As I write this there is less than 4 hours left to early voting in Houston, where the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance is on the ballot. (Remind me again why rights are on a ballot? Well, we haven't time for that, now.)
So if you're opening this at 6:00pm and don't think you'll get to your local polling station on Tuesday, go vote now. And vote YES on ONE in the Houston city propositions (there are a couple of state and county props, too, and worthy of your consideration). This will be here when you get back. You have until 7:00pm. Click HERE if you don't know where to early vote.
I have three words today:
FEAR: I've said the anti-HERO campaign has been full of fear. I want to ask the people behind this, "who are the people, specifically, who are the trans people who have frightened you? Who are the trans people who have threatened or hurt you?" Maybe they have a story to tell, maybe they're going off what they've heard. Either way, I realize that there is a lot of fear that has not been attended to.
And, look, I'm fearful, too. I'm afraid of the people who are anti-HERO. I'm afraid to be in their presence and tell them I'm a gay man. I'm afraid of conversations I overhear on public transportation that uses "gay" as an epithet, as a way of raising a conflict, of accusing someone of being "less than." I'm afraid of how effective "gay" is as an epithet is in some of these situations. There's lots of fear to go around.
But when we let fear rise to the level of wanting to take away people's rights, when it rises to the level of demonizing each other, most likely without even knowing one another, this becomes, in biblical terms, bearing false witness. It's easy and we've all done it. It's also one of the top ten "thou shalt nots." We need to repent from this fear and the urge to spread lies about one another.
LOVE: Love casts out fear. (Click the link to the biblical reference and a multitude of ways that source has been translated.) I don't know what more to say about love. It isn't warm fuzzy love, it isn't romantic love, it's a harder love love that than, and by harder, I don't mean harsh (as I feel perhaps some anti-HERO people might mean it) but I mean difficult for the one who loves. It involves getting to know someone better. It involves seeing in one another the Image of God. It's not an easy Hollywood falling in love story. It's a practice.
ACTION: I'm, in my soul, Lutheran. By upbringing and education (if not by current church membership), I am Lutheran. We do not believe action (works) saves us. Yet, I don't think you'll find many Lutherans would argue that action is useless. We have whole agencies involved in helping people, from disaster relief to social services.
Here's a confession: I'm a terrible activist. I've been in more than one situation where I've gone to help out on one or another campaign, and when it came to doing something beyond licking envelopes and writing letters, I seize up. Specifically, when it comes to talking to random strangers, either in person on the phone, my entire body reacts in a way that I can't do it. It's ridiculous, given the things I've done in my life, from performance to writing to chaplaincy with dying people back in seminary. It's something I need to explore more, as I obviously have no problem with writing, I've had no problem with public speaking or being on a panel discussion or two (long ago---but would do it again). I've had no problem with inviting strangers in a bar to writie on my lycra-clad body with a Sharpie.
So I write. I bless the people who are able to phone bank, who are able to walk up to a strangers door and ring a doorbell. They deserve so much credit for almost every social movement that has ever gone forward. But I write. I engage, when I can, on social media (slacktivism, I do believe it's called, and so there I am).
But really, the action we need most right now is getting to the polls. Vote.
Houstonians: Please Vote YES on ONE.
Friday, October 30, 2015
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
#HERO: Changing the Narrative
(Another post directed primarily at the Houston religious community.)
There are several reason this HERO campaign, or rather, the anti-HERO campaign, gets me worked up, but one that particularly rankles is the fact that the anti-HERO campaigners paint themselves as the righteous, that this is some sort of holy campaign to keep the scary and dangerous trans people out of restrooms. They use the name of Christ to spread their fear and misinformation.
The media is getting a smidgen better at this, but the media are also not interested in the nuanced story. Simple lines in the sand are easier to sell to advertisers and so when the loudest opponents of HERO paint themselves as Christian, it's less time consuming and easier to just tell the story as "Christians vs the gays."
This is why people of faith, Christian and otherwise, need to speak up if they are in favor of HERO and they need to put their support in terms of their faith. We need to change this narrative.
It's changing, it really is. There are now mainline denominations with gay and lesbian bishops. There is now, at least within most major cities, a menu of worship styles and theological perspectives for LGBT people to choose from if they choose to be churchgoers. (What's going on in rural situations is much more iffy, but not without signs of hope here and there, too.)
