First Universalist Church of Minneapolis

That’s what my 14-year-old kid said to me last night when we were talking about the horrifying attack on a trans woman that happened at the Lake Street light rail station in Minneapolis this week.

Earlier that day, she’d posted the MPR story to her Instagram stories, and when I asked about the social post, she told me I should go see for myself. I did. She’d shared the MPR story, adding the question “why do we live in a world where this happens?”

That question is not a new one to me. Not a new one from her, nor from other First Universalist youth. In the time that I’ve served this church, I’ve been blessed to work with our middle and high school students, and to a one, they are deeply thoughtful, wrestling with questions in heart-full, faithful, and deeply relational ways. They love each other in ways that inspire me, and when they ask questions, I take them seriously.

So I sat with my daughter’s question in my heart over the course of the day. Later that night, as we talked more about the attack, I wondered if there was anything that she’d want to hear from church about all this. We talked about how there’s been more violence recently in the school system she’s at. We talked about how she was feeling.

I said that I wanted more than anything to be able to tell our youth that this is awful. That this is not the world as it should be, and that we love them and will do everything that we can to protect them and create a world where this does not happen.

To which she replied “Well then say that. Exactly that. Because that is exactly what needs to be heard.”

So I’m writing this message to you all today. Encouraged by my kid, sharpened by the team of faith leaders at church, I’m writing to you to say clearly that as people of faith we not only reject transphobia and the violence that it provokes, but that our faith teaches us that trans lives are sacred. That in the midst of anti-trans legislation and what feels like a rising tide of targeting trans people, especially trans youth, we will do everything that we’re able to fight back against politics of hate and the culture(s) that allow prejudice and fear and hatred to continue to exist. That each of you matters deeply to us and that you are not alone.

And, I’m inviting you to come to church this Sunday. As part of Sunday’s service, we’ll be creating a space of blessing for our trans community. Come be part of creating that blessing. Come if that space of blessing is what you need to receive. Join us as we affirm our faith and show up on the side of love.

In faith,

Rev. Arif

Rev. Arif Mamdani
Associate Minister
First Universalist Church of Minneapolis

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