Lisa Salazar's Posts

In March 2014, during my second term at Vancouver School of Theology, I wrote a long email to Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, whose book  Omnigender  had recently come to my attention. I had entered theological studies unexpectedly. Only a year earlier, while struggling with severe underemployment after nearly four decades as a graphic designer, a friend had asked me a deceptively simple question: “If money were no object, what work would you most want to do?” The answer that came to me seemed so presumptuous that I was almost embarrassed to say it aloud: I wanted to become a chaplain to the transgender community. By the time I wrote to Virginia, one closed door had given way to another that seemed to open impossibly wide. I was back in school after forty-two years, studying theology and preparing for clinical pastoral education. At the same time, I was trying to find language for theological insights that had first emerged during the private and often painful spiritual journey sur...

Ideological and Theological Battlegrounds Are Claiming Lives
 A Reflection on the Fear Beneath the Culture War Against LGBTQ People
 By Lisa Salazar, MAPPL, SHP **** One of the things that troubles me in conversations about gender identity, same-sex relationships, and scripture is the assumption that we can lift words, prohibitions, and social structures from 2,000 or 3,000 years ago and apply them directly to modern life as though nothing has changed. To me, that overlooks just how profoundly different their world was from ours. At best, it is careless history. At worst, it is cultural and intellectual arrogance. We are not living in the same intellectual, scientific, social, medical, or cultural universe as Paul, the writers of Leviticus, or the audiences who first heard these texts read aloud. The ancient world had no framework for human sexuality, orientation, genetics, hormones, fetal development, psychology, neurology, gender dysphoria, or intersex variations as we understand the...

As Pride Month comes around again, I am reminded about how dismissive I was for so many years because it made me uncomfortable. I think it had to do with how I saw gender-diverse people were treated, which I internalized. It all had to do with my own insecurities. Long before “transgender” became part of everyday language, society had already turned people like us into entertainment. Jerry Springer once claimed that some of the highest-rated episodes his show ever aired featured transsexuals, drag queens, cross-dressers, whatever  terminology was being used at the time. People watched by the millions, apparently. But those shows rarely treated trans people with dignity. The audience was expected and encouraged to react to the spectacle, not listen to the human story underneath it. Behind the makeup and sensationalism were often stories that went unheard. That’s part of the irony I can’t stop thinking about now when I hear people complain that trans identities are being “shoved down...

  Why some questions aren’t meant to explore, but to convince. A message amplified as honest questions, with a conclusion already decided. (Image: AI-generated) A Familiar Shape Lately, I’ve been paying attention to a cluster of posts circulating on Facebook from my community here in Vancouver. They come from people who present themselves as defenders of free speech, asking questions others are supposedly afraid to ask. On the surface, that sounds reasonable. In a healthy society, we should be able to question ideas and examine evidence. But when you step back and look at the pattern over time, something else emerges. The posts tend to follow a consistent arc. A study is shared, often framed as groundbreaking or suppressed. A conclusion is implied, sometimes stated outright, that transgender people, especially trans women, are deceptive, dangerous, or mentally disordered. Supporting ideas are then layered in, including references to “autogynephilia,” claims about children being “gr...

At a dramatic press conference, the new Secretary promises to defend civilization by making sure everyone knows exactly who they are allowed to be. Secretary Avery Strait addresses reporters at the inaugural press conference of the Department of Individual Purity.

…And Why It is Important to Use Your Voice I have noticed a rhetorical pattern that often appears in media coverage of controversial or sensitive issues. 

Image: Spatted Screenshot of National Post story My honest read of the recent  National Post  article by Sharon Kirkey on  Dr. Karine Khatchadourian  is that it presents a discussion within medicine about improving care, but the framing—beginning with the headline—makes it sound as though the entire field is collapsing.

Introduction “What one remarkably civilized online discussion revealed about gender dysphoria, language, and the slow growth of understanding.” I follow an intersex woman on Facebook named Jackie Green. She regularly posts short educational videos about sex, gender, and biology, usually in a calm and accessible way. In one recent video, she responded to a charge often aimed at both intersex and transgender people, that they are “mentally ill.” In less than two minutes, Jackie explained something that still seems to get lost in many public arguments. Being transgender is not classified as a mental illness. What medicine recognizes is gender dysphoria, the distress that can arise when a person’s body and gender identity are experienced as being at odds. The purpose of care is not to erase identity, but to alleviate distress. Her explanation brought to mind a public exchange I had nearly fifteen years ago with Michael Brown, when I tried to make a similar point in a very different cli...

  Public debates rarely end with one person convincing the other that they are wrong. Minds seldom change that way. Yet conversations like these can still matter deeply, often for reasons that are not obvious at first. They are rarely only between two people. They unfold in front of an audience. Nearly fifteen years ago I found myself in a lengthy public exchange with Dr. Michael Brown, a well-known evangelical author and speaker. The discussion took place online in the comment section of a Facebook page connected with his ministry. What began as a direct conversation between two individuals gradually became something larger.

  Beyond the Calendar: Living the Way of Jesus Every Day As the seasons of the Christian calendar unfold, many believers enter times of reflection marked by familiar rhythms. Advent invites people into anticipation and hope. Lent calls for reflection, repentance, and simplicity. Holy Week leads worshippers through the remembrance of the Last Supper, the crucifixion, and the celebration of resurrection on Easter morning. For many Christians, these seasons provide meaningful opportunities to pause, remember, and reconnect with the story of Jesus. Of course, modern culture has added its own layer to these sacred seasons. Store shelves fill with chocolate eggs, pastel bunnies, decorations, and cheerful marketing campaigns. What began as invitations to reflection and renewal now often arrive wrapped in foil and cellophane. It is a curious transformation. For countless people, however, the rituals themselves still carry deep meaning. The liturgical calendar offers a rhythm that gen...