How to Respond to the Anti-Trans Legislation? LGBTQIA+ Advocacy Team Responds

We, the Advocacy Committee for LGBTQIA+ Equity (ACQ+E), stand firmly against any effort to dehumanize or strip away the human and civil rights of our LGBTQIA+ siblings. We recognize that it can be hard to know what to do during these challenging times, and we want you to know you are not alone. We are committed to walking alongside you in love, and we are encouraging each other—and all who share our values—to take these steps together: 

1. Within Your Sessions and Congregations: Strive to create worship spaces where every person feels welcomed, valued, and safe. 

2. In Your Presbyteries: Support Amendments 24 A and 24 C so they become part of our Book of Order, strengthening protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals within the Presbyterian Church. 

3. With Your Elected Representatives: Use the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Voter Voice platform, which streamlines the process of locating and contacting your local, state, and federal officials, making it easier to raise your voice and advocate for human rights legislation.  

At the same time, it is crucial that we each care for our own well-being. Research from the American Psychological Association (APA) “suggests that anti-LGBTQ political administrations and policies negatively impact the psychological well-being of sexual and gender minority populations.” In alignment with research and recommendations from the APA, we encourage you—just as we encourage ourselves—to: 

• Prioritize mental health and seek professional or pastoral support when needed. 

• Be intentional about when and how you consume social and news media, ensuring it supports rather than undermines your well-being. 

• Nurture close, supportive relationships that uplift you. Positive social networks serve as a powerful buffer against stress and discrimination. 

• Connect with affirming worshipping communities that embrace you fully. 

• Incorporate intentional self-care practices into daily life. 

Our work is rooted in God’s deep love for justice (Psalm 33:5; Micah 6:8; Isaiah 61:8) and guided by Jesus’ vision of overturning oppressive systems (Luke 1:52-53; Matthew 5:3-10). We hold fast to the promise of a renewed creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:19-21)—one in which all God’s children partake in the justice, peace, and joy granted by the Spirit (Jeremiah 22:3; Psalm 106:3; Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22-23). 

If you or someone you know needs additional support, please reach out to the 
LGBTQI+ Lifeline. You are not alone; we stand with you in faith, hope, and love. 

The Advocacy Committee on LGBTQIA+ Equity (ACQ+E) is a standing committee of the General Assembly. The committee was formed by the General Assembly in 2022 to assisting the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in providing full expression to the rich diversity of its membership as described in the Book of Order. See their website here. 

Central Florida Presbytery Anti Racism Policy

About one year and a half ago, the Central Florida Presbytery approved its Anti-Racism policy.  An Anti-Racism Policy is a formal guideline or rules that seeks to produce and sustain racial equity for black, indigenous, or other people of color. As Christians, equity and non discrimination is at the very heart of the gospel and should be a primary characteristic that defines the church.  Yet churches swim in the same culture as everyone else.  White supremacy and racism is an oppressive system that upholds the superiority or the norm of white culture while denigrating or holding other cultures as inferior.   Therefore it is imperative that the church and its leaders understand racism and commit ourselves to changing our culture.  To that end, the Central Florida Presbytery passed the following Anti-Racism policy.  I reproduce it here for information and to guide others in the practices of anti racism. 

CENTRAL FLORIDA PRESBYTERY POLICY ON ANTI-RACISM 

Adopted 6-1-2023 

Biblical Background 

Scripture in many places calls on the people of God to be a blessing to all peoples, to be reconciled and reconcilers. Believing that we have been created in God’s Image, we commit to the reconciling work necessary until all peoples find themselves integrated into the whole of society and treated with dignity and righteous justice. The texts below are two that undergird this anti-racism policy: 

Galatians 3:26-28 – So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 

Ephesians 2:14-16 - For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 

We, a diverse and complex community of believers, set forth and commit to operate under this policy. We will undertake this discipline individually and collectively as a church. 

