Prayer of Confession for Transgender Day of Remembrance

by AnnMarie Kneebone and Regina Shands Stoltzfus

Divine Beloved
You are spirit
You are truth

We are made
of flesh
of bone
of blood
and of spirit

We are created in your image
We reflect your brilliant and beautiful diversity

That brilliant and beautiful diversity is
hated and violated
tortured and killed
because it does not fit
the gender mold of the masses

When we live across gender
we are hated
abused
and killed

Today we remember our siblings
their flesh
their bones
their blood
and their spirits

Today we ask forgiveness
for our complicity with this violence through
silence
nervous laughter
thoughtless disregard
or baseless fear
of our siblings who beautifully defy
society's binary gender construction

Forgive us
Awaken us
Remind us
Transform us