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sexual orientation
Two-thirds of the way through the second session of CPJ Training, moderator Christian Brooks of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Office of Public Witness turned the conversation to recent headlines.
The Presbytery of New Covenant in southeast Texas has had a strong youth ministry for decades. A highlight has been its Youth Conclaves weekend retreats that are led by the youth themselves. These retreats are a time to meet other Presbyterian youth and a time to grow as disciples. Our presbytery also recognizes that youth is a time of exploration and identity formation — including gender or sexual orientation. This became apparent in February 2020, when a request was received regarding a young person who was hesitant to attend a retreat weekend because of who she is. Katrina is transgender. She had attended the previous year when she hadn’t fully come out, and she stayed in the boys’ cabin. While she knew she didn’t want to stay there, she wasn’t sure she would be able to stay with the girls. The presbytery’s General Council made a quick decision, with a hastily written policy, that Katrina could attend and stay with the girls. We felt that, at the very least, she could feel comfortable, and we were covered legally. We knew, though, that inclusion of transgender youth in church events had to be addressed because there were more teens like Katrina among us.
A Texas presbytery created an inclusionary policy letting transgender teens attend and feel comfortable at youth retreats.
Toward the end of the Rev. Shanea Leonard’s Gender & Inclusion presentation Tuesday, they presented a slide with puzzle pieces scattered apart on the left and fit together on the right.
