Minister’s Column
It is not often that I come to our worship service on one of my Sundays off. Usually that is personal time. On this past Sunday, however, the topic of “Transgender: Stories of Our Lives” compelled me to be there.
Lay leader Norma Bailey, a member of the worship team, came up with this idea and asked a few members of the congregation to speak from their own experience. Norma’s invitation was for each of the speakers to address the question, What would you like the congregation to know about being transgender?
I wanted to be there for three reasons. First, to support the speakers who had agreed to speak on such a personal topic. Public speaking is never easy, and sharing something personal can be especially difficult. Second, I wanted to be there as the congregation heard these messages. My sense is that our mostly cisgender congregation is well-meaning but not totally well-informed when it comes to gender, and I was curious to see how these messages – from people who share the sanctuary with us regularly – would be received. Finally, I had some safety concerns. Thankfully our congregation has not been a target of attacks or protests from intolerant people as some UU congregations have been. Yet advertising this transgender service, I imagined, could possibly attract someone wanting to disrupt or harm our worship service—and I wanted to be there in case any problem occurred.
There were no disruptions, and the messages were amazing. We heard from the parent of a transgender teenager; from a gender-fluid teenager; and from a transgender adult. I was reminded that the idea of gender binary (people fitting into either a male or female box) is a social construct reinforced by our medical system—and that humans born as biologically intersex are more common than identical twins. The stories and experiences shared by the three members of the congregation were, of course, varied. The term “transgender” is a broad category that includes many identities and experiences. And my biggest take-away from the service was that each person is unique…and that gender expression / gender identity is only one part of who a person is in their complete wholeness.
Like many cisgender people in this congregation, I want to be an ally to my transgender siblings. Attending this worship service and hearing these testimonials helps me to be more informed and compassionate. It allows me a glimpse into someone else’s life experience that is different from my own, and reminds me that we all are beautiful, complex, and fluid. I am grateful to the speakers for sharing and for trusting the congregation with their stories.
PRAYER:
Mother-Father God, Divine energy that has no gender and contains all genders: be here now.
Bless today the ones in this city and everywhere around the world who are discovering their gender identity and courageously claiming it.
May we all build a world in which all are welcome; may we all expand our awareness of the incredible rainbow of humanity.
May each person find their place in that rainbow, knowing safety and love.
Blessed be.
Rev. Drew Frantz
May 28, 2024