Shawn Vestal: No compassion visible in imperious judgment of transgender people

Transgenderism neither normal nor acceptable.

The headline caught my eye – not merely because of the subject matter, but because of where it appeared: In a “Faith and Values” column in this newspaper.

In the column, North Idaho pastor and former Spokesman-Review reporter and editor Steve Massey took it upon himself to tell us what – according to his interpretation of the endlessly interpretable Bible – is normal, and acceptable, and even real. And when it comes to this subject, in Massey’s view, nothing is so important and real and true as our God-given genders.

The idea that a person might choose to live in opposition to their God-given genitals is very destructive, Massey wrote. It would be “unconscionable” for a parent to accept or assist a transgender child, and it’s important for him to declare, publicly, to an audience that includes transgender members of our community, on a stump provided by the newspaper, that “Transgenderism is neither normative, nor acceptable.”

That’s a lie. Or perhaps lie isn’t the right word – it’s probably not a lie if you believe it, no matter how false and hateful. But it’s as wrong as the day is long, and the idea that it’s Massey’s place to make this declaration, on behalf of God, to those of us who don’t attend his church, is wronger still.

Inside of that wrongness was a true lie, one rich in insincerity and the deep absence of self-awareness that is often baked into religious denunciations of others: An attempt to wrap imperious judgment in a pretense of compassion for the “deep emotional pain” of transgender people.

Talk about an ear-splitting cognitive dissonance. God loves you, but you’re not normal. God loves you, but you’re not acceptable. We proper Christians have compassion for you, but it’s very important for us to let you know: You’re not normal or acceptable.

Set aside questions of biology, psychology, actual human experience, individual freedom and the lived realities of transgender people – all of which argue strongly for the reality of transgender experience and the right of individuals to decide for themselves what is normal and acceptable. Some people have made the argument that Massey’s interpretation of the Bible was incorrect, but set that aside, as well. The glorious reality is that none of us is required to live inside anyone else’s vision of that book.

Consider the simple ideas of normalcy and acceptability. You know who declares whether other people are normal or acceptable? People who feel certain they are normal and acceptable. Who feel certain they are supreme over others who are not normal and not acceptable. Whose certainty is so powerful that they are compelled to express this sense of their own supremacy directly to their lessers.

The racists marching in Virginia over the weekend – including the cocky young, now former, president of Wazzu’s College Republicans – surely see themselves as normal and acceptable, and in a position to evaluate the acceptability of others. The people who spray swastikas or racial slurs on day care centers surely view themselves as normal and acceptable, and the proper arbiters of who is not.

Every racist, bigoted movement in history had, at its heart, a fundamental judgment of “human correctness.” An evaluation of the right and wrong kind of people, made by those who have judged themselves to be the right kind of people in the eyes of God.

Normal and acceptable.

It is the song of every high school bully, of every ignorant racist, of everyone who can’t stop obsessing over what other people do with their God-given genitals and whether those people should be allowed – think of that: allowed – to marry. It is the chorus sung by men evaluating the acceptability of women to serve in the Army or work in engineering, of rural whites passing confident judgment on the acceptability of the culture of inner-city people of color, of football fans demanding that a quarterback stand for the national anthem.

Several years ago, the Spokane City Council held a public forum on a resolution to support the marriage equality initiative. The council chambers were packed, people gave impassioned testimony for and against. It was a stirring civic experience, not least because it felt as though the people who were on the side of equality and civil rights carried the day.

But I will never forget the spectacle of several gay marriage opponents taking it upon themselves to speak directly to the gay and lesbian people in the audience – sometimes turning from the lectern to address them directly – and conveying the message, with great confidence and sincerity, that God did not hate them.

This was the way these normal and acceptable people expressed to these other not-normal and unacceptable people that God loved them. By telling them: God doesn’t hate you. He just hates what you do. He just hates how you love. He just hates this utterly central part of your identity, see?

It was no kind of love then, and it was no kind of love on Saturday, when the good Pastor Massey tried to sell faith in ugly values as compassion.