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Tucked inside my Bible, I found this letter:
A little over a year after my gender alignment surgery, I received a letter from a friend, a retired mechanic with whom I had been part of a men’s Bible Study for close to twenty years. After reading it, I stuck it inside my Bible and forgot all about it—until a couple of days ago. I discovered it while unpacking after my recent move.
Note: My friend didn’t used my name in the letter and used instead the initial for my former male name in brackets (J). I have not seen him since the day I told the group I would not be coming to the Bible Study any more. After I transitioned, they had told me I was still welcome, but you could cut the tension with a knife some mornings and I was tired of being the elephant in the room. His letter arrived a couple of weeks later.
I post the letter without comment, but I would love to know your thoughts on what my friend wrote.
Sept 2011
A Little Leaven
Confronting a brother about his lifestyle in a self-righteous spirit is never called for, however we are told to care for one another, even if it calls for hard love, otherwise we will be held responsible, We may not get a hearing, but we have done what God required of us according to scripture.
Confronting a brother about his lifestyle in a self-righteous spirit is never called for, however we are told to care for one another, even if it calls for hard love, otherwise we will be held responsible, We may not get a hearing, but we have done what God required of us according to scripture.
My brush with Exodus International left me exposed
Long before I was able to admit that I was transgender, I spent twenty-one weeks trying to apply the teachings of Exodus to myself.
In 1991 I became aware of a ministry at my brother’s church which was trying to help gays and lesbians change their sexual orientation. The director of the program was a very masculine looking woman by the name of Marjorie Hopper; she had a very painful, complicated and difficult story. For years she lived as a man and worked as a custodian until she was outed at work and her world came crumbling down. She had a religious experience and became a zealous anti-gay advocate, and eventually the director of the Living Waters program at Burnaby Christian Fellowship (BCF). Living Waters was one of the many ministries associated with Exodus International. Continue reading
Do you have a husband?
As I waited for my sister and my mom to come out to the car so we could be on our way, my mom’s next door neighbor approached me to ask how we were doing.
My dad passed away a few weeks ago at the age of ninety-five and this neighbor was one of the last persons to see Dad alive before he was admitted to hospital. The neighbor’s name is Dave, and on many other occasions we had made small talk as we came and went. As far as neighbors go, he is the best anyone could hope for, always willing to lend my parents a hand, the quintessential handyman and Mr. Fixit, friendly and easy-going; and talkative.
Continue reading
Continue reading
Pointing Fingers: Out of the Gender Non-Conforming Comfort Zone (an admission)
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Who Made Me Gender-Role Police?
The story is titled “About a Boy: Transgender surgery at age sixteen” by Margaret Talbot inthe New Yorker Magazine (March 18, 2013). It talks about how many more females are coming out as transgender now than in the past. But as I reflected on the amazing progress trans people have made in recent years, it made me aware of my own subtle bias about gender-role conformity.
Indeed, my doctors tell me that compared to twenty years ago, when it seemed that twice as many males transitioned to females than females to males, today there is equilibrium in the numbers, with as many females as males identifying as transgender. Margaret Talbot says this:
In the past, females who wished to live as males rarely sought surgery, in part because they could “pass” easily enough in public; today, there is a desire for more thorough transformations. Continue reading
5 Minutes on CBC’s The 180 with Jim Brown…April 5, 2013!
Homosexuality & Christianity: Interview with Kathy Baldock
Here is a link to this Matthew J. Roth’s interview with my friend Kathy Baldock.
If you want to know the etymology of the words “homosexaul” and “heterosexual” and how they ended up in the Bible, you need to read this great interview!
Click on photo be redirected.
Equally worth reading are some of the comments. In particular, several by “Tim,” which were made in response to “Mark.” I’ve copied and pasted them below:
Drew Marshall Show — Round Table Discussion: “LGBTs & The Church”
Sorry… I need to re-direct you to my mirror Blog due to my technical limitations using WordPress!
Executive Director of New Direction Ministries Of Canada
Dr. Lawrence Brice:
Author of The Uncomfortable Church:
Can Gays be Reconciled To The Body Of Christ?
Can Gays be Reconciled To The Body Of Christ?
*****
Please Share far and wide if you are Canadian
Bill C-279 (An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression) has been passed in Parliament by a very small margin and now goes to the Senate for a vote.
It is feared the Conservative majority in the Senate may try to do what Parliament couldn’t and kill the Bill. We now must focus our energies on lobbying Senators and getting our friends and allies to rally behind us by writing letters and sending emails to the Senators. Yes, it may take a few minutes to do so, but we have waited too long for this to not do everything in our power to ensure this Bill becomes Law.
Whether you are straight, gay, lesbian or transgender, please consider writing an Open Letter to The Canadian Senate if for not other reason than to prevent tragedies like this one in the UK…it could happen here.
