“Mystifying & Demystifying Trans Justice”: Trans Faith & Justice Weekend Preach-in Sermon

What follows is the written text of the sermon I delivered at First Parish UU Church of Kennebunk on October 25, 2026. One of 17 Maine churches focusing their Sunday Services on Trans Justice for a regional Preach-in, I was honored to be asked to lead this service. As soon as the audio is available, I will provide the link here and the video will also be added to a collection of all the services which I will also share when it is available. I also built a webpage with resources and relevant links for attendees.

“Mystifying & Demystifying Trans Justice”

*NOTE: Elements in italics and between *s were not included in the spoken sermon. They were cut due to length, but they remain in the written for additional context.

As I have mentioned, this morning’s service and the Trans-justice focused services at 16 other churches across the state, are part of a Trans Faith & Justice Weekend. This weekend was specifically chosen because of its proximity to election day, when Mainers were going to vote on an anti-trans initiative focused on transgender athletes. Though the initiative was removed from the ballot due to insufficient signatures, the weekend remained so that we can continue the work of educating ourselves and getting organized before we have another ballot measure to fight.

Because it is very likely there WILL be another anti-trans initiative, both because of how things have been going lately, but also because we have heard the group is already collecting signatures for the next election.

Today, we will go on a little journey that I hope will help you see the trans community in a new light, we will explore how we got to this place where there are ballot measures being proposed to suppress trans rights, and we will consider how we can each move in the world a bit more supportive of our trans siblings.

First, I want to start with some basic terms so we’re all on the same page about what I am talking about when I use the term “trans.”

What many people think of when they hear the term “trans” is people who have transitioned from the sex they were assigned at birth to the opposite gender. BUT, “trans” is actually an umbrella term for anyone whose gender identity or expression does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Let me say that again. “Trans” is a term for anyone whose gender identity or expression does not match the sex they were assigned at birth.

So, yes, this absolutely applies who you might consider trans men and trans women, but it also applies to those whose gender is not strictly male or female. And being trans does not require a specific medical transition. So the term can include people who identify as non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid, agender and beyond.

Some people who are non-binary or any of those other identities I listed may consider themselves trans and they may not, how they identify is their choice.

So, for the purposes of what I will share today, when I talk about trans individuals I mean anyone whose gender identity or expression does not match the sex they were assigned at birth.

And the other term you will hear a lot today is “binary.” This refers to the gender binary, which is the social and cultural system that divides all people into two strict, opposite and mutually exclusive categories: male, boy, man and female, girl, woman.

Got it?

TRANS PRESENCE IN OTHER CULTURES PRE-EMPIRE/MONOTHEISTIC RELIGION

Okay, let us now go on a little observational journey in time and space.

There have been individuals that exist and identify beyond the binary for as long as humans have been around. In fact, the idea of identifying within a binary of what is male or female wasn’t a thing for many thousands of years in pretty much any culture.

Let’s take a look at some of the examples of trans identities around the world and to help you visualize, I want you to consider these places and cultures say 3000 years ago, long before there were border lines drawn between countries, before easy distance travel and communication was possible, before the Roman Empire, before the One God concept of Abrahamic Religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

What we are talking about is indigenous peoples because people were living where they were born mostly and migration had not occurred too much yet. This was a time when people lived in community, living in connection with the land and ecosystems they were part of, and their spirituality and power structures were often tied to the forces of nature.

Within each of these cultures, there have been people who do not fit into the binary female or male identity and expression.

Let us start in Asia

In Thailand, there were the kathoey (kat-toe-ee). A gender-diverse group of people that were considered to have soft souls. They were uniquely susceptible to and capable of channeling spirits. Some served as the spirit mediums. They were a respected and deeply valuable part of society.

In India, there were the Hijras, who considered themselves a third gender that is neither female nor male. They often lived in communities with one another. They were sacred members of society with religious power who performed dances, songs and blessings at Hindu births and weddings. A blessing from a Hijra was considered to bring good luck, prosperity and abundance.

