There has been a lot of fuss over recent years from religious-minded individuals about transgendered people. Rather than get into a discussion about what is or is not in the Bible, what various religious institutions say and preach, or who is right or wrong, I would like to make a few comments that I hope can be seen as "bridge building."

I believe that in a free society we all should respect each others' religious beliefs. A very good friend of mine is Hindi, but his being Hindi does not have any influence on how close we are or how much I respect and admire him. Just because one person doesn't believe in the same thing as another person doesn't imply that they can't respect each other, get along well, and be friends.

Most western countries are multi-cultural and therefore publicly tolerate differences in religion. If we respect each others' religions, regardless of whether or not we share those beliefs, then there should be little reason why anyone should take a public position against the transgendered because of religious reasons.

I am not implying that anyone needs to alter their religious beliefs. I am not implying that anyone has to approve of the transgendered. If your religious beliefs consider being transgendered sinful, who am I to tell you that your belief is wrong? But if you take public positions against the transgendered because of religious beliefs, that doesn't seem to me to be much different than a Christian taking public positions against a Jew because the Jew doesn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

From a religious tolerance point of view, I humbly suggest that the transgendered deserve to be tolerated rather than persecuted regardless of whether or not the transgendered comform to someone else's religious beliefs.