Pro-LGBT group launches campaign asking Christians to raise money for gender transition surgeries

An organization is launching a campaign asking Christians to donate money to help transgender people pay for surgeries related to their gender transition as a form of reparations for past discrimination.

Faithfully LGBT, a group that seeks to share the stories of LGBT people of faith, is raising funds for the transgender community through a campaign called #TitheTrans.

“There needs to be tangible ways that progressive Christians, who disagree with anti-trans theology, give to the transgender community,” says Eliel Cruz, founder of the organization. “I want Tithe Trans to be a way for Christians to begin to pay reparations for the damage we have caused,” he added.

The group noted that transition surgeries can cost anywhere between $10,000 and $90,000. About 20 percent of transgender individuals do not have any form of health insurance, and many insurance companies do not provide coverage for procedures related to gender transition, according to NewNowNext.

“Christians have disparaged the bodies of trans people, which has contributed to a culture of violence against them,” a statement from the Tithe Trans fundraising site read.

“From promoting anti-trans bathroom legislation to theology that has lead to suicides and homelessness.For those Christians who have seen this violence and have been horrified by it, it’s time to put your tithe money where your beliefs are,” it continued.

According to a news release published on the group’s website, the money collected by the campaign will be directed to the Jim Collins Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises funds to provide grants to cover gender transition surgeries. Applications for grants are reviewed by a board of trans activists, who provides as many grants as the organization’s funds allow.

A fundraising goal of $10,000 has been set by the organizers, and while the campaign is directed at Christians, others are also allowed to donate. The organizers are hoping to surpass its fundraising goal, but, as of Sept, 9, the campaign has only raised $512.

The hashtag #FaithfullyLGBT was first used by Cruz when he was sharing his column of the same name at Religion News Service in 2015. Since then, others have used it to create visibility for the intersection of their faith and their sexuality.

In January 2016, Cruz launched a photo campaign highlighting the faces of LGBT people of faith. The photographs are also featured in the Faithfully LGBT website, each one accompanied by the subject’s name, sexual orientation, and religious tradition, as well as a quote about the individual’s relationship to sexuality and faith.

[ written by Jardine Malado]

• “Church,” “body of Christ” you have failed miserably! If God were truly in this modern day Christianity THERE’S NO WAY this would be happening! If “the church” wont stand against evil beyond the comforts and safety of the pulpit then what good is the “church”!?  I believe that there is a remnant of people, those who dont wear suits or titles who are standing against evil. Their voices seem unheard because they are few in number and are being drowned out by the popularity and performances of the Pharisees of today.

Children as Young as 11 Could Start Irreversible Hormone Treatment to Change Gender After Court Ruling

By LEAH MARIEANN KLETT ( news@gospelherald.com ) Sep 06, 2017 

TGender Identity Development Service (GIDS) found that 1,986 children under the age of 18 have been accepted for specialist treatment in the past year. Getty Images

Children as young as 11 could be permitted to start irreversible hormone treatment to change their biological sex without the permission of a court under an upcoming landmark family court case in Sydney.

The Daily Mail reports that five Family Court judges will sit on the case to be heard by the Full Court later this year – the first time they have done so in 12 years.

The case was brought by the father of a 16-year-old who was born female but identified as male from nine-years-old, according to the Daily Telegraph. The child, “Kelvin”, reportedly changed schools to start as a male, used a chest binder and attended the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Intersex and Questioning “campout” on the Central Coast in 2014.

The court has already decided that Kelvin is “competent” and fully understands what is ­involved in starting hormone treatment; however, his father has launched the appeal to ask the court to step out of the process all together. Should the judges rule in favor of the family, children wishing to undergo hormone therapy will only need the permission of a parent and a medical professional.

Currently, for access stage one treatment known as puberty blockers, children are no longer required to go to court, as the process was recently deemed fully reversible. The second stage of treatment – irreversible gender-affirming hormones, is what will be contested.

A June report from the Daily Telegraph said that an analysis of Family Court judgments from the start of this year show 10 children have been granted legal approval to start “stage two” treatment to allow for physical changes.

Recently, the court ruled in favor of 17-year-old “Ashton” to undergo treatment to fulfill his wishes of becoming a boy after the family spoke of “Ashton’s” distress at having female attributes.

Data released earlier this year by the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) shows 1,986 children under the age of 18 have been accepted for specialist treatment in the past year. That’s up from just 94 in 2009-10, with 37 young children under the age of five referred since then.

Western Sydney University professor John Whitehall, who has more than 50 years’ experience treating children, called the rise in transitioning “an infectious trend” and called for an age limit of at least 18 before children who claim they have gender dysphoria are permitted to undergo treatment.

Professor Whitehall said it was “unreasonable” to expect children to understand the gravity of the decisions they were making at such a young age.

“It is unreasonable to expect juveniles to have a complete picture of where they want to be in later life, especially kids that haven’t even yet reached puberty. This is an infectious trend, a dangerous fad and I think it’s nonsense. The courts should stop messing with our kids until they are at least 18 because once you change, that’s it.”

He urged a “watchful waiting” approac­h instead, arguing that a vast majority of children who question their gender will revert to their biological sex by puberty.

“I think it’s a dangerous fad; a dangerous behavioral fashion trend fuelled by the ideologues and fuelled by the media,” he said, adding he was concerned that programs such as Safe Schools, which promotes “gender fluidity”, were causing extra pressure.

“Even making that so-called social transition has consequences,” he said. “It nails the child to the cross. It’s very difficult to come back from that.