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Holy and Divine: A Sermon for Transgender Day of Visibility, Rev. Josh Pawelek, March 29, 2026

Note: Rev. Pawelek began this sermon by teaching the song “Holy and Divine”

by Lindasusan Ulrich, to the congregation. This song was inspired by the words of Rev. JeKaren Olaoya and is dedicated to the trans/nonbinary community. The words are very simple:  Lean in, I love you. / Once again, I love you. / Now and always, I love you. / Your lives are holy and divine.      


 

 

At the 2024 Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) General Assembly in Pittsburgh, delegates debated a resolution entitled “Affirming Transgender, Nonbinary, Intersex and Gender Diverse People is a Fundamental Expression of UU Religious Values.”[1] The resolution passed with nearly 92% of the vote. During the debate, Rev. JeKaren Olaoya, then a member of the UUA board of trustees, came to the pro mic to speak in favor of the resolution. She was angry. People at the con mic had been questioning the validity of the resolution in a variety of ways. The debate was becoming more and more painful to transgender and nonbinary people who were present. When it was her turn to speak, she said:

“To my trans, nonbinary, intersex or gender diverse beloveds, lean in…. I love you, I love you, I love you. Please do not leave this space without feeling my love and the love of others who see you as divine. I love you, you are divine. I love you, you are holy.… I love you, you are worthy of being whoever you need to be to survive and thrive in this world. I love you.”[2] 

Rev. Lindasusan Ulrich, who lives in Connecticut and is, among other things, a wonderful songwriter, wrote “Holy and Divine” in response to Rev. Olaoya’s words. The song appears in the UUA’s new online hymnal, Sing Out Love.[3]

This Tuesday is Transgender Day of Visibility. From the GLAAD Website: “Each year on March 31, the world observes Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) to raise awareness about transgender people. It is a day to celebrate the lives and contributions of trans people, while also drawing attention to the disproportionate levels of poverty, discrimination, and violence the community faces compared to cisgender people. International TDOV was created in 2010 by trans advocate Rachel Crandall … the head of Transgender Michigan … in response to the overwhelming majority of media stories about transgender people being focused on violence. She hoped to create a day where people could celebrate the lives of transgender people, while simultaneously acknowledging that due to discrimination, not every trans person can or wants to be visible.”[4]

There are many reasons why it is important to me to lift up Transgender Day of Visibility in a Sunday service here at UUSE—and to anticipate lifting it up in some way every year around March 31st. The first reason is personal. While it’s safe to assume there have always been trans people within the Unitarian Universalist ministry, for most of our history they have been closeted. But when I was in seminary in the mid-1990s, I had peers seeking to become UU ministers who were fully out and visible as trans. This had never happened before in our denomination. The process was enormously difficult for them. They faced not only misunderstanding, but blatant discrimination. Not all of them succeeded.

I learned from them. Their clarity, courage and persistence impacted me very deeply. In relationship with trans seminarians, I started understanding that they weren’t somehow flawed, confused or mentally ill (which is, honestly, what many people thought). They were simply  human beings trying to live authentically. In the words of the 2024 UUA resolution affirming trans people, they were “a beautiful and divine manifestation of humanity.”[5] The flaw lay in society’s rigid and, I add, unholy gender binary, which puts everyone into gender boxes—male and female, pink and blue, men are assertive, women are nurturing, boys don’t cry, a good girl wouldn’t raise her voice, etc.—then sanctions and punishes those who dare to live outside the boxes in some way. I want to lift up the name of Laurie Jean Auffant, the first out trans minister to be called to a Unitarian Universalist congregation. Before that call, she served our congregation in Storrs for a few years—the same years I was serving our congregation in Norwich. Some of you may remember her. She was one of my closest colleagues in the early years of my ministry.

In 2004 I was invited to serve as an ally-member on the original board of TRUUsT, Transgender Religious Professional Unitarian Universalists Together,[6] which I did for a few years. I’m not sure how helpful I was as a board member, but I certainly continued to learn. I said it then, and I continue to say it now: the gift we all receive from transgender, nonbinary, intersex and gender diverse people is their implicit and sometimes explicit challenge to social norms and constructs that have immense power over all of us, but aren’t entirely true. It’s a falsehood to say there are only two genders. People who know in their hearts, their bones, their souls that they don’t fit within the rigid gender binary, that it is toxic to their mental and physical health to attempt to do so, and therefore find a way to live beyond it, choose to break free from it in some way, choose to play with it, have fun with it, delight in it, find joy in it—such people show the rest of us what it means to say yes to authenticity in any part of our lives regardless of social norms. They show the rest of us what it means to say yes to the still small voice within regarding any challenging questions we may face. They show the rest of us what it means to say yes to spirit however it may be unfolding within us, speaking to us, guiding us—spirit which, by its very nature, is transgressive, crosses lines, and, like the wind, blows where it chooses. I remain grateful to my transgender colleagues from those years for their persistent yes to the life that wanted to live in them. I take to heart  the words of the 2024 General Assembly resolution affirming trans people, “we proclaim that our [Unitarian Universalist] principles and values unequivocally commit our faith to honor and celebrate the full spectrum of gender identity and expression.”

The Second reason I want to lift up Transgender Day of Visibility is that transgender people are under immense pressure to get back in the box, which is putting it politely. I want to draw your attention to the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security. Lemkin is a US-based, international non-profit founded to fill gaps “in the global prevention protocols.” They began their work in Iraq ten years ago. They say “We built the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention to be responsive and flexible, transparent and judicious, nonpartisan and vocal. We believe that peoples in crisis need immediate action and direct support, even when the international community has its head in the sand.”[7] While they track and report on active genocides across the planet, they also issue red flag alerts to highlight situations that could become genocidal if left unchecked. Two weeks ago, on March 11th, they issued their third red flag alert for the transgender population in the United States.