1. PRAY with an open mind and heart, and respond to God’s leading. 

2. LEARN: • to share the history, dynamics, and consequences of racism as power; 

• to listen empathetically to the hurts and hopes of people of color; 

• to listen to and hear the lived realities and stories of people of color without blaming, deflecting, or changing the subject. 

• to recognize the ways historic acts and attitudes of oppression continue to affect our view of society, culture, and racial tensions 

• to respect, with humility, marginalized people, including when or how they peacefully protest their mistreatment; 

• to recognize implicit bias (attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner) and the resulting habit of ingrained prejudice; 

• to avoid racially charged words and dehumanizing phrases. 

• study with others the Central Florida Presbytery’s Statement on Racial Injustice 

3. REPENT and ATONE: 

• for personal acts of racism or colorism, acknowledging that we can veil racist or prejudiced thoughts and behaviors, even from ourselves 

• for our failure to hear the cries of our marginalized kindred; 

• for power imbalances and undercurrents of racism that limits access to leadership and control of faith institutions; 

• for valuing law and order and property above the lives of people of color; 

• for being silent in the face of racial injustice. 

4. AFFIRM: • inclusion in leadership in the Central Florida Presbytery and Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), while acknowledging that more work is necessary; 

• that we sin before God and against humanity when we refer to any person as “other” or as “them”; 

• our accountability to all people, regardless of color; 

• the need to reform racialized aspects of our criminal justice system; 

• the importance and value of a truth and reconciliation process for our faith traditions and nation; 

• that faithfulness demands working for restitution and restorative justice from our faith institutions and our nation for Black, Indigenous, and other People Of Color (BIPOC)7 communities because, “Repairing what's broken is a distinctly biblical concept, which is why as people of faith we should be leading the way into redemption, restoration, and reconciliation.”8

5. ACT: • by practicing Christ’s love and acceptance of all people and all faiths by leading with love because we can never expect others to believe what we believe if we do not extend love to everyone. 

• by bringing our prophetic voices into the public arena; 

• by leading our congregations to recognize and confront racism; 

• by calling for appropriate discipline, up to and including prosecution and/or termination of employment, of law enforcement officers who commit racist or brutal acts; 

• by working to transform our system of policing, criminal justice, immigration, and mass incarceration systems that are decimating BIPOC communities; 

• by working to eliminate inequities inflicted on non-white communities from health care to employment, from education to wealth, from the criminal justice system to housing; 

• by taking responsibility for our part in the struggle for racial justice in all arenas of life; 

• by making amends for our silence by speaking truth with humility and listening with deeper conviction to those we have offended. 

As a Presbytery, we shall: 

• provide opportunities for all members of the presbytery and our congregations to participate in educational events that promote understanding and discussion about racism and our racial history; 

• encourage all committees, ministries, members and congregations to engage in efforts to end racial injustice by promoting equal access to leadership opportunities including a place and voice at the table with the Nominating Committee and the Committee on Representation taking the lead here. 

• require Ministers of Word and Sacrament, Certified Christian Educators, Commissioned Pastors and presbytery staff to engage in anti-racism training on an ongoing basis; (triennially). Council, the Committee on Ministry and the Leadership Development Committee will take the lead to plan and offer this training. 9

3 Language changes over time and this reference is to all non-white people in our society including persons of Asian, Latin and other racial ethnic descent. 8 LaTasha Morrison, Be the Bridge: Pursuing God's Heart for Racial Reconciliation. 2019, WaterBrook, Crown Publishing Group. p.154 

3 Recommendation to Council: Approve the Spring Stated Presbytery Meeting be changed to include an in-service training event for the Ministers of Word and

Sacrament, Certified Christian Educators, Commissioned Pastors and presbytery staff in the morning. (thus, making it an all-day meeting) Rationale: this would allow trainings such as anti-racism and boundaries to be elevated in importance and a date each year for planning purposes. 

