Statement on #TransphobiaIsASin

from the Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism Organizing Collective Board

In the weeks leading up to January 15th, the Co-Editors of the #BlackTransPrayerBook, J Mase III and Dane Figueroa Edidi, hit the internet to invite anyone who was paying attention to take part in a social media campaign that would 1) reframe the conversation about trans people in faith spaces and 2) offer up solidarity with and support of trans people who long for spiritually grounded and uplifting spaces to call home.

The ask seemed simple enough: take out your pens, markers and paper to make signs with powerful statements; take a photo of yourself holding said sign; and post your photo all over social media for all to see. So that trans people might know that they are loved and held, even in the reality of those spaces being so hard to come by, and so that people who would choose transphobia over radical welcome might know that their view is not in alignment with the call of love

At the core of our work and ministry, Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism understands what it means, as Black folks, and as people who may also be trans, or queer, or disabled, or poor (or any other identity that’s been pushed out to the margins) to be unwelcomed in faith spaces as our whole, unapologetic selves. This ask made sense, and we knew we had a responsibility to support the effort and participate. So we extended the invitation to anyone who follows us on social media, and, on January 15th, people showed up for it. Folks from all over BLUU’s virtual community were posting pics of themselves with signs that said any one of the statements suggested:

• Transphobia Is a Sin
• Transphobia is Haram
• Trans People are Divine
• Trans People Exist Because Our Ancestors Existed

It didn’t take long for us to discover that some UUs questioned the campaign itself, were more than a little tepid about their condemnation of transphobia as a moral imperative, and did what too often happens in our UU spaces: reduced the significance and meaningfulness of collective, broad-based action from a narrow, individualistic viewpoint.

This is a problem.

The spiritual violence inflicted upon trans people in faith spaces and the impact that has on trans bodies, minds, and spirits should be no secret in 2019 to anyone committed to justice and liberation for all people. And even if this reality has gone below your radar, the responsibility you carry is to stop and listen when a Black queer/trans person makes an appeal to us to speak out against that violence and rise up in the face of that injustice to simply reframe the conversation and show some love. You also have a responsibility to do your homework and understand both the intent behind the request and the impact it will have on the people most affected by the injustice. Anything less — from denigrating the request to remaining silent — would do nothing to change the conditions of those of us most affected and harmed.

Also, it’s not actually theologically sound or deep to withhold speaking out against injustice and not “call a thing a thing.” We are allowed in our theology — even a Universalist theology — to say: THIS IS WRONG. One way of saying this is wrong is to say, #TransphobiaIsASin. Notice how in this condemnation we aren’t passing judgment on people with whole ass complicated lives. We are talking about transphobic behavior. We aren’t suggesting that PEOPLE who are transphobic ought to be cast aside in shame. We are stating, unequivocally, that transphobia is a sin.

We need to be able to embrace the language of sin.

What is sin? Sin can be understood in a multitude of ways. One theology of sin to consider is about being disconnected, isolated, and being born into a broken world. Sin is about the pursuit of your own individual well being or just that of your nuclear family alone at the expense of the collective well being or even the exploitation of others. To put it another way, this is known as participating in the systems and structures of oppression and society in the ways we have all been conditioned to do so — these are systems we cannot escape. Rather, we negotiate our existence within and ideally, seek to do as little harm as possible.

Yes, this means we all sin everyday because it is impossible to live in this modern life without participating in systems of oppression — from our food system and how we make money and forsake the environment and the workers who harvest our food — to the fact that most of the clothes we wear on our bodies are made by women and children in developing countries for meager wages in mostly unfair, dangerous working conditions. We drive too many cars in many places because there isn’t adequate public transportation. All of this and more, yes, is sin. And as many Black Unitarian Universalists believe, “White supremacy is the original sin,” as Donte Hilliard, in the most recent Whose Faith? Panel details theologically for us.

White supremacy is a sin because it separates us from each other, from those who are experiencing harm because of our actions and because of these systems noted above. We are disconnected and isolated, and in disconnection, we are more willing to harm ourselves and each other than do the collective work to disrupt and dismantle those systems. We were born into these systems; we were born into sin.

This doesn’t mean we aren’t worthy of love. This doesn’t mean we can’t envision and attempt to build new and different ways that create deeper, closer connections. When we do that — when we create deeper and closer connections — we are turning away from sin and closer into Beloved Community. We are better able to mitigate harm and honor the full human dignity and worth of everyone when we turn away from the sin of disconnection and divest from the systems of oppression that are the cause of so much brokenness in the world.

If you are unwilling to proclaim and name specifically that #TransPhobiaIsASin, you are turning away from honoring the inherent worth and dignity of our trans family. You are casting trans people outside of Beloved Community and saying you are unwilling to fight for them the same as you would fight for yourself or your own family. And this too is sin.

The BLUU Organizing Collective Board believes our human family is big; we believe no one should be cast out. That doesn’t mean that any and all behavior is welcome or acceptable — it means just the opposite: behaviors that cast people out or aside are not welcome. If you are willing to begin to interrogate what transphobia and cissexism mean, to go on a journey of self-discovery and think about the ways society has programmed us to think about gender (including your own gender), you are turning away from sin, embracing deeper connection, living into our UU faith values and embracing our orientation toward love and justice.

Our trans siblings face discrimination and disparities in staggering amounts. Our Black and undocumented trans siblings even moreso. As a faith community, if we are unwilling to say #TransPhobiaIsASin, we are turning our backs on those who need us most. We are needed to wield our privilege in ways that help make the world more inclusive for them and ultimately all of us.

Without reservation and unequivocally we proclaim that #TransPhobiaIsSin and #TransPeopleAreDivine.

We invite you to continue to proclaim this with us and to do so as a person of faith. The campaign was only one day, but it doesn’t mean you can’t still add your voice and in doing so widen the circle, and welcome more people — specifically trans people — into our Beloved Community.

Additional Ways to Support Our Trans Siblings:

• The #BlackTransPrayerBook — https://www.gofundme.com/black-trans-prayer-book
• Marsha P Johnson Institute — https://marshap.org/