I hope every “moderate” church leader in the world - every leader of a congregation with the words “All Are Welcome” on the sign or in the bulletin - is thinking about my story and the ways that message is misleading and harming people.

I hope everyone pastor who has reached out to me saying “I support you, but I can’t do it openly,” is taking a long look in the mirror.

I hope every denominational leader who has voiced support for me “off the record” will learn to lead with integrity one day.

I hope every believer sitting in the pews of a church like the one who fired me asks themselves “could this happen at my church?,” and has the courage to either fight for change or go someplace else.

I hope every Christian parent of a trans kid hears my message and is inspired to walk away from their church if it’s non-affirming.

A prominent church leader told me today that, behind closed doors, a multitude of ministers believe that homophobia and transphobia in the Church are repugnant. I hope those leaders grow enough to choose good over evil.

I hope every Christian reading the cruel, bigoted comments “people of faith” have been directing at me over the past week asks themselves “which side am I on, here?”

I hope every prominent evangelical pastor who has preached a peeformarive, tokenistic “don’t condemn LGBTQ+ people” sermon, while simultaneously supporting theology and policy that harms and dehumanizes us has the backbone to actually tell the truth for a change.

I hope every LGBTQ+ faith leader who faces the choice to resign before coming out, effectively and prematurely deplatforming themselves instead finds the grace and courage to stay put, say “this is who I am; your move.”

Finally (I think), I hope every person who says “I think lots of congregations would jump at the chance to have a pastor like you” is right. We’ll see.