Sermon: Part 1 – Xander Trullinger

Jambo! My name is Xander Trullinger, and my pronouns are they/them/theirs. It is my pleasure to be the chair of our LGBTQIA+ Task Force.

Last year, I started my message by speaking of a wider welcome. I focused on the work we can do here at church to make it a safe place for all kinds of diverse people. I encouraged everyone to extend and expand the practice of welcoming so that more people could experience this precious island of sanity that we create together. That is beautiful and necessary work that sustains the foundation of everything that we do together.

This year, I want to guide our attention to the wider world outside our doors. There are many horrible kinds of discrimination and oppression going on in our country. Our immigrant neighbors are facing vicious efforts at mass incarceration and deportation. Our African American neighbors are seeing voting rights dismantled and their collective power diluted into noise. This morning we want to highlight one group of people in the LGBTQIA+ family that is especially vulnerable in the current political climate: trans men and trans women.

Trans 101

Gender identity refers to each person's deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth. This includes one's personal sense of the body along with other expressions of gender, including dress, speech and/or mannerisms. The term "gender-diverse" is used to refer to persons whose gender identity, including their gender expression, is at odds with what is perceived as being the gender norm in a particular context at a particular point in time. This includes those who do not place themselves in the male/female binary. Going beyond that, the more specific term "trans" is used to describe persons who identify with a different sex than the one assigned to them at birth.

Trans being a word that points over there, and ‘cis’ as a word that points to right here. The root ‘trans’ appears in such words as ‘transportation’; moving something over there.

In contrast, a cisgender person is an individual whose experience of gender, does in fact correspond with the sex assigned to them at birth.

Gender diverse people are often caught in a spiral of exclusion and marginalization: they get bullied at school, rejected by their family, pushed out onto the streets, and denied access to employment

The USA Today

A bit of good news, a majority of voters support equal treatment and nondiscrimination for people whose gender identity doesn’t match their sex assigned at birth. The bad news is that voters also tend to rank trans rights at the bottom of their priority lists. Gender diverse people make up a tiny minority of our population in the United States. According to the US Census of 2020 the total US population was over 331 million. Of those, it is estimated there were only 1.6 million gender diverse adults living in the US. This small minority experiences persistent barriers to housing, healthcare, school safety, and employment.

A well financed, years-long campaign to deny trans rights is only picking up steam. Public opinion in support of trans rights has been eroded by these strategic efforts. Crucial wedge issues get blasted by the ongoing anti-trans extremists, including high ranking government officials . Anti-trans activists  have been focusing their efforts on issues such as trans’ girl inclusion in school sports and pediatric healthcare treatment. They use vivid, overwrought, and deceptive narratives repeated again and again about trans health care for youth. Healthcare for trans youth may begin with safe proven interventions such as puberty blockers.

Puberty blockers have been used since the early 1980s to treat precocious puberty in  cisgendered children and have been prescribed to transgender adolescents since the early 1990s. They are designed to pause the physical changes associated with puberty, allowing individuals time to explore their gender identity.

Discrimination against trans youth is an open wound in the US and the wider world.

• 90% of transgender students experience bullying at school (Trevor Project, 2022)
• 37% of transgender students skip school due to harassment (Trevor Project, 2022)
• 41% of transgender and non-binary youth have seriously considered suicide (Trevor Project, 2022)
• 40% of transgender youth experience homelessness (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2022)

And the campaign against trans rights is appearing right here in Colorado:

Two ballot measures that would restrict rights for transgender children in the state will appear on the Colorado ballot in 2026.

Ballot Initiative 110 would prohibit health care professionals from knowingly performing any surgery on a minor “for the purpose of altering biological sex characteristics.” The measure would also prohibit state and federal funding including Medicaid from being used to pay for gender-affirming procedures.

Ballot Initiative 109 would add language in a state statute to define boys and girls based on physical anatomy, excluding transgender people.

