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Do not let the eunuch say, ‘I am just a dry tree.’ For thus says God: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. (Isaiah 56:3b-5)
The Council of Elders of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) condemns attacks on transgender people and on trans rights and liberties around the world. Human rights advocates and justice seeking organizations Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are tracking and partnering for accountability for these harms worldwide.
Though unsigned by its president, Uganda’s parliament in March overwhelmingly voted for legislation that criminalizes transgender identity, as well as LGBQ identities. Since Transgender Europe (TGEU) began tracking murders of trans and genderqueer people, Brazil has had the largest number of these murders globally. This is despite laws since 2019 that criminalize transphobia. Brazil, Mexico, and the United States are responsible for more than sixty percent of murders of transgender people, and these murders have been increasing by six or seven points each year. In April, the European Court of Human Rights failed to find a human rights violation in two cases of German transgender parents being deadnamed and misgendered on their child’s birth certificate despite legal recognition of their name change and gender marker, forcefully outing the family when interacting with public authorities. In Asia and the Pacific Islands, the COVID pandemic disproportionately impacted trans access to healthcare, housing, and employment.
In the United States, in the last few weeks, there have been bans on safe, well-studied gender affirming care for minors in Idaho and Indiana, forcing youth off their medication and criminalizing providers. Florida prohibits public funds being used to support gender-affirming health care and interferes with courts and custody rulings in its own and all states to strip care from supportive parents and guardians. Kansas overrode its Governor’s veto of a ban that excludes trans girls and women from college level athletics. Idaho, Iowa, and Arkansas have joined North Carolina in barring trans folks from using the right bathroom, barring children from using the right bathroom in school, and criminalizing transgender people for using the right bathroom when a minor is present. HRC reports that this year, as of this week, more than 520 anti-queer and anti-genderqueer bills have been introduced in the states, of which 220 specifically target trans humanity, more than 125 attacking healthcare for trans kids, more than 30 attacking us being free to pee, more than 100 attacking education curriculums, more than 45 banning drag. No matter where we live, these bills and laws have a chilling effect on transgender wellbeing.
The MCC Elders advocate alongside our transgender siblings who should be supported and protected from physical and emotional violence and encouraged to fully participate in community and family life. Trans children and adults should be ensured access to medicines and other gender-affirming treatments.
Metropolitan Community Churches, around the globe, continue to practice inclusion and the recognition of the full humanity of every person. We raise spiritual voices for the inherent sacred worth of every trans and non-binary person. Join us in prayer and action for their safety and protection.
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