By Jonathan Brower

In 1950, Jim MacGregor was a youth attending Zion-Memorial United Church in Smith Falls, Ontario. Wide-eyed, optimistic and ever aware of a difference in his understanding of sexuality, Jim sought a word to describe how he felt and stumbled upon a negative one: “sissy”.  In a community where Biblical literalism was preached on Sunday, but during the week piety seemed an afterthought, that word and the feelings associated with it were not something to be discussed.

Jim left Zion to attend University in1959 and did not attend church for the next 35 years. Continue reading →

By Ruth Bramham,

At the end of October 2014, Affirm Council member Ruth Bramhan attended a multi-faith transgender conference at the Centre for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. Below are her reflections on the weekend:

On Thursday afternoon, October 30th, we all gathered for the opening reception and welcome. For some of us it was like old home week, meeting Continue reading →