Ricerca

... American Journal of Sociology role of movements, V. O. Keys The Responsible Electorate (Harvard University Press, 1966), Carmines and Stimsons Issue Evolution (Princeton University Press, 1989), John Zallers (1992) earlier work in The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion (Cambridge University Press, 1992), and Rabinowitz and McDonalds Directional Theory of Voting (American Political Science Review 83) would be better, as would Joe Gerteiss Class and the Color Line (Duke University Press, 2007) and Kent Reddings Making Race, Making Power (University of Illinois Press, 2003) in sociology. But the Real Specters Haunting Heaney and Rojas (my next wishful subheading) are Marx and Michels. The authors occasionally allude to but never openly acknowledge Western Marxisms concepts of articulation and interpellation as in their use of Marxist references like call and callings on pages 5 and 83. They too are better suited to the books theoretical claims than party ID. Also lurking in the background are They Who Must Not Be Named. Heaney and Rojass intellectual alliances prevent them (owing to issues of consistency, epistemology, and so on) from suggesting an alternative mechanism for their blockbuster nding, based in the work of Piven and Cloward and going back to classical theorists of party incorporation, especially Weber, Michels, Sombart, Sorel, Mosca, Pareto, and Ostrogorski. This alternative hypothesis would suggest that the Democrats rst inltrated (mobilization) and then coopted (demobilization) key antiwar activists and organizations into the party. (By the way, it wouldnt be the rst time.) Overall, Heaney and Rojas have done an incalculable service to our understanding of the relationship between parties and movements, but a mechanism like incorporation or interpellation is missing from what Weber would call this otherwise talented account. The Origins of Right to Work: Antilabor Democracy in Nineteenth Century Chicago. By Cedric de Leon. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2015. Pp. xi1172. $79.95 (hardcover); $24.95 (paper). William A. Mirola Marian University In light of recent battles over right-to-work legislation in states like Indiana and Wisconsin, Cedric de Leons historical analysis in The Origins of Right to Work is a timely examination of the emergence of antilabor legislation through the lens of the relationship between the American labor movement and the major political parties in 19th-century Chicago. Rightto-work laws prohibit unions from requiring union membership or the payment of union dues or other fees as a condition of employment. Such laws are not recent manifestations of American employers opposition to organized labor. The right-to-work story begins in the antebellum period, in a changing political landscape in which both Republicans (initially Whigs) 1616 Book Reviews and Democrats each tried to attract the support of the growing numbers of industrial workers for their own political ends but using rhetoric that would resonate with labors interests. De Leons work is a political narrative built on the deliberations and rhetorical framing of party leaders rather than one more typically rooted in the social class conicts or racial and ethnic divisions of the time. In doing so, de Leon emphasizes the important independent role that political parties played in the ery industrial battles over labor reform in Chicago. This represents an important addition to research in this eld, most of which frames its political rhetoric as simplistic reections of employer interests only. Politicians have their own institutional interests in entering social struggles, whether over slavery or labor reform, and de Leons analysis highlights their independence. Using the concept of political articulation as the guiding theoretical framework for his analysis, the author explores important rhetorical debates over free labor within Chicagos political parties, as reected in the Democratic Chicago Times and Republican Chicago Tribune as well as shifting voting patterns in Chicagos wards. De Leon follows the ways in which Whigs and Democrats in the Jacksonian era and later Republicans and Democrats used a changing political rhetoric to build majority coalitions of diverse interests groups that could effectively win elections in the years between 1828 and 1887. But de Leons narrative is more than just a straightforward political analysis of the period. It highlights the overlooked paradox in the evolution of the two parties relationships to labor. The language of democracy and freedom from slavery in its traditional form in the American South and the new wage slavery of industrial capitalism in the North was employed by workers to critique the emerging capitalist economic order. Democrats rhetoric attracted Chicago workers to their side in the antebellum period because it was strongly critical of wage dependency. However, once the question of the Southern system of slavery took precedence in both parties agendas, it was Republicans rhetoric of free labor that attracted Northern workers into a wartime coalition. Immediately following the war, however, as a new industrial labor movement organized around laws to reduce the hours of labor to an eight-hour day, both Republicans and Democrats built their political frames around an individualized notion of free labor and freedom of contract. This language became the foundation for both parties support for the individual rights of workers to enter into any contracts they wished, while denying them the ability to do so collectively. In other words, the freedom of contract arguments so often used by 19th-century employers to oppose any labor legislation that would interfere with business operations were also used by Republicans and Democrats who purported to maintain individual rights to freedom and democracy in the face of organized labor undermining those ideals through collective action. Consequently, the labor movement became disillusioned with and divided over the strategic use of party politics and