• urge the leadership, staff and members of the presbytery’s congregations to participate in the same recurring anti-racism training events; oprovide resources/ training videos on the presbytery website for congregations to use for additional 

• encourage Administrative Commissions and councils to consider designating a portion of the proceeds from any sales of property to further anti-racism work, such as: o support BIPOC ministries and congregations 

o establish and fund scholarships for BIPOC members of the presbytery’s faith communities, leaders and youth to include camps, conferences, college, seminary, continuing education or training opportunities 

• recommend that all individuals at every stage and age learn about racism in age-appropriate ways; o provide an anti-racism page on the website where individuals can find resources and training opportunities. 

• promote storytelling events and intercultural experiences that help us understand our collective narrative as people of faith and the ways we are transformed by the Gospel and by intentional conversations with our racially diverse siblings; o capture stories from the storytelling events on video and/or other media to allow as many people as possible to have access to these. 

o Send a copy of any videos/ media to the Presbyterian Historical Society for an even greater reach 

• communicate the presbytery’s awakened convictions, repentance, and commitment to a new awareness, utilizing: 

o Presbytery Newsletters 

o Presbytery Meetings 

o Social Media 

o Website

o Podcast

• commit to be active and to publicly proclaim our new understandings as we express our faith through civic engagement.11

o sponsor events for the purpose of educating and informing the general public, such as: Forums/ Debates/ Critical Conversations/Activists/ Movie Screenings; 

o promote the diverse leadership of the Presbyterian Church in a way that highlights the greater efforts of the denomination; 

o support efforts to eradicate cash bail (the Bail Project); 

o write guest columns in the newspaper or blogs; 

o use our Podcast as a platform 

o At least annually, acknowledge and state the original land use at a presbytery meeting as was recommended by the 223rd General Assembly (2018) of the PC(USA)12 regarding the Doctrine of Discovery to all mid-councils.6

10 The budget implications for this are unknown at this time. Scott Prewitt and people at Full Sail can help us discover the costs involved. 

11 Historically this has included works for the abolitions of slavery, marches for civil rights, non-violent protest, sit-ins, communicating with elected officials, etc. 

12 Doctrine of Discovery: A Review of Its Origins and Implications for Congregations in the PC(USA) and Support for Native American Sovereignty https://facing-racism.pcusa.org/site_media/media/uploads/facing_racism/doctrine-of-discovery-report-to-the-223rd-ga-2018-finalized-copy_as-approved.pdf

As a Presbytery, we adopt the following procedure for filing allegations and complaints of policy violations: 

Preventing discrimination, harassment and retaliation based on race is everyone’s responsibility. Central Florida Presbytery and the sessions of local congregations cannot prevent or remedy discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on race unless they know about them. This policy applies to allegations and complaints arising at the presbytery level that may occur at events such as: presbytery meetings, committee meetings, council, presbytery sponsored training even, Presbyterian Youth Council (PYC), Camps, etc. 

An allegation is a written description of behavior of an individual that is suspected to be a violation of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). A complaint is a written description of behavior of a council, or entity of a council that is suspected to violate the same standards through action in error or failure to act.

o Reporting an Allegation– against an individual 

• All allegations shall be submitted to the Stated Clerk, following the guidelines in D-10.0101. 

• Although individuals are encouraged first to choose have conversation with the person who has offended about what was offensive and resolve the matter; however a written summary of the incident is required to begin the formal disciplinary process. 

• Allegations should be reported in as timely of a manner as possible. 

• Upon receipt of a written allegation, the Stated Clerk shall determine whether the allegation involves a member of presbytery. 

• If it involves a member of presbytery, the Stated Clerk shall follow the procedures for the initiation of an investigation for disciplinary process in D-10.0103. 

• If the complaint involves a member of a congregation, it shall be referred to the congregation’s session. 

o Reporting a Complaint 

Reporting a Complaint – against the presbytery (committee, entity, or the presbytery itself). • Complaints alleging an irregularity or delinquency shall be handled as follows. 

