On This Transgender Day of Visibility, We Stand With You
On this Transgender Day of Visibility, we’re thinking of writer James Baldwin, who in 1967 sketched out a dream of a world where people have the courage to “create ourselves without finding it necessary to create an enemy.”
Recent weeks have seen a flood of laws at the local, state and federal levels that aim to create enemies or scapegoats out of the Trans community. Too often, the Trans community finds itself bullied, victimized or marginalized. You are told you cannot exist in public spaces, and you are denied safe, effective and life-saving forms of health care. You are harassed, demonized and told you have no right to be the glorious creation that God created you to be.
We here at Washington National Cathedral are here to stand with you, and to say that this ugly rhetoric and these harmful policies are as un-American as they are un-Christian.
In the Hebrew scriptures, the Prophet Micah offers a way forward. His guidance has been shared countless times across countless generations, but it is as true now as it was then:
“What does the Lord require of you?” he asks. “To do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Justice, kindness and humility aren’t just words; they are actions that should be seen – and shared – with all of God’s children. The ugliness we have seen in recent weeks falls far short of showing what it means to have justice for all, to display kindness for our neighbors, or to walk humbly with God.
This sacred space is a House of Prayer for All People – no exceptions – and we will welcome anyone who identifies as transgender or non-binary. You will be embraced here as the beloved child of God that you are. Our Baptismal Covenant mandates that we respect the dignity of every human being, and that includes you.
We will fight for your justice. We will shower you with kindness. And will walk humbly alongside you as each of us seeks to become exactly the person God created us to be.
(photo courtesy of Ted Eytan/Flickr)