Sunday, November 20th is the 13th annual International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). TDOR is a day to recognize the vulnerability of transgender persons to injustice, violence and death; to remember the transgender persons we have lost this year; and to work for change.

The nine year old son of a good friend of mine once described transgender people as those “whose spirits do not match the bodies they were given.” My friend’s eloquent son recognized the calling transgender people feel to fully express with their bodies the spirit God gave them.  And yet, every day, in every corner of the globe, and in your own community, transgender people face discrimination in attempting to find a place to live, in attempting to access medical care, and even in attempting to find a restroom in a public place. In these moments of discrimination, the person behind the counter, or the person monitoring the lobby of a public place, or the person working at TSA, or police or medical staff did not agree the spirit that person was trying to express counted as worthy to be granted access to basic human rights as housing, medical treatment, or a bathroom.

 

Read the rest of the article written by Alex McNeil: via More Light Presbyterians – Our Spirits, Ourselves.