• If the alleged irregularity or delinquency occurred during a meeting or event overseen by a committee or entity of the presbytery, the Stated Clerk shall forward the complaint to the presbytery’s Permanent Judicial Commission, which shall handle it in accordance with D-6.000 and D- 

7.000 of the Rules of Discipline. 

• If the alleged irregularity or delinquency was committed by the presbytery itself, the complaint shall be sent to the Stated Clerk of the Synod of South Atlantic. 

A reflection on early graffiti mocking Christ

The earliest graffiti that depicted Jesus' crucifixion doesn't come from Christian art but from mocking graffiti.  Found near the Palatine Hill in Rome and dating to the first century, it shows Jesus with the head of a donkey on the cross.  A person appears to be mocking Jesus and his beliefs.  Could this represent the Romans disdain for anything Christian?  The writing says, "Alexamenos worship [his] God."  Tertullian writes a common slander was that Christians worshipped a donkey "...for some among you have dreamed that god is an ass' head an absurdity which Cornelius Tacitus first suggested..." (Tertullian, As Nations 197 CE).

The references to a donkey could have originated from many places such as a slur against the Jewish people, or from Jesus' connection with donkeys in his ride into Jerusalem.  Certainly the donkey's symbolism of meekness and humility would have run counter to the values of Rome which included military strength, oppression, conquest, and domination.  The values of Jesus as expressed in the sermon on the mount (beatitudes) would have been mocked by anyone that valued the Roman ideals. Gods were powerful and certain didn't end up being crucified so easily.  

It's important for us to consider this contrast between Jesus and Rome.  While ultimately, Rome would adopt Christianity, after Constantine, the church would have to deal with the eventual corruption of Christianity. The church began to use the model of power and conquest to dominate other cultures.  Instead of conquering under the old Roman ideals, the new Roman Empire would now conquer under the sign of the cross.  We should never forget therefore that Rome represented the power of government to suppress. It celebrated the power of wealth and glory, it classified between the "in's and the outs".  Christ represented the exact opposite, love, mercy, peace, humility, poverty, and acceptance of all.  There will always be those that mock these Christian virtues, even Christians.  Followers of Jesus must never forget that Christianity ultimate is correctly represented by those that opposed it in this piece of graffiti, Jesus was all about his self giving love and self sacrifice, something that is consider to be stupid as an ass.  

Voting on Amendments 24A and 24C in the PC(USA)

 Why I support a Yes vote on 24A and 24C

The PC(USA) will be voting in the coming months on two important additions to our Book of Order.  First, adding to our foundations of Presbyterian Polity "sexual orientation and gender identity" as categories that we do not discriminate against.  Second, requiring ordination examination questions to be asked regarding a candidates commitment to our principles of non discrimination and our historic principles of church order. I am strongly recommending a YES on both. These are labeled "24A and 24C" in the coming vote.

When I first came into the Presbyterian Church almost two decades ago, there were three important things I learned about ordination. First, that we believe that God is the source of all ministry in the church. We have always believed that every Christian is joined in ministry at our baptism, and every member is equipped uniquely to serve the church by the gifts given to us by God. As our sexual orientation and gender identity is part of our essential personhood and our identity, this certainly applies to all people that identify as LGBTQIA+ and this has already been affirmed by our church that has extended ordination to all regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. It has long been a tradition to accept those into church membership that have a faith in Jesus Christ, and not for any other reason. 

Second, I was stunned when I read in our Book of Order that we believe “truth is in order to goodness” and that truth is based by the 'fruit we bear'. We apply this truth to ordination when we examine candidates suitability. I have been ministered to, encouraged, loved, guided and challenged by many dear LGBTQIA+ Christians and I have seen and witnessed first hand the Spirit positive work through their labor, love and witness in the church. Last, we know that our ministry is always done in community and connection with each other. We are one body, and we depend on the very diversity of that body for its full ministry and vitality. 

As we read in Acts 15:6-11

...After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “...You know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us, and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?  On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

Just as the Holy Spirit was evident in the life of gentiles in the first century, so likewise, we see the Spirit working in and through the church through the lives of many committed and dedicated disciples of Jesus that identify as LGBTQIA+.