turned to strikes, boycotts, and more radical solutions as ways to oppose wage slavery within industrial cap- 1617 American Journal of Sociology italism. Republicans and Democrats themselves played up the unreasonable and anti-free-labor demands of unions to justify the use of state action to limit the collective power of workers in unions. The narrative ends by examining how contemporary challenges to the American labor movement through right-to-work legislation are rooted in political and economic conicts in the decades immediately following the Civil War. De Leon shows how the political battles in antebellum Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio continue to shape the political outcomes of industrial conicts today. De Leon makes an important contribution by reasserting the independent role of political parties in shaping the trajectory of industrial reform and in establishing the limits of organized labors political inuence. However, there is room in de Leons analysis to explain more than just the historical emergence of antilabor democracy. Readers can see the direct link between the period de Leon ends with (1887) and our own time. However, it is important to note that each partys rhetoric evolved again, not only in ways that undermined labor. Following the upheaval around the eight-hour day movement in 1886 and the events at Chicagos Haymarket, political parties increasingly critiqued organized capital as being fundamentally antidemocratic, taking de Leons narrative full circle in some ways. If the masses of workers becoming radicalized shook the general public, providing a fear-based call to limit the collective rights of workers and to justify state action against unions of all stripes, this same call was invoked against employers. Employers were increasingly portrayed as acting in an imperious fashion in much the same way as Jacksonian Democrats and workers portrayed bankers, nanciers, and others as a paper aristocracy that threatened the American understanding that democracy could only ourish alongside economic self-sufciency. Although by the end of the century economic independence no longer was identiable in the form of independent, skilled craftsmen, that language was applied to the conditions of industrial workers who, if not ever to be self-sufcient, may participate in social and political life as citizens as a result of reforms that reduced the hours of labor, raised wages, and created systems of industrial safetyreforms opposed by employers. Political rhetoric is shaped by historical context. De Leon does an excellent job in using this point to help explain the historical foundations of todays antilabor political climate. This analysis refreshingly reorients our attention from the macroforces shaping the industrial and now postindustrial landscape to the more microlevel, examining how what groups say about these issues inuences what they will later do about them. Political parties are independent actors in these narratives but not the only actors. This work provides a more complex picture of this important period in American labor history and crafts a more complex analysis of these conicts in our own time. 1618 Copyright of American Journal of Sociology is the property of University of Chicago Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.  ...

... The item referenced in this repository content can be found by following the link on the descriptive page.  ...

... The item referenced in this repository content can be found by following the link on the descriptive page.  ...

... The item referenced in this repository content can be found by following the link on the descriptive page.  ...

... The item referenced in this repository content can be found by following the link on the descriptive page.  ...

... The item referenced in this repository content can be found by following the link on the descriptive page.  ...

... The item referenced in this repository content can be found by following the link on the descriptive page.  ...

... The item referenced in this repository content can be found by following the link on the descriptive page.  ...

... Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling Anide Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling Ministry to Transgender Teenagers (Part One): Pursuing Awareness and Understanding about Trans Youth 2018, Vol. 72(3) 195-201 () The Author(s) 2018 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1 177/1542305018790216 journals.sagepub.com/home/jpcc SAGE Arthur D. Canales Marian University, Indianapolis, USA Abstract Several significant aspects are addressed in this article to gain clarity and to pursue awareness regarding transgender teenagers. It begins by offering a brief introduction and then moves towards a common understanding of the language and landscape surrounding transgender teenagers. Next the paper centers on maligned, marginalized, and misunderstood transgender teenagers and the experiences they encounter. Hopefully, the information gleaned in this article will empower pastoral care givers to minister directly to this particular underserved sexual minority group. Keywords Transgender, teenagers, pastoral care, youth ministry Introduction Why cant you just love me the way I am? ~Countless transgender youth as a college pastoral theology professor and pastoral carer and counselor. As a pastoral theologian, I must admit that I am deeply troubled by the disrespect and lack of attention this sexual minority group receives in ministry settings. "You are the biggest disappointment of my life, and I never want to see you again! ~Countless parents of transgender youth The above quotes are sad reminders that young people need love and acceptance from adults, and that not all parents understand the intricacies and delicacies of transgender issues. This article attempts to pursue awareness about transgender teenagers and the issues they face daily. Transgendered teenagers (or trans, as used colloquially and for abbreviation purposes), are considered sexual minorties1 and