In Indigenous Europe, there is evidence of healers transcending gender roles. Shamanic power would sometimes channel in someone of the gender not expected to be a healer, and their non-binary nature was acknowledged, respected and even revered.

In South America, Quariwarmi were a third “man-woman” gender. They were spiritual leaders, healers and ritual attendants who wore androgynous attire. They bridged the gap between the masculine and feminine, the living and the dead, and the spiritual and physical realms.

In the Pacific Islands including Tahiti and Hawaii, there were the Mahu, individuals who possessed both male and female elements within one body and spirit. They held high status in their culture, were healers and keepers of traditions, teachers of ritual and caretakers.

And here in North America, there were Two Spirit individuals. In every tribe of Indigenous Americans, there are different terms and roles for a variety of gender identities outside of male and female. Two Spirit was coined as an umbrella term that encompasses a VERY WIDE variety of gender identities within all the different Indigenous Communities, just like we use the umbrella term trans. Although each tribe has their own specifics, there are general overlaps:

Two spirit identity was believed to come from the divine in visions or dreams.

They typically filled roles as healers, shamans and ceremonial leaders.

They are sometimes considered bonus parents or stand-in parents and caretakers.

Not only were they accepted in their cultures, tribes did not feel whole without them. They were essential members of the community.

One other thing to note is that sometimes in Indigenous culture, as Two-Spirit individuals come into their authentic gender expression and full expression as a being, it is not considered “Coming Out” because there is no hiding. Instead, it is called “Coming in.” That feels so beautiful and actually true.

Notice a trend here? Not only have people of neither female nor male identities always existed around the world, they are actually all considered healers, closer to God, perhaps even the most Divine of their communities. And remember, this is thousands of years ago - this wasn’t a trend that got passed on from culture to culture. Each of these cultures and communities individually recognized the divinity of difference and the divinity of being in the in between.

In addition to human expression of gender variation and diversity, there is an ABUNDANCE of deities from religions, traditions and cultures around the world that are non-binary, genderless, or change gender.

In Greek and Roman Mythology

Dionysus was described as androgynous or “man-womanish”.

Hermaphroditus, the child of Hermes and Aphrodite, merged into a single androgynous/intersex body.

Aphroditus was an early bi-gender form of Aprhodite who combined male and female generative powers.

In Norse and German Culture, Loki frequently shape-shifted into female form.

In Mesopotamia, Ishtar, the goddess of love, war and sex: carried masculine and feminine traits, was called the bearded goddess was served by third-gender priests

In Hinduism, there was:

Ardhanarishvara who was a composite, androgynous form of the god Shiva and the goddess Parvati, depicted as half-male and half-female, symbolizing the synthesis of masculine and feminine energies. And there was also

Bahuchara Mata: A revered Hindu goddess of virility and acceptance who is the protector of the hijra community I mentioned earlier.

In Buddhism, there is most notably Kwan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion. Considered both male and female, as well as genderless or androgynous, because enlightened bodhisattvas transcend the human binary gender. But Kwan Yin began in India as a male-presenting bodhisattva and then as Buddhism traveled along the silk road, she morphed into a female-presenting form which is how she is most known today.‍ ‍

In the Shinto tradition of Japan, there was Inari Okami - a diety of agriculture and industry who had fluid or multiple gender expressions.

And in the West African Dahomean tradition, there was Mawu-Lisa, a dual-gender or androgynous creator deity

There are many many more but you get the idea. The idea of multiple genders and gender not existing in a binary has been around for as long as humans have existed. And in so many cultures, individuals that existed outside of the binary “norm” were not only accepted, they were revered.

What if this is true? I believe we are MEANT to be a less binary society. That if people were really able to become who they are without societal influence, there would be A LOT more people who didn’t fit within the specific roles and identities of male and female. Perhaps many of us here wouldn’t fit in one of those boxes anymore. AND, what an amazing idea that those that don’t fit inside the “norms” also have gifts. If any of you have listened to “The Telepathy Tapes” podcast, you know that there is a lot of evidence that autistic people have access to a plane we cannot see or understand - a spiritual plane that neuro-typical people don’t have access to. This is true of other neuro-divergent presentations also. If neuro-divergent people have more access to the spiritual plane, I can see that gender-divergent individuals would also have that access.

