03/09/2024
“The new transphobic church policies are the final straw for me and my family. I have a transgender daughter. My community is less safe because of these horrible policies.
Below is the text from the letter I sent along with my resignation:
We are writing this to make clear our desire to have our names and the names of our children removed from all church records. There are many reasons why we have chosen not to participate in church functions, but we have not felt the need to disassociate ourselves from the church until now. The latest policy revisions regarding transgender individuals serve as a stark reminder to us that this organization is not a kind or a safe space for anyone who differs from the rigid norms of the church.
The ongoing mistreatment of transgender individuals, now codified in this policy, is not consistent with the values the church claims to espouse.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only organization with which we have interacted that has refused to recognize the legal name and gender of our daughter. Though we appreciate the accommodations made at the local level, we fear that under the updated policy, local leaders will no longer be granted the discretion to prioritize compassion and empathy over unbending adherence to pharisaical rules.
We are not naïve enough to believe that our actions will have any impact on policy or effect change in any way. The church has proven over time that it will only change when outside social (or legal) pressures threaten the organization’s prestige or financial condition.
Dissenters are not valued and are summarily dismissed with derogatory epithets and uninformed assumptions about their motives. Though we may be derided as lazy, lax, or sinful by men who claim to speak for god, we choose inclusion over exclusion by standing with the innocent victims of discrimination.
We will not follow or be associated with a church that sows division between parents and children by demanding blind allegiance to the organization, despite the direct harms such allegiance causes.
No policy or doctrine can ever justify the mistreatment of the vulnerable.
The church is hostile to our daughter. There is no place for her or for people like her, so in turn there is no place for people like us: those who believe nothing is more important than treating all people with love and respect – without exception and without reservation.
It is incumbent upon us to do all within our meager influence to minister to those who suffer as a result of the church’s actions. We can no longer do so in good conscience while knowing our names are upon the records and rolls of the church, an openly transphobic organization.
As for me and my house, we will serve the downtrodden.”
Author’s name withheld, by request.
