Many years ago, I read a comic novel in which one character’s hobby was described as “leaping to the defense of ….” We United Methodists are sometimes accused of the same predilection, of being theologically and spiritually wired to stand up for victimized people because of our “bleeding hearts,” now characterized as “wokeness.”
Lately we “woke” folks have been keeping track of a hot-button issue that raises blood pressure and breaks hearts: attacks on transgender children and youth in statehouses and local school boards across America.
Consider this description from a Jan. 22 article in the Dallas Morning News, The show went on: Inside the fight to perform ‘Oklahoma!’ at Sherman High School by Talia Richman, about a school board meeting:
When the school trustees retreated into closed session, Max headed for the hallway. He tried to wrap his head around what would motivate a person to want to take away his role.
“Do people see me as some sort of monster?” Max wondered. Then he laughed. He’s a kid who plays ukulele and practices American Sign Language. He keeps kitten formula in a cabinet at home so he can bottle-feed strays. “What are they afraid of?”
Sherrman High School production of “Oklahoma!” (Photo: Sherman ISD Facebook)
Richman was documenting the triumphant Jan. 19 performance of Oklahoma! at Sherman High School, in which a transgender boy named Max Hightower played peddler Ali Hakim, and several of his female classmates acted as cowboys. I term the play “triumphant” because four months earlier, Max and his other cross-gender castmates had been told by school officials they were being removed from the roles they’d earned.
As the Dallas Morning News documents, Max’s family and those of other actors, along with outraged Sherman residents, stood up to the new rules, which weren’t enacted until Max earned his featured role. The story spread to Broadway and Hollywood, where transgender performers and heterosexual producers alike backed the youngsters against the district dictators.
Where were the Christians?
Where were Christians, whose calling is compassion, while the teenagers withstood an onslaught of hateful email and social media posts? Why, just where you’d expect — lobbing hate bombs along with others. Here’s a sample from Richman’s article:
“The student that lost their role in the play subscribes to an ideology that is a direct attack on the Christian values that we hold so dear,” one man wrote to a trustee. “Now is a great time for men and women of faith like yourself to stand up and reclaim the name of the Lord in public education settings.”
There it is — a proponent of one religio-political philosophy supporting another espousing the same misguided stance. And their target? Children.
Few things wound parents’ hearts as deeply as harm to their children. Yet to the constant astonishment of a growing segment of believers, The Powers That Be seem to think it’s OK to legislate against transgender kids’ identities and to take from them their right to be who they are and to do what their talents enable them to do. Just as the Israel-Hamas war is killing thousands of Palestinian children, so too is the war against trans kids in America killing young people.
The Trevor Project reports: “LGBTQ young people are not inherently prone to suicide risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity but rather placed at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society. … Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people 14 to 18, and LGBTQ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers.”
“Those who oppress trans kids are afraid.”
Max’s question outside the school board meeting zeroes in on the answer: those who oppress trans kids are afraid. They’re not just afraid of someone with a different gender identity. They’re afraid of schools creating people who think for themselves, who are less likely to accept big lies about elections, government and relationships, and who are much less likely to be dominated by dangerous ideologies that undermine the fabric of civilization.
Yes, the drama that played out in Sherman, Texas, — both on stage and at the school board — carries a lot more weight than most people think. It’s a microcosm that unless we’re as vigilant, forthright and faithful as Max Hightower’s family, friends and far-flung supporters, we will find ourselves living under a religious dictatorship that will rob us of not only our lives, but our souls.
Sherrman High School production of “Oklahoma!” (Photo: Sherman ISD Facebook)
How to maintain hope
So how do we Christians maintain hope and energy and purpose against the attacks of dominance coursing around our society? As a follower of Jesus in the United Methodist tradition, I recommend the following:
Stay close to faith. For many of us, this means regular prayer and Scripture reading, seeking spiritual guidance with open minds that look for enlightenment more than bias confirmation.
Practice citizenship. From the time I understood my parents’ teachings, I practiced citizenship. Parents of Baby Boomers like me survived the Great Depression, World War II, the unrest of the 1960s. They didn’t always understand the massive change going on around them, especially the Civil Rights Movement and anti-Vietnam War efforts, but they knew the U.S. Constitution guaranteed citizens the right to vote, and they voted without fail in every election, no matter how small.
Think for yourself. One of life’s truisms says if something seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t true. The same holds true now for the many twisted truths and outright lies swirling about social media and the world in general. Anytime our little internal voices mutter, “That doesn’t sound right,” believe them. Research that mental prompt for yourself through legitimate reliable fact-checking sites such as Snopes.com, Washington Post Fact-Checker, Politifact,FactCheck.org and OpenSecrets.org.
As for the attacks on transgender children and youth, here’s what I’ve found based on the fact-checking sources I cited above:
Transgender children and youth are to be believed when they say they discern a gender identity different from the bodily sex assigned at birth, according to every reputable medical resource available to the public. In the current political climate, they should be protected and defended vigorously.
“Parents who opt to get gender dysphoria treatment for their children and teenagers are not child abusers.”
Parents who opt to get gender dysphoria treatment for their children and teenagers are not child abusers; they’re responsible parents seeking to help their offspring with a potentially life-threatening medical condition.
PRRI finds fewer than half of Americans (41%) support laws that would prevent parents from allowing their children to receive gender-affirming care. Their choices should be private health decisions among families and their physicians without government interference. In the current political climate, they should be protected and defended vigorously and should not be prosecuted.
LGBTQ persons are not “sex maniacs,” pedophiles or practitioners of any other sexual oppression one can name. Their gender identity resides somewhere on a human sexuality scale that runs a gamut of affinity and affection. We don’t yet know much about how human sexuality with its wondrous variety is formed; we do know it has existed throughout humanity’s history. In the current political climate, LGBTQ people and their civil rights should be protected and defended vigorously, not criminalized.
The consistent witness of Scripture shows Jesus preached and modeled compassion — love — as the paramount sign of faith. Anything that promotes and spreads hatred doesn’t represent God as Jesus taught and embodied.
Now is the time to repeat this truth over and over in the face of evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves, in the church and beyond.
Cynthia B. Astle is a veteran journalist who has covered the worldwide United Methodist Church at all levels for 36 years. She serves as editor of United Methodist Insight, an online journal she founded in 2011.