Christmas Can be an Affirmation of LGBTQ People

 Christmas should, or at least can be, a special time for LGBTQ+ people. Consider this…think about the story itself…

In Luke’s Gospel, Mary becomes pregnant but not by the man to whom she is betrothed. The heroine of our story is the subject of scandal. Her promised husband has not fathered her child and he can leave her for this and if he does, she will be ruined. Condemned. Treated as an outcast. Destined to a life of poverty and scorn.

Now, we don’t know who the father is, but the writer of the tale would have us imagine that mary has been impregnated by the Breath of God (as a Greek philosopher had been in another myth). So, Mary hasn’t copulated with a man, but with a gender neutral spirit (or, if we take the Hebrew word for spirit, she has copulated with a feminine spirit). That means Jesus would not have a Y chromosome. Male in appearance, but not male by chromosomes. The Jesus of Christmas is intersex and conceived in what can be called a queer way.

And when this intersex child of a scandal ridden teen mom is born, angels sing about it. God loves the outcast, the marginalized, the queer. God sends choirs to serenade their birth.

We don’t have to take the story literally; it would be remarkable if we did, but we can take it seriously and see that in our sacred literature people who today would be part of our LGBTQ+ community are affirmed and celebrated, even considered to be chosen by God, even called child of God. That makes the Xmas Story our story, and we can celebrate that no matter who does or doesn’t want to celebrate with us. 

Global Justice Institute TDOR Public Statement

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

November 20, 2024 

TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE 

 

Every year, the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is observed on November 20. The week leading to TDOR is Transgender Awareness Week.  

 

GLAAD states on their website that TDOR is the “annual observance on November 20 that honors the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of 

anti-transgender violence.” 

 

An HRC report states that of the 36 transgender persons murdered in the last year, 78% identified as women, 61% were women of color, half were Black women, over 54% were under the age of 35, 22% were killed by intimate partners, and 9% were killed by a friend or family member.  

 

It is clear that Anti-trans violence involves intersections of misogyny, racism, and domestic violence. 

 

When Transgender people are demoralized and targeted by preachers and politicians, it fuels the unreasonable hatred against them. 

 

During this year’s Transgender Awareness Week, according to LGBTQ Nation, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia reportedly threatened to assault Rep.-elect Sarah McBride of Delaware if Ms. McBride were to make use of the women’s facilities at the Capitol. 

When asked if she had indeed made such a threat, MTG, without denying the report, said simply, “I shouldn’t have to” fight someone for using, in her opinion, the “wrong” restroom. 

 

This sort of threatening language makes Transgender people less safe. Sarah McBride is a person, and someone elected by her district to represent them in Congress. She is also a history maker as the first transwoman elected to Congress. Ms. McBride shouldn’t have to worry for a second that she might be bullied by a fellow Congressperson.

 

Today, the Transgender Day of Remembrance, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson announced a ban on transwomen using the women’s restrooms at the Capitol. Despite his very recent claim that everyone is treated with dignity and respect on Capitol Hill, this anti-trans bathroom policy seems disrespectful to transgender people in general, and to Ms. McBride in particular.  

 

When questioned by reporters about McBride specifically, LGBTQ Nation reported that the Speaker said, “For anyone who doesn’t know my established record on this issue, let me be 

unequivocally clear: a man is a man, and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman.” He wrongly claimed that his view is the teaching of scripture.

 

Mike Johnson is entitled to his prejudices and to his limited and outmoded understanding of gender, but he should not use his biases to discriminate against a duly elected member of the House of Representatives. And for this discrimination against and disrespect of Transgender persons to occur on TDOR is not only insulting, it also illustrates what fuels violence against Transgender people and why TDOR and Transgender Awareness Week are needed. 

 

The Bishops of the Global Justice Institute, under the leadership of Presiding Bishop Pat Bumgardner, call on all people of goodwill, and especially all people of faith to apply the Golden Rule toward our Transgender siblings.  

 

We ask that people who claim to embrace a religious tradition remember that love and kindness are the guiding themes of most religions, and to realize that Transgender persons are no less entitled to kindness than anyone else.  

 

And finally, we call on all supporters of the Global Justice Institute to continue your support during these uncertain and, for many, perilous times, and to join us in praying for the safety of Transgender people and all members of the LGBTQ community going forward.  

