~the adult-level Our Whole Lives training centering table~

Hey Shadow Rock friends. I missed being with you all at worship on March 5. I was in Tucson with Unitarian Universalist colleagues, participating in a multi-level 50+ person Our Whole Lives facilitator training event. It was a fantastic experience, soaked in the OWL values of Self-Worth, Responsibility, Sexual Health, and Justice & Inclusivity.

During a break, my co-trainer (the wonderful full-time sexuality educator Emmalinda MacLean) and I had a questions posed by a training participant:

“I’ve noticed that the more we strive for inclusive and welcoming language, the more pushback we get from people who are determined to de-humanize LGBTQ persons, especially trans people. This feels like a cause and effect. What do you think?”

Whew. I mean… this is the $64,000 question, right? I took a deep breath before answering.

Here’s my best recollection of my response:

“It feels like that, doesn’t it? It feels as if we could soften our defense of our trans siblings so that, with a quieter voice, other people could hear us and understand. But I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to stop being fierce in my solidarity with trans people. I want them to know where I stand. And it is NOT cause and effect; it is NOT a pendulum swing that will balance itself. It is instead a slide toward fascism. And that’s not something I can be gentle about.”

I looked at this training participant with compassion, and continued:

“It’s tempting to frame attacks against marginalized groups as the noisy gasps of a dying worldview. That’s a hopeful way of seeing what’s going on right now, but I’m not going to take any chances.”

Join me in a season of solidarity. More to come!

~Karen