Lisa Salazar

Nine years ago I began my social and medical transition after decades of struggle to reconcile my Evangelical faith to who I was discovering myself to be. You need to understand that I was almost 40 years old by the time I first came across the term "transgender," in about 1988.

It was in the early 70's, during the Jesus People movement that I "came to faith." Secretly, though, my hope and motive for embracing the Christian faith was my sincere belief that this confusion I lived with would one day disappear. I just needed to be faithful and, you know, do all the things we are taught to do; like pray without ceasing, memorize scripture to retrain my mind, die to myself daily, put to death the works of the flesh, renounce Satan, and the list goes on.

From the academic research I have done as part of my MA in public and pastoral leadership, two central truths emerged for me. 1) Transition is a spiritual experience that transforms a person — much like a near-death e…

A personal Meaning for the word transgender Published by ConversationsThatMatter.tv and VancouverSun.com  Saturday, July 21, 2017

(CLICK IMAGE TO WATCH INTERVIEW)
“This week’s Conversation That Matters features Lisa Salazar, who helps us to understand the transgender spectrum. “What does it mean to be transgender?“The term is relatively new. It is also widely misunderstood. Many people believe trans or transgender is about sexual orientation rather than gender identity.

“After decades of fighting the voices in her head, Lisa took on the long and challenging transition from her life as a man to the one she knew was her true self.

“Lisa takes us on her journey and at the same time provides insight into the lives of transgender people.

“Her life story and the recent enactment of Bill C-16, which ensures that transgender people are guaranteed the same human rights as those who identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, lead to this week’s conversation.

“Conversations That Matter is…

A reflection on the story of the Apostle Philip’s encounter with the Samaritans and the Ethiopian Eunuch. (Acts 8)
Transcribed and edited from September 25, 2016, Crescent United Church, Surrey, BC. This church is going through the process of becoming certified as an Affirming Ministry. In order to become an Affirming Ministry, a congregation (or presbytery, conference, educational institution, outreach ministry, chaplaincy, retreat centre, camp) must go through an educational/discernment process that reflects on what it means to be inclusive and evaluates your ministry’s openness to the ongoing work of being intentional about how it includes others within the life and work of your ministry. More information here. 
I have been reflecting on the passages that we read from Isaiah (see 53:5-7) and the Book of Acts (see Ch. 8) for about ten years; and the more I think about them, the more excited I become about what is in those passages; nuances and insights. I began this process of refle…

Hundreds gathered at the Peace Arch Border Crossing Sunday afternoon, January 12, 2017 to express concern and opposition for recent American immigration policies and attitudes impacting immigrants and refugees. This peaceful demonstration had originally been planned for January 5th but had to be postponed due to poor weather conditions.

I was invited to say a few words; this was my text:

I am an immigrant, first to the United States, and later to Canada. I am Hispanic, I am Latina… I am white skinned. I am a citizen of Colombia by birth—and a citizen of Canada by choice. I am a transgender woman. I am a lesbian

Like every single person who has ever lived, I had no choice in which country I'd be born in; Nor into which religious tradition. I did not get to choose my parents, I had no choice over my mother tongue. I had no choice when it came to the color of my skin. I did not choose my sexual orientation And I did not choose to be transgender.

Of all these things I have listed, only …