unfortunately feel the sting of prejudice from family, society, and church on many levels. It is my hope that this article provides a glimmer of hope for this particular sexual and gender minority subgroup to feel more supported and appreciated. This article is concerned with the T of the LGBTQQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and queer) youth2 acronym. The T represents transgender persons, and the scope of this article is to dialogue with and address the pastoral issues surrounding transgender teenagers. I work with transgender young people through my work Transgender Traditionally, assigning someones sex was a matter of biology, a persons anatomy and chromosomes, and it typically takes place at the hospital, by the obstetrician stating: its a girl or its a boy! Psychologically and medically, transgender describes a person whose gender identity does not match their natal sex or does not align with traditional notions of masculinity or femininity (Gridley et al., 2016, p. 255). There are different considerations of gender identity: transgender; cisgender;3 and intersex.4 Transgender is an umbrella and inclusive word that covers a wide-range of expressions and experiences, but it is certainly bound by culture and context. Those who self-identify as transgender may consider themselves homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual. It is possible that some might consider themselves pansexual,5 polysexual (the sexual attraction to some, but not all multiple genders), or asexual (non-attraction to Corresponding author: Arthur D. Canales, Marian University, Indianapolis, USA. Email: acanales@marian.edu 196 any gender) (Roberts, 2016, p. 15). As one male-to-female (MtF is a person who is in the process of transitioning from male to female) student told me regarding dress and attire, Doc, I just consider myself fluid; I go with the way I feel each morning. There is a great deal of gender flux and fluidity in being transgender (e.g., movement between specific genders such as when a person moves from school to home or moves from work to the gym). Living as a transgender teenager is complicated for young people. Some trans youth tend to not experience their gender as something static, but rather as a dynamic involvement and evolvement within themselves (Brill & Kenny, 2016, p. 82). Some trans adolescents might have an array of diverse sides of their gender, and often their gender appearance swings accordingly. On the other hand, trans is used for anyone who identifies, resonates, or expresses with a gender that differs from their sex assigned at birth. Therefore, a teenager whose self-identification is transgender would include transsexuals, transvestites, drag queens/kings, and other variations in the transgender world (Leone, 2013, p. 13). Catholic pastoral theologian Arthur D. Canales notes, Young people who describe themselves as transgender are those persons who exhibit gender-non-conforming characteristics and actionsthat is, those individuals who transcend their typical gender paradigms (Canales, 2016, p. 62). That is to say, those youth who are non-binary in gender or those who are not exclusively male or female in their gender expression do not always self-identify as transgender. Non-binary gender expression is often captured by the terms non-binary, gender non-conforming, genderqueer,6 and genderfluid.7 Again, the label transgender is a broad term that covers an array of gender expressions and possibilities: from cross-dressers (an aspect of ones genuine gender identity) to people who are intersex. Most importantly, in contrast to many common assumptions, if a teenager expresses themselves as transgender, it is not always a reflection of a young persons sexual identity or orientation because gender identity and sexual/affectional orientation are two aspects of a young persons embodiment. Transgender Teenagers Transgender teenagers comprise 0.7% of the total population of adolescents (13-17 years old) in the USA (Herman, Flores, Brown, Wilson, & Conron, 2017, pp. 2-3). This means that approximately 150,000 youth in the USA selfidentify as transgender, which is a significant population and is likely to grow steadily. The period of adolescence brings struggle and a search for identity as youth look to define themselves as individuals amidst their peers, siblings, and parents. According to transgender expert and advocate Justin E. Tanis, for transgender teenagers, the period of adolescence is particularly difficult because physical Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling 72(3) changes heighten the sense of being betrayed by a body that is developing the wrong way for what the teen feels inside (Tanis, 2003, p. 34). Such feelings of betrayal may cause a low self-image in a trans young person. The road for a transgender teenager is long and arduous. The experience of being different as a trans youth is real because being trans does subvert the theoretical coherence between traditional gender expression and sex. Trans disturbs. Being a transgender teenager disrupts the conventional imagination of young people; it unhinges traditional expectations, and it sometimes prompts hatred and violence from self and others (Brill & Kenny, 2016, p. 92). Psychologist Christian Burgess notes that, Because of the internalization of negative attitudes toward gender non-conformity, transgender youth are at an increased risk for low self-esteem, which may manifest itself through depression, substance abuse, self-mutilation, and/or suicide (Burgess, 2009, p. 41). Transgender teenagers, like all adolescents, are on a journey of self-discovery, but trans youth experience even more gender identity struggles than their assumed gender peers. From a pastoral care and ministry perspective, the feelings that transgender teenagers experience regarding their own gender dysphoria (the experience of having a psychological and emotional identity as either male or female) looms large (Yarhouse, 2015, p. 19). As one colleague told me, I do not think a person chooses to