​TransEpiscopal celebrates the successful conclusion of #GC80 and gives thanks for the inspiring work of this Convention. All of the resolutions we came to Baltimore supporting ultimately passed both houses, becoming acts of this Convention, and we are both grateful for and proud of all the effort and allyship that contributed to that outcome. This includes the following five resolutions on which we particularly focused:

• D029 Affirming Nonbinary Access and Leadership
• D030 Develop Resources and Training for Welcoming and Supporting Transgender and Non-Binary Persons and Families
• D066 Addressing Restrictions on Access to Gender Affirming Care
• D072 Resolution on Gender and Sexuality Training
• A063 Creation of a Director of LGBTQI and Women’s Ministries

 
We are moved that all of these resolutions passed in the context of a Convention that actively extended the crucial work of racial justice, truth telling, and reparations through resolutions, presentations, and testimony. These included A125 (“A Resolution Extending and Furthering the Beloved Community”), which establishes and funds a voluntary Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice among dioceses and congregations. Another key resolution, A127 (“Resolution for Telling the Truth about The Episcopal Church's History with Indigenous Boarding Schools”) sets aside funds over the next biennium for investigating The Episcopal Church’s role in Indigenous boarding schools. We heard powerful testimony on the first day of Convention from Indigenous Episcopalians who themselves or whose family members experienced horrible denials of their personhood in boarding school and other racist, anti-indigenous ecclesial settings. We appreciate as well that resolution A126 (“A Resolution Supporting a Comprehensive Review of the Book Of Common Prayer, The Hymnal 1982, and other approved liturgical material”), proposed by Committee 12 (Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music), commits the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to thoroughly review all of The Episcopal Church’s approved liturgical and musical sources for colonialist, racist and white supremacist, imperialist and nationalistic language and content.
 
Speaking of liturgical resolutions, we were very pleased that this Convention ultimately voted to support A059 (“Amend Article X of the Constitution of The Episcopal Church (First Reading)”) the pathway proposed by the Task Force on Liturgical and Prayer Book Revision (TFLPBR) for liturgical renewal, broadening the definition of the Book of Common Prayer to mean “those liturgical forms and other texts authorized by the General Convention.” This new process will allow for the development of liturgies with inclusive and expansive language as well as liturgical marriage equality to receive authorization as part of the BCP, and not be designated as “second class” rites within The Episcopal Church. We are very glad that the TFLPBR-sponsored resolution A060 (“Endorse Guidance for Inclusive and Expansive Language”), which lifted up concerns about binary language in liturgical texts, also passed.
 
Among the resolutions on which we focused our advocacy, we were especially gratified that the House of Deputies concurred with the bishops on resolution A063. We very much look forward to the hiring of the Director of LGBTIQ and Women’s Ministries, and we would love to be part of a community that can gather around this person, supporting and dialoguing with them as they make their way into this important work. 
 
We were inspired by the eloquence of those who spoke in support of this resolution, especially in the House of Deputies. As time ran out in debate, there were others who did not have the chance to speak, like the Reverend Isaac Martinez of the Diocese of Massachusetts. He shared his testimony in a series of Tweets. His witness poignantly speaks to the need for this position:
 
As an Episcopal church planter, my embryonic ministry has been blessed to have professional and prayerful leaders in the office of church planting and redevelopment. This resolution and the draft budget accomplish what other General Conventions before us have failed to do. It provides real and valuable support, in the form of a new DFMS staff position, for the vital and interdependent ministries of combatting the lingering sexism and misogyny in our church and ensuring that every corner of our church fully includes queer and trans people. Yesterday, our Presiding Bishop gave us a good word about closing the gap between the Jesus we know and how we act. The gap isn’t just a product of other Christians’ belief and behavior – we Episcopalians still have a wide gap between what we preach and what we practice when it comes to inclusion and equality for women and queer and trans people. Closing the gap will take clear vision, strong trust, and good, hard work.
            The Gospel reading for last Sunday from Luke chapter 10 – the sending of the 70 disciples into the Lord’s harvest – is a favorite of church planters for obvious reasons, but it has a verse that I particularly love to remind my bishops and canons about: ‘the laborer deserves to be paid.’ My siblings in Christ, the labor of equipping each Episcopalian to fully celebrate the image of God in women and queer and trans people finally deserves the investment of a churchwide director. Without a shadow of a doubt, I know this resolution will bear fruit for my QTPOC church plant and for all of our dioceses, congregations, and ministries – I urge your full support.
 
Thank you, Isaac. 
 
As we close out the 80th General Convention, we give thanks for the many whose labor, both seen and unseen, shapes our church. We celebrate the historic election of Julia Ayala Harris, the House of Deputies' first Latina President, and the Reverend Rachel Taber-Hamilton, the HOD's first Indigenous Vice President. We honor all who offer themselves to serve in the committees, task forces, advisory councils, boards, and yes as deputies. Today we celebrate, and tomorrow we will go back to work committed to walking the way of love. 

