Why make religious scapegoats of other people? Have you ever thought about the fact that “religious” people all over the world — I mean everyday people, not elite thinkers or those who use religion to push their career and political agendas — care about the same things when they practice their religions? I’ve been observing that in my formal studies and teaching as a historian of religion for more than 50 years. The religious thinkers, philosophers, theologians, and organizational leaders can give us all the great theories, scriptural quotations, logical cosmologies, and “important” doctrines ..read more

Note: Since 2010, Trans Day of Visibility has existed to celebrate transgender identity separate from media coverage of the very real violence observed on Transgender Day of Remembrance, “while still acknowledging that due to discrimination, not every trans person can or wants to be visible.”  On Easter, Jesus rose and showed his disciples that he was alive! On Trans Day of Visibility, we let people know that, while we do die, we also live. We live full lives, in spite of how this cisgender-supremacist world sees and treats us. The disciples were overjoyed and filled with hope when they s ..read more

For there are eunuchs who were born that way [cisgender], and some eunuchs have been made eunuchs by others [sexually assigned] — and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs [transgender] for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it. (Matthew 19:12) Introduction: Neither male nor female Gender-affirming care is a tenuous topic of discussion for Christians. The Gospel according to Matthew offers only a glimpse of the instruction Jesus contributed to this debate. David Hester tells us, “The eunuch of Matthew 19:12 has long been viewed as a symbol ..read more

So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27, Amplified Bible) This verse is often used against transgender and gender expansive/diverse people. Bigots wave this back and forth, claiming it is proof that the gender binary was ordained by God. But is that true? Remember, these Scriptures belonged to Jewish folk long before White European Christians absorbed and abused them. So what do the rabbis have to say? Male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27) G‑d created the first man as a two-sided creature ..read more

Women’s History Month doesn’t do enough to lift up black lesbians. Fifty years ago in Boston, several lesbian and feminist women of African descent founded the Combahee River Collective. As a sisterhood, they understood that their acts of protest were shouldered by and because of their ancestors — known and unknown — who came before them. Its name honors the military action of abolitionist Harriet Tubman — known as the 1863 Combahee River Raid — that freed over 750 enslaved people. The CRC’s founders and frequent participants were an A-list of Black feminism’s foremothers: Cheryl Clarke, Demit ..read more

Badlands, you gotta live it everyday Let the broken hearts stand As the price you’ve gotta pay| We’ll keep pushin’ till it’s understood And these badlands start treating us good — ”Badlands,” Bruce Springsteen “Badlands” has long been one of my favorite Bruce Springsteen songs. He usually opens all of his live shows with it because the song’s theme – like most of his songs – is about the absolute futility most of us feel at some point – or perhaps at many points – in life. I often feel discouraged about my life – about the big, grand dreams I once had of fame and fortune and ill-repute. I wa ..read more

It was just my imagination In 2006, I fell into a deep depression. It was just like others had described it to me – a deep dark hole that you felt you could never climb out of, no matter what. Nothing in the world mattered to me. I called this my, “fuck it” stage of depression. The house catches fire? “F*&# it.” The dog dies? “F&#@ it.” I win the lottery? “F&$@ it.” Nothing, good or bad, could shake me from my darkness. During that time, one of my most beloved cats did, in fact, die, and while I missed him, it didn’t rip me apart as I thought it would. I could not sink deeper into ..read more

Note: This is the text of a letter sent by the author to the Parliament of New South Wales, which includes Sydney, Australia, in support of a bill banning sexual orientation / gender identity change efforts (SOCE/GICE). The state’s Premier, Chris Minns, has voiced his support.  Dear Members of the New South Wales Parliament For over two decades, I’ve been a vocal advocate to end so-called conversion “therapy” and actively supported and worked alongside over 4,000 survivors. My journey as a survivor began in 1972 when, unbeknownst to me, I became one of the initial individua ..read more

As I was sitting in my office this afternoon and reflecting on the rudeness, mockery, and cat calls aimed at the President last evening during the State of the Union, I have concluded I am physically, mentally, and spiritually sick of the political right and the evangelical right wing of the Christian faith. The rhetoric and belief system these people offer is full of negativity, hypocrisy and hatred for anything or anyone who does not fall in line with their belief system. Where can we turn as the LGBTQI+ community to find solace, comfort, and affirmation when the screaming from the right get ..read more

How many of those supporting LGBTQ+ people thought that achieving marriage equality back in 2015 was the end of the struggle for equality? Not Michelangelo Signorile in his wisely skeptical warning It’s Not Over, written in that same year. He warned us that a resulting “victory blindness” seduces us into thinking that LGBTQ+ people have made it, pulling advocates back from what is merely another step while the enemies of equality were obviously continuing to plan to chip away at rights the way they slowly chipped away at Roe v. Wade. State by state, local election by local election, a backlash ..read more