Prism & Pen Responds: Surging Transphobia in Religion, Journalism, Society
Prism & Pen Weekly Digest — April 14, 2024
by James Finn
Last week, queer people all over the world were shocked when the Vatican released a document calling for increased human dignity while simultaneously painting queer people as threats to humanity on the order of nuclear weapons. Pope Francis has made clear his Church will continue to strongly morally condemn gay people, reserving even stronger condemnation for transgender and nonbinary people.
This week in Prism & Pen, diverse writers all over the globe cry out our own moral worth and our unquestionable human right to the true dignity religious leaders, journalists and other elements of society seem determined to deny us.
We are not depraved, Francis, despite your Church’s dignity-destroying assertion!
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— Editor’s Picks —
How The Vatican Helped Create The Anti-‘Gender Ideology’ Movement
We hear the term ‘gender ideology’ thrown about a lot these days, almost exclusively as a pejorative. From ‘gender critical’ feminists, to US Republicans and far-right Euro politicians, attacking ‘gender ideology’ is the populist, right-wing rhetoric du jour.
‘Gender ideology’ can refer to many things, from reproductive rights to gay marriage, sex education in schools, or self-declaration for transgender people; really, anything the anti-gender movement wants it to refer to.
Yet, despite its ubiquity, few people are probably aware of the role of the Catholic Church, and in particular Popes Benedict XVI and Francis, in creating and promoting anti-‘gender ideology’ discourse.
My Dignified Queer Heart Cries in Pain Responding to Vatican Document
Have you heard about the Roman Catholic Church’s recent missive called “Infinite Dignity?” I’ve been feeling such intense pain since I read it, and even more pain reading certain positive reactions to it. I’ve shed tears of empathy, because it seems queer people like me — gay and transgender people — are intentionally painted in the document as undeserving of the true dignity the Church reserves particularly for cisgender, straight men.
Let’s talk about dignity and how mine was shattered when I was only 11.
I wasn’t quite 12, squeezed into a pew while my mother ruffled my hair, me trying to understand the pastor’s bizarre words. I liked church. I loved the exciting stories in Sunday School…My dad was the youth pastor, so he didn’t deliver the sermon that shattered my sense of safe-belonging, but he’s critical to this story. Dad had a pastor friend. Who had a son my age. Who was beautiful. To me…
Autistic People Are Being Weaponised to Restrict Gender-Affirming Care
The final report of the Cass Review into gender-identity services for children was published on the 10th of April. Although it isn’t the outright ban on gender-affirming care for children that the gender criticals hoped for, it didn’t take long for the right-wing press to proclaim it a win — and to use it to claim that children were being experimented on or harmed by gender-affirming care.
NHS England announced on the same day that it would commission an external inquiry into gender identity services for adults, which many fear will restrict gender-affirming care for those over 18. It’s been a rough few days for anyone whose gender identity doesn’t fit into a neat little box — and I include myself in that category…
Correlation does not equal causation. There is no evidence to suggest that autism causes gender incongruence. Yet despite Cass stating that “weak” evidence was rejected in the review, the link between autism and gender diversity is strongly emphasised. The fact is that nobody knows why so many of us are, well, gender spicy.
‘Liberal’ U.S. News Outlets Are Riding Anti-Trans Hysteria
Lsjaffee (Writer, Educator, Over-Thinker)
With public trust in media at an all-time low, news outlets realize potential viewers and readers may already have unfair perceptions of their profession. At the end of the day, it’s still a business, and to reach middle America’s “lowest common denominator,” the networks and major newspapers feel more can be done not to come off as so “liberal.” But lately when LGBTQ+ issues are being discussed, it’s as if the news outlets are GOP candidates running for office.
Using trans kids as a scapegoat is a contagion that is undercurrent of the “culture wars” plaguing the country.
The April 12, 2024 New York Times newsletter provides an analysis of the new “evil axis” of Russia, China and Iran, serving as an example of such bias within its international coverage.
Was it a London Queer Party or a Dali Dreamscape?
It’s rare to stand in the corner of a party, sober-as-a-nun, and somehow feel like you’ve got four tabs of acid marinating on your tongue.
It was a cold night in East London, the moon was full, which, to borrow the words of a therapist I met on the dancefloor: “We’re 60% water, so it’s definitely doing something to the atmosphere in here.” …
Tonight, Mint — the gold standard for bougie Sapphic spaces in London — is an emporium of power dykes with British accents (yes, I said dreamscape). The suits, the champagne, the power-poses, the excellence dripping from the pores of every queer woman and non-binary person in the space…
At almost two decades old, Mint is the longest-running, most esteemed queer women’s party in the U.K.