Has it changed enough to secure HERO's passing next Tuesday? I live in hope, but I also recognize the possibility of living in wishful thinking. But that will all resolve itself in less than a week.
As important as it is to express our support for HERO in religious terms, we have to keep expressing this support after election day. Let's be clear---whatever happens with HERO on Tuesday, that will not be the end of the story. If HERO passes, there will still be angry anti-LGBT folk out there, spewing their anger with a publicly Christian face. If HERO fails, well, it's not as if we're going to just go away. We'll continue the fight for equal protection under the civil law. And we will have to redouble our efforts to do so with a a faith based face---in my case, a Christian face.
Facts and figures don't matter if you think you're doing something for God or because of a faith in God. We who want protections for our Muslim neighbors as much as for ourselves have to learn to use the love, the justice, the welcoming languages of the Bible, as that's the language that will turn certain hearts and minds.
And it will give to the non-Christian a clearer understanding that at the end of the day, this public argument isn't between Christians and the LGBT community and their supporters. It's between people who do believe in equality for all and those who do not believe in equality for all.
When we are able to change the narrative in this way, we have a chance of influencing fair minded people who perhaps want to do the Christian thing, but aren't sure they want to align themselves with the people who appear so angry and mean.
And because I do actually believe in the invitation to Christ, that there is something of value, of hope, of salvation in the Christian faith, it may actually give those burned by the angry and mean faces of Christianity a way into a Beloved Community (as some would call church communities).
Houstonians, vote Yes on One. Tell others you are doing so. If you have a reason for it that actively counters the religious reasons with your own religious reasons, please do so. You could be the key to someone's salvation.
There are several reason this HERO campaign, or rather, the anti-HERO campaign, gets me worked up, but one that particularly rankles is the fact that the anti-HERO campaigners paint themselves as the righteous, that this is some sort of holy campaign to keep the scary and dangerous trans people out of restrooms. They use the name of Christ to spread their fear and misinformation.
The media is getting a smidgen better at this, but the media are also not interested in the nuanced story. Simple lines in the sand are easier to sell to advertisers and so when the loudest opponents of HERO paint themselves as Christian, it's less time consuming and easier to just tell the story as "Christians vs the gays."
This is why people of faith, Christian and otherwise, need to speak up if they are in favor of HERO and they need to put their support in terms of their faith. We need to change this narrative.
It's changing, it really is. There are now mainline denominations with gay and lesbian bishops. There is now, at least within most major cities, a menu of worship styles and theological perspectives for LGBT people to choose from if they choose to be churchgoers. (What's going on in rural situations is much more iffy, but not without signs of hope here and there, too.)
Has it changed enough to secure HERO's passing next Tuesday? I live in hope, but I also recognize the possibility of living in wishful thinking. But that will all resolve itself in less than a week.
As important as it is to express our support for HERO in religious terms, we have to keep expressing this support after election day. Let's be clear---whatever happens with HERO on Tuesday, that will not be the end of the story. If HERO passes, there will still be angry anti-LGBT folk out there, spewing their anger with a publicly Christian face. If HERO fails, well, it's not as if we're going to just go away. We'll continue the fight for equal protection under the civil law. And we will have to redouble our efforts to do so with a a faith based face---in my case, a Christian face.
Facts and figures don't matter if you think you're doing something for God or because of a faith in God. We who want protections for our Muslim neighbors as much as for ourselves have to learn to use the love, the justice, the welcoming languages of the Bible, as that's the language that will turn certain hearts and minds.
And it will give to the non-Christian a clearer understanding that at the end of the day, this public argument isn't between Christians and the LGBT community and their supporters. It's between people who do believe in equality for all and those who do not believe in equality for all.
When we are able to change the narrative in this way, we have a chance of influencing fair minded people who perhaps want to do the Christian thing, but aren't sure they want to align themselves with the people who appear so angry and mean.
And because I do actually believe in the invitation to Christ, that there is something of value, of hope, of salvation in the Christian faith, it may actually give those burned by the angry and mean faces of Christianity a way into a Beloved Community (as some would call church communities).
Houstonians, vote Yes on One. Tell others you are doing so. If you have a reason for it that actively counters the religious reasons with your own religious reasons, please do so. You could be the key to someone's salvation.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
#HERO
Houston, where I live, is making national headlines due to the rather
ugly battle here over the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (or HERO). The
fear mongering, particularly against trans people, is off the scales.
