A Message for the Transgender Community & Their Allies

Montevallo Presbyterian Church is one of a number of Alabama churches that signed a letter written in response to proposed legislation in Alabama that makes puberty blockers and hormones illegal.  In April 2022, a group of clergy in the Birmingham area met and decided to sign a letter of support for transgender children.  One pastor involved said, “We want people who are transgender to know there is a large group of faith leaders who care about them."

Those who signed this letter believe it's important for the transgender community and its allies to know that there actually are religious supporters of transgender rights.  The Reverend Erica Cooper said, "Your faith is not matching up with my faith", to those who want to legislate transgender medical procedures.  "As clergy, we want to make our voice heard; I want people to hear alternative faith voices."

The letter to our friends in the transgender community reads as follows:

We Care – An Open Letter of Support to Transgender Children and Their Families

We understand that the recent state legislation limiting access to critically needed care and support for transgender and gender-diverse children and their families is a devastating loss for you and your families. As clergy and faith leaders in the state of Alabama, we want to express our sincere love and concern for your physical, emotional, and spiritual health. While we may not fully understand your unique experiences, many of us know what it is like to feel rejected, left out, cast aside, bullied, targeted, and denied access to civil rights. We also know the vital importance of hearing voices of love and support. That is why we want to make sure you know that we care.

We care about your physical health. While we may not fully understand the biologics or therapeutics regarding transgender medical care, as we are not specialists in this area, we support the doctors and healthcare providers who are. We also support the efforts of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ pursuit to ensure comprehensive care and support for transgender and gender-diverse children and their families in a safe clinical space.

We care about your emotional health. While we may not fully understand the psychiatric, neurological, behavioral, or mental health therapeutics regarding transgender mental health care, as we are not specialists in this area, we support the doctors and healthcare providers who are. We also support the efforts of the American Psychiatric Association’s pursuit to provide appropriate mental health services to transgender and gender-diverse children and their families in a safe clinical space.

We care about your spiritual health. As faith leaders in the State of Alabama, we recognize there are diverse faith perspectives regarding LGTBQIA+ issues, even within the same religion, denomination, and congregation. We also recognize that religious leaders, institutions, and ideologies have caused great physical, emotional, and spiritual harm to the LGTBQIA+ community. The religious voices against you are often the loudest ones. We repent for this spiritual malpractice, and we regret not raising our voices louder for you to hear our support above the clamor. We hope that you might hear our voices now.

As individual specialists in the areas of religious belief, congregational leadership, spiritual care, and theological studies, we have concluded that:

You are loved by God.

You belong in this world.

You are beautiful.

You are wonderful.

You are not alone.

Should you need a safe space to explore your faith, please know you have a home in any of our communities. Should you need prayer or encouragement, we are here. Should you simply need to know that there are people of faith who support you and those caring for you, we have signed our names and listed our congregations below.

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This letter is signed by many pastors in Alabama, including our own:

Rev. Dr. Sam Hamilton-Poore

Montevallo Presbyterian Church

The full article can be found on al.com.