[Ask a transgender Christian]

Christian blogger and author Rachel Held Evans has a series of posts called "Ask a...". In this series she invites questions for the interviewees from her readers in advance, and then posts the answers a few days later.

I found the recent Ask a transgender Christian particularly valuable, as I know very little about this and also because Lisa (pictured at right) talks about the role that other Christians and churches played in her journey. I was particularly pleased to hear her mention her involvement in a small church in Vancouver "where the motto is “everyone is welcome…and we mean it.” And they do." The embrace they offer is quite remarkable and regrettably rare.

In introducing Lisa, Rachel writes:

Lisa was born in Colombia, grew up in California and moved to Vancouver, BC in the early 1970s to start a successful career as a graphic designer and photographer. After living for 25 years as a devoted husband and father, Lisa was diagnosed with gender dysphoria. She says this diagnosis was both a blessing and a curse. Though it offered an explanation for her years of struggle, confusion, and guilt, it did not offer any simple solutions. It would take another ten years before she could come to terms with the diagnosis. Lisa has written her autobiography, Transparently: Behind the Scenes of a Good Life, which is available on Amazon. She has given sensitivity workshops at Gay Christian Network, companies, high schools, and churches and hopes to do more in the future.

Lisa responded to your questions with thoughtfulness and honesty. I hope you learn as much as I did.

Click here to read this interview.

Other interviews in the series include:
Ask an Atheist
Ask a Feminist
Ask a Funeral Director
Ask a Humanitarian
Ask a Gay Christian
Ask a Muslim
Ask a Nun
and many more.