 

“…there is no longer male or female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” St. Paul 

 

 

Wishing you blessings of hope and resilience, 

 

 

+Bishop Durrell Watkins  

on behalf of the Global Justice Institute’s Council of Bishops  

 

 

+Bishop Pat Bumgardner, Presiding Bishop & Executive Director 

+Jim Merritt, Auxiliary Bishop 

+Robert Griffin, Auxiliary Bishop 

+Durrell Watkins, Auxiliary Bishop

Pro-Gay, Pro-Trans, & Pro-Choice, with Bible Verses

Pro-Gay, Pro-Trans, & Pro-Choice, with Bible Verses (by Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins)

On the sub/Reddit thread “Gay Christians” a straight identified poster asked, “Is being gay ever approved or said as okay by God or Jesus in the bible? Is transitioning to a different gender a sin? And do you (a gay Christian) believe in abortions (why or why not)? It would be nice for scripture to be included [in your response]. Asking because I’m curious.”

A day later, the OP (original poster) had received 25 responses, including this one from me:

The very few verses used to condemn LGBTQ people are all in the context of violence or exploitation. Love is never condemned.

We now know that gender isn't binary so "transitioning" is just a matter of coming to terms with one's gender experience & identity & then living in one's truth. Eunuchs in the Bible were considered a sort of third gender and Isaiah says they have a special place in God's all-inclusive house of prayer.

I am pro-choice. I believe everyone should have bodily autonomy. In the creation myth Adam is just a body until the breath of life enters him. His life begins with the ability to breathe on his own, not with simply being formed.

Those biblical nods were because you asked for them. I actually do not limit my moral reasoning to ancient texts that have been interpreted in countless ways & used to justify such horrors as war & slavery. I study scripture but I don't use it in place of independent thinking.

That said, I will add a verse that I find to be true, not because it's in a sacred book but because it has proven to be healing in my own life: "God is Love & WHOEVER lives in love lives in God & God lives in them."

An Open Pastoral Letter to Transgender Members of the US Armed Forces

An Open Pastoral Letter to Transgender 

Members  of the US Armed Forces

by Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins 

I believe we are called to work for peace and justice in the world. That being true, it is also true that nations must have defensive capabilities. Perhaps we rush to war too often, but our government is challenged to provide for the common defense. For decades now, service in the  U.S. military has not been conscripted, but rather, has been completely voluntary. For a variety of reasons, many people choose to spend a number of years ready to defend their country if called upon to do so. Such service takes courage and discipline, and those who risk so much for so many deserve our respect and our best wishes. 

Today, the pastoral leaders of the Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale wish to take a moment to thank all members of the Armed Forces, and to celebrate in particularTransgender members of the branches of the U.S. military. Transgender people continue to be misunderstood, vilified, feared, and targeted, and yet as many as 15,000 Transgender service people work to keep our country safe. Transgender people who serve, like gays and lesbians, women, and people of color at various times in our history, have had to fight for the right to serve and defend a country that didn't always show them the respect as individuals they deserved. And still, love of country and devotion to what it could be prevailed and LGBT people and other minorities have served with distinction, proving that what's in the heart is mightier than the various prejudices that try to hold us back.

Transgender service people, we at the Sunshine Cathedral want you to know that you are in our hearts today, we are praying for you, we appreciate and respect you, and we will speak out for you whenever you are being attacked, no matter who may be launching the attacks. You are heroes and we bless you for your courageous and faithful service. You bravely defend us. We will try, now, to stand faithfully with you. 

Blessings,

Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins

Senior Minister 

SunshineCathedral.net 

"As a veteran I find it appalling that the current Commander-In-Chief of the United States of America would seek to ostracize, discriminate against, or prevent anyone, especially those of the Transgender Community who willingly volunteered, from serving in the Armed Forces.  They, like many others raised their right hand and affirmed to 'support and defend the Constitution of the United States...So help me God.' With God's help and protection, let our Transgender brothers and sisters be an example of what it means to serve with pride, honor and dignity." Rev. Dr. Robert Griffin, Executive Minister

"I honor, affirm, and recognize the humanity of all Trans* people serving in the U.S. military. I see you. I will fight for you.  I will not accept the continued erosion of your rights." Rev. Anne Atwell, Minister of Connections 

