I Am … Was … Speechless

For the first time in a long time, I am speechless. I have been for awhile, that’s why I haven’t written anything here since March 29th. I have been absolutely drained, indignant, and exhausted. I was feeling like my work as an advocate was irrelevant and ineffective. It’s not that I became weary of writing, I still love it very much, but I was torn that there was so much going on in my own movement that I disagree with, and I was particularly torn over what I will discuss in a moment. It’s hard to criticize both sides, it makes you feel alone. Then last week, I received a message from a former schoolmate and friend who reminded me that what I’m doing as an advocate is important. With that being said, let’s talk about the more troubling reason I have been speechless … the mind-numbing absurdity of the religious right.

It’s very easy for those of us who engage in pop culture, as progressives, to become blind to the dirty religious underbelly that still permeates our culture. We see progress, laws passed to protect us, backlash and swift consequences for laws that harm us, and our world continues to get better. But behind it all, behind every “religious freedom” bill, and in response to every celebrity who speaks out for us (thank you Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, and others), there sits the brooding and plotting bitterness of the religious right. Every day, the most outspoken evangelicals take to their radio and television shows, their websites, and the publications who print their material, to spew more misinformation and hatred about us … and they have become so comical, so cartoonish, yet so dangerous, that I was left speechless.

By now, everybody knows about North Carolina’s “bathroom bill,” HB2. For those who don’t you can Google it, I will not give it anymore credence by posting a link. In a nutshell, this bill keeps all counties and cities in North Carolina from enacting anti-discrimination laws to protect LGBTQ+ people. It actually prohibits municipal governments from extending non-discrimination ordinances to LGBTQ+ people! HB2 is the result of the irrational fears and panicked reactions of those furious over their loss of privilege, as they take to the streets screaming about “religious freedom.” Arguments for the bill were (are) few, focusing mainly on the debunked “allowing Trans people to use the restroom that best matches their gender identity will make way for pedophiles and other perverts to just say ‘I’m a woman;’ and get access to our wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters.” Never mind the fact that sex crimes have not gone up in places where Trans people are protected while they pee. Never mind the fact that nearly everybody in North America who goes out in public regularly, has most likely shared a restroom with a Trans person and didn’t know it. Never mind the fact that most in favour of the legislation are getting their information from a book that is very obviously not an authority on LGBTQ+ issues, and its evangelical messengers who are just as ignorant as their congregants.

As soon as there were consequences from companies like PayPal … as soon as celebrities like Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr started cancelling shows in North Carolina … as soon as politicians decided to veto discriminatory legislation in their own states … the loud and proud religious opponents of equality absolutely lost it. And they continue to lose it! Their anger is manifesting in more and more outrageous claims. Some of these claims are getting so outrageous that I have personally spoken with fans of these people who are starting to raise their eyebrows and question what is being said. This is unprecedented. In my experience, it’s very rare for a follower of any popular evangelist to question what that evangelist has to say. This is a good thing, but at the same time, we have to stay on guard. There are, after all, still many who believe it, and more fear means more risk of violence.

I wonder what it’s like. What is it like to live everyday in fear of what you have never encountered, a fear that only exists because of what a minister told you, or what you think you read in the Bible? Even when I was an evangelical Christian, I wasn’t as out of touch and afraid as these people are. It has really begun to reach a different level. America is boiling over, and it’s causing turmoil beyond her borders as well. Angry evangelicals, the ones who seem to have forgotten how to form a coherent thought or argument, are influencing the impressionable, and violence toward gay, lesbian, and transgender people the world over is going up at the very time it was starting to go down. This is a particularly scary time for Transgender people, who are being subjected to such an obscene level of misinformation that walking out the door can cause an anxiety attack. And all of this is happening because extreme conservatism is in its death throes, and Christian extremists are scrambling to ruin as many lives as they can before the ship goes down.

I have had two reactions to the comical, yet dangerous behaviour of these people over the past few weeks. The first is to laugh. When I hear a full grown adult crying about how they can no longer exercise their religious freedom to oppress others, I find that so pathetic that it’s funny. The second is to become altogether angry and sad. Their rhetoric, as cartoonish and silly as it is, is doing real damage. My fellow Trans people are being killed in droves, my fellow LGBTQ+ people hunted down and murdered all over the world, and all because of the lies of people who use religion to gain dominance. That’s what this is all about, after all. Christians in the west have had the upper hand for so long, that the thought of losing it scares the hell out of them (pardon the pun). So many of them say “I do not condone violence. I am not a hater. I do this out of love.” These are the same people who support Uganda’s laws that punish homosexuality with jail time, and Russia’s reluctance to act in any way respectable. They say nothing of the “corrective rape” of lesbian women going on in so many countries, and some have even gone so far as to praise the actions of ISIS when they throw gay men from rooftops. At the very least, they stay silent on all of the harm, preferring instead to use their voices to say we’re wrong. If this is love, I don’t want it.

