An American pastor in New York left his congregants shocked after publicly announcing that he is transitioning to a woman and will now use she/her pronouns.
Reverend Phil Phaneuf, 51, who was born male, shared that she has been undergoing a gender transition with her congregation at North Chili United Methodist Church (UMC) during Sunday service.
‘I get to announce with joy that I am transitioning. I am affirming and saying to all of you that I am transgender,’ the veteran pastor, wearing a rainbow stole, declared this past Sunday.
‘The best way to put this is that I’m not becoming a woman, I’m giving up pretending to be a man.’
Phaneuf, who told listeners that her new name will be Phillippa Faye Phaneuf, said she will continue to go by ‘Reverend Phil.’
‘I’m not going to be the pronoun police,’ she told the crowd. ‘I don’t think that anybody will misgender or mis-pronoun out of malice.’
The religious leader assured church members that the only changes stemming from her transition will be physical ones, noting that she has been undergoing hormone replacement therapy for about three months already.
According to the pastor, her commitment to Jesus Christ and the ministry will remain the same.
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