experience gender dysphoria. There are a number of feelings that trans youth might experience (anger, fear, guilt, loss, shame, and worry) as a direct result of their gender identity search and struggles. Renowned evangelical Christian psychologist Mark A. Yarhouse recommends four strategies that may be beneficial for adolescents struggling with gender dysphoria: (a) teaching healthy coping and self-care strategies; (b) treating both anxiety and depression; (c) family therapy to improve the relationships that are strained; and (d) helping navigate gender identity questions (who am I?, who loves me?, why do I feel this way?) in life (Yarhouse, 2015, pp. I 10-1 I I). There are a number of issues that threaten the health and well-being of transgender teenagers as a result of their gender nonconformity: homelessness; harassment; bullying; higher rates of alcohol and drug abuse; violence; victimization; and suicide (Tanis, 2003, p. 35). The movies Boys Dont Cry (1999) and Transamerica (2005) crystalize many of the tragedies that trans youth face. Therefore, in the midst of turbulent adolescence, transgender teenagers must encounter difficulties that typical young people do not face. Maligned, Marginalized, and Misunderstood Transgender teenagers are the most maligned, misunderstood, and marginalized group of adolescent and LGBTQ 197 Canales subcultures (Greytak, Kosciw, & Boesen, 2013, pp. 52-53). While there has been some research on transgender teenagers in recent years, it is an emerging body of work there is still much needed research on young people who identify as transgender. Unfortunately, many parents, school officials, and especially Christian ministers, do not know the proper way to respond to lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents once confronted with their coming-out,8 much less to teenagers who move through the complexties of gender identity. One question that some may ask is: what is it that makes transgender teenagers misunderstood, marginalized, and maligned in the eyes of others, or even sometimes themselves? The reality is that transgender teenagers are misunderstood because transitioning from MtF or FtM (a person who is in the process of transitioning from female to male) is subversive of normative assumptions (Hornsby & Guest, 2016, p. 56). The pressure is so great to avoid feelings of unease and unwanted-ness from people in society, and any affiliated danger with being trans leads transgender teenagers to expedite their transitioning phase to complete womanhood or manhood. Transgender advocates and biblical scholars Teresa J. Hornsby and Deryn Guest note, The problem is not with [transgender]; the problem is with the limitations of cultural norms, employers, and personal relations, which compel [transgender teenagers] to comply with their needs (Hornsby & Guest, 2016, p. 58). Therefore, it is not uncommon for a trans youth to experience feelings of unwelcome-ness or hostility from school administrators, church figures, coaches, and an array of other authority figures. Psychologist Gabrielle Owen maintains that Adolescence is constructed as the moment that gendered becoming occurs... Transgender phenomena suggest a much more varied and complex range of possibilities for bodily experience and gendered subjectivity, drawing our attention to the contingency of any subjective arrival whether it be normative or trans-identified. (Owen, 2014, p. 23) Today, a teenager in US society has the potential to develop as a trans person who might reject the typical developmental sequence of adolescent maturation. Owen also notes, Trans embodiment disrupts and denaturalizes the development narrative of adolescence, revealing it for what it is - sometimes a story we have been told and sometimes a story of our own making (Owen, 2014, p. 23). For transgender teenagers, todays gender identity and sexuality are not the gender identity of the 1950s and the golly gee world of June and Ward Cleaver in the sitcom series Leave It to Beaver (1957-1963). Another problematic and dangerous arena for the transgender teenager is coming-out as trans. Coming-out may be the first dose of reality accompanied by feeling maligned and the sting of discrimination. Sometimes when a transgender teenager comes-out it is not the warm, fuzzy reception she/he anticipated (if this process works positively, it is akin to a coming home party, but for most adolescents it is not).9 Some trans youth are told that you are just confused right now or you are too young to know for sure, or it is a phase, you will grow out of it (Huegel, 2011, p. 168). Furthermore, some trans adolescents are naively (or rudely) told gender is a choice. Arguing that trans people have a choice in their sexual identity and gender is extremely contentious and foolish within the trans community. Still, even more distressing, are the horror stories that some confront in telling their parents they are transgender. One male trans student told me: When I told my parents I was trans and no longer wanted to be called Tracey, but Travis, my parents said, you will never be a male. God created you female! We do not accept you right now! This is often the sad reality of many teenagers who self-identify as transgender, a truth that smacks of transphobia and abjection. Transphobia and Abjection The word transphobia means the dislike of, or fear of, and prejudice against transgender people. French linguist and psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva coins the term abjection, in her book Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection (1982). Kristeva describes abjection as [That which] disturbs identity, system, and order. What does not respect boundaries, positions, and rules. The in-between, the ambiguous, the composite, push transgender people into the domain of the abject (Kristeva, 1982, p. 4). Transgender people seem to throw-off the traditional understanding of the two-sex, binary-gender system. Abjection refers to the unclear sense of repulsion that permeates the periphery between the self and