If you think you don’t support violence, think long and hard about what initiatives you do support. Learn about the beliefs of those who do support direct violence against me and people like me. Anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs and rhetoric is standard everywhere. It’s all in the same pot, and if you go around condemning me, I am going to see you as just as dangerous as the gun-wielding psycho hunting people like me in Russia. My desire to live, my instinct toward self-preservation, keeps me from differentiating between you and the predator in Africa waiting for the opportune moment to rape an LGBTQ+ person. I know you don’t want to be lumped in with those people, but your rhetoric is the same. And I know it’s the same, I have spent the last three years learning that it’s the same. I know very well the minds of those who wish me harm, either directly or indirectly. Don’t you dare tell me this is out of love.

So I was speechless, I have been speechless, but I guess I’m not anymore. As a matter of fact, I’m more pissed off now. It’s still not safe for me to be myself in some places, and that is unacceptable.

It’s Not “Gender Confusion”

When talking about Trans issues, despite having no knowledge of Trans issues, many evangelical activists like to use the term “Gender Confusion” (or “Gender Confused”). It’s time this was confronted. When people like my favourite evangelical Dr. Michael Brown use this term, it feels like nails on a chalkboard to me. Now, for the record, the reason he is my favourite evangelical is because he is so adamantly outspoken about LGBTQ+ issues, even having written several books on us, but has so little knowledge it’s actually comical. As laughable as his work may be, however, he wields a certain amount of influence, and so do his colleagues. People need to know that Trans identity is not a matter of confusion.

Terms that minimize the validity of LGBTQ+ identities always tend to stem from the same premise – “It’s wrong because God.” The term “Gender Confusion” is inextricably linked to the idea that “God doesn’t make mistakes.” Indeed, “man and woman he created them” is right there in the Bible, and it makes sense that a believing Christian would take that to mean we are all born as one or the other. The obvious problem with this is that people are trying to pin down God’s plan … a plan that is supposed to be unknowable.

So how are we to know what God’s plan is? While it’s true that Genesis lays out the plan for procreation, how do you make sense of people who are born infertile, or those who are intersex? Did God make mistakes with those people? You wouldn’t say so, would you? You would say that they were born that way on purpose, a part of God’s plan, the reason for which we cannot know; and the reason you would say that is because you can’t deny physical evidence … but it’s easy to deny what you can’t see. Gender identity is invisible, and when it enters the discussion, God’s plan is no longer a mystery. All of a sudden, the plan is known, God doesn’t make mistakes, and Trans people are merely “confused.”

Does this not look like faulty logic to you? Is it not the height of arrogance to claim a faith in an unknowable God, and have the convenience of changing the narrative to claim to know exactly what he wants when it suits you? Is this not exactly what we mean when we talk about religion being used to justify hatred or dislike? Gender variance is unseen, it has an element of mystery, and instead of trying learn about it, how cowardly it is to grab your holy book and impose your own biases upon it.

It would be troubling indeed if Trans identity was a product of confusion. To come out and live openly despite the dangers of doing so, to struggle through the rift between social ideals and self, to live in constant fear, to fight for proper healthcare … all due to confusion? We don’t attribute women’s issues to confusion when many women face similar struggles, so why do it with gender identity? Granted, the doctrine of original sin allows for such confusion, attributing it to our fallen nature, but once again we have the application of personal bias to reach a desired conclusion.

Take a moment to consider these questions. Could Trans identity be part of God’s plan? What if the struggles faced by Trans people are due to human social bias, a bias that God did not ordain? All Christian denominations teach that humans are flawed and fallen, what if our dislike of difference is the flaw? Maybe Trans identity isn’t the problem. Maybe the problem is the use of the Bible to justify condemnation. Maybe … just maybe … you’re wrong.

At the end of the day, we are here, we are very real, and many people are going to have to learn to deal with that. Trans identity is broad, it is many things to many people, and if you are not willing to ask questions and accept that diversity is a wonderful thing, I feel sorry for you. You may be confused, but we are not. Trans identity is not “Gender Confusion.” Ask and learn, or bask in your own ignorance. Either way, we know who we are.

 

Pick Your Battles

When I began writing as Outspoken Ally, I was a new advocate. Like many new advocates, I was eager to loudly proclaim the message of equality and speak out against bigotry at every opportunity. I wrote about it, and I did it. Every chance I got, I did it, and what I found over time was that I was wasting a lot of unnecessary energy. Many people are up for the discussion in some form or another, but some either don’t get it or don’t want to. You have to pick your battles, because some just aren’t worth having.

Yesterday, I was speaking with an acquaintance who I have known since High School. The conversation was fine, until he unexpectedly launched into a string of very hurtful insults toward gay men; his comments littered with the word “faggot.” It took every bit of strength I had, but I immediately decided to let it go. Why? Because I would have voiced my discomfort with what he said, and then been dragged into a long, drawn out shouting match that would have left me exhausted, angry, and stressed; having made zero progress. Sometimes a hateful person is just a hateful person, and clashing with them isn’t worth the energy.

Let me assure you that I am still wholly committed to this work. What has happened over the past couple of years is that I have calmed down a little bit. My anger with inequality and those who uphold it, though still there, has given way to a more measured approach. Rather than fight every battle, I prefer to fight those battles that are worth fighting. I can argue with a person who just doesn’t care, and wind up feeling like I wasted precious time, or I can sit down with a person who wants to have the debate, and walk away with a sense of validation. If my opponent is unswayed but was receptive, it was worth the time.