How powerful is that to consider?! What if divergence, being outside the box, is actually Divine? Us queers can surely get behind that!

HOW DID WE GET HERE

Obviously that is not where we are currently. So how exactly did we get from there to here…?

Well. You can sum it up with one word… Power.

For good measure, let’s sprinkle in a couple more words: Empire. Colonialism. Capitalism. Patriarchy. White Supremacy… you get the point.

Unfortunately, as systems built on white, male, and often christian supremacy have come onto the scene, they have broken down and squashed the systems that not only affirmed and accepted gender expressions and identities outside of the binary, they were even revered and necessary to a whole society. And accordingly, many of the peoples that I have mentioned to you have not only lost their status and role in their societies, many have also been outcast, oppressed and worse. Largely, the understood magic of the middle - between genders - has been eradicated.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

Colonialism, Patriarchy and Capitalism have benefitted greatly from dividing people which is buoyed by binary thinking. The binary thinking of “Modern Culture” has taught us that there is right and wrong, true and false, male and female, good and bad.

Christianity has played a HUGE role in this for centuries - the actual teachings of Jesus have been misconstrued, mistranslated, miscommunicated and misused basically since Jesus died, in service of Empire gaining more power, especially enhanced by Constantine “the great” who originally commissioned and essentially curated what became the Bible 300 years after Jesus’s death and lets just say he had a lot of biases and wishes about how the story was told.

Since then, Christianity and the Church have been intertwined with Power and Politics. And wow is that ever true now. Despite our country being founded with the hopes of religious freedom and the separation of church and state, I wouldn’t exactly say that’s true now, would you?

WHY TRANS BILLS NOW?

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the very White Christian Supremacist “modern Christian Right,” what we now call White Christian Nationalism, emerged. They were utilizing “christian morals” to fight political issues. And they have been VERY strategic.

While they started with the fight against Civil Rights and Women’s Liberation, they eventually realized that defending racial segregation wasn’t politically viable, and so they turned their focus towards abortion. By adopting rights-based framing (such as "right-to-life" language), they found a way to sway voters towards conservative candidates.

In 1979, Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority, which explicitly organized conservative Protestants, Catholics, and other traditionalists to oppose abortion, Equal Rights and LGBTQ+ rights while championing school prayer.

This has been going on a really long time, but it obviously has become even more rampant in recent years. And these conservative strategists are very strategic, including the current fight for trans rights.

Project 2025 - the conservative transition blueprint that Trump’s administration is essentially following, outlines a comprehensive strategy to remove legal recognition, healthcare access, and protections for transgender people.

And do you know why that is? It’s pure political strategy. The White Christian Nationalist Organization The Heritage Foundation, who wrote Project 2025, spent $300Million Dollars in 2020 doing JUST focus groups to test out messages and platforms that would most sway voters towards the conservative. Do you know what won the testing? Trans kids! Yup, that’s it. That’s the only reason we’re in this fight now. Because it was the easiest and most convincing issue for people to get morally upset about - trans kids.

And the entire platform is built on disinformation…

The disinformationThat kids are receiving gender affirming surgery, which is not true. Kids who feel they are in the wrong body are provided with gender-affirming social care which is changes to clothing, hair cuts, and affirmative names and pronouns, finding therapy to work through their feelings, etc. With a lot of vetting, as young teens, some receive puberty blockers which is completely reversible - it basically allows them to mature without marrying themselves to a gender.‍ ‍

The disinformation that kids are being swayed to transition, which is not true. You may think that there are more trans folx now, but that is actually because trans folx are finally coming into themselves. As much as I think social media and the internet contribute to us being disconnected, this is one instance that is a total gift for people. Trans individuals who might have previously hidden in the shadows in shame and possibly harmed themselves now see themselves reflected in others and are able to feel safer being themselves which is a win for everyone. Because becoming themselves reduces the chances of self-harm and suicide that is very prevalent in trans individuals (for reference, trans kids and adults are between 3 and 10x MORE likely to attempt suicide).