other. Psychologist Robert Phillips states that, the term abjection literally means to cast out (Phillips, 2014, p. 20). Abjection refers to the instability of gendered ambiguous bodies - especially those occupied by transgender individuals - which historically has received negative connotations and harsh statements, all of which contribute to transphobia (Phillips, 2014, pp. 20-21). Transphobia and abjection are linked together because they both offer methodological exclusion, repression, and the silence of transgender people. Christians exhibit transphobia when they are spiteful, use intimidation, or violence, both interpersonal and systemic toward transgender people because they seem different. Likewise, Christians express genderism when they postulate that heterosexuality and cisgender are superior and are more desirable than transgender. Conservative Christians engage in abjection when they maintain the argument that to live transsexually [one] cannot live compatibly with orthodox Christianity (Hornsby & Guest, 2016, p. 36). The traditional Christian 198 argument is that female and male humans are the final products of Gods imposition of cosmic order on the primordial elements of creation (Hornsby & Guest, 2016, p. 36). Transgender folks simply see this as another form of transphobia and abjection that continually keeps trans people living on the margins of the dominate culture and their societal rules. Today, Christianity would be wise to seek a new basis for discussion and a new theology for trans people that moves away from narrow-mindedness; otherwise, trans people will continue to suffer rejection from the religious Right (Hornsby & Guest, 2016, p. 38). There is incredible cultural opposition to recognizing people with non-binary genders. Therefore, a new understanding of sex, gender, and the issues surrounding binary (male/female) will help to enhance a new theology of transgender that truly believes and maintains the principle of imago Dei.10 I use the principle of imago Dei to state that all persons are created in the image and likeness of God no matter if they are: Black or White; female or male; poor or rich; born below the equator or above the equator; homosexual or heterosexual; or transgender or cisgender. All transgender teenagers within any Christian community are to be welcomed, affirmed, valued, and cared for as people created in Gods image. Catholic moral theologian Stephen J. Pope maintains, anything that is stigmatizing and dehumanizing with regards to a persons sexuality and gender, stands in tension with its affirmation that each [homosexual or transgender] person is created in imago Dei (Pope, 2004, pp. 549-550). To not treat trans youth with equality, dignity, and respect is an act of discrimination - plain and simple. Transgender teenagers may feel abject for various reasons. Transgender teenagers feel abjection when they experience gender-based rejection. Moreover, trans youth experience both internal and external stressors for their gender and sexual minority status. According to gender diversity experts Stephanie Brill and Lisa Kenny, there are four external stressors, which cause great misery for trans youth: (a) victimization; (b) rejection; (c) discrimination; and (d) non-affirmation (Brill & Kenny, 2016, pp. 192-194). As a result of the external stressors, Brill and Kenny also maintain that there are three internal stressors: (a) negative expectations for future events; (b) internalized transphobia and personal stigma; and (c) concealment or nondisclosure of ones true gender identity (Brill & Kenny, 2016, pp. 195-199). These external and internal stressors produce a sense of abjection within trans adolescents. Marginalized Trans Youth Transphobia contributes to the marginalization of transgender teenagers. Since gender expression is so visible and obvious, transgender teenagers are often the brunt of cruel jokes and discrimination. Some trans youth face Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling 72(3) sexual harassment and gender discrimination on a daily basis (Huegel, 2011, p. 187). Due to cultural, medical, familial, social, and religious misunderstandings about transgenderism in general, transgender teenagers are particularly marginalized. Transgender adolescents are at higher risk for depression, low self-image, substance abuse, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, and suicide attempts than their non-transgender identified peers (Reicherzer, Garland-Forshee, & Patton, 2014, p. 184). These risk factors are partly the result of trans and non-binary youth being invisible to the mainline public (Brill & Kenny, 2016, p. 78). Transgender teenagers receive more stigmatization, prejudice, harassment, and violence by mainstream culture than any other sexual minority group. Almost nine in ten [90%] transgender youth have been victimized at school, including more than one-quarter that had been physically assaulted because of the [way] they express their genders (Greytak et al., 201 3, p. 46). It is important that Christian parents, pastors, and youth ministers understand that trans youth feel invisible and vulnerable. Transgender teenagers also feel inaudible when they try to express their inner feelings and thoughts to heterosexuals who have no cognitive comprehension of or insights about their internal turmoil and struggles (Higa, et al., 2014, pp. 10-1 I). Two main types of struggles that keep trans youth in the margins of adolescent culture are victimization and suicide. Victimizaton. Victimization looms large for transgender teenagers. Victimization typically correlates with three severity levels: I. verbal harassment; 2. physical harassment; and 3. physical assault. Victimization towards transgender teenagers takes place most often in high school for trans youth (McGuine, Anderson, Toomey, & Russell, 2010, p. I 176). Safety from any type of bullying or harassment is of paramount concern for transgender teenagers in school. The most common form of victimization for transgender teenagers is verbal harassment. It is estimated that approximately 70% of all transgender youth experience some type of physical assault (Greytak, et al., 201 3, p. 52). Verbal harassment includes people making fun of their difference in appearance, but there are more extreme examples. One FtM college student reported, Men keep saying to me, can turn you straight honey (Grossman & DAugelli, 2006, p. 124). It is common for transgender teenagers to experience this type of verbal harassment at their school. Unfortunately, even if LGB policies exist in a school, those policies do not always protect transgender teenagers because of their physical demeanor or dress (McGuine, et al., 2010, I 176). Schools with no support strategies or professional resources for sexual minorities usually results in a greater number of absenteeism from trans youth (Greytak, et al., 2013, p. 52). 