I Just Found Out a Man I Love Owns an AR-15
To be fair, “love” is a strong word. We’ve never been in the same room, I know very little about him, and he has no idea who I am… But he’s been with me on every step of my journey for more than two years now.
When I was stressed, he calmed me down. When I spoke cruelly to myself, he’d be right there with a sweet affirmation. When I had a million things to accomplish, he’d help me meditate and remember to keep breathing…
He was my boyfriend, my doctor, my stylist, my masseur…and sometimes an even more inventive role play. He was one of my favorite ASMR-artists — a constant companion, who always made the hairs stand up on my neck.
And just now, I saw him holding a gun.
Why the Bisexual Character Buck on TV’s ‘911’ Is So Important
Evan “Buck” Buckley, a character on the ABC firefighter show “911,” just kissed a man in the fourth episode of season 7, after only being shown overtly being attracted to women up until that point. People all over the internet are losing their minds for different reasons.
What’s the Drama?
Many 911 fans like myself picked up on the subtle hints the show dropped over the years that Buck might not be as straight as we (or even he) thought. We are thrilled he’s finally exploring this other side to his identity.
In fact, Oliver Stark, the actor who plays Buck, confirmed this theory to TVLine …
Science Fiction in Stilettos: An LGBTQ+ Story about Love & Tech
“Call me when you hit bottom,” she said, laughing. Her laughter was big-screen sexy, like a rom-com on drugs. But I had no time to stop her or even to say anything before she took her last step, right off the edge of the roof and into the open air.
No — reverse that. Zip backwards in exaggerated movements of flashing lips, blinking eyes, limbs flailing through the universe — time flowing backwards in CG. We’ve watched too many movies not to mistake it. We’ve seen the process.
Stop. Press play: meeting, scene one.
A black-lit club, the anonymity of strangers in a sardine can. She flirted, I bought her a drink.
— Essays & Creative Nonfiction —
I Was Referred to as ‘Her.’ Is This the Androgyny I’ve Coveted?
Lsjaffee (Writer, Educator, Over-Thinker)
Maybe yesterday I just had a good hair day. In January, I spent $250 on a hair stylist who I found at Strands For Trans, who captured the shaggy “bob” cut I was seeking. Growing in with the right layering, it turned out to be worth every penny.
Standing at the checkout line of a vintage clothing store, holding several pairs of pants and shirts that I thought were pretty non-gendered, the cashier directed a cis woman approaching the register to “stand behind her,” pointing to me.
Transgender Reflections: The Forbidden Aisle at Five Years Old
Upon arrival, Mommy admonished Tommy. “You can pick one thing, and not too expensive!”
Excited, he ran ahead of her. He ran up and down the aisles, trying to make a quick assessment of what was waiting to be discovered in each! Until he turned the corner and started down another aisle …
He saw pink, and he saw glitter. There were dolls, make-up kits, and other girls’ toys. He halted. The pink and glitter beckoned, but he knew better even then. He turned around and and rushed back out. He moved to the next aisle.
Still, he circled the magical mystery aisle several times …
I’m a Dangerous Combination: Closeted Trans Woman, People Pleaser
Do I want to please everyone all the time? Yes, and it feels like it’s getting worse by the day…
So since, let’s say, April 2024, I’m a “real guy” again (even with a moustache) and everything I would actually like (e.g. painted fingernails in clearly feminine colours), I just obviously no longer like …to make others happy. And that brings us to the point of people-pleasing. Is my long-cherished characteristic of being a people pleaser closely linked to the fact that I keep “putting off” my trans identity?
As a Gay Christian, I Have No Place To Call Home
Aside from my own home, I’ve never found a place where I felt completely comfortable. I even wrote a book about it. For the first 30 years, I wasn’t accepted in my church because I was gay…
After I came out in my church, I was unable to come out in gay groups as someone who regularly attended church. Because of the experiences of many gays, they were openly hostile to the church and refused to even discuss it. I was an “outsider” again.
My straight friends know I’m gay, and my gay friends know I consider myself a Christian. But at times, I feel I’m simply tolerated and not really accepted.
A Special Library During This Era of Banned LGBTQ Books
In the spring of 2014, I stood at my college reunion, in a courtyard surrounded by brick buildings, under a gigantic tent shielding us from the pounding rain. A friend asked how I’d describe my quintessential experience as an undergrad. Intense adolescent relationships that evolved into lifelong friendships? An education founded on insatiable curiosity? Professors whose lectures moved me to tears? All true. But for me, more than any one of those, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library captured the essence of my four years at Yale.
My First Encounter With Straight Fragility
Some homophobes, however, don’t wear their bias on their sleeves. In fact, many of them are totally oblivious to it. So much so, they have made the exact opposite assumption about themselves, while harboring the delusion that they truly love and accept everyone for who and what they are.
