I Love You. We Love You.

Butterfly in trans flag colors (blues and pinks) surrounded by the words "I love you. You are Holy. I love you. You are Divine."
Artwork by Rev. JeKaren Bell

“To my trans non-binary intersex or gender diverse beloveds: lean in. Lean In. I love you. I love you. I love you. Please do not leave the 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 know who you are. I love you. You are worthy of being whoever you need to be to survive and thrive in this world. I love you and I will say it for 50 seconds if I need to. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. Love you. I love you. Do not leave the space without knowing that you are loved. if you Need a reminder, call me, email me, text me. what we will Not do in this space is let you go another moment, believing anything other than the fact that you are loved.”- Rev. JeKaren Bell (GA 2024)

CLF and the Daily Compass hold our transgender siblings in love. We love you. You are worthy, you are holy, you are divine.

Make sure someone knows you love them today.

Lamplighters

“In honor of the risk takers, those that hold the vision with clarity and charge forward with optimism even in the face of others doubts. You are our lamp lighters and our guides; may we never forget the courage it takes to lead the way forward.” -Amanda Schuber

Who is a lamplighter or a guide whose courage you would like to honor?

Moral Leadership

Photo by AFP

People show moral leadership in many ways. I have long admired Dolly Parton for her music, her connection to the people where she grew up, and her quiet moral leadership expressed simply as “God loves everybody.” When she was asked to write a song for the movie Transamerica, she decided she could not do so until she understood the struggles and journeys of transgender people–so she set out to do that. Her song, “Travelin’ Thru” is deeply compassionate and humanizing, in a world that so often denies our transgender siblings either. -Michael Tino (CLF)

What are unusual examples of moral leadership that you have experienced?

So What?

Years ago, when I defended my doctoral dissertation, the very first question my committee asked me was, “So what?” After an hour-long talk and 200-plus pages of writing, they insisted I be able to tell them what difference my research made. I will never forget that moment of challenge and clarity, and I often come back to it to measure the work I do now. What difference does it make? How would I answer that question today? -Michael Tino (CLF)

Tell us about a “so what” moment in your life, when you realized what difference you were making.