Therefore, it is important to ask questions during examination of our those that take on ordered ministry to our commitment to being a friend among our colleagues and working together in ministry. This amendment does not require uniformity of thought or conviction but is a commitment to not disrupt or prevent LGBTQIA+ Christians from living out their calling. I call all on those voting on Amendment 24-C to therefore vote in the affirmative for this important addition to our constitution. 

Let Us All Speak Our Minds or Die For It

 

Let Us All Speak Our Minds

Men tell us 'tis fit that wives should submit

to their husbands submissively, weakly;

Tho' whatever they say, their wives should obey

Unquestioning, stupidly, meekly.

Our Husbands would make us their own dictum take

Without ever a wherefore or why for it. 

But I don't and I can't and I won't and I shan't

No I will speak my mind if I die for it.

For we know it's all fudge to say man's the best judge

Of what should be and shouldn't, and so on.

That woman should bow, nor attempt to say how

She considers that matters should go on.

I never yet gave up myself thus a slave,

However my husband might try for it;

For I can't and I won't, and I shan't and I don't

But I will speak my mind if I die for it. 

And all ladies I hope who've with husbands to cope,

With the rights of the sex will not trifle.

We all, if we choose, our tongues but to use,

Can all opposition soon stifle;

Let man, if he will, then bid us be still

And silent, a price he'll pay high for it. 

For we won't and we can't and we don't and we shan't,

Let us all speak our minds if we die for it.

Elizabeth Knight

Listen to Let us All Speak Our Minds at the Smithsonian

Statement against Donald Trump's Executive Order on Immigration

Translation: Omar Gonzalez

A Call to Compassion and Mercy

The Position of the Boriquén Presbyterian Synod in Puerto Rico, the Presbyteries of the Southwest and the Northwest, and the San Juan Presbytery, and the Organizations of Presbyterian Women and Men in Puerto Rico, regarding the deportation of immigrants in the United States, its territories and Puerto Rico. 

President Donald Trump's recent executive order on migrants and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) aggressive interventions in Puerto Rico and other United States jurisdictions represent a serious threat to the fundamental values ​​of justice, human dignity, and civil rights that sustain our democracy. These measures have been directed not only against undocumented immigrants, but also towards those with up-to-date documents. These actions are a setback that erode the principles of equity and respect for human rights.

We have already begun to witness these interventions in different areas in Puerto Rico, especially the San Juan area. Men, women and families who are part of our communities, who contribute with their work daily, due to these actions, are experiencing moments of anguish and fear. People who come to our soil full of dreams and where it is often difficult for them to complete the processes to regularize their immigration status. It is essential that, as citizens and community leaders, we demand that these practices stop while respecting the rights of all individuals, regardless of their immigration status.

The Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUSA) has been consistent in its position in favor of justice for immigrants and refugees. Grounded in the biblical mandate to love the stranger and practice hospitality (Leviticus 19:33-34, Matthew 25:35), the PCUSA condemns any policy that dehumanizes immigrants or seeks to divide communities through fear and exclusion. In its commitment to social justice, the church advocates for comprehensive immigration reform, dignified treatment of immigrants and refugees, and an end to mass detention and deportation practices that separate families and cause unnecessary suffering.

Let us follow the example of Christ, who extended love and care to the marginalized, remembering that when we serve and protect the most vulnerable, we are serving God himself (Matthew 25)

Statement in its Original Spanish:

The Boriquén Presbyterian Synod in Puerto Rico, its Presbyteries and organizations, call for unity to be next to the most vulnerable, to courageously denounce injustices and to actively work for an immigration system that reflects compassion and mercy.

