"I've never been interested in being invisible and erased."
- Lavern Cox
Sunday, March 31st is International Transgender Day of Visibility. Increasing the visibility of transgender people is essential to our collective liberation as a queer people. Among the LGBTIQ community transgender folks remain disproportionately affected by violence and discrimination in housing, employment, healthcare, and other areas that are part of living a full, whole life. It is incumbent on all of us to support the work of justice for transgender people in our churches and communities. In the words of poet Emma Lazarus, "Until we are all free, we are none of us free."
On this Sunday I encourage each of us to consider what we do in our local communities and in worship to honor the lives of transgender people. How do we work together with transgender folks to increase visibility of their presence among us and raise awareness of the issues facing the transgender community.
Your church can:
- Make it a point to honor and celebrate person's pronouns
- Make space for transgender testimony during worship
- Make bathrooms in your space of worship all-gender
- Make a commitment to supporting transgender people in your local community beyond the walls of your church
These suggestions will not solve all of the issues faced by our transgender siblings. But it is a way of beginning, and it allows space for the voices of transgender people to be heard and for their faces to be seen.
Below you will find a worship resource created by Mel Martínez, senior pastor of Wichita Falls MCC. They have graciously provided these resources to me so that I might share with the wider MCC body.
