A Dallas Pastor’s Unconventional Determination To Educate Himself On Transgender Issues
Clearly, the reason for conservative anger against the transgender issue nationwide is perhaps because it’s something they’ve never had to reckon with before, lashing back feelings that have been forced on them, triggering religious leaders to stage a united attack on the community from pulpits across America.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuUk_j84qQg
Social media can be blamed for bringing the topic of discrimination against transgender people front and center. It is one of the items the Associate Pastor of Wilshire Church in Dallas put on his list of what he’s learning about the transgender community, which is that they don’t especially appreciate the kind of attention they’re getting right now in relation to the controversial bathroom laws.
That pastor is a man named Mark Wingfield who published a piece for the Baptist News Global which has gone viral, as it’s a rarity that a religious leader would make any effort to embrace the transgender community rather than oppose it.
The article is an opinion piece simply titled “Seven Things I’m Learning About Transgender Persons” where he tries to gain some insight into the world of a transgender person. It is especially interesting as it also provides more secular people or even transgender people similar insight into the mysterious mind of a religious leader.
Wingfield’s piece is refreshing, not only because it provides a different view of how society could see transgender people, but because he makes more than the standard effort to think outside-the-box in a far more accepting way. Rather than talk down to the reader about their impending doom, he leaves it open and expresses genuine humility of his ignorance.
For a while, religious leaders have made headlines by saying the most divisive things, demonizing the LGBT community by tying it to political right-wing platforms and practically tossing it on the pile of lawsuits in front of the White House on the lawn, aiming the blame at the Obama administration, for creating the fringe group.
To this issue, Mark Wingfield spoke on KERA News.
“Just because you are the loudest voice in the Christian community doesn’t mean you’re the majority voice or the correct voice. There are people who speak on behalf of Christianity or speak politically while claiming a Christian mantle who may not be reading the Bible the same way the rest of us do.”
As mentioned, his post became popular enough to where it got covered on NPR with host Rachel Martin on May 22 for Weekend Edition Sunday.
In the interview, he takes one of the seven things he wrote about dispelling the rumors and talked about the comparison between transgender and transvestites and how they’re not the same thing.
“If you listen to and read a lot of the comments that are flying around today in regard to all the bathroom bills and so forth, I mean, you would think that Klinger from M*A*S*H was about to, you know, walk in to every restroom in America. We need to say, look, understand the facts before you start talking about this.”
He also stated how “transvestite” is a loaded word and how he is trying to break away from using it.
In the column and the interview, he also addressed the progress of learning about transgender identity past the biological association people often make without considering the other biological changes that also make a person a different gender.
https://youtu.be/IY4-fdsAOZk?t=57s
In contrast, another pastor from Dallas is famous for being very public in his opposition to accepting the realities of the transgender community to the point where LGBT groups are demanding that the city of Dallas reject him entirely. That person is Robert Jeffress.
An example of this is in The Christian Post where he wrote about his sermon on what the bible says about transgender people.
“Gender identity confusion is an emotional disorder, that should be treated professionally, and compassionately. Gender identity confusion should not be exploited by social activists like those in the [President Barack] Obama administration who want to deny the God-given distinction between the sexes. This is a rebellion against God’s plan.”
As a result of Mark Wingfield’s article, there is no doubt that the transgender community appreciates the support but most of all, it challenges people to open up their minds and consider a different way of looking at the issue.
[Image by Tony Gutierrez /AP Photo]
