The Peacock 1574

He spoke clearly and eloquently about his experiences in Colombia, of how on two occasions within one hour in Bogotá, he was riding with his friend in his car, and on both occasions at separate intersections while stopping for a red light, a young man carrying his small child in his arms came to the car window begging. That was a moment of transformation in this man's life. He was concerned about the coldness and the apathy and indifference that Anglicans are notorious for, of how we steadfastly ignore the Gospel. I couldn't say anything to defend the institution that employs me. Somehow we got on to the topic of my transition from male to female. This man has a rare talent for bringing confessions out in people. Then I said something to him that had been festering somewhere in some basement closet in my mind. I said, you know, if we weren't so hung up on gender, if people were simply allowed to be who they are, no matter what their boy bits or girl bits, if masculine and feminine simply no longer mattered in how we know others or in how we understand ourselves, then maybe, just maybe, neither I nor many others would have felt the pressure to change our gender...