"The thousands of transgender servicemembers bravely and honorably serving their country today need to know that in spite of the President's ugly words and regressive policy decision, millions of Americans recognize the value of their lives are grateful for their sacrifice and that of their families for this country." Rev. Ty Bradley, Minister of Social Justice 

It’s About Power and Privilege, NOT Safety

It’s About Power and Privilege, NOT Safety

By Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins

My father was a public school teacher in the South in the early days of desegregation. Arguments against desegregating the schools included the need to protect “women and children.” Racists perpetuated unsubstantiated fears that racially mixed classrooms and playgrounds would result in “women and children” being harmed. There were no data used to support the notion that diversity increased danger, but facts never deter the fear mongers.

In my coming out days, gay teachers could be fired, gay people in the military could be expelled, gay people in schools, parks, or bar parking lots could be assaulted (often with very little help from law enforcement). Gays were preached against in pulpits, denied jobs and housing, cut off from their families, and forbidden access to youth organizations, and all because they somehow were seen as threatening. I once read in my hometown paper an editorial that said gay people “infested” public restrooms like roaches. To protect the children, we were told, we had to dehumanize, demonize, and ostracize gay and lesbian people. “Sodomy laws” criminalized our very expression of affection in multiple states, and marriage equality was a fantasy that almost no one actually entertained. Gays were a danger, the anti-gay narrative insisted, and for the safety of our families we had to treat same-gender loving people badly.

Now that gay characters are featured on television dramas and comedies, marriage equality is a reality, gay athletes and journalists often “come out”, and many faith communities embrace (and even celebrate) same-gender loving people, the idea of tormenting gay people in the name of public safety seems archaic, foolish, and even cruel. But homophobia is still with us, rest assured.

Now, the infamous “bathroom bills” are in the news. Once again, a community is targeted, vilified, demonized, and excoriated. Again, women and children in particular are being “protected” by dehumanizing an entire group of people, namely, transgender people. The targets change over time, but the tactics of hate and division remain sadly the same.

And again, there are no data to suggest that accommodating transgender people gives cover to dangerous predators. However, by demonizing and targeting transgender people, these “bathroom bills” are making transgender people less safe in their own communities. If we can see “the Other” as something less than human, then cruelty toward “the Other” will certainly follow.  It always does.

The unfounded arguments that minorities are more dangerous or more prone to anti-social behavior aren’t new; they are time tested weapons of bigotry used to dehumanize people in order to create hysteria that protects the privilege and power of the majority for a while longer. It’s time we see through the mendacity of such arguments (and legislation), and demand fair and equal treatment for all people, regardless of their gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, nationality, or physical ability. Letting people use the bathroom won’t pose any extra danger to our communities, but teaching generation after generation to hate, will.

Holiday Wishes for the LBGT Community

The Holiday Season is meant to be joyful.

During Hanukkah, we recall the story of a limited amount of oil keeping Temple lights burning for eight days in a row. The Hanukkah miracle reminds us that during our times of uncertainty, there is an inextinguishable light of hope within us.

During Christmas we imagine the innocence of baby born in humble circumstances but celebrated by angels; that baby reminds us that we are each a child of God.

Kwanzaa honors African heritage and celebrates the gifts, skills, and contributions of descendants of the West African Diaspora. Kwanzaa challenges us to affirm and appreciate our diverse global family.

And the New Year is a time for releasing the past and looking with hope and expectation toward the possibilities that lie ahead.

No wonder the holidays are filled with gift giving, feasting, prayers for peace, and songs of wonder and joy. It is a sacred season.

However, for LBGT people, it can also be a lonely season. We’ve made many advances in recent years and we’ve overcome many obstacles, and yet there are those who do not celebrate our legal and cultural victories with us. The Right Wing of both politics and religion threaten at every turn to do all that they can to reverse recent advances for LBGT rights and equality. Christian fundamentalists have doubled down on their anti-gay rhetoric. Municipalities have proposed ordinances that would deny many people the protections they need if LBGT folk are included in the mix. And some families, influenced by the worst of politics and religion, have abandoned their LBGT family members, or told them they are welcome home for the holidays only as long as they don’t mention their sexual orientation.