199 Canales Finally, another type of victimization that transgender teenagers experience is rejection and isolation. The isolation that transgender teenagers experience can be deep and painful as a direct result of keeping the secret of their non-conforming gender identity from those they love (Tanis, 2003, p. 27). The negative effects of isolation put trans youth at a high risk for abuse from others and from themselves, which has the propensity to drain their inner resources from developmental tasks and forces many young people to retreat inward (Tanis, 2003, p. 33). Experiencing isolation and rejection as well as, incompetent and/or inconsistent caring from most of their parents, pastors, teachers, youth ministers, and schoolmates, has led transgender teenagers to have a high degree of feelings of unworthiness, shame, and embarrassment (Grossman & DAugelli, 2006, p. 124). Transgender teenagers who experience rejection often leads to them having feelings of social isolation: distancing themselves from their parents; doing poorly in school; dabbling with substance abuses; dropping out of school; being disowned by their parents; and sometimes suicide (Grossman & DAugelli, 2006, p. 125). Suicide. The ultimate form of victimization, rejection, and isolation which transgender teenagers experience, is suicide. Suicide is the third largest cause of death among American adolescents and emerging adults between the ages of 15 and 25 (Grossman & DAugelli, 2007, p. 527). Since transgender teenagers are so ostracized and misunderstood by the general public they are at greater risk for suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and committing suicide (Grossman & DAugelli, 2007, p. 530). A joint study in 2014, by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Williams Institute, the nations preeminent LGBTQ think-tank out of the University of California, Los Angeles, found that suicide attempts among trans males (46%) and trans females (42%) were slightly higher than the full sample (41%). Cross-dressers assigned male at birth have the lowest reported prevalence of suicide attempts among gender identity groups (21%) (Haas, Rodgers, & Herman, 2014, p. 2). Suicide attempts are higher (50%) for those who disclose to everyone that they are transgender or gender non-conforming (Haas et al., 2014, p. 3). Suicide is a real and present danger for transgender teenagers. One survey of over 900 adolescents and young adults in Alberta, Canada, reported that approximately 65% of trans young people between the ages of 14 and 25 have had suicidal ideation. Such a shocking statistic reveals the need for care and concern from church leaders and ministers (Wells, Frohard-Dourlent, Saewyc, Ferguson, & Veale, 2017, pp. 37-38). Another study for the Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center reports that 30% of transgender teenagers report a history of at least one suicide attempt, and nearly 42% report a history of self-injury, such as cutting or burning. The same study also discovered a higher frequency of suicide attempts among trans youth who are dissatisfied with their weight (Peterson, Matthews, Copps-Smith, & Conard, 2017, pp. 476477). Alarmingly, one-quarter (25%) of all transgender teenagers report suicidal ideation and have attempted suicide, and one-third (33%) have engaged in self-injurious behaviors; males are more likely to burn themselves and females more likely to cut themselves, both of which point to the specific vulnerabilities that trans youth encounter (Dickey, Reisner, & Juntunen, 2015, pp. 3-4). Familial rejection, low body esteem, and childhood abuse all play a part in a transgender teenagers feelings of estrangement and such feelings of hostility toward ones self can lead from suicidal ideation to suicide (Grossman & DAugelli, 2007, p. 532). Resiliency and selfdetermination play a crucial role in a transgender teenagers worldview of fighting against discrimination and low self-image (Reicherzer et al., 2014, p. 184). In sum, all of these areastransphobia, abjection, marginalization, victimization, and suicideare harmful to transgender teenagers. Public discourse and exposure might be the only way to increase sensitivity to and empathy for transgender teenagers. Conclusion While there is much more research going on about transgender teenagers in recent years, there still needs to be more. Unfortunately, there are way too many pastoral care providers, youth ministers, and pastors who remain ignorant about the subject or simply ignore the feelings and experiences of transgender teenagers (Huegel, 2011, p. 168). The importance of transgender teenagers for pastoral care professionals and ministers is enormous. This article has tried to further open the discussion about transgender teenagers in Christian congregations by pursuing awareness of and understanding about issues facing trans youth. Transgender teenagers are often alienated and misunderstood, but that does not mean that Christianity should be indifferent to their importance. Transgender teenagers matter. Trans lives matter because trans youth are created in the image and likeness of God; trans lives matter because trans youth are fellow sojourners on the earth; and trans lives matter