Transphobia

Police in the northern Mumbai suburb of Oshiwara staged a raid on a “gay” party at a beach house in the popular Versova Beach area early Sunday arresting 133 persons, including transgender Bollywood film star Bobby Darling on charges of “indecent behavior.”

I imagine I serve a Wonderful Creator Who really is creative; in all this lovely complexity of humanity, He understands both gender and sex. Yet plenty of people are already plotting the next onslaught of bigotry directed at the transgender community. Some people will react with scorn and “how dare he/she” comments. Try not to be in that prison with them.

Chaz Bono — the transgender son of entertainer Cher and the late Sonny Bono — who recently announced he will be contestant this season on ABC’s hit show “Dancing With the Stars,” has set off both a firestorm of criticism, and a groundswell of support.

D-list comedian and podcaster Adam Carolla has come under fire from LGBT advocates and GLAAD over a vulgar, anti-LGBT tirade in which he said, in reference to transgender people, “When did we start giving a shit about these people?”

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has struck down Wisconsin’s ban on hormone treatments for transgender prisoners.

As the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities find more acceptance in churches and in society, still left in the shadows and in the back corners hidden from our kind considerations are the transgender people. I am witnessing them become the next target of religious leaders.

Today, May 17, is International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the seventh annual event to bring attention to LGBT issues in more than 50 countries.