whoneedssexed:

“It is necessary to acknowledge that gender variant, trans, and nonbinary identities have always existed for folks with indigenous, black, and brown ancestry. Gender variant people in these cultures were often attributed semi-divine statuses and regarded as powerful leaders, spiritual oracles and celestial bodies. Black and brown communities were punished for gender practices that did not conform to “proper” European notions of masculinity and femininity. White people forced these communities to assimilate to Western religious practices that reinforced the gender binary system, and now white queer and trans people have the nerve to condemn communities of color for these “backwards” religious beliefs. What can we do as a white queer and trans people to honor the gender-variant ancestry of black and brown communities and not impose Western ideals of gender in our politics? How can we name our own pain within white religious institutions without scapegoating religion and its function within POC communities? It’s time to start a new conversation on religion and trans politics—one that holds this history as a way forwards, the key to a new future.”

— Dear White Trans People Who Are Anti-Religion | Mud Howard for HuffPost
(via gaywrites)