Minutes Cookies News

RantWoman! Do NOT squelch the energy and joy of this wonderful young Friend.

B-b-but if I do not say anything.... How about may I please mouth off in square brackets?

Look, RantWoman, you are probably going to ... whether I say anything or not, so if you really really MUST have a middle-aged snit-fit would you maybe please TRY to be kind?

RantWoman usually uses Noms de Blog rather than real names especially when RantWoman writes of things that may be pure message manglement. In this case, RantWoman wants to lift up the wonderful Young Friends statement and is unabashedly quoting extensively from two Facebook posts. Readers who want to find the Facebook posts should be able to come up with helpful search strings.

Quote 1, [annotated]:
Four years ago a Friend and I planted a seed of trans inclusivity in front of a room of about 40 Quakers. [um,. er, How about "tilled the soil of trans inclusivity"? RantWoman so likes words that follow that she will overlook]  Many people took that, tended it, did their own work, and today our Annual [Yearly] Meeting, (aka regional group of Friends encompassing  [UNPROGRAMMED] Quakers within Oregon Washington, Idaho, and Montana) became the first Annual Meeting to pass a Minute (aka statement) on trans inclusivity. We update our Faith and Practice (book of religious guidance) every 12 years [uh, we update our F&P as led. The latest revision has taken 12 years], and the Minute passed [the minute was approved / Meeting came to Unity in just enough time to make it in to the next generation's incarnation of Faith and Practice.

This journey has been so incredible. Seeing elderly people use the words "gender non-conforming," "squish" and "non-binary" with ease, and hearing some of them say that their lives would have been very different had they had that language when they were young. Seeing young trans people come out of the closet in to communities where they are supported and loved. Having cis people buy trans people ice cream and bake them cookies for their emotional labor. There was a lot of frustrating stuff and hurt and pain that went along with it, but oh my goodness, we passed the Minute and made a commitment to keep working through the hard stuff.

[Do you remember how the commitment is to be worked on further?]

Here are some lines from the Minute:

"North Pacific Yearly Meeting understands that the Divine Source is leading our Meeting to honor the gender identity and expression of each person, as understood by that person. We understand that gender may be fluid and changeable. We recognize that when we embrace the Light within the full spectrum identities in our Meeting, our worship deepens and our community is enriched...We extend our loving care to people of all genders, including, but not limited to, transgender, genderqueer, cisgender, gender fluid, agender, gender non-conforming and intersex persons, their families and friends. We will continue to educate ourselves and our communities and take appropriate action to bring about a more equal world."

Quote 2:
Our collective Quaker Meetings of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana just became the first Annual [Yearly] Meeting to make the affirmation of trans people a tenant of our faith. [The "first" part is mildly in dispute, thanks to the formation the day before of the new Sierra Cascade wholly open affirming Christ-centered Yearly Meeting involving Friends from OR, WA and possibly CA. See https://www.scymfriends.org/2017-epistle/   “We are led by the Spirit to commit ourselves to recognizing the full participation of LGBTQ+ people in all aspects of the life of the new yearly meeting.”]

Here is the statement by the Young Adult Friends (18-35) about the importance of approving this statement.

"The young adult friends want to give our support of the trans inclusive Minute. We are coming of age at a time when more trans people are living their lives as their full authentic selves than ever before, and we want to honor and respect the gifts that trans people bring to our community. We recognize that with this increased visibility comes overwhelming discrimination. We mourn the loss of human potential that comes when trans people are forced to spend their energy struggling to survive in this harsh world rather than discovering and nurturing their personal light. We want to live in a faith community where young trans people can use this time in their lives to discover their passions, to learn and to grow, and to build the foundation upon which they base the rest of their lives. Specific and explicit inclusion of all genders is imperative in our community in a world where the default culture remains dangerously intolerant.
This is also a plea for intergenerational unity on this issue that is defining for our times. We deeply need and want the support of our elders and acknowledge the critical role of queer, trans and gender non-conforming elders in our community. We want our faith community to be a place of respite, that provides a safe harbor for trans people and works to shape the rest of society towards justice.
We recognize the importance of centering those impacted by multiple oppressions, and want the passage of this Minute to be the first step towards creating a Quakerism that is fully welcoming to people of color and people of all social and economic backgrounds, both trans and cis.