TransEpiscopal joins the wider Episcopal Church and LGBTIQ+ community in celebrating the pioneering, liberating life of Jim Toy who died at age 91 on January 1st and whose “Celebration of Liberation,” sponsored by the Spectrum Center of the University of Michigan, took place last weekend. “As a queer, Asian American activist, Jim inspired those who knew him and knew of him,” the Spectrum community invitation declared. “He sparked a rebel flame, urging us to continue to question authority, make space for those most vulnerable, and speak out against injustice whenever and wherever we encounter it.” 
 
In 1970, Jim was attending a rally protesting the Vietnam war when he stepped in for another member of the Detroit Gay Liberation Movement (DGLM) who had decided not to speak at the last minute. Jim described himself as an openly gay man in his speech. In so doing, as this PBS overview of his life reports, Jim became the first person in Michigan to come out publicly as gay. A co-founder of the DGLM as well as the Ann Arbor Gay Liberation Front, Jim went on to varied work as a “therapist, counselor, trainer, facilitator, educator, and advocate,” as he wrote in this profile for the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network. When the University of Michigan opened the first university-based LGBTQ center in the U.S. (now called the Spectrum Center), Jim was one of its two coordinators and served in that role from 1971-1994. As Jim says in this video created by the center in 2012, “I’m a Democrat, I’m an Episcopalian, I’m a conscientious objector… I was assigned to what we call the male gender. I identify with that assignment. As it turned out, I happened to be gay.” Elsewhere he elaborated, “My ‘identity’ is a tapestry of many threads — race and ethnicity, color, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability/disability, appearance, age, religious belief, political belief. If one of the threads is plucked, the whole fabric is bound to move.”  
 
Early in TransEpiscopal’s advocacy efforts in the Episcopal Church several of us met Jim at the 2009 General Convention in Anaheim. He immediately embraced us, shared stories, joined in our strategy sessions, and helped us offer a collectively led “Trans 101” for the volunteers gathered to advocate LGBTIQ+ people at that convention. In subsequent weeks Jim joined our email listserve and shared more stories and ideas over the years, always with a characteristically provocative joy.
 
The Rev. Michelle Hansen, a member of TransEpiscopal’s Steering Committee, commented, “Jim was completely dedicated to human rights, LGBTQ rights and full trans inclusion in the life of society and the Church. May he Rest in Peace and rise to God’s Glory!” Donna Cartwright, also on TransEpiscopal’s Steering Committee, added: “Jim really stood up for trans people back when that wasn’t very common in the church, including in church LGBT advocacy efforts. He was a true ally in addition to being an inspiring pioneer.”
 
Indeed, several of us remember Jim advocating for the unusual acronym TBLGQ. As he explained in this 2015 interview, “in the TBLGQI ‘community,’ transgender and bisexual people are at greatest risk of harassment, discrimination, and assault to person and property. Some lesbians and gay men hold transgender and bisexual people in contempt, so placing ‘T’ last in the order of reference results in transgender people being devalued and disregarded. It took the decade of the 70's to convince many groups to say ‘LG’ rather than using the sexist order ‘GL.’”
 
The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge, also a member of TransEpiscopal’s steering committee, recalled how Jim connected the gendered oppression of trans and cisgender LGBQ people in intersectional ways. “I remember Jim sharing how gender norms – what he called ‘the rules of gender’ – had been imposed upon him over the years in particular ways as a Chinese American, gay, cisgender man. He had such a gift for challenging people in ways that could open people’s eyes and draw them together in the process.” 
 
Looking back through Jim’s emailed contributions to TransEpiscopal conversations, several of us noted that his main priority, as far back as 2009, was the need for formation and training to equip trans and nonbinary people and families at all levels of the church’s life. As we head toward this July’s pandemic-compressed 2022 General Convention, we can’t help but think how strongly he would push for the passage of resolution D030 “Develop Resources and Training for Welcoming and Supporting Transgender and Non-Binary Persons and Families.” We are certain that he would consider this effort both long overdue and essential to pass now as trans, non-binary, and Two-Spirit young people are rendered increasingly vulnerable by waves of anti-trans legislation.
 
In this moment of tremendous sorrow and anger in the wake of the white supremacist massacre in Buffalo, the targeting of a Taiwanese congregation in Laguna Woods, and this week’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, we give deep thanks for Jim’s fiery, compassionate, wise presence. 
 
As Jim has said: “We’re all in this together… So let’s keep working for liberty, for justice, and for peace. And while we do that I have one injunction: keep misbehaving!” 
 
We will, with God’s help.