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The Unitarian Universalist Association on Wednesday joined eight other denominations in issuing an interfaith collective statement of support for trans, non-binary, and intersex people, affirming that they “deserve respect, love, and equal rights.”
UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt is the lead author of the statement, which comes at a time when trans, intersex, and nonbinary people face a worsening climate of hostility, particularly from the Trump administration.
“Trans people are not problems to solve—we’re possibilities to celebrate. When people of faith come together in love, we remind the world that sacredness has never been one-size-fits-all.”
The collective statement, which can be read in full on the UUA website, “unequivocally proclaim[s] the holiness of trans, nonbinary, and intersex people,” and that the signatories from different religions “share a fundamental belief … that all people hold infinite value and dignity, and we are morally compelled to care for those living under persecution.”
Rev. Jami Yandle, the UUA’s Transgender Support Specialist, said the statement affirms UU religious principles and the power of interfaith collaboration.
“Trans people are not problems to solve—we’re possibilities to celebrate. When people of faith come together in love, we remind the world that sacredness has never been one-size-fits-all,” they said. “When faiths join in love, we remember: the universe is endlessly creating, and trans lives are living proof that divine imagination never ceases.”
A Response to Anti-Trans Persecution
The collective statement names the harm and prejudice directed at trans people, denouncing this trend.
“Our faiths, our theologies, and our practices of prophetic witness call on us to say with one voice to transgender people among us: ‘You are holy. You are sacred. We love you. We support you, and we will protect you.’”
“Too many entrusted with positions of power are demonizing transgender people, blaming them for acts of violence, and criminalizing their very right to occupy space in our common life,” the statement declares.
The statement’s co-signers along with Rev. Dr. Betancourt are the leaders of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC), The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM); Union for Reform Judaism; Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada; The Episcopal Church; United Church of Christ; and Reconstructing Judaism.
The collective statement is accompanied by individual statements from signatories, including the UUA. In part of its individual statement, the UUA links to its 2024 resolution, passed at General Assembly, which asserts that “being transgender or identifying with any gender other than the one assigned at birth, is a beautiful and divine manifestation of humanity; as is being intersex, or having sex characteristics that vary from what is considered typical.”
The signatories in the statement root their resistance to anti-trans persecution in deep religious conviction.
According to the statement: “Our faiths, our theologies, and our practices of prophetic witness call on us to say with one voice to transgender people among us: ‘You are holy. You are sacred. We love you. We support you, and we will protect you.’”