U-Turn: a UU transman ponders sex, spirituality, and the power of stories

Today’s topic was sparked by some pictures of me that a friend recently emailed, from an event we’d both attended. She had kindly withheld them from the rest of the set that she was posting on Facebook, lest I be uncomfortable with them. You see, I’ve long had a hate-hate relationship with cameras. I hated them, and they hated me. In fact, it was more than hatred, on my side. It was an inexplicable, explosive, knee-jerk reaction whenever someone brought out a camera and pointed it specifically at me. I have joked about it, grumbled about it, and pissed people off with it - and I never could figure out the WHY of it. I am generally a pretty rational and easygoing person, but stick a camera in my face and you’d see another side of me entirely. It just set something off inside; I’ve been rude to friends, left the room, left the building, acted like a sulky teenager... if it was guaranteed to offend, I’ve probably done it in the wake of a camera. Now, just to further confuse the s...

Hi, my name is Phoenix, and I’m a Unitarian-Universalist. (Sounds like the opening of a group therapy session, doesn’t it?) I’m also a musician and entertainer, a teacher, a writer, and a nontraditional Pagan... and I have recently come out as a Transgender individual. For those who don’t know me, I’ll tell you my tale. My church home is a small UU congregation in balmy southern New England, where I’ve been getting gradually more and more deeply involved since around 2010. I’m a choir member, a committee chair, a contributor of lay services and special music, and these days I find myself involved in wrestling with some of the long-term challenges of helping our congregation move forward after a long period of focus on survival and maintenance. And just when my community thought they knew me well - well enough to have elected me to the small and select Search committee that helped choose our new minister - I threw them the curve ball of all curve balls: I told them that I’m not re...