Posición del Sínodo Presbiteriano Boriquén; los Presbiterios del Suroeste, Noroeste y San Juan; y las Organizaciones de Mujeres y Hombres Presbiterianos en Puerto Rico con relación a las deportaciones de inmigrantes en Estados Unidos, sus territorios y Puerto Rico Un llamado a la compasión y a la misericordia

La reciente orden ejecutiva del presidente Donald Trump sobre los migrantes y las intervenciones agresivas del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) en Puerto Rico y otras jurisdicciones de los Estados Unidos representan una grave amenaza a los valores fundamentales de justicia, dignidad humana y derechos civiles que sostienen nuestra democracia. Estas medidas, han sido dirigidas, no solo contra inmigrantes indocumentados, sino también hacia aquellos con sus documentos al día. Estas acciones son un retroceso que erosiona los principios de equidad y respeto a los derechos humanos. 

Ya hemos comenzado a ser testigos de estas intervenciones en distintas áreas en Puerto Rico en especial el área de San Juan. Hombres, mujeres y familias que son parte de nuestras comunidades, que aportan con su trabajo diariamente, debido a estas acciones, están viviendo momentos de angustia y miedo. Personas que llegan hasta nuestro suelo llenos de sueños y donde muchas veces se le hace difícil completar los procesos para regularizar su estatus migratorio. Es fundamental que, como ciudadanos y líderes comunitarios, exijamos que estas prácticas se detengan respetando los derechos de todos los individuos, independientemente de sue status migratorio.

La Iglesia Presbiteriana de los Estados Unidos (PCUSA) ha sido consistente en su posición a favor de la justicia para los inmigrantes y refugiados. Basada en el mandato bíblico de amar al extranjero y practicar la hospitalidad (Levítico 19:33-34, Mateo 25:35), la PCUSA condena cualquier política que deshumanice a los inmigrantes o que busque dividir comunidades a través del miedo y la exclusión. En su compromiso con la justicia social, la iglesia aboga por una reforma migratoria integral, un trato digno para los inmigrantes y refugiados, y el fin de las prácticas de detención y deportación masiva que separan familias y causan sufrimiento innecesario.

El Sínodo Presbiteriano Boriquén en Puerto Rico, sus Presbiterios y organizaciones, hacemos un llamado de unidad para estar al lado de los más vulnerables, a denunciar con valentía las injusticias y a trabajar activamente por un sistema migratorio que refleje compasión y misericordia.

Sigamos el ejemplo de Cristo, quien extendió amor y cuidado a los marginados, recordando que cuando servimos y protegemos a los más vulnerables, estamos sirviendo a Dios mismo (Mateo 25)

Advocacy Committee for LGBTQIA+ Equity Lambast a Trump Executive Order

LOUISVILLE — On President Trump’s first day back in office Monday, he issued an executive order identifying only two immutable biological sexes.

This means that the federal government will no longer recognize the legal identities of transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, agender, and intersex people on identification cards including passports and visas. This ends the limited federal funding for trans health care, including hormone treatment and gender affirming surgery; puts imprisoned trans women at further risk by moving them into men’s prisons; and excludes trans women from shelters designed for women who have experienced sexual assault.

This action not only goes against the recommended medical standards for transgender health care and the lived experience of trans people, but is also a denial of the diversity and beauty of God’s Creation.

Enforcing such ultimately ideological standards also harms cisgender people. Cis women’s autonomy is undermined via the same patriarchal norms and biological determinism supposedly being used to “protect” them in this executive order from transgender women, who are too often misrepresented as being innately dangerous when this is not statistically true. Children will be sexualized by policies scrutinizing their privacy, for example in the regulation of girls’ sports.

While it is ultimately harmful for everyone, Trump’s executive order is designed as a weapon against the “least of these” (Matthew 25:40), wielded to harm queer people, who reflect the glory and creativity of God. As Presbyterians, we confess that “in a world full of injustice and enmity, God is in a special way the God of the destitute, poor and wronged” (Confession of Belhar). Love of neighbor stirs us to protect and advocate for transgender siblings, sisters, and brothers (Leviticus 19:18).