The subject line could be: Please support for Bill C-279
Greeting: Dear Honourable Senators
Say something about who you are and why you support this bill. Example: “Transgender Canadians deserve the right to be protected from discrimination and violence” or “It is time for all transgender Canadians enjoy the protection from discrimination and violence”
Copy and paste int your email’s Bcc filed:
andrer@sen.parl.gc.ca, buthjo@sen.parl.gc.ca, bakerg@sen.parl.gc.ca, denise.batters@sen.parl.gc.ca, belled@sen.parl.gc.ca, lynn.beyak@sen.parl.gc.ca, doug.black@sen.parl.gc.ca, boisvp@sen.parl.gc.ca, braled@sen.parl.gc.ca, cowanj@sen.parl.gc.ca, brazep@sen.parl.gc.ca, brownb@sen.parl.gc.ca, callbc@sen.parl.gc.ca, campbel@sen.parl.gc.ca, carigc@sen.parl.gc.ca, cordyj@sen.parl.gc.ca, coolsa@sen.parl.gc.ca, comeag@sen.parl.gc.ca, poulim@sen.parl.gc.ca, chapum@sen.parl.gc.ca, champa@sen.parl.gc.ca, dagenj@sen.parl.gc.ca, dallar@sen.parl.gc.ca, dawsod@sen.parl.gc.ca, dayja@sen.parl.gc.ca, debanp@sen.parl.gc.ca, tessil@sen.parl.gc.ca, pdowne@sen.parl.gc.ca, doylen@sen.parl.gc.ca, mikeduffy@sen.parl.gc.ca, dyckli@sen.parl.gc.ca, envert@sen.parl.gc.ca, egglea@sen.parl.gc.ca, eatonn@sen.parl.gc.ca, fureyg@sen.parl.gc.ca, fruml@sen.parl.gc.ca, frasej@sen.parl.gc.ca, fortis@sen.parl.gc.ca, finled@sen.parl.gc.ca, kinsen@sen.parl.gc.ca, kennyco@sen.parl.gc.ca, joyals@sen.parl.gc.ca, johnsj@sen.parl.gc.ca, mjaffer@sen.parl.gc.ca, hublee@sen.parl.gc.ca, lacomd@sen.parl.gc.ca, hervic@sen.parl.gc.ca, hervic@sen.parl.gc.ca, greens@sen.parl.gc.ca, runcib@sen.parl.gc.ca, jcrivest@sen.parl.gc.ca, rivarm@sen.parl.gc.ca, ringup@sen.parl.gc.ca, rainen@sen.parl.gc.ca, poirir@sen.parl.gc.ca, plettd@sen.parl.gc.ca, patted@sen.parl.gc.ca, olived@sen.parl.gc.ca, vdeng@sen.parl.gc.ca, ogilvk@sen.parl.gc.ca, nolinp@sen.parl.gc.ca, ngoth@sen.parl.gc.ca, neufer@sen.parl.gc.ca, mcgeed@sen.parl.gc.ca, munsoj@sen.parl.gc.ca, moorew@sen.parl.gc.ca, mocklp@sen.parl.gc.ca, mitchg@sen.parl.gc.ca, meredd@sen.parl.gc.ca, merchp@sen.parl.gc.ca, mercet@sen.parl.gc.ca, mcintp@sen.parl.gc.ca, mcinnt@sen.parl.gc.ca, mccoye@sen.parl.gc.ca, massip@sen.parl.gc.ca, martin@sen.parl.gc.ca, marshe@sen.parl.gc.ca, mannif@sen.parl.gc.ca, maltag@sen.parl.gc.ca, smithc@sen.parl.gc.ca, lebrem@sen.parl.gc.ca, zimmer@sen.parl.gc.ca, whitev@sen.parl.gc.ca, courtc@sen.parl.gc.ca, courtc@sen.parl.gc.ca, wallinp@sen.parl.gc.ca, wallaj@sen.parl.gc.ca, vernej@sen.parl.gc.ca, ungerbe@sen.parl.gc.ca, tkachd@sen.parl.gc.ca, tardic@sen.parl.gc.ca, stewac@sen.parl.gc.ca, smithlw@sen.parl.gc.ca, smithd@sen.parl.gc.ca, sibnic@sen.parl.gc.ca, setha@sen.parl.gc.ca, seidmj@sen.parl.gc.ca, kfl@sen.parl.gc.ca, lsinbc@gmail.com
*Disclaimer: I have included my email address at the end of the list. I would appreciate reading what you wrote the Senators, but if you don’t want me to see it, simply remove the last email address on the list. ALTERNATIVELY: You could add your letter as a comment below so others can read it as well.
Someone Asked If I Have Had a God Moment.
I’ve had many, but the question made me think specifically of Jacob wrestling God, how he walked with a limp thereafter, and how his name became Israel. You could say I too wrestled with God and in the end I too walk differently and have a new name!
My struggle with God was during the process I went through in reconciling my faith with being transgender. But I still wonder why the solution to my deeply private struggle require I make such public and outward changes?