The history of Gender Identity and Our Faith Communities is complicated, but it’s a useful effort that centers many transgender voices (including Jewish and Muslim contributions even though it’s mostly Christian), literally, with the inclusion of audio files by the contributors to accompany the written materials.
Continue reading “HRC Gender Identity and Our Faith Communities curriculum, 2008”
I’m looking over past blog entries and realizing that I didn’t yet have a landing page for curriculum options. I’ve already posted about several options, but there are more that I’ll be adding as this isn’t yet a complete list! Most (but not all) of these are oriented toward Christian audiences. I would love to learn about additional resources to support conversation in other traditions!
Continue reading “Transgender and Religious Curriculum Guide”
In these strange times and as I come down off of the intensity of 3 book launches this year (In Remembrance of Me, Bearing Witness to Transgender Tragedy, OtherWise Christian 2: Stories of Resistance, and From Christendom to Freedom), I am finally getting my technology organized for listening to podcasts more regularly.
In addition to my long-time favorite Bible Bash, I have started listening to the Blessed are the Binary-Breakers podcast. The first episode features the podcaster, Avery Smith, themself (interviewed by their partner), but then most of the following episodes are lovely interviews with a variety of transgender folk of various spiritual backgrounds.
Continue reading “Podcast: Blessed Are the Binary-Breakers”
There is so much talk about Black transgender women and death that I compiled an appendix in In Remembrance of Me, Bearing Witness to Transgender Tragedy on how we can be better allies to them. For all the talk about the statistics, allies (other trans folk included) are often almost entirely irrelevant to transgender women of color too much of the time.
Diamond Stylz is a well-known podcaster, both under her own YouTube channel (also here) and through the Marsha’s Plate podcast. Diamond was recently profiled by The Root and I quoted from that interview as a part of my appendix on supporting Black transgender women. I also recommend Diamond’s numerous podcast entries as a wonderful (and fun) was to build cultural competency.
Continue reading “Diamond Stylz on Supporting Black Transgender Women”
My friend and co-conspirator wrote this invocation for the 2013 online Transgender Day of Remembrance service that we did as TDOR Unite. That project was co-sponsored by Transfaith, the Trans People of Color Coalition, the Trans Latin@ Coalitions, and The UU Church of the Larger Fellowship.
Everybody knows that I love me some Louis, but I think this is one of his best things–on a topic that is so difficult to do well. I am grateful that he agreed to let me properly publish it as a part of In Remembrance of Me, Bearing Witness to Transgender Tragedy this year. Review the Table of Contents for links to additional content previews!
Continue reading “We Gather by Louis Mitchell”
Well, this was a heck of lot of fun!
Literally, while I was marching at the National Trans Visibility March yesterday, my episode with Liam and Peterson on the Bible Bash podcast was released. We talked about Jesus and the eunuchs and Matthew 19:12 in particular, including three excerpts from OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation. Peterson did a pretty great edit to get all my talking to fit into the 30 minute time slot!
They always include a reading from an additional text on the Bible Bash, but they let me pick that selection this time. So I read a word from Dr Audre Lorde, which was a great honor at several levels.
Queer Theology launched a big giveaway today, which gives me a great excuse to blog about them more generally.
First things first. The giveaway includes a signed copy of OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation (signed by the author), as well as Transforming (signed by the author), Trans-Gendered (signed by the author), Walking Toward Resurrection (digital), as well as 5 other queer Christian books. This mega-pack also includes stickers, t-shirts, and a one-year subscription to the Sanctuary Collective including online courses, their monthly digital magazine Spit & Spirit, and an archive of past webinars.
Yeesh. I need to take a nap now! That’s a lot. Total value $304 (which seems low to me, especially given the priceless autographs, but ok…). They just want your email address so they can send you loving and supportive perspectives on LGBTQ Christianity. Seems like a win-win to me.
The giveaway ends October 10. Now, more about Queer Theology:
Even our most prominent transgender religious history is often obscured by our culture’s (and the LGBT movement’s) overwhelming emphasis on the politics of sexual orientation. Yet transgender religious folk have been making history for quite some time.
There are so many ways the world organizes to erase us–to pretend that we don’t exist, to forget about us. Remembering our histories is one small, but important way that we can claim our identities and our agency as sacred. We can honor our own elders and ancestors. We can celebrate all of the times that we have come through, somehow, when away was made out of no way.
Our friends over at Queer Theology were talking about Deuteronomy 30:15-20 on their podcast this week. I start chapter 1 of OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation with the same theme (specifically Deuteronomy 30:19):
I am now giving you the choice
between life and death,
between God’s blessing
and God’s curse,
and I call heaven and earth
to witness the choice you make.
Choose life.
Deuteronomy 30:19
Good News Translation Continue reading “Choose Life, Deuteronomy 30”
One of my goals with OtherWise Christian: A Guidebook for Transgender Liberation was to provide resources for self-defense against Christian trans-antagonism. However, the title, “OtherWise Christian” and my emphasis on the (Christian) Bible can get in the way–especially for those who have been most abused by Christian supremacy and trans-antagonism.
Nonetheless, I believe that this content is an important resource and I want to share it widely, especially with those who have been most impacted by Christian supremacy and trans-antagonism. So this fall, I will begin gathering folk online and moving through OtherWise Christian one chapter at a time–talking about concepts from the book and how they relate to Christian supremacy and transgender experience.
Continue reading “OtherWise Self-Defense, live chat and online course (weekly)”
OtherWise Christian 