Heart Transgender
Art by David Hayward, "Naked Pastor"
A United Methodist Insight Column
It may not compare for sheer numbers with the coronavirus pandemic or the war in Ukraine, but there’s a major crisis that’s affecting thousands of precious children, youths and their families across the United States: the wave of anti-transgender and anti-LGBTQ hatred.
Thanks to vigorous monitoring by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), here’s what we know to date about this pernicious trend.
'Historic Wave' of anti-LGBTQ bills sweep America
"Kimberly Kindy for The Washington Post reports that GOP lawmakers have filed almost 200 state bills nationwide since January that attempt to remove and dismantle protections for transgender and gay youth, as well as censor discussion of LGBTQ topics in public schools. [Emphasis added]. According to Freedom for All Americans (FFFA), an LGBTQ advocacy group, this number has nearly quadrupled since 2020.
“The ultimate reasoning of the legislators who sponsor these bills is that ‘parental authority is being undermined,’ contradicting religious principles being taught at home. The more audacious claim is that they believe educators and health care workers are “attempting to convert children to becoming transgender or queer.” Kindy notes that nearly two-thirds of the bills focus on transgender rights.
“The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian conservative legal organization, ‘leverages the power of a national network of Christian lawyers for its legislative efforts and legal battles.’ The ADF also supported Republican Idaho state Rep. Barbara Ehardt in writing a bill that would ban transgender athletes from competing on sports teams aligned with their gender identity. Two years later, that bill became a law and ‘set off a landslide of copycat legislation,’ with Ehardt touring the country testifying in support of the bills.
“FFFA’s Hannah Willard noted that this year’s bills are a response to the LGBTQ community’s recent gains in rights, an example of which is the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County that established federal Title VII anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender employees. ‘You don’t get progress without backlash,’ Willard said. ‘So it’s not a coincidence that we’re seeing these anti-trans bills in the states at the same time as we’re seeing growing support. They can feel like contradictory trends, but really they are two sides of the exact same coin.’
“A PRRI survey from earlier this month found nearly 8 in 10 Americans support laws to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in jobs, housing and public accommodations.”
In another newsletter, PRRI notes:
“Investigative journalist Stuart Richardson reports for NBC News that publicly available IRS filings indicate 11 nonprofit organizations identified as anti-LGBTQ hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) have collected over $110 million in contributions during the financial year ending in 2020. This amount represents a ‘recent high-water mark for the organizations, whose take of donations, grants, and other non-cash contributions has increased steadily since 2016 when the same 11 groups reported more than $87 million in such contributions.’
“… These groups, comprised of ‘fundamentalist churches, conservative law centers and far-right advocacy organizations,’ believe LGBTQ people are a threat to society simply by existing, disseminating ‘known falsehoods and pseudoscience to disparage gender and sexual minorities.’ However, the SPLC’s qualification of an organization as being an anti-LGTBQ hate group is about more than merely holding a religious belief that views homosexuality or transgender identity as sinful. ‘Many of these groups assert that LGBTQ people are a threat to society itself,’ said SPLC’s Scott McCoy. ‘That kind of extremist rhetoric and belief is part of what goes into our decision-making process.’”
It's time to step up on behalf of our LGBTQ children, teens, and adults. Find out what’s happening in your local, county and state government around anti-LGBTQ legislation, and make known God’s unconditional love for all to counter the hatred expressed in such bills. See the poster below from Reconciling Ministries Network for helpful guidelines for how to be a good LGBTQ ally.
LGBTQ Language
Illustration courtesy of Reconciling Ministries Network
Dispatches from the file marked, “Yes, COVID-19 is still with us.”
As of this writing, nearly 1 million people have died from COVID-19 in the United States. We can’t get our minds around such a staggering number, but our incomprehension is not from a lack of compassion, say two scholars from Stanford University.
“For most people, visualizing what a million of anything looks like is an impossible task. The human brain just isn’t built to comprehend such large numbers,” write Lindsey Hasak and Elizabeth Y. Toomarian in their article for The Conversation, “Brains are bad at big numbers, making it impossible to grasp what a million COVID-19 deaths really means”.
