By Aaron Scott 

I’m transgender, I’m a layperson, and I’m 39 years old. I grew up in a tongues-talking United Methodist Church in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, where my dad was the pastor. We were a poor congregation in a poor community, deeply divided over the inclusion and dignity of LGBTQ+ people. I remember thinking to myself, even as a kid, “Why are we so obsessed with gay people? Half this congregation can’t afford heat in the winter whether they’re gay or not.” Lots of early experiences like that shaped my sense that issues of justice and dignity are always interconnected—that white supremacy, patriarchy, and queer- and transphobia aren’t about individual meanness but serve to divide and conquer the masses, and hurt people. When we’re constantly at each other’s throats, it’s impossible to look up the food chain and see who’s benefitting from our lack of solidarity. 

I’ve been an organizer for 20 years. My mom and my grandma were both labor organizers, and I was raised with the understanding that militancy, strategy, and high-level leadership are women’s work. My grandma, who was nearly deported for her organizing during the McCarthy era, was a genius at weaponizing sexist norms for her own defense. Hauled into a back room at her factory job by federal investigators who asked her, “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”, Grandma batted her eyelashes, patted her big blond hair, and said, “Nobody invited me to that party, and oh, I do love parties!” She was released and went on organizing harder than ever. 

In seminary, my work focused on biblical studies—specifically understanding gender, sexuality, and countering the Roman Empire in the early Jesus movement. I find myself drawing on this work more and more, as overt white Christian nationalism continues to seize power. I think some of our most critical work as the church is being explicit, public, and unapologetic in our theology when it comes to gender justice. Heretical theology has been so mainstreamed that many people simply assume white Christian nationalism is the teaching of Jesus. We know differently. We need to be organized, disciplined, and strategic in reaching people with that different teaching. Reproductive justice, healthcare for trans youth, and disrupting gender-based violence all fall within the biblical teachings of Christ—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Jesus is also clear that gender justice is inseparable from a widespread platform for economic justice, the intentional cultivation and defense of the leadership of women and LGBTQ+ people, and a mass movement to counter the violent legacy of imperialism. 

What excites me most about this job is getting to connect and build power with the thousands of gender justice leaders across our church. I am here to support gender justice work that’s been underway for generations, both inside and outside of our institution. Our people, prayers, and power are badly needed on the right side of history at this moment in the world.