Don't Sacrifice Transgender Kids on a Political Altar

by

UPDATE: Here are the latest developments in Texas' persecution of transgender children and youths:

Texas Supreme Court to hear legal challenge to ban on transition-related care for kids, Jan. 30, Texas Tribune

Texas AG seeks transgender records in Georgia as part of his wider probe, Jan. 30, The Washington Post

A United Methodist Insight Commentary

Many years ago, I read a comic novel in which a character's hobby was described as "leaping to the defense of ...." The same sense of my being genetically wired to stand up for victimized people and other parts of God's creation probably led me into journalism – that, and the realization that even good alto saxophone players often don't have steady incomes.

Lately I've been keeping track of a hot-button issue that raises my blood pressure and breaks my heart: attacks on transgender children and youths in statehouses and local school boards across America. Consider this description from a Jan. 22 article in the Dallas Morning News, The show went on: Inside the fight to perform ‘Oklahoma!’ at Sherman High School by Talia Richman, about a school board meeting:

When the school trustees retreated into closed session, Max headed for the hallway. He tried to wrap his head around what would motivate a person to want to take away his role.

Do people see me as some sort of monster? Max wondered. Then he laughed. He’s a kid who plays ukulele and practices American Sign Language. He keeps kitten formula in a cabinet at home so he can bottle-feed strays. What are they afraid of?

Richman was documenting the triumphant Jan. 19 performance of Oklahoma! at Sherman High School, in which a transgender boy named Max Hightower played peddler Ali Hakim, and several of his female classmates acted as cowboys. I term the play "triumphant" because four months earlier, Max and his other cross-gender cast mates had been told by the schooldistrict superintendent Tyson Bennett through administration officials that they were being removed from the roles they'd earned.

As the Dallas Morning News reports, Max's family and those of other disenfranchised actors, along with outraged Sherman residents, stood up to the new rules, which weren't enacted until Max earned his featured role. The story spread to Broadway and Hollywood, where transgender performers and producers alike back the youngsters against the district dictators.

Where were Christians, whose calling is compassion, while the teen-agers withstood an onslaught of hateful email and social media posts? Why, just where you'd expect – lobbing hate along with others. Here's a sample from Richman's article, an email to a Sherman school trustee:

“The student that lost their role in the play subscribes to an ideology that is a direct attack on the Christian values that we hold so dear,” one man wrote to a trustee. “Now is a great time for men and women of faith like yourself to stand up and reclaim the name of the Lord in public education settings.”

There it is in a nutshell – a proponent of one religiopolitical philosophy supporting another espousing the same misguided stance. And their target? Children.

Few things wound parents' hearts as deeply as harm to their children. Yet to my constant astonishment, the Powers That Be seem to think it's OK to legislate against the very identities of transgender kids and to take from them their right to be who they are and to do what their talents enable them to do. Just as the Israel-Hamas war is killing thousands of Palestinian children, so too is the war against trans kids in America depriving them of their rightful futures.

Max's question outside the school board meeting zeroes in on the answer: those who oppress transgender kids are afraid. They're not just afraid of someone with a different gender identity. They're afraid of schools creating people who think for themselves, who are less likely to accept big lies about elections, government and relationships, and who are much less likely to be dominated by dangerous ideologies that undermine the fabric of civilization.

Yes, the drama that played out in Sherman, Texas, – both on stage and at the school board – carries a lot more weight than people might think. It's a microcosm of our current reality: unless we're as vigilant, forthright and faithful as Max Hightower's family, friends and far-flung supporters, we will find ourselves living under a religious dictatorship that will rob us of not only our rights, but our lives and souls.

So how do we Christians maintain hope, energy, and purpose against the attacks of dominance coursing around our society? As a follower of Jesus, I recommend the following:

Stay close to faith. For many of us, this means regular prayer and scripture reading, seeking spiritual guidance for the daily challenges that confront us. For example, several of us join daily in Morning Prayer on Facebook, using online resources from the Northumbria Community based in northeastern England. In so doing, we join a global network of believers who pray daily for the welfare of the world and those in it, a practice that dates back to Christianity's founding. We pray not only for people's physical needs, but that God's Holy Spirit will turn the hearts and minds of dictators, corrupters and abusers away from evil.

Practice citizenship. From the time I understood my parents' teachings, I practiced citizenship. My parents survived the Great Depression, World War II, the unrest of the 1960s. They didn't always engage with the massive change going on around them, especially the Civil Rights Movement and anti-Vietnam War efforts, but they knew that the U.S. Constitution guaranteed citizens the right to vote, and they voted without fail in every election, no matter how small. 

Think for yourself. One of life's truisms says if something seems too good to be true, it probably isn't true. The same holds true now for the many twisted truths and outright lies swirling about social media and the world in general. Anytime that little internal voice mutters, "That doesn't sound right," believe it. Research it for yourself through legitimate reliable fact-checking sites such as Snopes.com, Washington Post Fact-Checker, Politifact, FactCheck.org and OpenSecrets.org. Within the United Methodist Church, probably the best source for checking on information is Ask the UMC, which has run an excellent series, "Is the UMC Really ...?"

As for the attacks on transgender children and youths, here's what I've discerned based on the sources I cited above:

  • Transgender children and youths are to be believed when they say they discern a gender identity different from the bodily sex assigned at birth, according to every reputable medical resource available to the public. In the current political climate, transgender kids should be protected and defended vigorously.
  • Parents who opt to get gender dysphoria treatment for their children and teen-agers are not child abusers; they're responsible parents seeking to help their offspring with a potentially life-threatening medical condition. PRRI finds that fewer than half of Americans (41%) support laws that would prevent parents from allowing their children to receive gender-affirming care. Their choices should be private health decisions among families and their physicians without government interference. In the current political climate, parents of transgender kids should be protected and defended vigorously and should not be prosecuted.
  • LGBTQIA persons are not "sex maniacs," pedophiles, or practitioners of any other sexual oppression one can name. Their gender identity resides somewhere on a human sexuality scale that runs a gamut of affinity and affection. We don't yet know much about how human sexuality with its wondrous variety is formed; we do know that it has existed throughout humanity for as long as humans have lived. In the current political climate, LGBTQIA persons and their civil rights should be protected and defended vigorously, not criminalized.

The consistent witness of scripture shows that Jesus preached and modeled compassion – love – as the paramount sign of faith. Anything that promotes and spreads hatred doesn't represent God as Jesus taught and embodied. Now is the time to repeat this truth over and over in the face of evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves, in the church and beyond.

Veteran religion journalist Cynthia B. Astle has reported on The United Methodist Church at all levels for 36 years. She serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011 as a media channel to amplify the voices of marginalized and under-served United Methodists.