Sports teams sponsored by schools or athletic associations would be required to expressly designate those teams for men, women or co-ed. Schools and their athletic departments would be required to adopt policies implementing the requirements of the initiative.

Local LGBTQIA+ advocacy organizations such as One Colorado and Rocky Mountain Equality oppose both ballot measures.

The struggle for trans rights is also happening in the Colorado courts.

In mid may the Colorado Supreme Court, by a 5-2 vote, ordered Children’s Hospital Colorado to resume providing certain medical services to a group of transgender plaintiffs, which it had ceased in the face of funding threats from the federal government last year.

“The challenge I have here, though, is that it [the hospital] was providing this care. And all of a sudden, it stopped,” said Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez. “And it is providing essentially the same medications, etc. to cisgender children.”

 

“You’re giving it to one group of children and not to another. How is that not discrimination?” added Justice Susan Blanco.

Transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) youth

TGD adolescents experience health inequities due in large part to gender minority stress and gender dysphoria.

TGD youth have been found to experience higher rates of anxiety, depression, suicidality, and nonsuicidal self-harm when compared to cisgender youth.

Increasing access to gender affirming care benefits everyone by fostering equitable and inclusive healthcare practices.

Gender affirming care:

• Improves overall mental health and well-being through fostering a sense of acceptance of one’s gender identity
• Contributes to better employment opportunities, educational attainment, and social integration
• Reduces stigma and barriers faced by transgender and gender-diverse individuals
• Encourages regular engagement with healthcare systems leading to better preventive care and management of chronic conditions
• Creates stronger, more connected communities

Gender diverse people need allies more than ever

Hostile and oppressive extremists are promoting violence, hostility and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, gender-diverse and intersex people.

We must answer the call of love and guarantee the right of all gender diverse people to a life free from all forms of violence.

Incitement against LGBTQIA+ persons is built on prejudice on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression and bodily diversity. Hateful discourse against LGBTQIA+ persons frequently depicts them as sick, deviant, prone to crime, immoral, socially unstable, and a threat for children. These EXTREMIST  narratives increase prejudice and intolerance that can  lead to discrimination and violence.

The Basics: Things to Remember about Being an Ally

There is no one way to be a ‘perfect’ ally. The transgender community is diverse and complex, coming from every region of the United States and around the world, from every racial and ethnic background, and from every faith community. This means that different members of the transgender community have different needs and priorities. Similarly, there is no one right way to handle every situation, or interact with every trans person. Be respectful and keep trying.

You won't always get it right, all you can do is make a good faith effort.

You don’t have to understand someone’s identity perfectly to respect it. Some people haven’t heard a lot about transgender identity, or have trouble understanding what it means to be trans, and that’s okay. But all people, even those whose identities you don’t fully understand, deserve respect.

You can’t always tell if someone is transgender simply by looking at them.

Since there is no one transgender experience, there is no one way for transgender people to look, either.
Some transgender people choose to medically transition, and some don’t. Some transgender people choose to legally change their names or ID documents, and some don’t. Some transgender people choose to change their appearance (like their clothing or hair), and some don’t. Likewise, some transgender people may want to do many of those things but are unable to because they can’t afford it or for safety reasons.

A transgender person’s identity does not depend on what things they have or haven’t done to transition, and no two transgender people’s journeys are exactly alike.

Continue to educate yourself. One of the simplest ways to be a strong ally is to take your education into your own hands. Always continue to seek out the best possible resources and information on your own.

I want to close my section with two quotes that I hope you will remember:

1.

"If you have come to help me you are wasting your time.
If you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

Aboriginal activists group, Queensland, Australia, 1970s

2.

Finally, in the immortal words of Desmond Tutu, the renowned South African Anglican bishop and social rights activist,

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

Sermon: Part 2 – Amethyst Stever

Good morning! My name is Amethyst Stever, and my pronouns are they/them/theirs. I’m part of the LGBTQIA+ Task Force, and also the resident queer nerd, or one of them at least. If you were here for last year’s Pride service, and you’re suspecting that another grammar lesson is incoming, you are correct.
Today’s message is brought to you by the words “advocate”- and, “advocate.”

