Have you read the article in last week’s UU World magazine titled “After L, G, and B,” in print or online?

Have you also read the follow-up article, titled “Our Story Hurt People”? (https://www.uuworld.org/articles/apology-spring-2019)

Unless you’ve read the follow-up, you’ve only read part of the story. The original article has prompted strong negative reactions to the ideas presented and the language used as well as to the overall approach of the author.

The original article appears to be “informative,” but it contains a great deal of misinformation. As UU religious professional CB Beal wrote in her response (see below), “This article contains inaccurate definitions, errors of language, even slurs.” And, as the Transforming Hearts Collective noted (see below), “the article’s author modeled asking trans people harmful and violent questions.”

These are some of the responses that I found to be most informative about the issues and concerns involved:

“Centering the Marginalized: symphony and triptych” by CB Beal (https://medium.com/@jpc_cb/centering-the-marginalized-symphony-and-triptych-9dabc93cd461)

“What It Takes to De-Center Privilege: The Failure of this Week’s UU World Article” by Alex Kapitan (https://rootsgrowthetree.com/2019/03/06/what-it-takes-to-de-center-privilege/)

“Tips for Talking About the UU World Article,” by the Transforming Hearts Collective (https://www.transformingheartscollective.org/stories/2019/3/8/tips-for-talking-about-the-uu-world-article)

“Putting the “T” First: Public Statement on This Week’s UU World Article,” by TRUUsT (Transgender Religious professional Unitarian Universalists Together) (https://transuu.org/2019/03/06/putting-the-t-first/)

Let’s never let “what we think we know” get in the way of what we can learn.

In faith and hope,

Connie