c/o Galileo Church
6563 Teague Rd.
Fort Worth, Texas 76140
March 14, 2022

To Governor Abbott:

We write to express our deep and growing dismay about the persecution of trans and gender-diverse children, their families, and their healthcare providers under your leadership.

“Persecution” is a strong word, we know. It has long been used to describe the marginalization, bullying, and violence toward a religious minority by the majority powers that be, often as a cynical attempt to rally support for those in power by “othering” a group with few defenses.

Your order that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services investigate parents and caregivers who provide gender-affirming medical and mental health care to trans and gender-diverse children is persecution. As religious leaders in our Texas communities, we affirm that many of the families caught in the DFPS net are deeply committed to their religious faith. It is because of their faith that they affirm their children’s beautiful diversity, believing that every human being is created in God’s image and deserving of dignity – including the dignity of being believed when they tell us who they are.

Because of our religious faith, the congregations we lead are doing everything we can to protect and support these families – both those who attend our congregations and those who do not. We cannot stand by and watch the needless suffering of any of God’s children. We urge you to reverse your order to DFPS, and to lead your party to relinquish their fear-mongering obsession with trans and gender-diverse people. It’s not helping Texas or Texans, and it’s displeasing to the God we serve.

grace and peace,

the pastors of the Inclusive Faith Coalition of Arlington and surrounding communities:

Cantor Sheri Allen
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Fort Worth		 Rev. Allison Liles
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
Hurst
Rev. Ken Ehrke
Embrace United Church of Christ
Richland Hills		 Rev. Kate McGee
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Arlington
Rev. Dr. Katie Hays
Galileo Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Mansfield/Fort Worth		 Rev. Jeremy Pope
hospice chaplain
Fort Worth
Rev. Kevin Johnson
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
Arlington		 Rev. Jeremy Skaggs
Welcome Table Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
Arlington