And the disinformation that basic trans rights are a threat to their rights. Which is JUST NOT TRUE.

NONE of it is true, it is all fear-based propaganda. Conservative political movements are trying to control through fear. And unfortunately, it is working. Obviously… because we’re sitting here today talking about this. Because there are 10x (10 TIMES!) the number of anti-trans bills being put forward this year as there were in 2020. Because we’re needing to defend the lives, dignity and rights of our trans siblings who in another time and place would be our most revered, beloved and sacred citizens.

The good news is that 80-90% of anti-trans legislation has been voted down. But the 10-20% that has gone into effect is horrible and seriously damaging, stripping away the right for kids to play rec sports, stripping licenses from trans people, making trans people use public bathrooms that are exposing trans people to even more violence and threat than they did before. It’s horrendous.

MOVING FORWARD

So what do we do? How do we help?

I want to acknowledge that all of this takes courage.

First, we have the courage to question what we’ve been taught to fear. And to acknowledge our own fears. In our society, many of us have been taught to fear and judge people that are different from us - that they are somehow a threat, and accordingly, we have a bias to take care of people like us but not those that aren’t like us. And for many of us, we are afraid of what we don’t understand, what we can’t make sense of. I get that, I have it too, but it is a divine practice to look at our fears, acknowledge them and where they come from, and move through them. Consider how, as uncomfortable is it may be, you can allow your own mindset to transcend out of the boxes we’ve been told everything fits into.

In addition to the internal work, we have the courage to engage with people who are different. It is proven that we are far more likely to care for and advocate for a group of people if we have a personal relationship with someone who identifies with that group. So, do you know a trans person or many trans people? Anyone who doesn’t identify as either male or female? Get to know them, don’t be afraid to ask how they identify and if you feel comfortable and it feels appropriate, ask about their experiences. Let them know you’re thinking about them in this difficult time, provide them with love and support. That you see them and they’re not alone.

And finally, we have the courage to protect people who are different. Yes, we do this by supporting organizations that support and protect trans people. But we can also do more. I’ll be honest, as a UU church, you have a bigger responsibility in the faith community. You are known for being the safest religious space. Don’t take that lightly. Commit to being a welcoming and affirming space, not only in name but really in practice.

And above all, have the courage to choose LOVE and CONNECTION over FEAR and DISCONNECTION.

I believe that LOVE really is the point in this life. That at our very essence we are made of LOVE and that we are meant to be LOVING. I think we can TRUST LOVE. And accordingly, I think love can be a really good compass.

With your own experience, you can ask yourself if what you’re saying or doing is the most loving to others, and most loving to yourself. If not, go ahead and adjust.

You can consider in any given situation whether someone is acting or speaking out of love or fear.

You can choose to act from LOVE which breeds CONNECTION or from FEAR which breeds DISCONNECTION.

You can choose to be LOVE or FEAR.

And, when the time comes, you can choose to vote with LOVE or FEAR.

Additionally, if at all possible, please try to advocate beyond yourself against any anti-trans measures. Talk to your friends and family, get involved in the work others are doing to combat anti-trans propaganda and legislation. Do what you can.

I find hope in how many people are standing up for LOVE right now. I find hope in seeing all of you who I know have more LOVE in you than FEAR.

And as strange as it is, I do find hope in the possibility that this extreme level of FEAR coming from the Conservative Christian Right is actually one final burst of FEAR and DISCONNECTION trying to snuff out LOVE but it will not win. There are some spiritual and sociological theories and concepts that point to humanity going through a massive transition right now, and that part of the transformation and evolution is this huge burst of FEAR and DISCONNECTION, EGO and POWER. I interviewed a number of people on my podcast in 2024 who explore these concepts from different lenses. What is true of all of them is that each points to us (hopefully) shifting back towards what has been. Not to what was 15 years ago, but what was thousands of years ago.

Imagine… is it possible, we could transcend the boxes, transcend the fear and disconnection to become a society of love and connection?

If it is possible, it will be possible because we become the most loving beings we can be, we show up for love in our community, and we love one another, all of us.

May THAT be so!