Book review: “TransLucent” by Katherine
TransLucent: How I put off my natural man and discovered a spiritual woman, by Katherine
“As a transgender woman who is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Katherine provides an honest, heartfelt, and often heart-wrenching viewpoint on the challenges a transgender member experiences in the Church as she tries to stay true to her covenants and to herself. It is a book about faith, and hope, and Kindness” (from the Amazon description).
We’re pleased to see more voices coming forward, as more and more queer folks tell their stories in print. Katherine adds to the body of queer memoirs with her book TransLucent, in which she recounts always knowing that she was a girl, and taking steps to actualize that reality in midlife after fathering several children.
Katherine tells her story with courage, tremendous grace for others, and without a shred of self-pity:
“You didn’t get to live your full life. You had to live at times a reduced life. But it was still your life, and it wasn’t all bad.” She felt called to bear her testimony in various Utah wards, calling it her TransMission, being led by the Spirit week to week. In some wards she was literally barred from entering the chapel. Katherine reports, “I was not welcome, so I went home. But not before talking to a woman outside on the steps who had witnessed the spectacle. She had a trans niece take her life 18 months earlier. I found who I needed to find.”
I have heard the following rationale before, blaming LGBTQ folks for their own exclusion. But Katherine answers it brilliantly:
“Is it less energy to keep the sheep in the fold than it is to have to go out and find the lost lamb? . . . or do we shrug that they are LGBT, and our hands are tied? They are self-selecting themselves out of our Zion, right? They don’t belong here. We’re better off without their immoral influence. . . . [But] are we always so focused only on administering the things that will drive them out?”
This isn’t God’s way: “black and white, bond and free, male and female, (queer and straight): all are alike unto God” (2 Nephi 26:33). Even if one held to the premise that being queer is problematic instead of a beautiful variation of God’s creations, Katherine continued: “We don’t condone out-of-wedlock pregnancy, but don’t we come together to help the young mother with her baby? Or are we afraid we might condone her actions by supporting her?”
Here’s the clincher:
“Being gay isn’t the trial. Being a woman isn’t the trial. It is this: given those situations, will we still have faith, hope, and charity? Will we desire to be more like our Savior? Will we keep His commandments?”
I’m still pondering that message of beauty and clarity.
-Marci