Protecting Transgender Rights

by Dave Wilcox, WUU Social Justice Co-chair

On January 19th, Deborah Fabian shared her concern for what the coming inauguration was bringing. As she counted down the time remaining until the impending event, she itemized many of the actions that the new president had promised to take and described the terrible impact those actions were likely to have.

We have now all seen the damage that those executive orders and other actions have done to so many people we know and love. It is almost too much to take in. Like many of you I’ve been struggling with how to respond. It seems just too much sometimes! At WUU we have a reputation for showing up. Deb shared this quote from Joanna Macy, and it is even more important today.

“The biggest gift you can give is to be absolutely present, and when you're worrying about whether you're hopeful or hopeless or pessimistic or optimistic, who cares? The main thing is that you're showing up, that you're here and that you're finding ever more capacity to love this world because it will not be healed without that. That was what is going to unleash our intelligence and our ingenuity and our solidarity for the healing of our world.”

WUU is showing up in many ways. One small step that we took recently was to update the signs for our bathrooms to make them more welcoming to people of all genders. Another step we are taking to make our support more publicly visible are the series of small signs you will soon see along our road frontage. Also coming soon is an opportunity to help us share some love with organizations that make life easier by leaving WUU thank you cards wherever you find ungendered bathrooms. Look for the cards and instructions in the Gathering Hall soon! We are also calling our elected officials and letting them know that we strongly oppose these terrible changes that are being put in place simply to harm transgendered people. We are attending protests and adding our voice to the rapidly growing crowd of people demanding a stop to these awful policies. We are also reaching out to our friends and family to let them know that we are here, and we are ready to stand with them.

If you would like to join our team of Rainbow Allies, please contact RainbowMinistry@wuu.org.