Since 2008, the International Lesbian, Gay, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) has documented more than 5,000 murders of trans persons, and this year 2024 at least 350 trans persons have been murdered driven by messages of hate for this incredibly small number of people, 36 in the U.S., where politicians have seized on such fear and hate.
What is it about trans persons that causes such fearful have reaction, especially when we are talking about less than one percent of the population? Some of it lies in the belief that men and women are inherently different and that men who transition to being women never lose their masculine aggression.
Others argue it is an extension of homophobia, believing that association with persons in the LGBTI community will “make” someone become different. Old societal beliefs of traditional gender roles, buttressed by fundamentalist biblical interpretation, obviously play a part. God’s creation is infinite in its variety including human beings.
Prayer for the Day
Called to be your witnesses in the face of injustice and evil,
You know, O Lord, we are often fearful and silent;
Called to share your welcome to all your children,
We allow others to define what that welcome means.
Forgive our frailty, our fear, and our weaknesses,
Strengthen us to live with courage and determination,
In the name of the Transformer of our lives, `
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
The hate towards transgender and gender expansive community members is fueled by disinformation, rhetoric and ideology that treats our community as political pawns ignoring the fact that we deserve the opportunity to live our lives fully without fear of harm or death.
Tori Cooper, Transgender Justice Initiative
The epidemic of violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people is another example of how society devalues a community just trying to live their lives.
Kelley Robinson, Human Rights Campaign
For it was you who formed my inward parts;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your woks that I know very well.
Psalm 139: 13-14