A case in point is Dr. Michael Brown. I find Dr. Brown misinformed to say the least, and have written about him before. In my latest post (Trans Rights In 2016), I said that he decries Trans people as freaks, perverts, and liars. It is true that on his radio show he calls them broken and unnatural, frames the public washroom debate as an opportunity for dangerous men to gain legal access to young women, and blames people like me for perpetuating the “lie” that your gender can be different from your physical sex. Although not using the words “freaks, perverts, and liars,” his message is exactly that, and he took offence to my saying so. It is unlikely that I or anybody else will sway Dr. Brown … but engaging with him IS worth it. As wrong and misleading as I feel he is, he is still capable of intelligent debate. He is a smart man who believes he is doing good, and with people like him, the argument is almost always worth having. That’s why I then encouraged you all to voice your opposition to his misinformation on his Facebook page. (Taking my entire message into account, however – my numerous blog posts speaking out against vitriolic attacks, cursing at those we disagree with, and threats of violence – anybody who reads me regularly knows that I endorse civil opposition only)

If you feel the need to take every opportunity to fight, go for it. As long as you approach it with civility, you have my support. What I am encouraging you to consider here, is to save your energy for fights that are worth having. Before engaging, ask yourself one question. Is it worth my time and energy to confront this person? If you’re anything like me, you might find it less stressful, and more effective for your advocacy, to pick your battles.

Trans Rights In 2016

2016 has to be the year of Trans rights. On November 13, 2015, an article appeared on theguardian.com, outlining the very pressing dangers facing Transgender and gender non-conforming people in the United States today. It was devastating to say the least, and it serves to warn us all that the struggles of Trans people deserve more attention in the year to come.

2015 saw the landmark SCOTUS ruling legalizing marriage equality throughout America, and that was just one of many victories won this year. Despite the fact that LGB people are still facing discrimination, harassment, and the ever-present fear of violence, things have gotten better overall. 2015 has been a great year for equality! We must keep this momentum going in 2016, and at the same time prioritize our push for the same progress in Trans visibility and understanding.

As of Nov 13 (the publication date of the article above), there had been 21 Trans homicides in 2015; almost all of whom were Transgender women of colour. Of the 53 Trans murders between 2013 and 2015, NOT ONE had been reported or prosecuted as a hate crime. Due to social pressures, stigmas, and threats of further violence, we know that most violent crimes against Trans people go unreported, leading to the safe assumption that these numbers are not even close to revealing the reality of the situation. It should be noted here that these are U.S. statistics, but that the struggle for Trans people across the world, including my country of Canada, is just as real.

A Congressional group dedicated to the rights and equalities of LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. has taken the step of putting together a Transgender Equality Task Force, and we have to put our passions into this as well. Governmental and grass roots groups have to both work hard for this, a combined effort that has seen success for decades now. We have to fight just as hard, though hopefully not as long, as we have for the rights and equalities of LGB people.

Note what was just said about the victims of these crimes – in 2015, most were Trans women of colour. It is rightly pointed out in the article that the issue here goes much deeper than mere Transphobia; a definite issue to be addressed, but it only scratches the surface. The deeper issue lies at the intersection of racism, sexism, and transphobia. Immediately clear, and again rightly pointed out in the article, we can no longer afford to address these issues separately. Where do we begin? By listening to the people already talking about it, and asking questions to gain a better understanding.

The push against traditional gender roles, against sexism and for Feminism, against transphobia and for equal rights and dignity, against continuing systemic racism, and many more problems, are here all wrapped up into one. Trans people have become the most at-risk group among the LGBTQ+ community, Trans women of colour especially. Their voices are not being heard loud enough. Their struggles are not being addressed to the proper extent. They are being decried as freaks, perverts, and liars by evangelical activists like Dr. Michael Brown (you can find him, and object to his misinformation, at askdrbrown.org, and ‘Ask Dr. Brown’ on Facebook). Most importantly, the realities they face are not understood. We have to correct that in 2016, before more lives are taken.

I don’t generally make New Year’s resolutions, preferring instead to make lifestyle changes when the time is right. This time, though, right now, is the right time for all of us to make a change toward asking, listening, empathizing, and acting to make things better. Countless LGB people died while we sat and passively argued against inequality. It was only when things reached a tipping point that the push got real and things started to change, and they still have a long way to go. That tipping point came too late for people who never should have suffered the way they did, people who could have been effective voices fighting for their own lives. Are we going to continue to repeat that history?

In every single state but California, “Trans Panic” is currently considered a valid legal defence. For those of you unfamiliar with what that is, “Trans Panic” is the argument that upon learning that the person they were involved with was Transgender, the murderer panicked, lashed out in an uncontrollable rage, and cannot be held responsible for their actions. Since Trans people are seen as such a shockingly disturbing bunch to an aging white cis-male legal establishment, “Trans Panic” can be used for nearly any situation – from brief social interactions to a romantic relationship. After all, who’s to say that panic and murder aren’t warranted when you buy someone a drink at a bar and find out they have unexpected genitalia, right? “Trans Panic” frees the guilty and blames the victim. It says the victim deserved to die, and this somehow makes sense to the legal establishment in every American state but one. This has to change in 2016.

