Trans people will be participating in the Changing Attitude England’s conversation at St Andrew’s Short Street, Waterloo on 2nd March as we pursue the ‘deeply Christian’ vision of ‘Life in all its fullness’, by which we mean, at the very least, ‘treating each person as a unique individual of inherent worth.’
Changing Attitude England has written to every Church of England bishop raising serious questions about the House of Bishops attitude to trans people resulting from their recent decision to review “attempts to explore questions of gender identity and transition and [for a second time] agreed to seek and commission an appropriate group to take this work forward.” The House first made a proposal to revisit trans issues in May 2021. This decision provoked a strong negative reaction from trans people, and in particular those involved in the LLF formation process who had experienced serious abuse.
Changing Attitude England wants to know why the House of Bishops has agreed to pursue a course of action rejected repeatedly as unnecessary and abusive by trans people? Trans people do not want any further attempts to explore questions of gender identity and transition to be made, nor are they asking for an ‘appropriate’ group to be commissioned to take any such work forward. We are deeply distrustful of the motives behind this latest proposal and of the competence of the House of Bishops to ensure a non-abusive environment for trans people is created.
In a letter to the Bishop of London sent to all members of the Next Steps group, Tina Beardsley outlines her understanding of the Church of England’s current position on gender variant people, developed over the last two decades. Changing Attitude England invites the LLF’s Next Steps Group to confirm that these are the Church of England’s current policies and practices and, if so, to publicly affirm them. We also ask the Group what the missing elements might be that would necessitate such a working group, given the Church of England’s generally affirming line on trans people, and that LLF has already published on gender identity and transition.
Alex Clare-Young and Christina Beardsley and the Changing Attitude England steering group have replied to the Bishop of London convinced that the formation a working group to consider gender identity and transition supplementary to the work already undertaken in this area by the LLF project would be inadvisable.
Tina Beardsley and Alex Clare-Young have written to the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Sarah Mullally, bishop of London and chair of the LLF Next Steps Group, asking her to confirm that the new working group on gender identity and transition will be composed of a wide range of trans members, including transfeminine, transmasculine and non-binary people together with those who are recognised specialists in the field of gender identity and in overseeing people’s transitions.
The House of Bishops’ meeting held on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th May “agreed in principle to the formation of a working group on gender identity and transition under the auspices of the LLF Next Steps Group.” Tina Beardsley and Alex Clare-Young argue that the membership of the proposed working group should embrace a broad range of trans and gender variant people. It must also include people who are specialists in the field of gender identity and in overseeing people’s transitions. It should not include those who dismiss trans people’s experience as a mental illness, a fantasy, a sinful temptation, a gnostic claim to secret self-knowledge, or a symptom of the decadence of Western self-consciousness.
The Church of England’s General Synod Motion of 2017 was unequivocal in its call for a ban on so-called conversion therapy. The UK Government has not only delayed taking action but has recently begun to add the qualifying word ‘coercive’. Is a distinction being drawn between so-called conversion therapy that is coercive and other practices, such as prayer ministry, that are thought to be acceptable? Clarity about the meaning of coercive and non-coercive in this context is urgently needed. The Government seems to be consulting with those determined to protect harmful faith-based practices.
The LLF course comes with videos of people telling their stories. One of them shows Debbie Hayton who has been repeatedly condemned for transphobia. She is a rare example of a member of a minority who sides with those who fight against their rights. She doesn't speak for trans people. Despite these significant concerns raised by Changing Attitude England with the LLF Next Steps Group, all bishops, they have decided to retain Debbie’s film story as part of the LLF resources. This decision demonstrates the fantasy of ‘fair play’ that is at work in the LLF process, blind to the inequalities of power at work.
Transgender and Intersex friends of mine and the wider Transgender and Intersex networks to which they belong are angry at the way they feel the LLF process abused them. The serious concerns reported repeatedly by some have not been taken onboard. From my liminal place in relation to the Church of England my perspective is clearly at odds with those who are committed to the protection and preservation of the institution. I do not see best practice or the highest interests of LGBTI+ people being upheld.
The Revd Dr Tina Beardsley has written an article for the Church Times explaining why she recently resigned as one of the five consultants on the Coordinating Group (COG) of the Living in Love and Faith process. Tina argues that not enough attention is being paid to the experiences of LGBTI+ and questions the neutral stance that the LLF process has been taking. When the Archbishops launched Living in Love and Faith, they assured LGBTI+ people that no one is an issue or a problem. Tina’s experience demonstrates how impossibly difficult it is for the church implement the Archbishops’ vision.
