Pastor's Reflection 2023-11-17
Rev. John Oda
Why Does Wesley Have a Transgender Solidarity Sunday?
Why Does Wesley Have a Transgender Solidarity Sunday?
On November 12, 2023 Wesley United Methodist Church held it’s second annual Transgender Solidarity Sunday. Kasper Kimura was a speaker and he did an amazing job. Thank you Kasper for sharing your personal experience and challenges as a transgender man in our society. We also heard from Gabrielle Antolovich and Grace Skylar from the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center on their journeys as a non-binary person and trans woman respectively, and they shared ways that we can make a difference by welcoming and celebrating the people in our midst. During the worship service I was honored to talk about why Wesley has a Transgender Solidarity Sunday every year? Here is why…
In 1942 my Mom was 10 years old. She was living a happy and carefree life in Seattle Washington. My grandfather, Shinichi Seike, was a businessman who ran a small Japanese import and export business. He would drive all around King County to deliver Japanese food to the small enclaves of Japanese Americans, which also made him an excellent Baishakunin (matchmaker, go-between). That same year, 1942, the Japanese Imperial Military bombed Pearl Harbor. From that day forward everything would change for my Mom and her family. Two months later Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The order eventually led to the illegal incarceration of 125,000 Japanese Americans primarily on the West Coast during World War II. My Mom, and her entire family were first sent to the Pinedale Assembly Center near Fresno because they were not within the Seattle city limits. There they were housed in former horse and pig stalls. From there, the Seike family was shipped off to Tule Lake and then to Heart Mountain. Tule Lake and Heart Mountain are two of American Concentration camps which incarcerated Japanese Americans. There were ten camps in total.
The illegal incarceration of Japanese-Americans during WWII was driven by a society and politicians with unfounded fears. And today we are witnessing that same thing in the rash of anti-transgender, anti-LGBT legislation which are rooted in fears, stereotypes and misconceptions about transgender individuals. In 2023, thus far, 85 anti-trans bills have already passed, out of the 586 proposed across the country. Compare that to 2022. In 2022 there were 26 bills passed, out of the 174 bills proposed. The fears seems to be growing.
The internment of Japanese Americans and anti-trans legislation both involve a form of dehumanization. In both cases the “other” group is a perceived threat to the safety of society. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, all Japanese Americans were treated as one potential threat, regardless of who the person was or their history. This is a part of dehumanizing a group of people. Right before the Seike family was forced to evacuate, my Mom was on her way to school, ready to meet up with her friends. They all had walked to school together for years. But that day they unexpectedly shunned her and told her they could no longer walk with her. She had no idea why but she was now the enemy. Similarly, anti-transgender legislation does not look at individuals, and it looks only at the whole group, which contributes to the dehumanization of transgender individuals.
We also held our Transgender Solidarity Sunday on November 12 because the National Transgender Day of Remembrance is on November 20. Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses the trans community has faced due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. The founder of Transgender Day of Remembrance, Gwendolyn Ann Smith wrote, “ With so many seeking to erase transgender people — sometimes in the most brutal ways possible — it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice.” In 2022, 32 people from the transgender and gender non-conforming community in the US were killed. Thus far in 2023, there have been 25 have been killed.
Wesley is an historically Japanese American church and many of our members have gone through the injustice, the bigotry, the hatred of WWII. We want to support the transgender community because advocating for transgender rights aligns with Wesley’s principles of justice, equality and inclusion. We, the people of Wesley, want to promote and work toward a society where everyone, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identity, can participate fully, feel accepted and be celebrated for who God made them to be.
In 1942 my Mom was 10 years old. She was living a happy and carefree life in Seattle Washington. My grandfather, Shinichi Seike, was a businessman who ran a small Japanese import and export business. He would drive all around King County to deliver Japanese food to the small enclaves of Japanese Americans, which also made him an excellent Baishakunin (matchmaker, go-between). That same year, 1942, the Japanese Imperial Military bombed Pearl Harbor. From that day forward everything would change for my Mom and her family. Two months later Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The order eventually led to the illegal incarceration of 125,000 Japanese Americans primarily on the West Coast during World War II. My Mom, and her entire family were first sent to the Pinedale Assembly Center near Fresno because they were not within the Seattle city limits. There they were housed in former horse and pig stalls. From there, the Seike family was shipped off to Tule Lake and then to Heart Mountain. Tule Lake and Heart Mountain are two of American Concentration camps which incarcerated Japanese Americans. There were ten camps in total.
The illegal incarceration of Japanese-Americans during WWII was driven by a society and politicians with unfounded fears. And today we are witnessing that same thing in the rash of anti-transgender, anti-LGBT legislation which are rooted in fears, stereotypes and misconceptions about transgender individuals. In 2023, thus far, 85 anti-trans bills have already passed, out of the 586 proposed across the country. Compare that to 2022. In 2022 there were 26 bills passed, out of the 174 bills proposed. The fears seems to be growing.
The internment of Japanese Americans and anti-trans legislation both involve a form of dehumanization. In both cases the “other” group is a perceived threat to the safety of society. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, all Japanese Americans were treated as one potential threat, regardless of who the person was or their history. This is a part of dehumanizing a group of people. Right before the Seike family was forced to evacuate, my Mom was on her way to school, ready to meet up with her friends. They all had walked to school together for years. But that day they unexpectedly shunned her and told her they could no longer walk with her. She had no idea why but she was now the enemy. Similarly, anti-transgender legislation does not look at individuals, and it looks only at the whole group, which contributes to the dehumanization of transgender individuals.
We also held our Transgender Solidarity Sunday on November 12 because the National Transgender Day of Remembrance is on November 20. Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses the trans community has faced due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. The founder of Transgender Day of Remembrance, Gwendolyn Ann Smith wrote, “ With so many seeking to erase transgender people — sometimes in the most brutal ways possible — it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice.” In 2022, 32 people from the transgender and gender non-conforming community in the US were killed. Thus far in 2023, there have been 25 have been killed.
Wesley is an historically Japanese American church and many of our members have gone through the injustice, the bigotry, the hatred of WWII. We want to support the transgender community because advocating for transgender rights aligns with Wesley’s principles of justice, equality and inclusion. We, the people of Wesley, want to promote and work toward a society where everyone, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identity, can participate fully, feel accepted and be celebrated for who God made them to be.
Gabrielle Antolovich and Grace Skylar from the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center
Our MYF Director Kasper Kimura shared ways that the Wesley community can stand with and be supportive of him and the other trans people at Wesley
Posted in Newsletter 2023-11-16