The good news is that there are people already talking about this. What we have to do is start listening to them. It took a long time, but many people have come around and taken the time to understand what it means to be gay and/or lesbian. It was once thought that bisexuality wasn’t a real thing, but people know differently now; and bisexuality is better understood. Two-spirited people are beginning to be celebrated in some communities, Queer people are entering the discussion and we’re telling our stories, and asexuality is beginning to be talked about as well. The challenges and dangers facing these groups are still there, but things have improved greatly. Let’s make 2016 the year we give Trans issues the attention they deserve. Let’s make 2016 the year we force the discussion about the intersectionality of racism, sexism, and transphobia. Let’s make 2016 the year we tell our legal representatives that “Trans Panic” is a disgusting and dehumanizing argument that has to be thrown in the trash where it belongs.

2016, I must admit, is also going to see me asking more questions. I intend to ask about terms that confuse me – terms like “transage,” and “trans-species.” I want to learn more, to know if my inclination toward dismissing terms I find suspect is valid or the result of my own ignorance. Humanity is complex, we are all very unique and fascinating creatures. Before venturing an opinion or point-of-view, especially for a person who chooses to live as an outspoken ally, information has to be sought out and carefully taken in.

My plans for 2016 are many, but where my Trans advocacy is concerned, I intend to ask, learn, act, and aggressively fight for the equality, rights, dignity, and acceptance of the Trans community.

Have a safe and happy New Year!

 

“The Bible Doesn’t Say That”

Contrary to what one might assume from the title, I am not going to talk today about whether or not the Bible condemns homosexuality. I have made my thoughts on that clear from a scriptural perspective on my ‘Think’ page, and from a legal perspective in the article “2015 Talk Round-Up: Biblical Law.” Today, I offer some quick thoughts on the argument that the Bible does not tell believers to judge or condemn. You know, the whole “who am I to judge? The Bible tells us to love” thing.

Every time the accusation of self-righteous condemnation is levelled, I hear Christians responding in regard to whatever group is under scrutiny with “those aren’t real Christians. They are judging, and that’s against the Bible. The Bible doesn’t say that.” Every time I hear this, I have to wonder if those people saying it have ever actually read the Bible.

Here’s the thing. The Bible commands believers to “rebuke the sinner” (Matthew 18:15, Luke 17:3, 1 Timothy 5:20, and many more). Jesus commanded believers to “judge righteously” (John 7:24). IF you are a Christian who believes the Bible is the word of God, and IF you listen to what Christ said, and IF you look to God to determine your actions … then it IS your place to judge, it IS your place to condemn. The Bible DOES say that.

This is a pretty simplistic and brief argument of course, and it could be argued at great length from both sides. The point I am making is not that the Bible says one thing. The point is that Christians who condemn us for being LGBTQ+, or for whatever other reason, if they believe we are worthy of judgment, are just as much Christians as those who say otherwise. It is very misleading to say that the Bible tells believers only to love when that is very clearly not the case. It does say to love and have compassion, and it also says to judge and rebuke. Which part you choose to follow, if any, will be determined in large part by what kind of a person you are. Choosing to follow the love parts doesn’t make you any more of a Christian than choosing the judging parts. I’m not saying the Westboro Baptist Church is scripturally justified of course, the word “fag” is nowhere in the Bible, but the guy who told me that I am leading kids away from God, recruiting them into a life of sin, is. He believes what he said, and the Bible told him to do just what he did – judge and rebuke the sinner.

The Bible is a big book, and there is a lot of complexity to it. As frustrated as I and the knowledgeable Christians I argue with get with one another, we at least have a scriptural understanding in common. I find increasingly that pop culture rhetoric on this topic reveals both a lack of understanding of what is actually in there, and an eagerness to use it in social issue debates. The Bible doesn’t just say what we want it to. I would love to tell that guy that he is going against his own holy book when he ignorantly judges me, but he isn’t. It says what it says.

I don’t take the Bible as a moral authority, or as a book with any moral lessons that can’t be found in many other books (I can go to much older texts to find the same lessons). I study it because I grew up trying to follow it. I use my experience, and my knowledge, to help others. In addition to that, the Bible has a tremendous amount of cultural ‘pull,’ and whether or not we use it in any meaningful spiritual way is a choice those of us raised with it have to make. As a Queer person, I have Christians who love and accept me, and Christians who loath and condemn me. All of them are justified by scripture. So the next time you want to say “the Bible doesn’t say that,” think twice. There’s a good chance it does.

 

Today We Remember

Today, November 20, finds us observing Transgender Day Of Remembrance once again. This is a day to honour and remember those we have lost due to fear – fear of people who don’t fit archaic understandings of gender, fear of what Transgender people are percieved to be by an ignorant culture. This is a day to think about the thousands of Trans people killed, the thousands who have taken their own lives, the thousands who are still on the streets, kicked out by families whose “unconditional love” has conditions. Today, we are reminded to ensure that those lives were not lost in vain, and that the lives living homeless deserve better. Today, we strengthen our resolve to keep fighting.

