That One Time a Pastor on Instagram and His Followers Shamed Me for Something about Transgenders
WARNING: If you're a Christian or not, it's fine. I'm sharing this as a Christian and an ally of the LGBTQ but this still haunts me. There will be mentions of alleged transphobia and also religious trauma. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Thank you and enjoy~! Happy Pride Month, I love you all so much!
This is a story I've kept to myself because I don't want to name names here but I will say, my mom like this pastor on social media while she got me to like him too. I do like hearing his prayers and also bringing praise. However, one day it all changed: This pastor guy started doing 'what would you do' questions. And one of them stuck out, "If someone revealed to be trans and lied to you about it, would you still be their friend?" Some people said no but I answered with the honest answer which was: "Yes, because I bet it's hard to come out as trans because they're scared." And then it happened: These followers replied back negatively about it, I was trying to defend myself on the fact that people who are transgender are finding it hard to come out because of what people might think. I got mocked for it, even the pastor put me down for it. I felt so upset, so shocked by this pastor. Here was a man of God who preached about prayer and all that but now he was also one of the people who was shaming me about still being friends with a transgender who lied about their identity. I deleted my response comment and unfollowed him. I was reluctant at first because of my faith so I didn't want to but I did.
I felt so disappointed, I don't care what churchgoers or anyone else says--I understand we're imperfect beings but a pastor needs to form a middle ground and remember to love God as He loves us. But why kind of pastor would go against me like that? The guy could've just disagreed and say that it's my opinion or agreed or whatever. Maybe I was wrong in this. Maybe they were wrong or maybe I need to be careful sharing my opinion online. I never told my mom, she too is an ally of the LGBTQ and she does her best to listen but I couldn't tell her because I thought maybe despite that she would support the dude still. Or she might've dropped him too and I guess she never told me why. I know I'm making assumptions but I also think gay pride and religious folks still have this issue of acceptance and being considered 'a sin'. But even though I'm not gay or bi or pan or any of that, I'm autistic and I always wondered 'If they think being gay is a sin, is autism a sin in their eyes too?'
So yeah, that's my story. I know you guys question how can I believe in God when it comes to stuff that. And I'll give a fictional example: This character isn't gay but he could count as someone that understands what it's like to be different. Nightcrawler, he was born a mutant but he kept his faith in God despite how different he was and was very kind despite being a dork. Kurt aka Nightcrawler understands what it's like when the world feels to be rejected but when you have your faith in God who looks beyond that, it makes you see things differently. In truth, be like Nightcrawler from X-Men. No matter if you're autistic, gay, a different skin color or simply different, God doesn't judge and looks beyond that. It may be my opinion on things but sometimes people need love and acceptance. Isn't that we all want.
Anyway, sorry about the rant--that's my story.
