Tag Archives: Beloved Community

A simple action to support our Trans siblings

Posted on by
"You will have to go through me" print in blue pink and white, pile of stickers

President Trump issued an executive order claiming that “sex is either male or female for all federal purposes” and then issued new rules that gender markers on passports must conform to gender assigned at birth. This is already affecting the ability of Trans and Non-binary people to get/renew passports, and putting them in danger while traveling if the “gender marker” on their passport does not match their visible appearance. There is an action you can do, if you care about Trans, Non-binary, and Two-Spirit people, right now up until March 17. I’ll put those details here, and then explain more later.

There are three rule changes that are open now for public comment, 1. Proposed Information Collection: Application for a U.S. Passport, 2. Proposed Information Collection: U.S. Passport Renewal Application for Eligible Individuals, and 3. Proposed Information Collection: Application for a U.S. Passport for Eligible Individuals: Correction, Name Change to Passport Issued 1 Year Ago or Less, and Limited Passport Replacement. You can follow the links to get to the pages where you can create a comment against these rule changes, and in support of gender markers matching a person’s gender identity. I want to acknowledge that this action is not without any risk. If you identify yourself as a supporter of Trans and Non-binary people, it is possible that you too might be targeted. If you need to be less vulnerable, comments can also be left anonymously.

Some background from the Gender Justice League:

An Executive Order is NOT a law. Executive Orders like the one President Trump issued declaring “sex is either male or female for all federal purposes” is not a new law; it is the executive branch’s interpretation (or supposed interpretation) of laws passed by Congress. Once an executive order is signed, it is transmitted to each of the federal government departments and agencies, such as the State Department, for policy changes and rule-making.

This process is governed by a federal law called the Administrative Procedures Act. In order for a new policy, practice, or rule to be legal and constitutional, it MUST follow this law. Otherwise, courts will find the new policy is “arbitrary and capricious;” meaning it was decided without careful consideration, study, or public comment and consultation. What has been happening since January 20th to Trans people is exactly that! 

The State Department has issued a new rule for public comment, acknowledging that up until this rule has closed public comment, everything they have done has been illegal under the Administrative Procedures Act. There was no emergency situation that required them to illegally issue passports not following the current policy. You can read more here:  https://www.genderjusticeleague.org/trans-non-binary-passport-update-what-you-need-to-know/

I found the public comment pages of the State Department somewhat intimidating because of the bureaucracy of it all. But persevere. I just clicked on the “Submit a Public Comment” button, and filled in the rest on the page that came up. You can use the same comment for all three pages. I imagine that the content of the comments is less important right now than the numbers of comments we can generate against these hateful rules. Here is what I posted today.

“Trans people have always existed. I have close friends who are Trans or Non-binary. Truthfully, I didn’t really understand these gender identities until I listened to what my friends were sharing about their experience. I still don’t fully understand, but my values call me to honor their experience of their own lives. Each person is sacred and we are all one family. I love my Trans and Non-binary friends very deeply. This rule change is cruel and arbitrary, and puts my friends in danger. It traps them in this country without legal papers to be able to travel. It marks them out for legal harassment at the border, and within our borders. I am not willing to stand by and let Trans and Non-binary people be harassed, degraded, or harmed by the cruel policies this administration is attempting to enact.”

Photo “You will have to go through me” is of stickers designed by Stevie Bees. Please support this small, trans-owned business that ships anywhere in the world! Stevie is also a fierce activist and compassionate community builder. https://steviesafespaces.com/

Creating the Beloved Community

Posted on by

When Jesus talked about the importance of loving our neighbor, someone asked him, “Who is my neighbor?” In response, Jesus told the story we now call the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

A traveler was walking on the road to Jericho, and was attacked by bandits who robbed him and beat him and left him on the side of the road. A priest was walking down the road, and saw the man and went over to the other side. A lawyer also ignored the wounded man. But a Samaritan traveling on the same road saw the man, and was moved to compassion. He bound his wounds, and brought the man to an inn, where he continued to care for him overnight, and then paid the innkeeper to care for him as he went on his travels. Then Jesus turned the question around—“Who do you think was neighbor to the man?” The one who showed him compassion.

This story is made compelling by its social context. In the time when Jesus told the story, Samaritans and Jews generally held each other in contempt. They were enemies. Maybe something like Republicans and Democrats these days, only worse. Jesus made the Samaritan the hero of the story, and that certainly must have ruffled feathers. The story was a challenge to the lawyers and priests and their narrow definition of the circle of compassion. The story was a challenge to be neighbors with the people we don’t like, the people on the other side. To treat those neighbors with compassion.

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the Beloved Community.” In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.

I want to acknowledge that in our age, it is easy to feel hopeless about this vision. It is easy to think of it as an idealistic dream of the sixties. Cynicism has risen, the right wing has fought back against the hopes so hard fought for by Dr. King and others. More and more we see a new individualism and polarization, an abandonment of the poor and vulnerable by those in power. The opposition has become more crafty and deceptive.

But, on some level, that makes no difference at all. The vision of nonviolence is not based on winning, though a victory for good fills us with joy. The vision of nonviolence is based on faithfulness and hope. As Dr. King said,

When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

And so, in the midst of the conflict and trouble of our age, may we find the strength and courage to be practitioners of love. In the midst of selfishness and greed, may we find generosity and vision. In the midst of rancor and division, may we remember that we are all one people. May we behold and believe in the possibility of Beloved Community, and work steadfastly to open the doors that all may enter there in. May we always remember, as Dr. King reminded us,

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Heart Candle Flame DSC01573

Quotes from Dr. King from “Facing the Challenge of a New Age, December 1956, in A Testament of Hope, The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. and “Where Do We Go From Here,” a 1967 Speech.