Trans people are beautiful, they are unique, and there is wonderful diversity within the Trans community. Gender variance is fascinating, and “Trans” … a prefix denoting movement, fluidity … is a wonderful representation of that diversity. This is not understood by many, of course, and it’s true that the people we remember today were/are mostly people whose gender identity is either opposite their physical sex, or who don’t fit the male/female gender binary at all. But Trans people come in many forms, and today we and our allies remember.

I encourage all of you today to go to your favourite search engines and look for their stories. Look for the stories of Trans people we have lost. Read about them, about how they lived, how they struggled, and why they died. Read about those still with us, about the heart-wrenching stories of teens kicked out of their homes for no reason other than being someone their parents cannot accept. Think about what can be done to change the hearts and minds of those responsible for this hatred, about how we can make this world a better place.

Today we remember, and we are reminded that hatred must not go unchecked any longer. Let this day of remembrance act as a call for love.

 

Isn’t It Time For Some Of You To Grow Up?

This article is addressed to the many many people who insist on continuing their crusade against the LGBTQ+ community for religious reasons. The time for kind appeals to reason, I fear, is fast coming to an end; so today I’m just going to say it. The lack of maturity you display, as you consistently seek to deny rights based on your belief in a misinterpretation of an ancient holy book, is nauseating. It’s embarrassing to see full grown adults misrepresenting homosexuality as an “act,” conflating sexual orientation with gender identity, condemning people out of fear, making threats of violence, trying to make these views a matter of public policy, and seeking to protect hatred under the guise of religious freedom.

Our children are watching. Your children are watching. Grow up. Are you so childish, so petty, that you must continue with this ridiculous campaign? Are you so miserable in your own life that you have to hinder the happiness of people who are different from you? Must you use words like “cocksucker,” “faggot,” “homo,” etc? Isn’t it time that you stopped preaching love, and instead started to practice it?

When I approach this topic, I usually hear appeals to the well-being of our next generation. The truth is, our children ARE watching; and where I see them being impacted by the spiteful actions and attitudes of their parents, some of the parents I speak with see them being impacted by the harmful “gay agenda.” The difference between my perspective and theirs, is that one of us is appealing to reality, the other to perception. The reality is that children are heavily influenced by their parents. Among the many influences in our lives, the guidance of authority figures throughout our childhood have, arguably, the greatest impact on us. For the majority of us, the most present of those authority figures is a parent or parents. The perception that there is a “gay agenda” designed to make our children gay, trans, etc is NOT reality. It is a ploy designed to do exactly what it does – create fear. Our next generation is suffering much more from the bigotry of the adults in their lives than from a non-existent agenda. What you are really fighting against is a movement to recognize the dignity of every human being. You are arguing against a legal system that recognizes diversity, and protects the rights and dignities of all people. You are fighting against social equality … against the teaching of “love thy neighbour” you claim to believe.

So how about exercising the maturity most of you are capable of? Two-year-olds have more acceptance in their hearts than you do, but by the time they are six, you’ve ruined them. Get a grip, and stop being so miserable. And please, stop meddling in our affairs. If two men get married, and your kids don’t see a problem with it, who cares? It shows that your kids are more mature than you are, and it’s none of your business anyway. My gender identity doesn’t make a single bit of difference in your life, so try staying out of it. Stop teaching our children how to be bad people. Isn’t it time for some of you to grow up?

 

2015 Talk Round-Up: Biblical Law

** This post is on the longer side, but I hope you find it interesting. I sure enjoyed writing it. 🙂 **

On October 24th, I spoke at the 2015 Pride In Education GSA ‘True Colours’ Conference. I have spoken at the annual PIE GSA conference for three consecutive years now, and I always write a follow-up afterward (I apologize to those waiting for the delay this year). The presentation I gave this year was called “Unwrapping The Law: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, And The Bible.” I had to think about this one more than any other talk I’ve given. I had to study harder, and I sat down with an Anglican theologian to ask some tough questions (my Dad, with whom I disagree on many things, but to whom I am forever grateful for his willingness to sit down and have the discussion). I wrote this talk because, like it or not, the church is still really powerful. The fight for equality is a testament to that. The system of laws and attitudes and cultural conventions that keep people down, are religious at their very core. Empiricism set the stage through conquest, and religion was the method to control and organize society. In the west, at least as I see it, we owe a lot to Christian doctrine – exclusion, hatred, fear – while the positive – ethical laws, morals, unifying ideas – are things that existed before Christianity, and have been consistently disregarded since the church began claiming them as their own. The question I wanted to address was: are Christians justified in condemning homosexuality as a matter of law; at least from a scriptural standpoint?

Now, I admit that adding Gender Identity into this was a tad pointless. Not because I have no defence against my opponents, but because the Bible really doesn’t say anything about it. I wrote an article on April 25 called “Biblical Justifications For Transphobia.” In it, I talked about Psalm 139 and Deuteronomy 22:5. These are really the only two passages I hear in opposition to Trans issues; short of those who use a ‘whole-Bible’ approach to make their point. There is also an argument involving the creation story in Genesis, but I find it insufficient, and that’s a discussion for another time.

