Reconciliation Ministries Network "Transgender Day Of Remembrance: Honoring the lives that call us to pursue justice" for Thursday, 20 November 2014

Reconciliation Ministries Network "Transgender Day Of Remembrance: Honoring the lives that call us to pursue justice" for Thursday, 20 November 2014 On this day, Transgender Day of Remembrance, we are called by the Holy One to remember our Transgender family members who have been subject to hate, violence, and death. People are gathering all over the world to remember the 226 trans people, primarily trans women of color, who have been killed this year. As Reconciling Methodists we must join alongside our Transgender family today and every day until our church and our world claim the value of all God’s beloved children. To join in this ritual of honoring those whose lives were taken, read the reflections below by two trans* people in our Network, and look for a Trans Day of Remembrance service in your area at tdor.info. May the praying, the remembering, and the longing bring forth action in the name of Love. For the life of the world, "we are called to act with justice, we are called to love tenderly, we are called to serve one another—to walk humbly with God." RMN Executive Director Find a local Trans Day of Rememberance Download the hymn "We are called" I will call you by your name By Brett Stadtlander Dear Unidentified Person, You have a name. You and I both know that. I’m sorry that we have yet to find it. I can’t imagine how that breaks your heart. I remember the first day someone in my family called me by mine. It was a year into my transition and my Grandma sent me an e-mail addressed to Brett. She said something to this effect: “You probably noticed I wrote this to Brett. It’s been a hard year getting to this place, but I want you to know I love you and that I’m with you every step of this journey. Calling you Brett is where I’ll start.” I hope you had someone like that. Someone that was with you every step of the way. I hope you felt that feeling of affirmation, love, and compassion when someone called you by your name. Not the name you were given, but the name you chose. The name that was yours. You have a name, even though this piece of paper in my hand doesn’t have it listed. I’m not sure why it’s missing, but it’s an injustice. It’s not fair that such violence was done to you in life and now in death people are still turning their backs. I am sorry. I am sorry that we turned away. I am sorry that no one stopped whoever caused you harm. I am sorry that your life didn’t end in the amazing love and affirmation that I feel every time my sweet Mom says my name. I am sorry for whatever ways I was complicit in your pain. From the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry. The least we could do for you is let you have your name, but we didn’t. And I know this won’t make up for that, but I want to give you a name now. Because you had the name you chose, but you were also named Worthy long before you even knew it to be true—if you ever knew it to be true. You are and were and will always be Worthy. You are Worthy of life. You are Worthy of our love and the love of our Creator. You are Worthy of a safe space to be. You are beautiful and you are Worthy. With every breath of my life I promise you I will try to carry your name on. I will try to show our trans* family that’s here and that’s yet to come, that, just like you, they are named Worthy. I will try to be a part of the movement that makes the Body of Christ a safe space for trans* people, rather than a space that is nearly as frightening as an alley atmidnight. I will try to stand up to the violence—physical, of course—but also the violence of turned backs and awkward stares and not-so-quiet whispers. I will try to show everyone that you were Worthy and so are they. I will not be perfect. There will be days when I am a part of the violence, and for that, I am sorry. But you have reminded me of what it means to be named Worthy and with that in my mind, I will push on, even through those days where I have been a cause of the hurt. I long for the day when everyone named Worthy (that is to say, everyone) can join in communion. I long for the day when I can give you a hug, call you by your name, and thank you for living as the person God created you to be. But until then, I will call you Worthy. With all of my love and with all of my life, Brett Share this reflection with a friend More questions than answers on TDOR by M Barclay, RMN Associate Director of Communications "One of the most important things I've learned this TDOR is how much it's not about people like me. The overwhelming majority of lives remembered are always trans women and more specifically, trans women of color. We absolutely cannot do justice to a Trans Day of Remembrance service where we speak out against hate grounded in gender identity if we are not also, equally, speaking out against sexism and racism." Read M's full reflection Share Tweet Forward +1 Blog Facebook Twitter RMN Email YouTube Tumblr

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