Advocate, verb. To speak, plead, or argue in favor of a person, idea, or cause.

Advocate, noun. A person who champions a cause or idea. A person who represents or pleads the case for another person; for example, a lawyer. A person who helps vulnerable groups access services, know their rights, or navigate complex systems; for example, a patient advocate in healthcare.

Definitions matter. I don’t really mean the ones in the dictionary- though those are helpful for shared understanding. What I mean is that the way we think about a word’s meaning often determines how we relate to that concept. For example, when I thought of an “artist” as “someone who makes professional paintings and sculptures and gets them put in museums,” of course I didn’t think of myself as an artist, despite ample evidence of creative tendencies.

When we think of the words “advocate” and “advocate,” I think many of us tend toward a sort of grand or professional vision of the word. We think of lobbyists and lawyers and people who advocate as a career in the human services. We think of settings like courtrooms, city hall, or the senate floor. We think of politics and public speaking, organizing, large monetary contributions. And most of us don’t see ourselves in that definition of “advocate.” This can make the prospect of advocacy daunting. Many of us feel like we don’t have the skills, or have no idea where to start. Me too, friends. So my goal today is to help us collectively expand our definition of “advocate/advocate” into one that is more accessible, and to give us some ideas of ways we can get involved.

Today I'm speaking specifically about advocating for the transgender community, but I want to make clear that this is inextricably linked to all advocacy for marginalized people.

Because the illusion of “separate issues” can be a barrier to being an advocate, too. These days, there so many different groups facing injustice that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. And that’s on purpose- a tactic of fascism is to throw as many different things at us as fast as possible to overwhelm, paralyze, and splinter our efforts. Maybe you’re already involved in advocating for racial justice, or immigrants, or unhoused people, or reproductive rights, and thinking “I just can’t do it all. I have to choose my battles.” To some extent that can be true for maintaining our sanity. But the truth is, these are not separate issues. Trans people of color face some of the highest rates of violence and marginalization. Indigenous two-spirit people face erasure of their culture and heritage along with their gender. Trans immigrants face additional dangers in detention facilities or upon being deported to their countries of origin. Trans people are more likely to be disabled or neurodivergent, and are at higher risk of becoming unhoused. The accessibility of gender affirming care is closely tied to that of reproductive healthcare. If you are already advocating in any of these areas, you don’t have to start a whole new project- you can make efforts to make sure the work you’re already doing includes the trans people in that population. No liberation for any of us without liberation for all of us. Work for freedom anywhere is work for freedom everywhere.

So with that in mind, what does it mean in practice to advocate? How, when, and where do we do it? What will make a real difference? In organizing my thoughts for this message, I started to think about advocacy as taking place in two main spheres: the political sphere, and the community sphere. The political sphere is the advocacy that happens in the realm of government and social systems, often at the national, state, or regional scale. For many this is the first area we picture when we think of advocacy, and the area where we feel the most intimidated or helpless to influence things. And the reality is most of us don’t have a great deal of direct influence in this area. But, “not a great deal” does not mean “none.” We can, of course, advocate with our vote. We can call or send letters to our elected representatives. Postal mail can be most effective here because it has physical mass and an actual person has to process it. We can attend town halls to give feedback or ask questions of our representatives. We can give our time to phone banking or sending postcards to fellow voters during election season. We often look to organizations to do advocacy work in the political sphere. Donating or volunteering can be a good way to join our individual impact with many others, but it can be overwhelming to know which organizations are most deserving of our time and treasure. We want to focus on those that have a track record of active work in passing or defeating legislation, or litigating on behalf of the trans community.

