Blessed are the persecuted
The PC(USA)’s Advocacy Committee for LGBTQIA+ Equity Committee urges vocal support for the dignity of trans people
"We will find you and we will kill you."
Those are the closing words of the presidential foreword to the 2026 United States Counterterrorism Strategy, released by the White House on May 6.
Several pages later, the same document identifies people described as "radically pro-transgender" as part of the nation's terrorism landscape. The federal government is now discussing support for transgender people in the language of extremism, surveillance and national threat.
To affirm the dignity of transgender people is not terrorism. To protect trans children is not extremism. To feed the hungry, shelter the vulnerable, accompany the rejected, and love our neighbors without condition is not anti-American. It is following in the way of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The church cannot afford the sin of silence. We know too well what happens when governments start naming marginalized people as threats. History has already shown us that. And transgender people are already carrying more than most people understand.
As of 2026, the ACLU is tracking close to 400 anti-LGBTQ bills across state legislatures, while the Trans Legislation Tracker reports more than 645 bills targeting transgender and gender nonconforming people specifically. These attacks seek to restrict healthcare, education, public participation, legal recognition and visibility itself.
A peer-reviewed study published in Nature Human Behaviour found that anti-transgender state laws were associated with increases of up to 72% in suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth in states where those laws were enacted. The Trevor Project found that nearly 40% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered suicide in the past year.
This kind of rhetoric is designed to make transgender people feel unsafe, unwanted, and alone, and the church must decide whether it will once again side with power, or stand beside those being targeted by it.
And to our transgender siblings:
You are not a mistake, nor a debate, nor a political talking point.
As the psalmist reminds us, God knew you fully before the world ever tried to name you. You were created with intention, dignity and sacred worth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake.That blessing rests on you.
No matter what the world says, you deserve safety. You deserve tenderness. You deserve joy, rest, community, and a future.
You are loved. You are beloved.
The Christ who was rejected by empire still stands beside the rejected now.
And no administration, no strategy document, no fear-driven theology, and no false empire can separate you from the love of God.
— Advocacy Committee for LGBTQIA+ Equity (ACQ+E)
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