Last night I stumbled onto the ESPY awards when I flipped on the TV. I've known about how Caitlyn Jenner was being honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award for a little while now, and last nights ESPY's was the presentation of the award, and the SPEECH that followed. While I knew that she was being presented with the award, I didn't know that it was taking place last night so I'm glad I got to watch it.
So how do I feel about the transgender community as a human being?
The thing that stinks in this situation is that Caitlyn Jenner was trying to make a point, but because we are so caught up on whether or not we think the award was deserved, we've completely lost sight of what that point was. She mentioned multiple times in her speech about how grateful she was that she was given this platform to be able to speak out about the struggles of a trans person growing up in such a hateful world. She spoke about a few stories of trans teens, one who was found murdered, and one who had killed himself because of the struggles they face with bullying and isolation. She spoke about the fact that we, as a collaborative people, don't have to like or even understand each other. But we DO need to respect each other. RESPECT each other to not hate, to not call names, to not shame or belittle each other. Respect each other enough to, if nothing else, just shut our dang mouths.
Oddly enough earlier that day I stumbled upon this VIDEO on my Facebook feed that was made by a mother about her experience with raising a transgender child. And it really made me think about things from another perspective.
How do I feel about the transgender community as a Mother?
It's easy to sit back on the side lines and point fingers from an outsiders opinion. It's easy to make comments and have judgmental thoughts about things you don't understand and don't have to deal with in your life. I don't have to deal with raising a transgender child, so it's easy for me to point fingers at the women in this video and say "Well I would just MAKE my child..." Because I've NEVER had to do that. But when I look into my children's faces, when I see them cry and I know they hurt. As I watch them grow up knowing all of the battles they will face for a million other reasons, I can tell you honestly that I would do exactly what this mother did in this video. I would hug my child so hard for so long, and I would cry with them. And when the tears dried, I would stand up and support them in every step of their journey.
Because the NUMBERS ARE REAL. But WE can help change those numbers, not by understanding, but by supporting.
So how do I feel about the transgender community as a Christian?
Well, I wish I was smart enough to tell you how to do this, but I'm not. Because I struggle with this. I've talked about it before in my blog, the conflict of being a christian and wanting to obey God, but also believing in supporting ALL humans. I do believe that Caitlyn Jenner hits the nail on the head when she said respect. And I think Jesus hits the nail on the head when he says "Love one another."
My pastor did a wonderful series called 'God, I have a question.' with a sermon titled "God, How Should Christians Relate to Gay People." He is a much much smarter man then I will ever be.
You can watch it here.
I wish life wasn't so difficult, but it is. It's difficult for so many people in so many ways. We each face our own battles and when it comes down to it, and we're all just trying to get through with as much happy memories as we can.
So take some time to make someone else's memory of today happy.
-Inspire Others-
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