Not Everything Is Negative

All you hear on the news is how this minister condemns trans-people as perverts or a priest lobbies against an anti-discrimination bill calling it a “bathroom bill", but you usually don’t hear anything good about religion and trans-people.

Protestant group hires trans man as ED
Bay Area Reporter
By Chuck Colbert
August 1, 2013

An LGBT advocacy organization within one of the nation's foremost Christian denominations announced its new executive director, Alex McNeill, who, in making history, becomes the first openly transgender leader of a mainline Protestant group.

"I'm honored to join More Light Presbyterians, which has always been on the forefront of the Christian tradition of fostering acceptance for the most vulnerable among us," said McNeil, 30, in a press statement announcing his appointment, which takes effect later this month.
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Within his denomination, moreover, McNeill worked to secure ordination equality for Presbyterians and celebrated that success by becoming the first openly transgender ministry candidate from his home presbytery in western North Carolina.

Just so you don’t think that this is like the outcast Catholic group Dignity, More Light Presbyterians is working within the Presbyterians church to bring about change…

It was in July 2010 when Presbyterian activists succeeded in dismantling a gay ordination ban – dating back to 1978 – during a meeting of the 2.1 million-member's general assembly, a gathering held in Minneapolis. There, the denomination's highest governing body voted to approve Amendment 10-A, which deleted language in the denomination's Book of Order that in effect barred the ordination of non-celibate gay candidates by requiring them "to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and woman or chastity in singleness."

There is change in mainstream religions, more and more are becoming accepting of LGBT people, yes, there still more religions that hate us than those that accept us but their numbers are shrinking. I like to say that our secret weapon in passing the gender inclusive anti-discrimination law and marriage equality was support we had from the religious community. For every religious leader who spoke out against us, there was a rabbi, priest or minister who spoke for us. We even had a bishop testify on behalf of the anti-discrimination bill. Just so you know, I don’t believe in organized religion, I believe it is more important on how you live your life and treat others than being a member of a church.