This executive order is full of injustice and enmity. It is also in contradiction to the Christian faith. The gospel of Jesus Christ does not reduce human beings to static categories but affirms the multiplicity and complexity of human lives and their openness to transformation. 

The language of the executive order, which fixates on immutable categories of male and female, is against the testimony of Scripture. The nuance of God’s act of Creation consistently goes beyond the restrictions of what humans imagine to be true. Just as God created dawn, though the Creation accounts speak only of day and night, and just as God created fog, though it mentions only the waters and the sky so, too, does God create the diverse and wondrous expression of humanity that exists between and beyond “male and female” (Genesis 1). Transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, and intersex people are all fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).

God’s transformative grace is more powerful than the supposed destiny of biological nature. God creates new things in people throughout their lives. Scripture is full of stories in which God celebrates and affirms identities that transcend society’s expectation of what it means to be a man or a woman. God assures us that no one is beholden to their sex as identified at conception or birth. In scripture, God makes a promise to eunuchs, people we might today consider genderqueer: “I will give them a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off” (Isaiah 56:5). This promise resounds today for all siblings, sisters and brothers. Trans people are the beloved of God; the identities of trans people are not defined by any prince or principality. Trans lives are testaments to God’s persistent and consistent creativity.

Throughout scripture, we encounter stories of God revealing to people that they are different from what they were first thought to be by others and even what they first thought themselves to be. God spoke to Jeremiah and said, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). God’s call can also transform or illuminate more about us: David goes from being a shepherd boy to a king, Rahab the Canaanite sex worker becomes a hero to Israel, and even the resurrected Christ was not recognized by his followers at first (1 Samuel 16; Joshua 2; Luke 24:16 and John 20:15). To deny the reality of the transgender experience is to deny the lordship of the Holy Spirit, which moves where it wills, transforming us and the world around us (John 3:8).

As Christians we find our primary identity in Christ. As Paul reminds us, “There is no longer male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Paul was not a gender ideology extremist, yet he was acutely aware that our unity in Christ is not a flattening of our diversity. It is a transformation of our differences in celebration of our God-given uniqueness. But even that is not the end of our journey: We are promised the gift of resurrection, knowing that our earthly flesh, with its limitations and imperfections, is not the same as our spiritual bodies. “What is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:42). Just as the resurrection of Christ revealed to us a body that was simultaneously familiar and transformed, the expectations for our own resurrection should be open minded and vast. Trans people’s experience provides a foretaste to that experience.

We affirm that transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, and intersex people’s lives embody the overflowing richness of God’s image into a diversity of expressions. Trans people tell stories of God’s grace touching and transforming their lives in unexpected ways and leading them onto paths they could not have charted out for themselves. Trans people’s lives attest to the power of God to bring new life out of experiences of death, beauty out of barrenness, and joy out of sorrow. In many ways, trans people’s stories echo the stories of transformation people of faith have undergone in the encounter with God: like Paul on the road to Damascus, like the eunuch on the road back home to Ethiopia, and like Simon the fisherman called to be the Apostle Peter, a fisher of all people. We pray the lessons of transformation that trans and queer people bring to the Church will be heard by those Christians unfortunately celebrating this order.
 
We lament that this government uses its power to deny the image of God in transgender people. We recall that Joseph was clothed in a coat of many colors and while he was persecuted by family members who were jealous of his joy, he ascended to great things and was able to heal to reconcile with his family under his guidance (Genesis 37). In the same way, our trans siblings are clothed in beauty, in rainbows, and marvelous outfits and God calls trans people to lead us in dignity and joy.

We resist the premise of this executive order with bold conviction in our faith. Transgender, non-binary, and genderqueer people are beloved children of God, members of the church. They are our deacons and elders and Ministers of Word and Sacrament. Their lives are sacred, their callings are valid, and their identities are cherished by the God who delights in every transition journey. The Bible documents this in the past, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) professes this in the present, and God will love trans people into the future and forever. May the joy of our Lord be our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Original article on PCUSA news