In a letter penned to his church community, Bishop Michael F. Burbridge of Arlington made heinous statements about trans folks and even trans children, where he stated that “no one is transgender.” Not only is this statement harmful to the hundreds of thousands of trans people that live in this country, many of whom live here in Arlington, but it is categorically false. Bishop Burbridge preaches Jesus’s teachings of love and acceptance of one another and our neighbors, yet fails to extend the simple acknowledgement of humanity and existence to our trans brothers, sisters, and siblings.

This is a growing theme amongst the more conservative members of our society and in a lot of cases, has led to acts of violence being carried out against trans folks due to misunderstanding and demonization by statements like this. If the Diocese of Arlington wants to continue to preach peace, love, and equality to all of God’s children, then we ask them to practice those teachings as well.

We here at the Arlington Young Democrats want to continue to create a welcoming community in our county for our trans friends and all those who want to live here no matter what they may identify as. We ask Bishop Michael F. Burbridge to search within himself to find that same level of acceptance and we ask that members of the Diocese of Arlington to not subscribe to the same level of condemnation of their neighbors, but instead make space and open doors for our trans community in Arlington County.

To the trans people living here in Arlington County and in the United States and to the LGTBQ+ population at large: We see you. We hear you. We accept you and we will continue to push all of our community to do the same. As allies, we will continue to do the work to make an Arlington that accepts all.

Arlington Young Democrats

1235 S Clark St #207,

Arlington, VA 22202

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