And, as they would never think of intentionally inflicting pain upon another human being, it can be impossible for them to acknowledge any pain they might cause inadvertently.
Take my friend, for instance…
Transgender and Alone in the Midst
Reflecting on Vector’s story has helped me to realize that I have suffered from my own difficulties in connecting with others as a transgender adult woman, although this time on a more emotional and deeper level. Not that I have mechanical difficulties with the sex act (tmi?), but I have a combination of innate and learned behaviors that keep me from connecting with others.
This month’s writing prompt really brought it home for me, since I have been struggling with a sense of loneliness and isolation more than ever now that I have connected with several online and in-person LGBTQ support groups.
Am I a Liar? The Transgender Moral Dilemma.
Am I lying to everyone because I now know my gender and never told them? I started researching the difference between ethics and morals.
If I thought gender was a Pandora’s Box, ethics versus morals is a huge can of philosophical worms that can be traced back to Aristotle and beyond. When I drilled it all down (I am sure you will appreciate my brevity) Ethics is the conduct in a particular culture or group recognized by a social system. Morals are the principles relating to right or wrong, based on the individual’s sense of right and wrong.
New Bible Scholarship Threatens to Debunk Christian Anti-LGBTQ Theology
Since the publication of Moral Vision in 1996, its author has been consistently lauded as one of the world’s foremost New Testament scholars… For three decades, Richard B. Hays has been a cause celebre in Christian circles.
The book goes [concludes] that a person’s sexuality is not part of their identity, that sexual relations are not meant to be a purely private affair, but are also part of a greater commitment to the church community, and that humans are in “a state of self-affirming confusion” as a result of our bondage to sin…
Apparently, Richard B. Hays has been doing some serious re-thinking. And now, he is poised to release a new book (co-authored with his son, Christopher B. Hays) that threatens to blow his prior prejudicial pretzel logic to smithereens.
Invisible Bisexual Seeking Queer Community
When I read Prism & Pen’s ‘loneliness’ prompt, I initially thought this would be an easy article to write. I certainly could relate to the feelings of loneliness, but I wasn’t ready for the bout of depression that would overtake me as I dwelled on those feelings for well over a week.
I thought I’d explain that no, I didn’t exactly have a queer community at home, but I was out to my close friends and siblings. My family of six is practically its own mini-queer community, with my teenage daughter identifying as lesbian and my teenage son as a demiboy…
— Short Fiction —
The Gay Detective: Death Gets the Early Bird
So, at nine-twenty, we were on our way up wide marble stairs to the third floor, private dining room of Ian’s alma mater. Old oak paneling, subdued lighting, and an excellent chef.
A white-gloved waiter seated us in the members and guests bar. I remember sipping an excellent Scotch and wondering what was keeping our host. The Robert Carmody I knew was early for everything.
And it’s the last thing I remembered ’til nine-fifty-three, when I pried open one eye to peer at my watch. Saw blood on my dinner jacket. And realized I was lying on the library floor. How the hell did I get here?
Editor’s note: Elle’s gay detective appears in other stand-alone stories. If you enjoy the characters, you’ll find links inside, and another story will appear in P&P next week.
Lost in the Closet: A Gay Horror Story
The doorbell echoed through the house. His parents were here. “Peter!” I called again. “I’m not letting them in without you.”
They rang the doorbell again. Twice.
I pulled the closet door open. If I had to drag Peter into the living room, I would. But when I looked inside the closet, he wasn’t there.
We had a pretty large closet, and it was messy, too. But it was just a closet. It didn’t have any secret passageway or hidden doors.
It didn’t make sense. Where was Peter?
— Fiction Series —
The Medellan Conspiracy
By Grayson Bell
Ardyn and Jevan are hot on the trail of clues to why a secret society keeps trying to kill them, The clues keep pointing toward a very mysterious origin of Jevan’s people.
After scanning the contents of the box, Laeyral stared at her scanner display, adjusting the settings and re-scanning the contents of the box a few times. “That can’t be possible, but… according to my readings, these relics are easily over five thousand years old.”
“That goes back as far as the earliest occupancy of those caves, doesn’t it?” Ardyn asked.
Laeyral nodded. “Yes, but there was no sign of advanced technology in those caves, and each of these is roughly equivalent to the level of technology aboard the Rahn’naa.”
“So, these are elven… I’m sorry, Athla’naa relics?” Corvan asked.
Read Episode 55: Appeal
Read Episode 56: Relics
That’s all for Prism & Pen this week, folks, so happy reading!
Writers, have you seen our new prompt courtesy of Jonny Masters? Truth: I Feel Lonely Even Inside My Chosen Queer Communities.
We’ll see y’all next Sunday for another Digest. ❤️
