Transfiguration Sunday: A transgender perspective

Who are the people who are with us, who witness our transfiguration, our transformation?...

As Jesus headed up the mountain, he took his followers, Peter, James and John, with him (Mark 9:2-9). While there, they were joined by the prophets Elijah and Moses. Each of them witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration and responded in various ways.

Who are our bedazzled disciples,

those who have known us for a long time or known us well and yet are still befuddled by our transforming selves?

Who serves as our Elijah, Moses and Jesus’ companions

who had experienced their own wilderness and mountain top experiences?

Who are the people in our lives– our trans companions,

the trans people who have been there before us – who know the wilderness times of aloneness and also know the mountaintops?

Who are those who pronounce our new names

when we wake up from surgery and see our new bodies for the first time?

Who are the disciples in our lives

who always want to say or do the right thing but don’t quite get things right with us?

Who are like Simon Peter

who sometimes want to “set up tents,” wanting to idealize, tokenize, or displaytrans-people saying, “Look at our trans members. Look how inclusive we are”?


From Out In Season: A Transgender Encounter with the Church Year. Published by the Human Rights Campaign Religion & Faith Program. Access the full resource here.


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