Living In Love & Faith 'working group on gender identity and transition' - OTN Co-Chair responds
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THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND House of Bishops met this week to discuss the roll-out of the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) resources on Identity, Sexuality, Relationships and Marriage.
The meeting minutes record that:
additional working groups related to the LLF process and agreed in principle to the formation of a working group on gender identity and transition
- House of Bishops Meeting 17th-18th May 2021
Neither of the trans representatives on the LLF Coordinating Group, which drafted the resources and was disbanded after they were published in November 2020, have yet been consulted about being part of this group, or how and why it will be formed.
Revd Dr Christina Beardsley, a trans Anglican priest, the first trans member of the LLF Coordinating Group, has written a response questioning the need for such a group, given the extensive work already done in this area as part of the LLF resources.
Open Table Network Co-Chair Revd Alex Clare-Young, a trans non-binary minister in the United Reformed Church, who joined the LLF Coordinating Group in 2019 after Revd Dr Beardsley stepped down following concerns about the process, cautiously welcomed the news. Alex said:
Any opportunity for churches to hear from trans people is good and much needed, whereas attempts to theologise about us without us are problematic.
In response to Christina’s statement this week, Alex added:
It is vital that churches listen to a wide range of trans and non-binary people to understand our identities and our experiences of church. I am concerned, however, that discussions about the need for a working group on gender identity and transition have not included consultation of either of the trans people who were members of the LLF Co-ordinating Group. There is an urgent need for clarity regarding the aims of this group and its membership. At the very least, the group should include a wide range of trans members, including transfeminine, transmasculine and non-binary people and must not be yet another source of polemical debate between those with lived experience of oppression due to gender identity and those who falsely equate theological opinion or position with said lived experience. Trans people are the current targets of misinformation, hatred and oppression in public, political, and ecclesial discourse. It is vital that organisations, including churches, begin to listen to trans people, instead of debating the validity of our authentic, God-given identities.
READ: Revd Dr Beardsley’s response in full here.
UPDATE 24/05/2021: Tina Beardsley & Alex Clare-Young have written to the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London, Chair of the LLF Next Steps Group, asking her to confirm that the new working group on gender identity and transition will be composed of a wide range of trans members, including transfeminine, transmasculine and non-binary people together with those who are recognised specialists in the field of gender identity and in overseeing people’s transitions. READ MORE.