In this most recent report, they argue that “the Republican Party’s anti-trans agenda has radicalized and continued to intensify. 2025 was the sixth consecutive record-breaking year for the number of anti-trans bills considered across the country…. Between 2021 and 2025, the number of bills in consideration has increased by 668 percent. The Administration has moved from identifying transgender people as a threat to the family and to the nation’s military prowess to claiming that transgender people constitute a cosmic threat to the spiritual health of the nation and the greatest direct threat to U.S. national security in the world. Given these ideological developments, especially coupled with the increasingly hostile and draconian legislation against trans identities, the Lemkin Institute believes that the United States is squarely within the early to middle stages of a genocidal process against trans people, the goal of which is to completely erase transgender people not only from public life but also from existence in the U.S. and globally.”[8] 

I think for most of us, including me, despite having some sense of how horrendous life is becoming for transgender people in the US, it doesn’t feel possible that we’re witnessing signs of a potential genocide. The report lays it out in great detail, describing the content of recent laws from Indiana and Kansas. I urge you to read it. I’ll also note that when I asked trans and nonbinary people at UUSE to share their reflections, people sitting here expressed fear of being too public with their identity, even in Connecticut. One person wrote: “I'm very concerned about legislation designed to dehumanize us, other us, erase us. It makes things hard for us to live our lives authentically and safely.”

And, although transgender people are facing the most immediate threats, the net is wide, and these attempts to lock in the rigid gender binary also have implications for the social, legal and political rights of gay and lesbian people. They have implications for women, which we’ve already seen in the assaults on reproductive rights and reproductive justice in the United States. They have implications for religious organizations, like us, who contend that all people have inherent dignity and worthiness, including transgender, nonbinary, intersex and gender diverse people. The implications are far-reaching.

And we will respond. The 2024 General Assembly resolution calls on all UU congregations, leaders and members to consider a variety of actions which include:  

• “Condemning all anti-transgender legislation, demanding the repeal of anti-transgender laws, and working to block additional such bills.”

 • “Partnering with local and state organizations led by transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people to advocate for their needs and interests;”

• “Supporting organizations that help people relocate or access health care including across state lines, such as the Pink Haven Coalition.” I spoke about this relocation work in February. In coalition with other congregations across the state, we are slowly building up the infrastructure to support trans people, or families with trans members, who are relocating to New England. Some of you have already signed up to join these efforts when the time comes. If you haven’t signed up, please feel free to reach out to me for more information, or visit Monica from the Social Justice Anti-Oppression Committee in the lobby following the service.

There are other actions listed in the 2024 resolution, but I want to highlight one more:

• “Participating in the Welcoming Congregation renewal program.”

We are a UUA Welcoming Congregation. We gained this status in 1999 after a period of education about how to welcome and empower gay, lesbian and bisexual people. We always included transgender in the list of initials—LGBT—but the program didn’t explore transgender identity very deeply in the 1990s. Although we’ve talked about it a lot, we’ve never sought to renew our status as a Welcoming Congregation. Until now! Our Denominational Affairs chair, Desiree Holian Borgnis, brought the idea of renewal to the Program Council last fall, and the Program Committees are committed to leading us as a congregation through the renewal process. You’ll start to notice a variety of programs and events related to this effort, like our showing of the Imara Jones Ware lecture this coming Tuesday. In addition to Transgender Day of Visibility and Transgender Day of Remembrance, we’ll find ways to lift up a variety of important LGBTQIA observances and celebrations throughout the year, like National Coming Out Day, World AIDS Day, Pulse Night of Remembrance and the Stonewall Riots Anniversary. I didn’t know this, but there’s a national Lesbian Visibility Day in April. I think we need to celebrate! A lot has changed since 1999. We have a lot to learn. I’m really looking forward to it.

There’s a lot at stake. March 31 is Trans Day of Visibility, and visibility is not easy for trans people these days. Nevertheless, I’ll leave you with words from Mike Baxter, a transgender member of our congregation. When I asked what gives him hope, he said, “The trans community is very vibrant and resilient, made of beautiful, strong people who care about their community and want to make a difference.” I couldn’t agree more. Holy and divine.

Amen and blessed be.


[2] McArdle, Elaine, “Video: After Her Viral GA Moment, Rev. JeKaren Olaoya Has More to Say About Love,” UU World, November 11, 2024. See: https://www.uuworld.org/articles/rev-jekaren-olaoya-video-general-assembly-trans-nonbinary-intersex#:~:text=When%20Rev.

[3] Learn more about Sing Out Love at https://www.singoutlove.org/.

[4] “March 31st is Trans Day of Visibility.” Learn more at https://glaad.org/tdov/. The Human Rights Campaign also shares excellent background and resources on TDOV at https://www.hrc.org/campaigns/international-transgender-day-of-visibility.

[6] Learn more about TRUUsT at https://transuu.org/about/.

[7] Learn more about the Lemkin Institute at https://www.lemkininstitute.com/about-lemkin-institute.

[8] Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security, “Red Flag Alert - Anti-Trans Genocide in the USA - #3” March 11, 2026. Read the full report at: https://www.lemkininstitute.com/red-flag-alerts/red-flag-alert---anti-trans-genocide-in-the-usa---%233.

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