MSM).
And when Human Rights Campaign (HRC) stood up for the black students in Jena, Louisiana, many gay and lesbian people shouted "this is not our fight".
Now, due to the backlash from conservative groups, Congress is removing protection for transgender people from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). So do I support this as a Lesbian, knowing that I will be protected from being fired or evicted based only on my sexual orientation? Or do I reject this because it I can still be fired or evicted because of a transition I made two decades ago?
For me, this is not an academic argument. It's a choice between some protection and "all or nothing". When ENDA was first proposed, HRC actively worked to exclude protection for transgender persons, with a promise to revisit the issue later to include us. They have since come to support inclusion.
It's easy to say "at least we'll get some protection" and cut off a segment of our population. After all, it's not really a loss to transgender people: we don't have protection now anyway! Yet the more we divide ourselves up into smaller and smaller groups, the weaker we become. Should there be separate gay employment and lesbian employment? What about bisexuals - when they're in straight relationships, they're already part of the majority! What about the straight-looking straight-acting folks - they can "pass", so why should they support leathermen and bulldykes?
One of the consistent themes of the Bible has to do with how we treat our brothers, sisters, and neighbors. In the Bible, people are constantly looking for a way to lop off a group of people. For example, the priests and scribes wanted to not have to worry about foreigners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and the other unclean. Yet Jesus pointed out that everyone is a neighbor. Paul pointed out that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. We are all of the same flesh - all human, and we cannot have one of us suffer without it affecting the rest of us.
It's not just the body of Christ, it's the family of humanity. There is no reason to leave any of our brothers and sisters behind. There is no reason to draw a line - a division - between us.
And when we do, we weaken the body. We become small and isolated. We become individuals with individual problems, and not a community that works together for justice for everyone.
For me, I will not support this bill that will half-protect me and protect some of my brothers and sisters but not others. And I will not support those legislators who are willing to defer justice for some in the name of expediency.
sources:
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49423.asp
http://transadvocate.com/enda/last-ditch-effort-the-right-wing-whopper-lies.htm
http://www.bilerico.com/2007/09/homotextual_charles_haynes.php
http://www.bilerico.com/2007/09/a_nontransgenderinclusive_enda_no_way.php
http://www.gendertalk.com/?q=node/239
In the fight for gay and lesbian rights, a lot of opposition has come from conservative black churches. Indeed, many black men will not identify as gay or bisexual, although they have sex with other men "on the down-low". So for black men who have sex with men, there is a cultural tearing between fighting for their equal rights as African Americans and fighting for their rights as men who have sex with men (MSM).
And when Human Rights Campaign (HRC) stood up for the black students in Jena, Louisiana, many gay and lesbian people shouted "this is not our fight".
Now, due to the backlash from conservative groups, Congress is removing protection for transgender people from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). So do I support this as a Lesbian, knowing that I will be protected from being fired or evicted based only on my sexual orientation? Or do I reject this because it I can still be fired or evicted because of a transition I made two decades ago?
For me, this is not an academic argument. It's a choice between some protection and "all or nothing". When ENDA was first proposed, HRC actively worked to exclude protection for transgender persons, with a promise to revisit the issue later to include us. They have since come to support inclusion.
It's easy to say "at least we'll get some protection" and cut off a segment of our population. After all, it's not really a loss to transgender people: we don't have protection now anyway! Yet the more we divide ourselves up into smaller and smaller groups, the weaker we become. Should there be separate gay employment and lesbian employment? What about bisexuals - when they're in straight relationships, they're already part of the majority! What about the straight-looking straight-acting folks - they can "pass", so why should they support leathermen and bulldykes?
One of the consistent themes of the Bible has to do with how we treat our brothers, sisters, and neighbors. In the Bible, people are constantly looking for a way to lop off a group of people. For example, the priests and scribes wanted to not have to worry about foreigners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and the other unclean. Yet Jesus pointed out that everyone is a neighbor. Paul pointed out that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. We are all of the same flesh - all human, and we cannot have one of us suffer without it affecting the rest of us.
It's not just the body of Christ, it's the family of humanity. There is no reason to leave any of our brothers and sisters behind. There is no reason to draw a line - a division - between us.
And when we do, we weaken the body. We become small and isolated. We become individuals with individual problems, and not a community that works together for justice for everyone.
For me, I will not support this bill that will half-protect me and protect some of my brothers and sisters but not others. And I will not support those legislators who are willing to defer justice for some in the name of expediency.
sources:
http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid49423.asp
http://transadvocate.com/enda/last-ditch-effort-the-right-wing-whopper-lies.htm
http://www.bilerico.com/2007/09/homotextual_charles_haynes.php
http://www.bilerico.com/2007/09/a_nontransgenderinclusive_enda_no_way.php
http://www.gendertalk.com/?q=node/239
A young man of only thirteen years wrote an amazing essay, entitled "An Experience that Changed Me". I will just quote the closing paragraph:
No wonder Jesus said "suffer the little children to come unto me". The openness of this young man shows great promise. I pray he does not lose sight of his goal.
I know people from lots of different kinds of families. Some families are divorced, so some of my friends only live with one parent at a time. Other families have someone who is mentally challenged in their family. But no matter how different they are, they are all people. My goal is that some day everybody will be treated with love.
No wonder Jesus said "suffer the little children to come unto me". The openness of this young man shows great promise. I pray he does not lose sight of his goal.
