A Queer Pilgrim

A blessed and happy International Transgender Visibility Day! March 31st is not only a national, but international, day, set aside for recognizing and honoring those who identify as transgender in our world. It is both a day to focus on the kinds of discrimination and bullying transgender people face in society, and the contribution of transgender people in society. The bullying and discrimination that transgender people face in this world is on full view in many conservative/Republican state legislatures with Republican Governors. Arizona just passed and signed into law a bill that discriminated against transgender athletes, as well as prohibiting gender confirming surgeries. Other states like TX and FL, AR and IA, along with the neighboring state of Idaho, have passed such bills/laws as well. Here's an article on the recently passed bill/law in Arizona: https://www.joemygod.com/2022/03/arizona-gov-signs-abortion-ban-bill-anti-trans-bills-and-bill-requiring-proof-of-citizenship-to...

Technically, I'm on vacation of sorts. Yet that doesn't mean I don't read the newspapers on-line, or surf various websites for stories about us in the LGBTQIA2S+ community who are people of faith. Amid the stories of Ukraine's tragedy, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's hearings, along with with "Don't Say Gay" bills in FL, popping up now in states like Georgia, and anti-transgender affirming care bills in TX and other states, along with LGBTQIA2S+ books being banned in libraries, with Governors signing anti-transgender athlete bills, there were two stories that showed that there are lights of good sense and hope also being lit across the land.  One good news story came from Washington state, next door to me in Oregon. The story was about Matthew Woods, a bisexual lawyer who lives with his same sex partner, who was denied a job as a lawyer, working with Seattle's Union Gospel Mission. Why? "' He was told before he applied that his application w...

Having faced discrimination and harassment because I am an openly gay man at a previous place of employment, in a religious-affiliated higher education context, my antenna goes off when I read of similar stories. It is amazing when private schools of higher education claim that they are, first and foremost, religious-affiliated institutions of higher education, and therefore have the legal right to discriminate against LGBTQIA2S+ people, even though they receive state and federal funds, and have powerful men's and women's basketball teams.  This is when so-called "religious freedom" becomes "religious discrimination" against LGBTQIA2S+ people.  In an article posted on the advocate.com website by Alex Cooper, he wrote about Michael O'Keefe, who had been teaching graphic design at the university for over 41 years who was fired on Monday, March14, 2022, from Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond, OK. His crime? Having gay speakers present in his class. It...

  In January 2022, I reported on the "Don't Say Gay" bill that was moving through the Florida House. In February 2022, I, again, wrote about this heinous law. The "wolf in sheep clothing" law is officially titled "Parental Rights in Education" bill.  What is in this bill? Joe Sommerlad, Alex Woodward, and Megan Sheets of  yahoonews.com, wrote the following about Senate Bill 1834:  “'A school district may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.' Further, it explicitly states that parents 'may bring an action against a school district to obtain a declaratory judgement that a school district procedure or practice violates this paragraph and seek injunctive relief. A court may award damages and shall award reasonable attorney fees and court costs to a parent who receives declaratory or injunctive...

Amid stories in which young transgender children and their parents are being abused in Texas, and the harm-filled, hate-filled "Don't Say Gay" bill in Florida continues to progress towards becoming state law, there are some good stories that we need to hear and see from time to time. Such is the case with the story of 87-year-old Rev. Barbara Satin, a member of the United Church of Christ (UCC) who hails from the Twin Cities, MN. Jeffrey Masters of advocate.com (March 1, 2022), interviewed the incredible Barbara Satin, who has led an amazing life.  Born in 1934 as David, Barbara lived her first 60 years of her life in the closet. She realized that something was going on when she was five or six-years-old. Now and then she would find something at Goodwill and stash it away, finding a place to put it on and feel "glamorous." Satin fell in love with a woman, and raised a family. Having retired from a business career at 54, David realized that there was another pers...