As churches begin to reassess their coronavirus protocols in light of the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Stanford scholars offer both consolation at the difficulty of making such decisions and regret that we couldn’t make different, perhaps more efficacious, choices at the start of the pandemic:
“Numbers are a useful, clear and efficient way to summarize the harms of the pandemic, but the truth is that the brain simply can’t understand what it means that a million people have died. By abstracting deaths into impossibly large numbers, people fall prey to the limitations of the mind. In doing so, it’s easy to forget that every single numerical increase represents the entire lived experience of another human being.
“…This pandemic has been full of hard-to-comprehend numbers. The filtration efficiency of various face masks, the accuracy of different COVID-19 tests, statewide case numbers and worldwide death rates are all complicated concepts far beyond the brain’s intuitive number processing abilities. Yet these numbers – and how they are presented – matter immensely.
“If the brain were built to understand these kinds of numbers, perhaps we would have made different individual decisions or taken different collective action. Instead, we now mourn for the million people behind the number.”
About that COVID-19 booster shot
Axios AM newsletter for March 30 likens the prospect of a third – or is a fourth? – COVID-19 booster to a “vaccine adventure.”
Americans 50 and older now have an option to get a fourth dose — “without explicitly being encouraged to do so,” writes Axios' Caitlin Owens. “Authorizing another shot for those who got their last dose at least four months earlier is an added safeguard — it's still unclear how much three doses protect against severe illness over time. The three-dose approach appears to hold up well in the short term.” Read this story.
From NPR: The decision to get another COVID-19 booster “will depend on your risk for serious illness, underlying conditions and the timing of your last dose. BA.2, a subvariant of omicron that's even more contagious than the original, is now the most common coronavirus strain in the U.S., the CDC says.”
From the Washington Post’s “The 7” newsletter: “If you got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you should consider a Pfizer or Moderna booster for better protection.”
Warning on sending aid to Ukraine
From NPR: “The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine has spurred many across the world to donate their money and resources to refugees in need. It's the perfect opportunity for scammers to take advantage.”
The link goes to a story on how to protect yourself from scammers. For our money – literally – the best way for United Methodists to aid Ukraine is to send donations to UMCOR Advance Project 982450. One hundred percent of all aid donations goes to assist Ukrainians affected by Russia’s invasion of their country. UMCOR works with reputable local agencies to make sure assistance gets to those who need it.
Help for Tongans after volcanic eruption
From the Oregon-Idaho Connector newsletter:
“Helping our Tongan siblings: An appeal for support from Lents Tongan Fellowship
“After volcanic eruptions on Jan. 14 swept the Pacific Island nation of Tonga, Lents Tongan Fellowship of Portland has been busy collecting supplies to send in a large shipping container to their siblings, which is scheduled to leave April 21. ‘We are asking people to donate, clothing, toilet paper, rice, bandages, hand sanitizer, sugar, cases of water, or anything that would help the people of Tonga. We have also set up drop-off sites within Multnomah County for those who would like to support this mission,’ writes Rev. Fungalei Taufoou.”
Learn more about this effort on the Oregon-Idaho Conference website.
Just Energy prepares for Earth Day
Just Energy for All, the environmental action working group of United Women in Faith, will meet online at 7 p.m. ET April 5, 2022 to plan for Earth Day observance. Register here.
The Just Energy working group meets monthly to plan activities. Just Energy also holds webinars on related topics on the third Wednesday of each month at 3 p.m. ET. Interested persons at any level of United Women in Faith and friends are invited to email climatejustice@uwfaith.org with suggestions or questions.
Media Mentions as of March 31, 2022
Lifestyle Communities sues Worthington over stalled United Methodist Children's Home project – The Business Journals
Methodist official, pastor urge patience regarding split | Local News | alliednews.com
Asbury Church formally separates from United Methodist denomination | KTUL
Here's what you need to know about why United Methodists now appear headed for a nasty divorce – Baptist News Global
More Americans than ever support LGBTQ civil rights - ABC Action News
Free weekly soup meal begins at People's United Methodist | Community | oregonobserver.com
United Methodists Preparing to Respond to New Orleans Tornado – Louisiana Annual Conference
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011. Click here to email for permission to reproduce this content.