Sarah:
I grew up in the Presbyterian faith and held church offices in 2 of the 4 cities where I have lived. I have been unchurched for a number of years now, not because of any conflict over being transgender, but due to the slowness of the Church regarding the inclusion of LGBT folks. That happened long before I realized what my gender identity truly is. We are not the ones to judge. It is not, and will never be, appropriate. That is something that we have no business doing, yet we do.
6 or 7 tears ago there was an open letter put out by 9 folks who were founders and leaders of various “pray the gay away” organizations. They had left or shut down their organizations. What they stated was that they had come to realize that they had caused more harm than good. Many who came to seek help left in worse mental shape than they began. The leaders realized that sexual orientation and gender identity were innate and that any attempt to change that resulted in severe issues for people. The unfortunate part is that it took a while for folks to come to that conclusion, but good that they did.
There is great complexity regarding the function of the human mind. We don’t understand why we like chocolate ice cream over strawberry, so it is pointless to say that we “know” about sexuality and gender identity. We just have not studied either topic enough to say. Problem being that conservatives will fight any such research expenditures due to the high probability that their prejudices will have no basis in fact.
Basically, there is no point to beat yourself up over something that you cannot control and that is the simple truth.
So, thanks for putting a lot of effort into your Profile page. It really helps others understand how things sit for you and what may be difficult. The page will always be readily available and can be updated at any time.
Also, if you would like to search for other members in your area, click on Social in the menu and then Member Directory.
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