May Those Who’ve Come Before Us Find Us Faithful: A Transgender Christian’s Response To Transgender Day Of Remembrance
This article comes to us from Deborah Richards, a transgender member of the GLAD Alliance Council. The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved. Click here for more information about Transgender Day of Remembrance.
As we move closer into the Transgender Week of Awareness (Nov. 13-23) and then the Day of Remembrance (Nov. 20th) I am reminded of two quotes from scripture, both from Matthew 25: “Well done good and faithful servant” and “Whatever you have done to the least of these people, you’ve done to me.” I find both of these quotes inspirational to me as a Transgender person advocating for the education and equality of all gender-variant peoples. I want those who have paved the way so that I might be able to speak out as freely as I have to say to me, “Well done good and faithful servant.” I also want to be a sheep; I want to continue to pave the way for trans identified people so that their tomorrow can be better than my yesterday! I want to “Do unto the least of these” because when I do these things I am doing it to and for Jesus.
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’
37-40 “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’
41-43 “Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—
I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’
44 “Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’
45 “He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’
46 “Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”
In this article I will be giving my commentary on Matthew 25:31-46. I will discuss the importance of continuing to pave the way for trans identified peoples so that someday we might not need a Transgender Day of Remembrance to honor and remember those who have come before us and who have passed on due to violent hate crimes due to ignorance. But rather, we can celebrate a day of remembrance honoring those who have come before us paving the way to make it better!
The fact that we need a Transgender Day of remembrance tells me that there are too many goats in the world – people who ignore Christ’s calling to social justice, His call to us to serve those who are considered “less than” by various people in the world. Christ calls us to “do unto the least of these” and in today’s society, that unfortunately includes transgender people. The Transgender Day of Remembrance is a day set aside to remember, to honor the people who have passed from violence, due to ignorant hate crimes because of who they were.
As a Transgender person (Male to female), and as a Christ follower, I find myself hearing the words of Jesus from this parable as a call to social justice, a call to pave the way. I hear not only the voice of Jesus calling me to pave the way, but I hear also the voices of Gwendolyn Ann Smith (founder of TDOR), Sylvia Rivera (Mother of trans rights), Kate Bornstein (transgender author, actor, activist and gender theorist), Carmen Carrera (transgender model, Actress, and activist), Laverne Cox (Transgender actress and activist), Masen Davis (Executive director of the Transgender Law Center), Mara Keisling (Founding Executive Director of National Center for Transgender Equality), Monica Roberts Of TransGriot (well known blogger and trans activist) and all the other people out there who continue to speak out against injustice and educate us on ways to better love and respect our transgender siblings, calling out to me, telling me, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you have done for me!” I want to live a life of activism and education, paving the way for a better tomorrow for my trans siblings. I want to be able to stand up before all of the people I just listed and hear them say, “Well done good and faithful servant!” Not only do I want this for myself in the trans community, but I want this for the people who boldly stand up and profess to be allies of the trans community. It isn’t enough to say “I support you” and sit there and do nothing to back up that claim. Stand up and be a sheep! Proudly do unto the least of these so that those who have come before you may find you faithful and say unto you “Well done good and faithful servant.”
May those who’ve come before us find us faithful! May we be a part of the legacy that they have left us so that someday, instead of mourning and remembering those we have lost due to hate, we can celebrate and honor those who made it possible for us to live authentically to ourselves safely in this world!