Wednesday, August 03, 2016

[these beautiful photos set trans and gender queer people free]


"An Australian photographer [Emma Leslie] created a breathtaking photo series that shows gender diverse and transgender children exactly how they want to be seen. The images are meant to give these children a voice, as transgender and gender queer people as a whole are often misunderstood."

Taleem 9 yrs & Sister Nim. Photo  by Emma Leslie


Read the whole article and see more pictures at:
http://www.attn.com/stories/7606/photo-series-trans-gender-queer-kids

Monday, August 01, 2016

[how to tell if your church is welcoming for transgender people]


Related to my exploration of declared spaces and uncertain spaces, an article on queertheology.com asks,
Is your church welcoming of transgender people? And if it is, does anyone know?

Lots of churches declare their “open and affirming” status on their websites. Or they will put a rainbow flag on their church sign or website homepage. But those symbols often don’t tell the whole story. Many churches that have done a lot of work on gay and lesbian issues haven’t bothered to study anything about transgender people. They have outdated language on their websites or don’t mention transgender issues at all.
Read the rest of the article...

A second article on their site is titled: How do we reach more transgender people?
This one addresses the question: 
Hello! We’d like to do outreach to the transgender community, but we’re not sure how. We’ve had trans worshipers in the past, but none currently. What’s the best way to reach trans people who are looking for a safe and affirming worship space?
https://www.queertheology.com/how-do-we-reach-more-transgender-people/


Getting personal:

Callan Williams shares about her own experiences with various churches as a transperson, making it clear that the "transgender experience is essentially different than the lesbian, gay and bisexual experience in a number of ways."

Read the rest of the story at:
https://callan.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/welcoming-trans/