A long time ago, when people weren't yet really talking about gender and trans and NB and so on, somebody asked my rabbi about the Jewish view on homosexuality, and his answer was: how could I condemn somebody for being the way God made that person?. That has stuck with me for a long time and far beyond the original context of the question.
God made you and therefore knows who you are. Other people, sometimes not so much.
I used to get people arguing against my gender by saying, "God doesn't make mistakes." I hear that less often now, but my response to it has been: "God doesn't make mistakes, but God, who made me, created me as a transgender person; therefore my being trans must not be a mistake, and trying to deny or repress that would be contrary to God's plan for me. I don't know why God chose these challenges for me, but I'm meant to figure out how to move along, and thrive upon, this path that includes transition in it."
I recently heard a sermon by Jay Hulme (that I need to transcribe some of to quote from) saying something similar but more connected to scripture and better phrased, as well as the sermon by Rev. Joplin I quoted from today. IIRC, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg has said something similar about trans people not being (nor implying) a mistake, but it might have been someone she linked to, or one of the other rabbis I read on Twitter.
(no subject)
A long time ago, when people weren't yet really talking about gender and trans and NB and so on, somebody asked my rabbi about the Jewish view on homosexuality, and his answer was: how could I condemn somebody for being the way God made that person?. That has stuck with me for a long time and far beyond the original context of the question.
God made you and therefore knows who you are. Other people, sometimes not so much.
(no subject)
I used to get people arguing against my gender by saying, "God doesn't make mistakes." I hear that less often now, but my response to it has been: "God doesn't make mistakes, but God, who made me, created me as a transgender person; therefore my being trans must not be a mistake, and trying to deny or repress that would be contrary to God's plan for me. I don't know why God chose these challenges for me, but I'm meant to figure out how to move along, and thrive upon, this path that includes transition in it."
I recently heard a sermon by Jay Hulme (that I need to transcribe some of to quote from) saying something similar but more connected to scripture and better phrased, as well as the sermon by Rev. Joplin I quoted from today. IIRC, Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg has said something similar about trans people not being (nor implying) a mistake, but it might have been someone she linked to, or one of the other rabbis I read on Twitter.