While transgender rights are being expanded by the Biden administration in Washington, D.C., bills have been introduced in more than a dozen state legislatures that would narrow rights for transgender persons, especially minors, and for their parents and caregivers. This…
Amid the hypocrisy of critiquing ‘unity,’ maybe we need a different goal: Cooperation
We need to debunk the argument that achieving “unity” means everyone will get their way. That’s not logically possible. This fallacious thinking is emerging as a primary conservative critique of the new administration in Washington, D.C. And once again, it…
Q&A with June Joplin on life as an itinerant (transgender) preacher
Earlier this summer, June Joplin made international headlines when she used a Sunday morning sermon at her Baptist church to come out as transgender. Nearly three months later, more has changed than her gender. The Canadian Baptist church she had…
Court extends protections for transgender students in public schools
Seemingly lost amid a holiday weekend, a global pandemic and a presidential election, a federal appeals court ruled Aug. 26 that federal protections banning sex discrimination in public schools include protections for transgender students. In a 2-to-1 ruling, the United…
Church dismisses pastor who came out as transgender in Sunday sermon
June Joplin, the Canadian Baptist pastor who came out as transgender in her Sunday sermon June 14, has been dismissed from her pulpit at Lorne Park Baptist Church in suburban Toronto. Member Anne McKye, speaking on behalf of the church’s…
Pastor reveals her true identity in live-streamed Sunday sermon
“I want to proclaim to my transgender siblings that I believe in a God who knows your name, even if that name hasn’t been chosen yet.”
Trans 101 for churches: ways to make a difference for transgender persons
In this moment of such visible and harmful aggression against transgender people, the church has an important role to play as a loving, welcoming, inclusive and engaged community.
Baptist church calls transgender pastor
Members of an Ohio congregation are inviting members of their community to a Sept. 8 worship service officially welcoming one of the few openly transgender Baptist ministers as their new pastor.
North Carolina Baptist church ordaining trans woman to gospel ministry
A Baptist church that meets on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, plans to ordain a transgender woman to the gospel ministry this Sunday.