In Psalm 139, it is said that God has known all of us since we were in the womb – kind of a weak argument, since that supports us being born the way we are, according to his will. It’s also not part of the law. Deuteronomy 22:5 is a law against cross-dressing. This is also weak, for two reasons. First, cross dressing back then basically meant adding or removing the belt from your dress. Second, you have a God who created the entire universe, has everything that exists to worry about, and he’s concerned with what you’re wearing? Come on. Not only is that petty, it’s suspiciously human. So the Bible has nothing relevant to say against Gender Variance, and those who use it to condemn Gender Variance are grasping at straws for a scapegoat to justify their fear. I didn’t go any further with that, because I just don’t find any more substance to it.

On to some biblical laws, of which there are 613 … most of which are not followed by the church, and the reasons for this vary. Some are re-interpreted – for example the law about helping your neighbour with his over-burdened ox can be re-framed to mean helping your neighbour with their broken down lawn mower. Some are thrown out – it’s pretty hard to live in today’s world and not wear blended fabrics. Some are no longer considered valid – methods for cleansing and refining animal meat have come a long way, so why follow the prohibition on pork? And most importantly, we have the doctrine of the new covenant. At the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that “not a jot or tittle of the law” would change until all had come to pass. He also said that he had not come to change the law but to fulfill it. The crucifixion is believed to have been the fulfillment of that, so many of the Old Testament laws no longer need to be observed. Still, though, most Christians agree that certain laws are valid while others are not.

So Leviticus 19:16 commands believers “not to slander.” In other words, don’t gossip. Churches teach this one, but does anybody really keep it? There are 13 laws related to helping the poor and less fortunate, and many churches offer help in this regard, but when was the last time the vatican put its money where the pope’s mouth is and used their wealth of resources to end world hunger?

Deuteronomy 23:18 says no sex before marriage. Leviticus 18:20 bans extramarital affairs. In Deuteronomy 24:5, a newly married man must be free from work or military service for one full year in order to celebrate with his wife. Leviticus 19:27 forbids men to shave their sideburns or beard. We are not to castrate a male of any species according to Leviticus 22:24 (so much for neutering your pets).

Then we have the subjugation of women. According to Deuteronomy 22:19, the punishment for defaming your wife, for destroying her reputation, is to be forced to live with her the rest of your life. This is framed from a male perspective, but what it boils down to really is that a woman is forced to live with a man who has destroyed her socially for the rest of her days. Deuteronomy 25:5 makes a woman marry her brother-in-law if her husband died childless. In Deuteronomy 22:28-29, an unmarried woman must marry her rapist. According to Exodus 22:18, witches are to be put to death … we all know how that one played out in our history.

My favourite laws are the dietary ones. I like them because they demonstrate why we shouldn’t be taking biblical law too seriously. Exodus 21:28 tells us not to eat the flesh of a bull that was condemned to be stoned. Leviticus 11:6 says not to eat rabbits because, although they chew their cud, they do not have a divided hoof … all kinds of wrong in that one. Leviticus 11:13-19 identifies the bat as a kind of bird. These examples are kind of silly, but they are there. If we were to take the dietary laws literally, and look at all possible definitions of wording like “creeping things,” there would be very little we could actually eat.

And now we get to the point. Leviticus 18:22 provides us with the all-important law, the currently argued law, the one that evangelicals frame as what I call the 11th commandment: thou shall not lie with a man as with a woman. And like numerous things throughout scriptural law, this is called an “abomination.” I like to simplify it, and say that the 11th Commandment is: “thou shalt not be gay.”

I think it’s fair to say that biblical law doesn’t stand today as it did when it was written. Then we see cherry-picking going on, and we see people trying to say that there is a difference between ceremonial, moral, and civil laws; but that’s a matter of doctrine. The Bible lays it all out there without making the distinction of which are more important. The only argument that makes any sense is the new covenant, and if the crucifixion fulfilled the law, therefore removing the burden, my response is “game over, then. If that’s the case, Old Testament prohibitions are no longer binding, and that includes homosexuality.” That should be the end of it, but this is where we find a problem.

Talking about the law and using the rest of scripture to explain it away is easy. If we only had to deal with that, it wouldn’t be worth our time to even talk about it. But scripture has much more to it, and if we choose to debate it we have to come prepared. So the problem we face is that prohibitions on things like shellfish aren’t mentioned anywhere but in the law. We don’t see Paul talking about washing your steak down with a glass of milk in his letter to the Romans. We do, however, find his thoughts on homosexuality. There are many laws that Paul talked about, and this is one of them. Since Paul wrote after the crucifixion, and since the church believes his words to be God-given, it appears at first that there is a relevant scriptural argument to be made … until we look at Paul himself.

So what do we know about this man? He used to be Saul of Tarsus, and as Saul of Tarsus, his job was slaughtering Christians. Then on the road to Damascus, God revealed himself and Saul became Paul – the newest convert to Christianity, who would become the most influential evangelist in history, and one of the founders of the church. This is the most important thing to know about him, because most converts have certain qualities that are relevant to this discussion.

