"It's an honor to be trans" - Andy is a queer Quaker

Andy Thornton (they / he, age 23, England) is an autistic artist and scholar, excitingly gendered, and passionate about expanding our inclusion within faith spaces and queer spaces ever wider. They became a Christian at 16 before realizing they were bi and trans, and despite queerphobic messages from church leaders, Andy received only messages of affirmation from God. Thus their love for a sassy, queer Jesus grew, and they eventually found a home in Quakerism, with its radical equality of all ages and genders and emphasis on activism. Click here for an episode transcript. Find Andy and his art and writing online: @humansatsuma & @lesgetbetter on Instagrammedium.com/@andykt3 - blogandythornton.work/ and behance.net/humansatsuma - art portfolios Timestamps: 00:00 - 06:07 Avery rambles & introduces Andy 06:08 - 10:01 Andy talks about their art, how it interacts with their gender and emphasizes representation 10:02 - 17:10 How Andy came to Quakerism - interfaith, emphasis on activism, long support of gay rights, working on trans affirmation 17:11 - 25:40 Andy's family; "God is definitely queer"; "my non-binary gender is really holy"; Andy's journey from anti-queer churches to God's affirmation 25:41 - 32:25 Quaker's communalism, civil disobedience, vs. church hurt from "Hillsong churches" & "Instagram Christianity" 32:26 - 39:06 Bonding over being autistic, intersections with autism, transness, and activism + a queer and autistic, sassy Jesus 39:07 - 44:55 being excluded from others Jesus lovers because of being trans & relief of finding people like us; more on the journey to reconciling faith and gender, being a Stonewall person of faith 45:56 -  50:16 more on Quakers being interfaith, 3 pillars of Quakerism 50:17 - 55:00 wrapping up: you are enough, and God made you perfect