The Stories Kids Tell

2024

One interesting thing my wife and I have noticed is the way our kids have responded to the reality of me being trans. They have a great sense of humor, and this topic is just as much the source of humor for them as anything else is. That's fine with me, because frankly, they are hilarious. I don't mean they mock me, because they don't do that at all. But they love to use me being trans to mess with people.

For example, one of them was in training for their job, which requires ongoing group training with employees with similar jobs. We live in a very backward area of Ohio, which outside the bigger cities is a really conservative area. While there, they of course talked about non-work related things as well. So, she was talking about a recent holiday meal we had together, and funny things that had been said, etc., and while talking about it, used my pronouns, yet referred to me as her dad. That is what they call me. See, they had always called me that, and when the time came to come out to people outside our family, they had indicated their preference to continue using that title for me, because I still do the typical dad things for them, like help them jump start their car, etc. So referring to me as "dad" but also as "she" confused the people she was talking to, and she found that hilarious. 

Mind you, I'm fully out publicly, so she wasn't outing me. 

Another time, she was talking with a coworker, and mentioned something about me, and at the confused face of the coworker, said "What? My dad? Oh, she's a woman". The coworker was surprised, and really didn't understand, and when our daughter was telling me about it, well, it was really funny. 

Usually, they'll refer to me as dad, and call me she, but when they get the confused look, not bother to explain. That has led to some funny things too. 

I like that our kids are comfortable enough with my gender to use it to create funny situations with their coworkers. 

Christian Condemnation

2026

One thing I of course have been aware of for years is the idea of condemnation of LGBTQIA+ people, and especially trans people, by Evangelical Christianity. One of the largest things mocked is the idea of someone AMAB (assigned male at birth) "identifying" as a woman. They seem to find the idea of identifying as something laughable. Let's unpack that a bit.

First, the obvious. This is a group of people who self-identify as something - Christian - that they were not at birth. They were literally assigned as Atheist, which of course means they had no religious beliefs at all. Over the years, something they heard led them to decide that they were a Christian. They weren't born that way. Unlike Christians, who chose to be Christians, gay, lesbian, trans, Ace, bisexual, and other LGBTQIA+ identifying people did NOT make a choice to be that way.

But taking it a step further, these Christians then further self-identify as Evangelical, and then further self-identify by general group such as Wesleyan, Armenian, Calvinist, Free Will, Reformed, etc., and then still further by specific group, synod, or denomination, such as Southern Baptist. So they made numerous choices that reflect their religious beliefs. Yet, LGBTQIA+ people made no choice at all about who they are, or what they experience.

Still further, Evangelicals celebrate scriptures that command them not to judge, yet they judge. They read about God having the power to do literally anything, yet they insist that God could never have created a trans person. They insist trans people are, in their words, "going against God's plan" while also insisting that God created everyone and everything, and not having any scripture to support their anti-trans position. 

They read the creation story in Genesis, and don't bat an eye at the conflict of the number of creatures, and totally missing the idea of the word "and" in the things created by God. They choose to ignore that completely. 

I don't identify as a transgender person. I AM a transgender person. When trans people say "Identify", they mean "am". There is no choice involved. 

I'm more than done being condemned by Evangelical Christianity. I am, however, thankful that so many non-evangelical Christians are good people, genuinely loving people. But then, that is why we see so many Evangelical churches fading, while progressive churches are impacting lives.