People are certain that passing HERO will invite sexual predators into
the women's restrooms, i.e., cis-men who will pretend to be transwomen
to prey on women and girls. While I am aware of a few incidents of
cis-men entering women's restrooms with evil on their mind, none of them
pretended to be women to do so. And you know what? Either way, being a
sexual predator is illegal whether you're wearing a dress or blue jeans,
whether you're trans, cis, or intersex.
So, having gotten that out of the way (and it feels weird that one has to say such things) . . .
This evening, I went to a Houston Unites meeting, focusing on the faith community. A friend had contacted me about it (I hadn't heard of it) and asked me to join her, so I did.
The early voting (now in progress here in Texas) indicates that the vote on HERO is going to be close, that the fear mongering is working to motivate the anti-HERO folk to go to the polls.
So many things collided in my brain during this meeting and I'll probably have to say more in another blog post.
But tonight I want to refer back to a post I wrote over a year ago, "Loving Those We Don't Understand." It relates my first encounter of any depth with a transwoman.
Second, I want implore everyone who sees this and is pro-HERO to engage other Houstonians about the ordinance. Facts and statistics are great, but those aren't going to change hearts and minds alone. Tell stories, like I told in the above-referenced blog post. Tell about your friendship with a trans person, about your first encounter with one, or the first time you deeply understood how Black people are discriminated against, or about that time you saw a religious person or group denied housing and how HERO would have helped them, or how people with a disability don't always have equal access despite the Americans With Disabilities Act. The ordinance has spread the net very wide in naming who it protects. It's not just about any one group getting protection.
And when I say engage, do it however you can. In person is usually best for full communication, phone calls are great, emails and social media are not useless. Heck, share this blog post or one of the many more articulate ones out there. Just don't be silent, particularly in the face of people who are uncertain. Help them understand that they might need HERO one day, how it might help them settle a discriminatory incident locally without having to take it to a federal court (because Texas courts won't be much help for some categories---LGBT folk are not a protected class under Texas law and you can be fired from a job just because you're gay, but HERO would give at least Houstonians some recourse in that situation).
And of course, fellow Houstonians, get out and vote and vote Yes on Prop One. If you're like me, you might look at your Facebook newsfeed and see a lot of support for it, because that's the sort of friends you have. Don't let that lull you into complacency. Prop One will only pass if you vote, and if you help get other people to the polls to vote Yes on One.
So, having gotten that out of the way (and it feels weird that one has to say such things) . . .
This evening, I went to a Houston Unites meeting, focusing on the faith community. A friend had contacted me about it (I hadn't heard of it) and asked me to join her, so I did.
The early voting (now in progress here in Texas) indicates that the vote on HERO is going to be close, that the fear mongering is working to motivate the anti-HERO folk to go to the polls.
So many things collided in my brain during this meeting and I'll probably have to say more in another blog post.
But tonight I want to refer back to a post I wrote over a year ago, "Loving Those We Don't Understand." It relates my first encounter of any depth with a transwoman.
Second, I want implore everyone who sees this and is pro-HERO to engage other Houstonians about the ordinance. Facts and statistics are great, but those aren't going to change hearts and minds alone. Tell stories, like I told in the above-referenced blog post. Tell about your friendship with a trans person, about your first encounter with one, or the first time you deeply understood how Black people are discriminated against, or about that time you saw a religious person or group denied housing and how HERO would have helped them, or how people with a disability don't always have equal access despite the Americans With Disabilities Act. The ordinance has spread the net very wide in naming who it protects. It's not just about any one group getting protection.
And when I say engage, do it however you can. In person is usually best for full communication, phone calls are great, emails and social media are not useless. Heck, share this blog post or one of the many more articulate ones out there. Just don't be silent, particularly in the face of people who are uncertain. Help them understand that they might need HERO one day, how it might help them settle a discriminatory incident locally without having to take it to a federal court (because Texas courts won't be much help for some categories---LGBT folk are not a protected class under Texas law and you can be fired from a job just because you're gay, but HERO would give at least Houstonians some recourse in that situation).
And of course, fellow Houstonians, get out and vote and vote Yes on Prop One. If you're like me, you might look at your Facebook newsfeed and see a lot of support for it, because that's the sort of friends you have. Don't let that lull you into complacency. Prop One will only pass if you vote, and if you help get other people to the polls to vote Yes on One.
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