To highlight a few organizations, at the national level, Advocates for Trans Equality, the Transgender Law Center, and Lambda Legal are a few leaders in fighting for trans rights in the courts and the legislature. At the state level, One Colorado has many successes in lobbying for trans and queer rights. They’re also part of “Families Not Politics” a new coalition formed to campaign against ballot measures 109 and 110. That's one to keep an eye on as election season approaches for opportunities to help defeat those measures.

These are just a few ways to advocate, or support others’ advocacy, at the political scale. But you're not alone if you feel like this isn't enough. Because it isn't. It's necessary, but insufficient. The gears of legal and legislative processes can turn very slowly. We do what we can, and we wait. And we don't always win, at least in the short term.

The good news is, there’s another sphere of advocacy available to us: the community sphere. And I think this is where the most powerful advocacy takes place. The better news is, we don’t have to wait for our government to get on board with trans rights or for our systems and institutions to make sure people are treated fairly and taken care of. The truth is, that work doesn't properly belong to governments and systems anyway. It belongs to us. We keep us safe.

How does one become a community advocate? Let's return to our definitions. Advocate. A person who champions a cause or idea. A person who represents or pleads the case for another person.

In terms of speaking up for trans rights, some of the most impactful advocacy happens at the interpersonal level- not on a public stage, but in everyday conversations. Humans are wired to prefer the people in our in-groups. When we share a group identity with someone, we're likely to respect them more, treat them with more courtesy, and we're more likely to listen to them and take their point of view seriously. We evolved this way because for our ancestors, to form tight-knit groups and be wary of outsiders was advantageous for safety and survival. Today, this tendency can be problematic, but we can also use it to our advantage. Talk to the people who are part of your in-group about trans issues.

Cisgender people in particular are more effective at convincing other cis people to support trans rights, but other shared identities like professional or club affiliations, sports leagues, hobby or fandom groups, being a parent, etc., can also serve as bridges. It can still be intimidating to speak up in this way, especially if it involves saying “I disagree.”

A few tips that can help:

• Keep it simple. You don't have to get into an argument or make a speech. You can just make your point and then move on.
• Speak from your heart. What are your feelings? Why do you care? This could be as simple as “I have trans friends and I'm worried about their safety.”
• Be prepared. Do a little research and decide on one or two points you'll keep in your back pocket for if a topic comes up.

Interpersonal advocacy may seem small, but it can be impactful in creating more accepting communities and gaining votes and voices for when we take our advocacy to the political sphere.

The other part of our definition of “advocate”: a person who helps vulnerable groups access services, know their rights, or navigate complex systems. For trans folk, just navigating everyday life in this social climate is complex. It can be hard to get our needs met, both tangible needs like shelter, economic resources, health care, or bathrooms, and intangible ones like emotional, mental, and social safety and well-being. The best advocates are the ones who walk with us and help us overcome challenges and get our needs met. This can come in thousands of forms, large and small, according to your resources and abilities. Help fund someone's gender affirming surgery. Leave reviews to tell whether places have all-gender bathrooms. Make an effort to patronize queer-owned businesses. Support trans artists. Get acquainted with your trans neighbors and check up on them. Perform acts of care like making a meal or taking someone to a medical appointment. If you're a business owner, hire trans people and make it clear that you welcome trans clients (and then make sure you're actually doing that well). Offer to accompany a trans person somewhere that they might not feel safe or comfortable, like clothes shopping. Create safe social spaces where trans folk can find connection and belonging, and not just with other trans people. Contributing time or treasure to organizations can play a role here too. Look for ones that provide direct aid or services to the trans community, like the Trans Continental Pipeline, The Delores Project, YouthSeen, the Center on Colfax, or various mutual aid networks around Denver that include and center trans folk in their work.

In this sense, advocacy is quite simple: do what you can to take care of your neighbor. It doesn't have to take special skills, a huge bank account, or a large public platform. While we work and wait for the world to change on the grand scale, we can use the resources and care we already have to create welcoming, inclusive, and just communities for our trans neighbors here and now. At its heart, advocacy is just walking each other home to make sure we all get there safely. Come walk with us.