Ruth Leigh considers what it truly means to love others as Jesus commanded. Prompted by a Glamour UK feature honouring nine trans women, she challenges readers to look past prejudice and remember that Christ’s call to love leaves no one out.
As a writer, I do a lot of my work on screens, so picking up a magazine is a real treat. I confess, I mostly do it at the hairdresser’s and often find myself asking, “Who the heck is that?” as I read the latest story about a celebrity.
It’s been a while since I flicked through the pages of Glamour UK magazine, but I was interested to read their article on nine trans women who they chose to honour for their work in music, charity, activism and fashion at this year’s Women of the Year Awards. The headline really grabbed my attention.
“What we really crave is to work, love and exist with dignity.”
Those words tugged at my heartstrings. Don’t we all crave that? Isn’t that a basic human right?
READ MORE: When culture redefines womanhood: how Christians can respond with love and clarity to Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year
Trans people (but especially trans women) struggle to access healthcare, often experience violence and prejudice and are sometimes rejected by their families. I was shocked to learn that the word, “trans” is the fifth most popular porn category in the UK. So it’s OK to watch porn featuring trans women, but not to love and support them, it seems. That seems utterly wrong to me.
The conversation around trans people and trans rights is often angry and judgemental.
The conversation around trans people and trans rights is often angry and judgemental. This is not that kind of piece. Reading about these nine trans women and their heartfelt desire to be loved and accepted and to contribute to their society made me think about a scripture which has always been important to me. I’m going to quote it in the Message translation because I admire the immediacy of Jesus’s words.
READ MORE: Lex Renick on faith, identity, and transformation: ‘God removed my dysphoria and renewed my life’
“When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?” Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” (Matthew 22: 34-40.)
The NIV puts it like this.“All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
That’s Jesus, being attacked by the Pharisees who plan to catch him out. And what does he say, back against the wall, with these intimidating men crowding around him trying to trick him? Love God with everything you have. Love everyone else as you love yourself. At no point (and I’ve checked), does he say, “Love others apart from …” and then go on to list people who are frequently found on the margins in our society. Two pegs upon which hang everything – everything – in God’s law.
As a follower of Jesus, I cannot, in all good conscience, do anything but try to love.
As a follower of Jesus, I cannot, in all good conscience, do anything but try to love. I’m a youth leader at church. I often go into high schools and deliver inspirational workshops on writing to teenage pupils. I love their honesty and their authenticity. Several I’ve met and got to know are trans. They are just as vulnerable and anxious (often more so) as their classmates, even the popular set who swagger in and try to get one over me. Behind their eyes is a person saying, “Who am I? Where am I going? Who will love me?”
As a Christian, what does Jesus ask me to do?
You know the answer. So I do. And I will.
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