I have a question

[Suzanne44]

Hi it's Suzanne

  

    I hope that I am in the right forum for these question's I want to ask.

  I'm new to this site. I'm still trying to figure out how to tell my family and friends who I am (mtf) and that I want to transition.

   The thing is that I volunteer at a charity/thrift shop. The shop is run by Christians for Christian church's. We also help people with any sort of paperwork if they need help to fill them in or need advice. They also run a food a bank. (I work mainly in the shop side of things). Many of the volunteers that work there are Christians and some are not. I myself am not overly religious. There are things I do believe in and things I don't believe in. I think that's the same for most. I'm not here to discuss my beliefs. What I do want to ask and know is. I'v read some of their literature and it says that they are there to help anyone no matter what nationality, colour or ethnicity. They also say that they are LGBTQ friendly. My question is -

What do Christians actually think about the LGBTQ community ?.

   I'm asking because I really like working there. I like the people I work with. I'm concerned about when I finally do come out to everyone that they will ask me to leave and not want anything to do with me. I know that Christians are supposed to be very forgiving and not judgemental.

So will they be negative or would they be supportive when I come out ?

I'm really not sure how they would react to me. I really do like working there, I suffer from anxiety ,depression and O.C.D . It really helps me while I'm there, and has been good for me. I've been there a little over 6 years.

 

Thank you for reading this any insight would be most appreciated.

 

As always.

Love Suzanne.

 

   

[VickySGV]

Christianity is all over the road map as far as Trans folks go, and it is denomination by denomination as well are individual congregations / parishes.  The COE has Trans Clergy in many places and their parishes are generally accepting, but there are some who are not, or some who are iffy to an extreme.  Individually the biggest and most obvious division is between those Christians who have knowingly met and interacted with Trans people as co-workers, especially in community service situations and those who have not knowingly met a Trans person -- very many have UNKNOWINGLY met Trans people -- and have met far too many other unknowing people with strong and bigoted views.  As you will read here, second hand shops are a favorite of emerging Trans people, so you have a strong chance of serving other Trans as well.

[DeeDee]

Hi @Suzanne44 there is no "one size fits all" description to answer, what is a Christian. People are people, and some are nicer than others. Same goes for every religious and non religious person out there, unfortunately the media loves to -crap- stir and the louder crazier narratives get shown more frequently because it sells more news.

 

On a basic level UK employment law counts being Transgender as a protected characteristic, so they couldn't just kick you out, though as they state they are friendly in their , "about us" bit I don't see that being an issue with most of the staff.

Most high street shops tend to follow seasons and events to encourage folk in, since you've been there has the shop joined in with Pride month or LGBTQ+ events at all?

 

I am a Christian minister, I can't transition where I am because the culture is still very old fashioned and comes with all the bigotry, hypocrisy and doom and gloom that folk love to hate about Christianity; despite my encouragement otherwise! However some of my colleagues know about me and are very supportive and I have recently started working in a church group that seeks to encourage equality, diversity and inclusion in the church as Dee, and once I find somewhere to move to I will live and "work" as Dee full time. There are many Christians that are not only LGBTQ+ accepting, but are also a part of the wider LGBTQ+ community.

[Marcie Jensen]

2 hours ago, VickySGV said:

Christianity is all over the road map as far as Trans folks go, and it is denomination by denomination as well are individual congregations / parishes.  The COE has Trans Clergy in many places and their parishes are generally accepting, but there are some who are not, or some who are iffy to an extreme.  Individually the biggest and most obvious division is between those Christians who have knowingly met and interacted with Trans people as co-workers, especially in community service situations and those who have not knowingly met a Trans person -- very many have UNKNOWINGLY met Trans people -- and have met far too many other unknowing people with strong and bigoted views.  As you will read here, second hand shops are a favorite of emerging Trans people, so you have a strong chance of serving other Trans as well.

Vicky, you've hit the nail on the head with this post. When I was in seminary (Nearly 20 years ago),my thesis--as opposed to credo--was on church growth and inclusion. I wound up devoting a significant portion to LGBTQ+ issues within various denominations and individual congregations, as this was and is a huge issue within the church as a whole. Significantly, my research indicated that the more inclusive the congregation, the better it's health overall and the more rapidly it grew. Several side issues were also tied into this including catchecis, outreach, ministry in the community and volunteerism. In the less inclusive congregations, the reverse was true. Granted, this was circa  2004, but it was an interesting phenomenon.

 

I seem to recall that when Jesus walked the earth, he sat with, ate with, lived among and heald the marginalized of his day; the tax collectors, lepers, prostitutes etc. In my opinion, the LGBTQ+ community is the most marginalized portion of society. So, given what we know of Jesus, the question to me is simply, what groups would he associate with today? I don't claim to have the answer here, but, I think I know the answer...

[Suzanne44]

Suzanne here.

   Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it. I think that the only way I'm really going to know is when I finally tell them about myself. Like you said some people are nicer than others. They are nice people who I work with, so I'm hoping that they will be fine with me being Trans. I think that my fear of coming out to everyone is making me question everything that I know about the people I know. Imagining things that are not really there. Thinking the worst. I think that the saying goes "fear is the greatest enemy". So I have to face my greatest enemy I think. Thank you so much again for your help.

 

❤️ Suzanne.