As a Black Trans Man, Walking Into Church Can Cause Me Harm
If you look at history, religion and violence against people like me go hand in hand
One morning, my adoptive mom asked me if I wanted to go to church with her, and I didn’t really have an answer.
The last time I went to a church service, it ended up being a traumatic shitshow. On the other hand, going to church was a good excuse to wear my nice shirt and tie.
I’d slept late that morning; my mother knew I needed the rest, so she didn’t wake me. However, her question made me wonder if I was ready to confront religion again. It’s a confusing and triggering subject for me.
People all around the United States use Christianity as a shield. They hide behind their religion while spewing vile bigotry and hatred. They target LGBTQ people and other marginalized groups and conveniently forget that their Jesus was an outcast, too. They conveniently forget that he spent time with the same people they look down upon, like sex workers and the homeless.
However, religion and violence go hand in hand. History books are littered with crusades. Slave masters used the Bible in an attempt to convince their slaves that they were supposed to be property instead of humans with rights.