because trans lives are gender minorities in a world where they still need liberation. Funding This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Notes I. I began researching and writing about sexual minorities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning 200 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. (LGBTQQ) youth and LGBTQQ issues about five years ago. It was only after my first article got published and I began speaking publicly around the country on LGBTQQ youth and young adult issues, did I discover that I was an LGBTQ-ally. This is a distinction that I proudly claim today. I will use the terms teenagers, youth, adolescents, and young people as synonymous terms whose age-range is that of middle adolescents or the typical American high school student experience ranging in age from 14-18 years. Cisgender is a term used today to distinguish from transgender and to signify that a persons psychological and emotional experience of gender identity is congruent with their biological sex (Yarhouse, 2015, p. 20). Therefore, it is not uncommon to hear someone from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community state I am a female, bi, who is cisgender or an LGBTQ-ally or advocate say, I am a male, straight, and cisgender. Intersex describes people whose physical anatomy, chromosomal, or hormonal characteristics assigned at birth do not fit neatly into the categories of either male or female but are ambiguous at birth (see Huegel, 201 I, p. 206). Pansexual is someone who experiences sexual attraction or affection to any and all genders; typically, people who selfresonate with this term reject the notion of a binary gender division between male and female and view gender as a more complex or fluid experience. Genderqueer refers to someone who has combined gender identity, gender expressions, and sexual orientation. A genderqueer person can also include elements that challenge the construction of gender, and who lives counter-culturally with regard to female/male gender binary (see Brill & Kenny, 2016, p. 310). Genderfluid is a person whose gender and/or gender experienees fluctuate and is not fixed on either female or male, but changes along a continuum, which encompasses qualities from both gender identities. The fluctuation may happen in ways that present themselves publicly in dress or appearance or in the manner in which the person identifies with personal gender; a shifting occurs (see Yarhouse, 2015, p. 20). Coming-out is a transition period; the time that one decides to disclose ones sexual orientation and/or identity (Huegel, 2011, p. 201). Coming-out is not a one-step action, it is a process. The coming-out process is a discovering of a persons authentic self and it involves honesty and introspection. The comingout process is one of self-discovery and it can be long and arduous, requiring great effort and courage for some young people; it does not come overnight (Riggle & Rostosky, 2013, p. 19). Coming-out is part of the transgender maturation process and a positive step in cultivating personal growth, gaining self-esteem, and becoming self-actualized. Coming home refers to an experience of the transgender teenagers fully embracing their identity: it is a coming home to themselves; a coming home to their family, perhaps for the very first time; and a coming home to God too. When done successfully, most transgender young people state that comingout is more akin to a coming home party. One young person noted, My coming out was more a coming home to God: You made me this way, you love me this way. I am lovable. And I will find love in my life (Graham, 2009, p. I 15). There are several resources which parents can avail themselves of to help the Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling 72(3) process of coming home and help to alleviate some of the common instinctive reactions that they might experience (see endnote no. 3 in part-two of this article). 10. The principle of imago Dei can be a slippery slope because no matter which way someone or some group interprets the principle, the other person or group can profess the opposite interpretation. In other words, someone might state quite emphatically, God made me this way, as the immensely popular internationally 201 I smash hit song by Lady Gaga proclaims, Born This Way. The opposite side will argue, No, God made girls this way and boys that way. The reality is that imago Dei is about liberation and calls for doing theology outside the dominate culture and apart from the hegemonic mainstream Christianity. Argentinian feminist liberation theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid calls for doing theology with ones panties off in order to subvert the status quo of theology (Althaus-Reid, 2001, p. 3). References Althaus-Reid, M. (2001). Indecent theology: Theological perversions in sex, gender, and politics. London, UK: Routledge. Brill, S., & Kenny, L. (2016). The transgender teen: A handbook for parents and professionals supporting transgender and non-binary teens. Jersey City, NJ: Cleis Press. Burgess, C. (2009). Internal and external stress factors associated with the identity development of transgender and gender variant youth. In G. R Mallon (Ed.), Social work practice with transgendered and gender variant youth, (pp. 39-51). London, UK: Routledge. Canales, A. D. (2016). Ministry to Catholic LGBTQ youth: A call for openness and affirmation. New Theology Review, 28(2), 60-71. Dickey, L. M., Reisner, S. L., &Juntunen, C. L. (2015). Non-suicidal self-injury in a large online sample of transgender adults. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 46( I ), 3-1 I. Graham, L. K. (2009). The role of straight allies in the pastoral care of lesbians and gays. In M A. De La Torre (Ed.), Out of the shadows into the light: Christianity and homosexuality. (pp. 104-120). St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press. Greytak, E. A., Kosciw, J. G., & Boesen, M. J. (2013). Putting the T in resource: The benefits of LGBT-related school resources for transgender Youth. Journal of LGBT Youth, 10( 1-2), 45-63. Gridley, S. J., Crouch, J. M., Evans, Y., Eng, W., Antoon, E., Lyapustina, M....... Breland, D. J. (2016). Youth and caregiver perspectives on barriers to gender-affirming health care for transgender youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 59(3), 254-261. Grossman, A. H., & DAugelli, A. R. (2006). Transgender youth: Invisible and vulnerable. Journal of Homosexuality, 51(I), I I 1-128. Grossman, A. H., & DAugelli, A. R. (2007). Transgender youth and life-threatening behaviors. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 37(5), 527-537. Haas, A. R, Rodgers, P. L., & Herman, J. L. (2014). Suicide attempts among transgender and non-conforming adults: Findings of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Los Angeles, CA: The Williams Institute and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Canales Herman, J. L., Flores, A. R., Brown, T. N. T, Wilson, B. D. M., & Conron, K. J. (2017). Age of individuals who identify as transgender in the United States. Los Angeles, CA: The Williams Institute. Higa, D., Hoppe, M. J., Lindhorst, T, Mincer, S., Beadnell, B., Diane, M., Morrison, D. M.......,Mountz, S. (2014). Negative, and positive factors associated with the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth. Youth & Society, 46(5), 1-26. Hornsby, T. J., & Guest, D. (2016). Transgender, intersex, and biblical interpretation. Atlanta, GA: SBL Press. Huegel, K. (201 I). GLBTQ: The survival guide for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning teens. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing. Kristeva, J. (1982). Powers of horror: An essay on abjection. Translated by Leon S. Roudiez. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Leone, K. (2013). The transsexual and the cross: Disproving the myth that transsexuality is a sin. Lexington, KY: K.T. Leone Create Space. McGuine, J. K., Anderson, C. R., Toomey, R. B., & Russell, S. T. (2010). School climate for transgender youth: A mixed method investigation of student experiences and school responses. Journal of Adolescence, 39(10), I 175-1 188. Owen, G. (2014). Adolescence. Transgender Studies Quarterly, 1( 1-2), 22-24. Peterson, C. M., Matthews, A., Copps-Smith, E., & Conard, L. A. (2017). Suicidality, self-harm, and body dissatisfaction in transgender adolescents and emerging adults with gender dysphoria. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 47(4), 475-482. Phillips, R. (2014). Abjection. Transgender Studies Quarterly, 1( 1-2), 19-21. Pope, S. J. (2004). The magisteriums arguments against same sex marriage: An ethical analysis and critique. Theological Studies, 65(3), 530-565. 201 Reicherzer, S., Garland-Forshee, A. S., & Patton, J. (2014). Counseling in the periphery of queer discourse: Transgender children, adolescents, women, and men. In . M. Koset (Ed.), Counseling gay men, adolescents, and boys: A strength-based guide for helping professionals and educators, (pp. 178-193). New York, NY: Routledge. Riggle, E. D. B., & Rostosky, S. S. (2013). A positive view of LGBTQ: Embracing identity and cultivating well-being. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Roberts, V. (2016). Transgender. Auckland, New Zealand: The Good Book Company. Tanis, J. E. (2003). Trans-gendered: Theology, ministry, and communities of faith. Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press. Wells, K., Frohard-Dourlent, H., Saewyc, E., Ferguson, M., & Veale, J. (2017). Being safe, being me in Alberta: Results of the Canadian trans youth health survey. A Study of the School of Nursing, The University of British Columbia. Retrieved from https://saravyc.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/20l7/IO/ SARAVYC_Trans-Youth-Health-Report_Alberta-V2-WEB.pdf Yarhouse, M. A. (2015). Understanding gender dysphoria: Navigating transgender issues in a changing culture. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic. Arthur D. Canales is considered one of the foremost Catholic adolescent ministry scholars and educators in the United States. He has presented over 20 keynote speeches and over 100 workshops, seminars, and academic papers in over 35 dioceses around the country and abroad. He has written 3 books including Models & Methods for Youth & Young Adult Ministry (2018, Cascade). He is currently writing a book on Pastoral Care to and Ministry with LGBTQ Youth & Young Adults (forthcoming). License and Permissible Use Notice These materials are provided to you by the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) in accordance with the terms of ATLA's agreements with the copyright holder or authorized distributor of the materials, as applicable. In some cases, ATLA may be the copyright holder of these materials. You may download, print, and share these materials for your individual use as may be permitted by the applicable agreements among the copyright holder, distributors, licensors, licensees, and users of these materials (including, for example, any agreements entered into by the institution or other organization from which you obtained these materials) and in accordance with the fair use principles of United States and international copyright and other applicable laws. You may not, for example, copy or email these materials to multiple web sites or publicly post, distribute for commercial purposes, modify, or create derivative works of these materials without the copyright holder's express prior written permission. Please contact the copyright holder if you would like to request permission to use these materials, or any part of these materials, in any manner or for any use not permitted by the agreements described above or the fair use provisions of United States and international copyright and other applicable laws. For information regarding the identity of the copyright holder, refer to the copyright information in these materials, if available, or contact ATLA at products@atla.com. Except as otherwise specified, Copyright 2016 American Theological Library Association.  ...