Interim TRUUsT Steering Committee

Posted on August 14, 2018 by truustadmin

TRUUsT is happy to announce that three members of our community have volunteered to serve as interim/acting steering committee members and help TRUUsT move forward in our work as a community. After putting out a call for volunteers, exactly the number of folks we needed volunteered: Adrian Ballou, Christe Lunsford, and Andre Mol.

TRUUsT’s current practice is to elect new steering committee members at our annual retreat, which is currently planned for early 2019. So until then, meet TRUUsT’s interim steering committee! Continue reading →

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Update on TRUUsT Leadership

Posted on June 10, 2018 by truustadmin

TRUUsT is saddened to share that Rev. Anya Johnston and Terry Cummings are no longer on the steering committee of TRUUsT. Both Anya and Terry profoundly broke the TRUUsT covenant and would not engage in efforts to call them back to covenant.

As a Unitarian Universalist covenanted community of multiply marginalized people, our shared agreements are deeply rooted in our faith and our belief that how we are together is the first and foremost way we can create the change we seek in the world. Without a covenant, there is no trust, and without trust, there can be no TRUUsT. Continue reading →

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Prayer for Trans* Day of Visibility

Posted on March 31, 2018 by truustadmin

by Mr. Barb Greve

TDOV2018

Blessed are the trailblazers,
who brought us this far,
and are still trailblazing…
still celebrating.

Blessed are the drag queens and kings,
who remind us to not take life too seriously.

Blessed are the gender benders, non-binary, gender fluid, and third-gender folk, those who challenge us to reframe our gender paradigm.

Continue reading →

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Survey of Trans+ Unitarian Universalists

Posted on March 12, 2018 by truustadmin

28378315_10214229601630771_4835936903880507392_nThe steering committee of TRUUsT has teamed up with the Unitarian Universalist Association’s office of Multicultural Growth & Witness to collect data on the experiences of Unitarian Universalists who are transgender, non-binary, intersex, agender, Two Spirit, or otherwise not cisgender.

This survey will add to the information that TRUUsT already has about trans UU religious professionals in particular, while also creating a snapshot of the experiences of lay and professional trans UUs alike. If you are a trans Unitarian Universalist, please take the survey!

 

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A Reflection on the 18th Transgender Day of Remembrance (#TDOR)

Posted on November 20, 2017 by b.herbert

B Herbert TDOR quote Continue reading →

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Two Trans UU Ministers Called to Settled Ministry

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Alex Kapitan

TRUUsT is thrilled to announce that two trans ministers have been called to new Unitarian Universalist pulpits: Rev. Dawn Fortune and Rev. Otto O’Connor. Both have been called as settled ministers.

Rev. Dawn Fortune was called to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Jersey Shore in Galloway Township, New Jersey. Rev. Dawn currently serves as interim minister at both Emerson UU Chapel in the St. Louis area and the First Unitarian Church of Alton, Illinois. They graduated from Andover Newton Theological School in 2015 with a Master’s of Divinity and are in the process of earning a Graduate Certificate in Sexuality and Religion at Pacific School of Religion. Rev. Dawn was ordained into the UU ministry in 2015.

Dawn_laying on hands

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Jersey Shore members participate in a laying on of hands to welcome Rev. Dawn Fortune. Photo courtesy of UUCSJS.

Continue reading →

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UU General Assembly Votes to Change UU Sources to Include Non-Binary People

Posted on June 26, 2017 by Alex Kapitan

On June 24, 2017, delegates to the Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly in New Orleans overwhelmingly voted to approve language to make Unitarian Universalism’s second source more inclusive of people of all genders.

Unitarian Universalism affirms and promotes seven principles, drawn from six sources of our faith. The current language of the second source reads: “Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.”

This language excludes most of TRUUsT’s members and a good number of our congregants. The proposal would change the second source to read, “Words and deeds of prophetic people…”, which is more inclusive of people who are genderqueer, non-binary, genderfluid, agender, intersex, two-spirit, polygender, and otherwise gender non-conforming.

Screen Shot 2017-06-26 at 5.45.59 PM

Jami Yandle and Marcus Fogliano introduce the proposed change to UUism’s second source.

Continue reading →

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Largest-Ever Gathering of Trans Unitarian Universalist Leaders

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Alex Kapitan

From April 10-13, the second-ever retreat was held of TRUUsT, Transgender Religious professional Unitarian Universalists Together, in Palm Harbor, Florida.

Twenty-seven trans leaders and two allied Unitarian Universalist Association staff gathered together for community, worship, and organizing to support the many varied ministries of trans people within Unitarian Universalism. Attendees were directors of religious education, music directors, youth directors, seminarians, and community and parish ministers; hailed from all corners of North America—from rural Ohio to the San Francisco Bay Area, from Portland, OR, to Montreal; and encompassed a broad diversity of race/ethnicity, ability, sexuality, and gender identity (including woman, trans woman, man, trans man, non-binary, genderqueer, agender, two spirit, polygender, gender fluid, and intersex).

TRUUsT 2017 retreat Continue reading →

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Upcoming UU Opportunities for Education and Action

Posted on January 12, 2017 by truustadmin

In the coming weeks and months there are a number of opportunities for Unitarian Universalists to deepen their awareness of and advocacy for transgender people in our movement and beyond, several of which TRUUsT members are a part of.

Transgender Inclusion in Congregations: An Online UU Leadership Institute Course

trans-course-promoStarting in late January 2017, Rev. Mykal Slack and Zr. Alex Kapitan, both TRUUsT members, will be teaching a six-session online UU Leadership Institute course on creating trans-inclusive and -affirming congregations.

This course is for everyone: from novices to trans identity to those with decades of life experience. In it participants will deeply explore the intersection of trans identity and UU faith and community, and gain the grounding, context, and skills to transform ourselves and our congregations. Continue reading →

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Prayers on Transgender Day of Remembrance

Posted on November 20, 2016 by truustadmin

tdor-2016

Today, November 20, is a day of mourning for the transgender community. On this day we grieve for those we’ve lost in the past year to anti-trans violence, a practice that started in 1988 in the wake of the murder of Rita Hester in Boston.

2016 was a particularly brutal year for us: in the United States alone, twenty-four souls were murdered, the majority of whom were Black trans women. Globally, Trans Respect Versus Transphobia reports 295 murders.

And now, in the wake of the presidential election, we fear that 2017 will be far worse. As trans Unitarian Universalist leaders we grieve today, rededicate ourselves to the struggle for survival, and call on our fellow people of faith to join us in the fight against hatred and violence—particularly against trans antagonism, racism, and sexism.  Continue reading →

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