For LBGT people, the holidays can bring up old wounds, or subject them to new insults, new experiences of rejection, or fill them with remorse for not having supportive, loving families that embrace them for they are.

So, to LBGT people who have formed strong, healthy families of choice: Congratulations and Happy Holidays! You are demonstrating the healing power of love.

To LBGT people who remain in the closet, or attempt to return to the closet at least in part in order to spend time with relatives during the holidays, my heart goes out to you and I beg you to affirm your own sacred value. You may never persuade your relatives that you are who are meant to be, but please don’t let them persuade you that you are not. You are part of the beautiful rainbow diversity of humanity.

And to all allies of LBGT people, loving parents and siblings, cousins and friends, aunts and uncles, grandparents and godparents who love your Queer family member not in spite of who they are, but who love them exactly for who they are, let me tell you that you are heroes and your love and compassion will enrich lives and touch hearts in profound and life-giving ways.

The Holidays are meant to fill us with hope, joy, and goodwill. As LBGT people often need those very blessings at this time of year, my wish for our entire community is that the best of the Season will fill our hearts and bring healing to our world, or at very least to our experience of it.

Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins is the Senior Minister of Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale.

This column was originally written for the Florida Agenda

particularly outraged

Dr. Durrell’s Spiritual Prescriptions

Particularly Outraged

I’ll just say it: I’m P.O. (particularly outraged). One of the reasons that I am particularly outraged is because religion is important to me. My brand of religion is decidedly progressive, and is more about building community and offering hope in this world than about trying to figure what an afterlife might look like or how to get there. Nevertheless, as non-dogmatic as my religious experience is, religion remains important to me and building progressive faith communities that focus on human potential and the sacred value of all people is my life’s work. Religion, for me, can (and ought to) be about giving people tools for their individual spiritual journeys and bringing them together to celebrate life’s joys and to face life’s challenges. I believe religion can be a powerful force for good in the world, and I want it to be. So, when religion is used to hurt entire communities of people, I, as a religious person, am particularly outraged.

I am disappointed that the proposed Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) was defeated last week in Texas. I’m disappointed that it didn’t pass, but I am P.O. (particularly outraged) that transgender people were vilified, demonized, and dehumanized in order to defeat an ordinance that would have provided protections for many. Had HERO passed, the elderly, religious people, veterans, gays and lesbians, transgender people, people of all national, racial and ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities and more would have been protected from discrimination. But anti-equality forces launched a smear campaign against transgender people saying that offering them equality would pose a danger to cis-gendered women in the city. They had the temerity to claim that men would cross-dress in order to harm women in public restrooms if HERO passed.

Of course, nothing before or since the vote would prevent predators from donning a disguise and trying to hurt people, but affirming the full humanity of transgender folk has nothing to do with violent criminals disguising themselves. The opponents of HERO tried to reduce the transgender experience to playing dress-up, and they added nefarious motives even to that. The ignorance of transgender realities was astonishing and the fear-mongering was reprehensible, if effective.

Fundamentalists celebrated all over social media the day after HERO failed. They were congratulating themselves for taking a stand for morality; but slander and discrimination are not the paths of the moral high ground.

Religious conservatives often insist they are victims when their prejudices aren’t enshrined in law or when people they find distasteful are afforded full and equal rights in society; but as a religious person, let me assure you: not letting discrimination disguised as religion have the force of law in all of our lives is not a denial of religious liberty; it is resistance against religious tyranny.

Marriage equality was a huge victory in this country, but the war on human dignity, on equal rights, on LBGT safety is not yet over. In fact, in some ways, it may be getting uglier than ever. This is not the time for the LBGTQQIA community to become complacent or to allow ourselves to become fragmented. We must continue to stand together, work together, and insist that all people have a right to love genuinely, to live safely, and to be treated fairly. This is not only a strategy for survival - it is what my understanding of healthy religion demands.

Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins is the Senior Minister of Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale.

written for the Florida Agenda

A Disturbing Trend of Violence Against "the Other"

"A transwoman of color was beaten to death in Florida...the 10th transwoman this year to be killed.
Yet another mass shooting took place yesterday...a movie theater in Louisiana (by a gunman who reportedly "hated" liberals...though I don't know how many Louisiana liberals he suspected of going to the movies on a weeknight).
A Metropolitan Community Church in Georgia was recently vandalized (MCCs have an historic and primary affirming outreach to the LBGT community).
In Texas, Sandra Bland, an African American woman, was verbally abused, physically manhandled, and detained (all for changing lanes without signaling). She died in custody.
A presidential hopeful recently vilified undocumented immigrants.
These violent events have taken place in the span of just a few days and just weeks after the shooting deaths of 9 people at Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina (an historically Black congregation) and the burning of other historically Black churches.
Beyond the violence itself, the common thread is that the targets of violence have usually been marginalized people (transgender people, gays and lesbians, African Americans, Latinos/Latinas).
It is a very disturbing trend and we must call it out, talk about it seriously, and renew our commitment to positive change...of making our society less violent, less hateful, less frightening. We clearly have a long way to go still." Rev Dr Durrell Watkins, Senior Minister, Sunshine Cathedral

Heaven, Hell, and Transphobia

Today's exchange with a transphobic person who threatened (why are the fundies always threatening apocalypses and damnation?) that people who tolerate transgender people (and, presumable the trans folk themselves) will have to answer God on judgment day (what a vile, petty god they want to believe in).
Actually her exact words were: "It's going to be a sad day when we get to Heaven and God turn (sic) His back and say (sic) 'depart from me, I dont know you.' Satan is the master of lies, he has a way of twisting the word of God to decieve and destroy. God loves us all but He hates sin. "

That same old song...God is love BUT will abandon you to an endless torment. That kind of love is what keeps Child Welfare services in business! Anyway, my response was as follows:

"Or when we die we might find that God is Love and rejects no one for any reason...when there are gays and lesbians, people of all races and religions, people who didn't fit into gender binaries all at the banquet table of all inclusive and unconditional love...of course, those of us at the table will have to decide for ourselves whether we are in heaven or hell. Sounds like heave to me. Fundamentalists might believe they are in hell as they pass a gay Hindu the potato salad." (dw)

Lots of Ways to be Brave

Franklin Graham posted today: "Caitlyn Jenner is being honored with the ESPN ESPY Award for courage? I find this hard to swallow after spending time with wounded military veterans and their spouses...they are true heroes."

My response was as follows:

"People who come out (as same gender loving, gender non-conforming or transgender) in a hostile environment (such as the one evangelical churches have created) are courageous.
People who train for the Olympics are courageous (Caitlyn is already brave on two fronts).
People who are first responders are courageous.
Soldiers, sailors and Air Force personnel are courageous.
Single moms are courageous.
Social justice Activists are courageous.
One example of courage doesn't negate others. Of course wounded veterans are courageous, and so are others for other reasons.
A sports network is honoring an accomplished athlete...it took a real act of pettiness on FG's part to try to warp that into a controversy.
The constant vilification of everyone who doesn't look like a Leave It to Beaver character is making religion seem mean-spirited and irrelevant.
As a Progressive Christian I affirm the sacred value of transgender people, but more importantly, as a human being I reject that religion's purpose (or the purpose of any social institution) is to demonize or dehumanize or marginalize anyone..." - Durrell Watkins 

Coming Out Day 2014

It's National Coming Out Day! There are those who still want to demonize and dehumanize same-gender loving and gender non-conforming people. But every time someone says "I'm Queer" or "I'm gay" or "I'm lesbian" or "I'm bisexual" or "I reject labels but am open to love and attraction however they manifest" or "I do not fit neatly into false gender binaries" AND "I love myself as I am", the power of heterosexism and homophobia and transphobia is diminished and the world becomes a better place. Be happy and be proud on this Coming Out Day!

Sharing a Colleague's Wise Words (about Privilege)

“Talking about privilege is difficult, if it makes you uncomfortable that's probably a good thing. Growth is uncomfortable. Let's all examine the places we have privilege. Are you white? Are you able-bodied? Are you not trans? Are you a man? Are you straight? Are you financially comfortable? Are you well educated? These aren't things that should make you feel shame! But if you are in these categories (especially if you are in most of these categories) please have some awareness about those whose lives are complicated simply by not being you.” Rev Jakob Hero (MCC minister/hospital chaplain)