Unitarian Universalists (UUs) have proclaimed that embracing transgender, nonbinary, intersex and gender diverse people is a fundamental expression of UU religious values. In 2024, the UUA’s General Assembly passed a resolution – which is the primary mechanism by which UUs express our religious values – that asserts that “being transgender or identifying with any gender other than the one assigned at birth, is a beautiful and divine manifestation of humanity; as is being intersex, or having sex characteristics that vary from what is considered typical.” UUs believe that the ability to live ever-more authentically as one’s true self is central to a lifelong journey towards spiritual fulfillment and that our covenant as a faith inescapably binds us to affirm and protect our transgender and intersex members and kindred, in faith and in practice.

Remembrance Day, Nov. 20

In November 1998, Rita Hester was murdered for being transgender. Her murder has yet to be solved. A year later in the city of San Francisco, a candlelight vigil marked Rita’s death and others who had died for simply being or being seen as transgender.

Unitarian Universalist communities are invited to honor Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), a day born from trans communities themselves, created to mourn and remember those whose lives were taken by anti-trans violence. UUA holds an online Transgender Day Of Remembrance service on November 20 each year. This service is for trans people, by trans people — a sacred space for remembrance, grief, and connection in shared community.