(Transgendered people from Baltimore, MD., obtained through Google search.)
All the gay marriage talk going on in our country reveals an ignorance about reality. The debate centers around those who believe heterosexual marriage is the only legitimate marriage (some would say God ordained) and others proposing that gay men and gay women should be able to marry and have equal rights. The reality, though, is a slew of people exist who are transgendered, bisexual, intersexed or asexual. You might say these human beings are the marginalized of the marginalized. They don’t even get mentioned in the debate. They are not part of the conversation. And yet, they exist.
Poor heterosexuals, seems most of us can handle sexual news in only small doses.
I don’t think small dosing sexual orientation debates is a good thing. There are other sexual orientations. And there also is the matter of gender identities. And then there’s all sorts of diversity in all the “unrecognized categories”.
I used to think all transgendered people were individuals born in the wrong body. I’ve since learned that some folk don’t feel like they are born in the wrong body; rather they feel bi-gendered. And gender expression varies within them at different times and on different days.
I’m feeling a little guilty. I told a little white lie to a Wedgewoodian transgendered friend. Michele won this year’s Wedgewood chili contest. The chili had a taste unlike any I have ever tasted. Simply splendid. Michele said she used Johnsonville sausage. Personally, I think there are other ingredients Michele is keeping secret. (Good Lord, if you can’t tell your Pastor your secrets, ummm—your recipe secrets, then. . .) Anyway, on Easter Sunday of all days I lied. As Michele walked out of the sanctuary glowing from the inspiration of the sermon I had just delivered (O.K., I just made that up too.) I opened my hands up and moved them slightly toward her as if expecting her to put something in my hands. She looked at me as if I were crazy, which I am. I said, “Michele, it’s Easter.” Michele looked at me like——–I said it before—–like I was crazy. I said, “You obviously don’t know about the Wedgewood Easter tradition. On Easter, the winner of the Wedgewood chili contest brings the Pastor an installment of the award winning chili as a way of helping the Pastor celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.” “But I didn’t know,” Michele smiled. “That’s O.K., you can bring me some next Sunday.” Heah, it was Easter Sunday, a little grace was called for.
I don’t like it when society and churches act like my friends don’t exist!
