June 13, 2016
Dear Governor McCrory:
I write this letter to you as a veteran, a tax paying
citizen, and an ordained minister in the Christian Church Disciples of Christ
who is transgender. I write this letter as
a response to HB2, known as the Bathroom Bill, out of great concern that you
are using the transgender community as a means to put forward an agenda
reminiscent of the racist strategies of the Jim Crow Era, the Southern Strategy
of the 1960’s and the rhetoric of George Wallace. To achieve your agenda, you are even willing
to risk the economic well-being of your state, necessarily impacting the
economic viability and vitality of all people in the state of North
Carolina and thus also risking the credit rating of your state.
According to reports by The Center for American Progress of
4/13/2016 your state has the potential of losing $568 million in
private-sector economic activity through 2018. You have already lost out on $86
million and stand to lose upwards of an additional $481 million due to
cancelled events, businesses leaving the area, and tourism declines if HB2 is
not repealed. You are also in jeopardy of losing federal dollars, this
according to the Washington Post. I find your position untenable,
unjust, inferior, and unbecoming of a man who would seem to be educated, a
person of faith, a critical thinker.
I find that your arguments regarding a transgender person
using the bathroom of their identity under the guise of “safety” using girls
and woman as the bait for those uninformed and/or ignorant on the issue or your
means to argue for states’ rights to be problematic at best. As a transgender woman who has done the
difficult and challenging work of acceptance, of loving myself and living out
the Gospel of Jesus Christ in real time in the face of those similar to
yourself who long to continue the oppression heaped upon humanity by groups
such as the Ku Klux Klan, I find your argument to be one of a politics of
hatred and manifest bigotry. Sir, I
ask you now, “Are you a bigot?” “Do you embrace the politics of hatred and
ignorance?”
Sir, I ask, “Is what you advocate for just? Is it right and life affirming? Surely each of us has an interpretation of
life, a life as we imagine but the question that should resonate beyond
interpretation is,” Is it life affirming, life giving and hopeful for all? “Is it just in the presence of a God whose
love and grace knows no bounds?” “Would
you stand in the presence of God spouting policies that deny and defy a
humanity created by this very God?” That
said, I ask, “Have you taken time to speak or confer with a person who is
transgender or have you taken the time to speak with a physician with expertise
in gender identity and sexuality?” If
you have not, I would suggest that you speak with a transgender person or a physician
who cares for transgender people to ascertain the reality of the transgender
person and what your policies will do to a group of people already marginalized
and ostracized by society at large. I
would suggest that you read the following books, both on Amazon:
Transgender
Journeys, Vanessa Sheridan and Virginia Mollenkott
Understanding Gender Dysphoria - Mark
A. Yarhouse
These two books might give you an understanding of what it’s
like to be a transgender person. My impression is that you have very little knowledge
on the subject because if you had good credible knowledge, you would have made
a different and informed policy decision.
Your arguments equating transgender people with sexual predators is a
study in gross intellectual negligence. Fact
is there is a huge difference between a transgender woman or transgender man and
a sexual predator. The transgender
person just wants to be left alone to live and prosper life like any other
American citizen. This is different from
the sexual predator who obtains or tries to obtain sexual
contact with another person in a predatory or abusive manner.
I am not surprised by how you would treat or think of the
transgender person because historically transgender people have been killed or
murdered by human beings who were not like them. You, like others, seem to be in fear of
anyone or anything that is different than you.
It is as if to be different, which we all are, is a sin and a reason to
be discriminated against, murdered or killed because of that difference. You illicit profound sadness as I perceive
that I have written this letter to someone such as yourself who cares very little
about transgender people or what they go through on a daily basis.
If you are a person of
faith I would encourage you to reflect on the grace and mercy given you by your
creator. But for the grace of God you to
would be a despised and hated human being.
I encourage you to rethink your position on this matter and receive new
light and love from your creator.
Rev. Monica Joy Cross, M.Div, MASC, BCS
Associate Minister, Tapestry Ministries
Christian Church Disciples of Christ
Rev. Dr. Leon Bacchues, Ph.D., M.J.
Senior Minister, Tapestry Ministries
Christian Church Disciples of Christ
P.S. Once you have read
this letter I would like a response to let me know you read it.
