Inclinations

Recently, I wrote about my experience on Facebook with a man who thinks transgender people are possessed. After discussing it with some other friends I began to turn inward and think about my own life of entrenchment.

Obviously, my bigoted friend has more in his personal life than he would ever want anybody to know. The clue is found in the line from Shakespeare “The lady doth protest to much, methinks.”

In other words, the loudest critics are often guilty of the same affliction. That makes your mind dance when you apply that truth to Mike Huckabe and his recent comments.

As I turned the principle inward, I remembered things from my life. There were many times, while deeply entrenched in my closet, I made too much fuss. While trying to ignore my own inclinations I reacted to others in a negative way.

Okay, you can throw rocks at me, but since deciding to transition, I’m trying to reverse all that. Foremost in my mind, is how I reacted to my uncle’s announcement that he would transition. To be fair, I didn’t condemn, but I wasn’t supportive. There were bridges I could’ve built but I was in hiding. My aunt has gone it alone, and I’m proud of her.

Now I’m in transition, I would love to reconnect but I can read the signs, and I’m sure there are others in my family who suffer from gender dysphoria. I intend to nurture and defend each one as they come out. In the mean time, I protest the inhuman treatment being perpetrated in the world.

That’s where we are in our society. Some of our most loved friends and family are choosing be happy and become the gender they identify with. We can choose to condemn or embrace them. A universal truth that seems to be ignored is that one does not have to embrace the sin to love the sinner.

Whether transgender and gay people are sinning is not ours’ to judge. The bible gives specific instructions and we must embrace our fellow man.