The following are Rev. Josh Pawelek’s remarks at the 2013 Hartford-area Transgender Day of Remembrance.
We have work to do. Oh, how I wish we didn’t. Oh, how I wish we already lived in a world where the rigid rules of gender didn’t apply, didn’t matter so much, weren’t enforced with the murderous brutality we bear witness to this evening. Oh, how I wish we already lived in a world free of that soul-crushing gender binary, free of that spirit killing either/or, free of that put-us-in-a-box-from–birth question, “is it a boy or a girl?” Oh, how I wish we already lived in a world where human beings could simply be who they are—who they are in their hearts, in their minds, in their souls—without fear of reprisal, without having to watch their step, without having to wonder, am I safe? without having to face rejection and bullying, without having to lose their families, their churches, their schools, their neighborhoods. Oh, how I wish we already lived in a world where each of us could live simply as the person we feel most comfortable being, our inner lives completely consistent with our outer lives, our beautiful, precious, sacred selves out, out, out, out, out. Oh, how I wish we already lived in a world where transgender people felt fully at home, safe, welcomed, accepted … everywhere. Oh, how I wish. Continue reading at HartfordFAVS….
