Soul-diers

My transgender child was baptized on Pentecost 18 years ago and here we are again; today is Pentecost aka the birthday of the Church.  Pentecost commemorates the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit in the form of fire and wind, 50 days after the resurrection of Christ.  In addition, all those gathered could hear the sermon in their native language.  It must have been a mind-blowing experience.  Instead of going to church to observe this Christian feast day, we decided to be the church.  We traveled to Austin to stand in solidarity with other parents of transgender children and their allies at our state capitol.

About 125 of us made signs to protest the anti-transgender legislation being considered by the Texas Legislature.  Then we made our way to the entrance of the House Chamber to line the stairs and hallway as the members reported for a rare Sunday session.  It was an exercise in visibility, no words were spoken as we stood in silence holding our flags and placards.   I watched the small area fill with lobbyists with hungry eyes, backslapping and gladhanding.  Some laughed with legislators as though nothing unusual was going on.  The laughing seemed forced, as if they were trying to distract themselves.  It was a stark contrast – those appearing carefree while we silently pleaded for freedom from persecution. 

And then I heard a lone violin.  A hush fell over the space for a bit, a sort of respect in the chaos.  The mournful music was like a soundtrack that told our sad stories without lyrics.  And it felt holy.  And sacred.  And it was church.  Jesus always stood against the powerful who used the law to exclude others.   

I was carrying one of two homemade, religious-themed signs, mine simply stating:  Christians for Trans Rights.  One of the lobbyists suddenly looked at me and said “and today is Pentecost!  God poured out his spirit on all flesh – on everybody – all nations!”  I just said, “that’s right.”  It was surreal to be standing in this hall, asking for all people to be treated equally on this particular day.  On the day when Christians celebrate the divine in all of us and the ability to truly hear one another, here we stood knowing that our oppressors are Christians. 

My local House representative gave me a hug and offered words of encouragement while other supportive legislators stopped to cheer us on and take photos.  I looked around and saw parents whom I’ve come to know these past months and many new faces, all there with their stories and fears and hopes.  These amazing advocates are what I call Soul-diers.  While the State of Texas continues to objectify my daughter, these people understand that the soul, not the body, is the most important part of a human being.  Whether someone is male or female or neither, is secondary to the soul God gave each person.   They see the sacred person inside.  They are Soul-diers for justice. 

Part of the Episcopal liturgy for baptism requires parents/guardians to “name this child.”  My daughter was baptized in a name she no longer uses.  But the priest also pronounces to each new Christian, “you are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever.”  Amen to that.  She is created by God, known by God, loved by God and will belong to Christ always.  My prayer is for our legislators to do some soul searching this week and find a way to honor the holy in all people.  The Soul-diers are standing by.

Spiritual Warfare

The last time I felt I was engaged in spiritual warfare was 2011.  My son was addicted to drugs and I felt we were in a battle with the devil.  It was a scary time filled with doubt but it instilled in me spiritual disciplines that I still practice today.  I am happy to share he will be ten years sober tomorrow.  Alleluia!

Fast forward to today and I am reflecting on my experiences at the Texas Capitol these past weeks. I made my sixth trip yesterday to advocate for the right to healthcare privacy for my daughter and all transgender Texans.  Along with other fierce parents, I spoke before television cameras, boiling my heartbreak down to 120 seconds, knowing that maybe 15 seconds would actually get used in the story.  

We then headed to lawmakers’ offices to share our stories in more detail, in hopes of activating their compassion for our children.  I had a particularly difficult interaction with one House Representative’s aide and I could not recover enough to carry on so I headed home.  It’s a particular sort of injury to travel to the seat of your state government to plead for those in power to consider your child worthy of equal civil rights.  Just the fact that we must have these discussions is deeply diminishing.  And when these people, who refuse to educate themselves on the science and identify as Christian, have no empathy for the pain they are causing, it feels like I am in the presence of evil.  And I very rarely ever use the word “evil” to describe anyone because I feel we all have a dark side.  

The more I go to Austin, the more I believe what we are doing is engaging in spiritual warfare.  Even if you do not identify with Christianity or any faith, what is playing out in our government is the result of soul sickness.  A person’s soul is sick if they continue to cause harm when their victims are crying out for relief. 

I truly believe the 30 discriminatory anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the Texas Legislature are the result of twisted Christian theology: the misguided condemnation of LGBTQ+ people and the teaching to members that they are sinful, bad, broken, and evil by nature.  If you tell people their entire lives they are evil, it breeds a deep self-loathing.  So when they try to love others as themselves, I call it a recipe for ugly pie.

I am beyond grateful that as Episcopalians, my husband and I never heard these damaging messages and my transgender child hasn’t either.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was created in God’s image for a wonderful purpose.  She’s not broken; she has a unique perspective from which to serve the world.   

Imagine if all Christian churches were teaching that all people are beloved, created for a wonderful purpose, and that Jesus is crazy in love with them?  There would be no way to exploit the LGBTQ community or Christian voters, for one thing.  And living out your faith would be about honoring the sacred in others, not ticking boxes on a purity checklist.  My deepest calling is to participate in untangling the Gospel of love from twisted theology which ties people in knots instead of liberates them.  What can you do to create a world where all people belong?  

For more on our story of the lifesaving care my daughter received and how politics affect transgender Texans, click here for my interview on NPR with David Martin Davies.  https://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=992563173:992563175&fbclid=IwAR1_JpETJ7ERr3dCIu5bBkzu5tM-170y-tJd2nbduREthXf6zOcYuHAetw4

To watch the trailer for the new documentary, 1946 The Movie, which traces the mistranslation that put the word “homosexual” in the Bible for the first time in 1946, click here.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBYDBzLhI2c