When I was 16, I went to a weekend retreat called Teens Encounter Christ, TEC for short. The whole point of TEC is revival, to stir the holy spirit and mobilize an enthusiastic young base of on-fire evangelicals. We were moved to witness, to give testimony, to tell the world about Christ and his love for us. I was already a Christian when I went to TEC, but what I left as was a “born-again” Christian – a convert of sorts. And I had all the qualities, too – “on fire,” eager to tell everybody, loud, brimming with enthusiasm, unapologetically fundamentalist … annoying, overbearing, preachy, unwilling to listen to anybody who disagreed, because I was convinced that Christ had revealed absolute truth in my life. I was like Paul, and nearly everybody I know who has been to a revival, or converted for whatever reason, is like Paul; at least for a time. This context of conversion is vital.

If you read the letters of Paul and pay attention, you can see it plain as day. Paul was arrogant, obnoxious, bent on writing his version of what God wants and making sure everyone knew it. Paul was also educated. He could read and write, and he was a cultural Jew who knew the Torah inside and out. He knew the law, and he wrote “as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy;” effectively using God’s authority to assert what he thought should be included under the new covenant. Paul was, for all the respect he’s given within the church, the quintessential evangelical opponent of the LGBTQ+ community, a pioneering cherry-picker. He was Tony Perkins. He was Pat Robertson. He was Kim Davis.

So back to the question. Are Christians justified when they use Leviticus to condemn, when they use the law? I don’t think so. The new covenant argument still applies. We do find homosexual sex outside of the law, condemned in Paul’s letters, right beside women braiding their hair, and women holding positions of leadership. It’s pretty clear what Paul was doing, and it should be clear that he was wrong. This is all in the church canon, it’s just a matter of teaching that is conveniently ignored at times. IF the law had not been fulfilled on the cross, and IF the new covenant was not ushered in when Jesus took on the sins of the world, then ALL 613 Old Testament laws would still apply … every single one, including stoning your children, if the council of elders deemed it appropriate. Either Paul was right, and the LGBTQ+ community is a bunch of perverts, women need to step back from authority and stop adorning themselves with jewellery and hairstyles, or … Paul was wrong from the outset, and the Old Testament laws are in the past where they belong.

Jesus said he came to fulfill the law. He then fulfilled it on the cross. Either there is no new covenant and all 613 laws are still valid, or there is, and those laws are no longer binding … whether Paul said it or not. As the cliché goes, ‘you can’t have your cake and eat it too.’ The Bible just doesn’t stand in an argument against LGBTQ+ issues. People need to stop using scripture as a scapegoat to justify their dislike of others. That’s really all there is to it.

 

Gender Distinction Is Not Necessary. It Never Was

The new-to-me experience of living as an out Genderqueer person leads to many questions. I have an inquisitive nature, so I can never be content with accepting things as they are. On the contrary, I must explore, study, and analyze, in my best attempt to figure out why they are. One hypothetical I wrestle with is what my gender identity would look like if gender distinction didn’t exist. When I came out to my parents, my mother asked why we needed gendered labels at all. “Why define ourselves in that way? Why can’t you just be Josh?” Indeed, if gender distinction didn’t exist … if we weren’t defined by cultural ideals of male and female … if society didn’t insist on the gender binary, and these standards that determine “masculinity” and “femininity,” in all of their sub-cultural contexts, were rejected en masse … if the binary itself was rejected en masse … I could just be Josh. But that’s not the world we live in. The reality is that my identity as Genderqueer means something because gender distinction means something. My mother’s query raises an interesting thought. Gender distinction is one of the ways in which humans organize, it carries with it many complexities, behavioural expectations, and power dynamics. It influences nearly every facet of social and private life. It cannot be said that gender distinction is not important to our history … but was it necessary, and is it necessary for our future?

Everyday I hear comments that attribute certain behavioural standards to people based on what they have between their legs, the all-too-common mistaken assumption that sex and gender are the same thing. To be fair, those making the comments don’t generally realize that they are promoting unnecessary division. “I’m not as fond of being around women, because they are so dramatic.” “I told my brother, you’d better not let that son of yours play princess, ’cause that ain’t right.” “I don’t make my lunch for work, that’s a woman’s job. I have my wife do that. I’m old fashioned that way.” “Yeah, my wife and I both work full time, and when I get home I deserve a hot meal and a beer. She works too, but cooking, taking care of the kids, and making sure I’m happy is her job as a woman.” “He’s not a man, his wife makes more than he does.” Every one of these things has been said in front of me in the past few months, and every time I’m stunned at how unbelievably blind these people are to what they’re actually saying; not to mention the blatant misogyny.

If women are dramatic, how are we to view the ‘old boys clubs,’ where men get together to drink, assert their importance, and gossip? Who determined dresses are for women, and why? What really is the harm in a boy playing princess … and I mean what’s the real harm? Is it a woman’s job to make your lunch, or are you just too lazy and selfish to do it yourself? Why do you think you deserve more down time than she does? She makes more money … so what? If none of these comments could be made because it was understood that people are too complex to be defined by gender, what do you think would happen? Would the sky fall?

