Muteable and Changeable

In sharing their personal experience as a nonbinary trans individual with autism, they emphasized the distinction between gender identity and biological sex. They discussed the freedom to choose one's transition path and highlighted the beauty of transcending one's body, noting the commonality among all trans individuals. They encouraged a flexible view of gender and sex, promoting the idea that these concepts are mutable and changeable.

This episode was made possible thanks to our partnership with the Missing Voices Project. Based out of Flagler College, the Missing Voices Project believes that amplifying the voices of young people and their adult allies who live and serve in ministry at the intersections of disability, foster care & trauma, gender & sexuality, and racial reconciliation is necessary and holy work. We are grateful to Missing Voices Project for their support and for the bravery of these campers as they share about life at the intersection of queerness and disability. For more information about the Missing Voices Project, please visit www.missingvoices.org

Find out more about us by visiting our website, kindomcommunity.org. There you can find information about kin•dom camp and consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram @kindomcommunity to keep up with all the important information.

Transcript

music  0:00  

[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "Oh let's build, let's build a place we can go”]

Narrator  0:09  

Thank you for tuning into kin•dom campfire chats, a podcast of kin•dom community. This podcast features the voices of LGBTQIA+ persons, both youth participants and adult staff, who attended kin•dom camp in Texas in the summer of 2024. We asked the camp participants to think of a question that they wished someone would ask them about their life journey. With a friend, and in their own words, the campers tell their stories of struggle, love, support, and a community found. We invite you to listen with an open mind and an open heart.  

music  0:49  

[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "This is the place”]

Narrator  0:56  

This episode was made possible thanks to our partnership with the Missing Voices Project who believes that amplifying the voices of young people and their adult allies who live and serve in ministry at the intersections of disability, foster care & trauma, gender & sexuality, and racial reconciliation is necessary and holy work. We are grateful for the bravery of these campers as they share about life at the intersection of queerness and disability.

speaker 1  1:27  

What is it like being trans and neurodivergent?

speaker 2  1:30  

So my experience as a trans, neurodivergent person. For me, I'm nonbinary, and I have autism spectrum disorder, and for me, that means a lot of things regarding gender, regarding my own gender, it means that I don't really see my biology as a part of the equation. I just see my heart, my soul, and my mind as the parts of the equation that make up my gender. And what it means for the world around me and how I view other transgender people. Things like assigned gender at birth, that's something I don't believe in, and biological sex, I don't believe that's something that you're born with, I believe that's something that you can change with things like hormones or surgery. And I think it's so beautiful that no matter where you are in your transition journey, you and every trans person have one thing in common, and have one thing different. And I think that's such an important thing.

speaker 1  2:34  

That's really amazing, like that, transcending like the body and getting to like that kind of, like spiritual, metaphysical aspect of being trans, like that's honestly, so beautiful. And I really I love that for you.

speaker 2  2:47  

I think one of the most beautiful ways that transgender or transsexual people can transcend their own bodies is either by going on HRT, if that's what they feel is right for them, or not going on HRT, if that's what they feel is right for them. And changing your sex and changing your biology is such a beautiful spiritual experience.

speaker 1  3:10  

Yeah, I think it's really awesome to just like, know that, like, one day, like, I can be in the body that I always wanted to be in, and I've always felt like I should be in. Like there's a part of me that's like, boy, and there's the body part of me that's like, girl, and one day they will match, and that's really beautiful.

speaker 2  3:29  

And a lot of cis people have this rhetoric that gender is something that you may be able to choose, but sex is immutable and just what you were born with, and you can't do anything about it, but you can do anything about it. Being trans is doing something about it. Choosing who you are is doing something about it. Sex and gender are both as mutable and changeable as Play-Doh or putty. You are allowed to play with your gender, and you're allowed to play with your sex, even, even for cisgender people.

speaker 1  3:58  

Yeah.

music  3:58  

[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "Oh let's build”]

Baylee  4:08  

Hi y'all, it's Baylee. I'm the Creative Director of kin•dom community. I’d like to talk a little bit more about kin•dom camp and how you can get involved. kin•dom camp is an opportunity for LGBTQIA+ youth ages 12 to 17 to feel safe and free to show up as their full selves. Campers will have the chance to experience traditional camp activities and recreation, plus some specialized programming to incorporate LGBTQIA+ history and culture. More information can be found on our website kindomcommunity.org/camp. If you have any questions you can't find the answers to, you can email us at kindomcamp@gmail.com. Special thanks again to the Missing Voices Project for their support of this episode. You can learn more about their important work at missingvoices.org. Thanks for listening to kin•dom campfire chats. We are proud to be a safe space for these campers, and we are even more proud of them for sharing their stories. We hope you'll keep gathering around the campfire with us as we celebrate all of the stories that make us this kin•dom community.