Cathedral of Hope will celebrate its 56th anniversary this year. Fifty-six years of radical inclusion, relentless compassion and extravagant grace.
At Cathedral of Hope, we know what it means to be named a threat simply because we exist openly, honestly and unapologetically in the image of God.
In May 2026, the White House released a Counterterrorism Strategy that designated “violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-transgender and anarchist” as a top national security threat, alongside drug cartels and Islamist terrorists.
That language describing “radically pro-transgender” people and communities as a national security concern cannot go unanswered. It is morally wrong. It is spiritually dangerous. And it demands a faithful response from those of us who claim the Gospel of Jesus Christ as our guide.
Let us be clear: transgender people are not a threat to this nation. They are beloved children of God.
What is dangerous is the deliberate use of fear to isolate vulnerable people and to convince society that certain neighbors are less worthy of dignity, protection and belonging. We have seen this pattern before. History teaches us that when governments and institutions begin framing already marginalized communities as dangerous, exclusion and violence are never far behind.
Black communities have endured it. Immigrants have endured it. Jewish communities, Muslims, queer people and countless others have endured it. Fear becomes a political strategy. Suspicion becomes normalized. Humanity becomes negotiable.
And the Church must decide whether it will remain silent while this happens.
At Cathedral of Hope, silence is not an option.
Our faith compels us to tell the truth even when the truth is inconvenient or unpopular. Jesus did not build ministry around scapegoating vulnerable people. Jesus built community among those society rejected. Again and again, Christ crossed the lines fear had drawn and called people back to compassion, justice, mercy and beloved community.
The Gospel does not teach us to fear transgender people. The Gospel teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves.
When language from positions of power labels transgender advocacy or existence as extremism, it does more than distort reality. It creates moral permission for discrimination, surveillance, exclusion, harassment and harm. Words matter because words shape culture. And culture shapes policy. Eventually, policy shapes whether people live safely, openly and freely.
As people of faith, we cannot pretend this rhetoric exists in a vacuum.
At Cathedral of Hope, we know transgender and gender-diverse people not as political abstractions, but as members of our family. They sing in our choirs. They serve at our altars.
They teach our children. They lead ministries. They comfort the grieving. They organize justice work. They embody resilience and courage in a world too often determined to erase them.
Their lives are sacred.
“And what does God require of us?” The prophet Micah reminds us what God requires: “to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” Justice is not passive. Mercy is not performative. Humility does not mean neutrality in the face of harm.
This moment requires more than statements. It requires courage.
So this is our call to action.
We call upon the people of Cathedral of Hope and all people of conscience to resist narratives rooted in fear and dehumanization. We call upon faith leaders to preach clearly and courageously about the sacred worth of every human being. We call upon communities to protect vulnerable neighbors, advocate for policies rooted in dignity and equity, and refuse to allow fear to become the organizing principle of public life.
And we call upon our congregation not merely to agree privately, but to stand publicly.
Show up. Speak up. Vote. Advocate. Give. Organize. Protect one another.
Because the Church is at its best not when it protects its own comfort, but when it risks itself for the sake of love.
At Cathedral of Hope, we will continue building a community where belonging is holy, where justice is lived, and where no one is abandoned to the politics of fear.
That is our witness.
That is our calling.
And by the grace of God, that is who we will continue to be.