Is gender distinction necessary? No, I don’t believe for a second that it is. The truth, and I think most people understand this, is that male-female distinction has been a tremendous tool in the context of power. What I’m saying is viewed as dangerous, because as men lose privilege and women gain it, there at least remains a distinction that can be leveraged in what the despicable MRA’s see as a fight for supremacy. If that distinction were to disappear, it would be ‘game over.’ All of a sudden we would just be people. Each with our own talents, skills, and abilities, each qualified to fill positions doing what we do best. No male dominance, no wage gap, no power struggle between the sexes, no binary, no gender discussion. And we would find, despite what some people might think, that the world would operate just as well as it does now … arguably better, without so many of our current problems. We would still have problems, humans always will, but minus those dependent upon gender distinction, the number would drop dramatically.

There are those who identify with what we are told it means to be either male or female. There are some who identify with one, and a little bit with the other. There are some who identify as both. There are some who identify as neither. Sex is a separate issue, and what effect hormones have (ie: estrogen vs testosterone) varies too much from person to person to be used in an argument for biologically-driven behavioural groupings. Gender distinction is ingrained into our thinking, our interactions, our very way of life. It is both overt and subtle, but it is NOT necessary

 

My Testimony

It recently dawned on me that although I’ve been very open about my life, I’ve never written an actual “testimony,” so to speak. I gave a fair amount of background when I came out on August 2nd, and little bits and pieces here and there, but I feel that with so much bad news on the daily, a good news story can brighten our spirits. A story about coming out of homophobia, into advocacy, and eventually into the realization and full acceptance of self, deserves to be told. So here it is, my “testimony.”

My story is an increasingly familiar one. I’m a former Christian, the evangelical Anglican kind, who also grew up in the charismatic movement. In my younger years, I was one of the worst behaved homophobes I’ve ever met. Hateful and proud of it. The word “Gay” was an insult, and as far as I was concerned homosexuality was a sinful and deplorable choice. I am profoundly ashamed to say that I viewed gay men in particular as almost sub-human. As for Trans people, I thought that was a myth. Every chance I got, I used my words to humiliate and degrade LGBTQ+ people, and if the chance didn’t present itself, I would bring it up anyway. I was everything I now fight against.

After graduating from High School, it was eight years before I decided to attend University. Five of those years were spent at sea. As a crew member on oil tankers sailing the Atlantic, I learned about loyalty, inner strength, hard work, emotional fortitude, and courage. I joined in 2001, a cocky immature child of 20, and after five years of a 73-days-on-73-days-off rotation (that never quite worked out that way), I had grown into an adult. At the age of 26, I was accepted into university. While there, I became more moderate, less hateful, more … tolerant. I played music to earn part of my income, and one night I landed a gig at the local ‘gay bar.’ The moment I walked into that nightclub, I felt at home. I’ll never forget that feeling. It’s not that I assumed LGBTQ+ people were less judgmental, but for some reason I felt like I was surrounded by people who weren’t concerned with who or what I was. The bartender greeted me as you would a friend. Nobody knew if I was LGBTQ+ or not, and it really didn’t matter. If there was negative judgment from anybody, I wasn’t aware of it. In contrast to other bars, I didn’t feel like I had to watch my back. That experience helped me on the path to becoming an ally.

A year after my university graduation, my wife and I were driving down the highway on a sunny afternoon. My wife, a brilliant educator, had already become an ally and active advocate for LGBTQ+ equality. During the course of our conversation that day, I used the word “fruit” as a slur. I didn’t realize what I had done until she called me on it. The loud and spirited argument that followed ended when I finally admitted fault, and I realized then that change was in order. A short time later, following a homophobic incident perpetrated by some Christian fanatics in a nearby town, I became an outspoken ally.

I now specialize in the relationships between traditional Christian doctrine, the LGBTQ+ community, and pop culture. In university, I earned a degree in cultural anthropology, with minors in religious studies, history, and Spanish. I understand the religious foundations of hatred on a personal level, and thanks to my education, I understand it on an academic level as well. After a couple of years writing as Outspoken Ally, I went through a period of internal turmoil and struggle as I came to realize and embrace my own gender identity. I came out as Queer in August 2015; and living in an extremely phobic area of Canada’s east coast, I’m beginning to understand things on a whole different level still.

I am not simply an advocate for equality. I am personally affected by the ignorance I fight against. Until I can walk into a business in the next town over without being met with rolling eyes, or shop in “women’s” clothing sections without getting angry looks from male patrons, my work isn’t done. My testimony, to ironically use some Christian lingo, is that I once was lost but now I’m found. I struggled through life pretending to be something I wasn’t, because I was taught that who I was was wrong. Having broken the shackles of that God-based fear, having embraced humanity for what we are, having found myself … my testimony is a happy one. It’s not that it got better, it’s that I gained knowledge, and with that came self-realization and acceptance. I have found the experience very freeing, very uplifting. I feel fully human for the first time.

Embracing my true self in public is the hardest part now, but it gives me confidence to know that if I can do it, LGBTQ+ youth might learn from that example. Then again, it might not help anybody at all; but it’s worth talking about, and knowing we aren’t alone is a powerful thing.