This Trans Elder Is Changing Lives With Her "Ministry of Presence"
seminary, joined the military, got married, none of which worked. "I made the decision to leave my marriage and go live as Barbara Satin and figure out who this person really is," she says, eventually meeting a therapist whose words would prove life-changing."I went as Barbara and basically sat down and opened up my head and just let everything come out, all the things that I had been hiding for, at that point, 60 years.
She said, 'You have lived your life as though you have been cursed by God. Have you ever stopped to think that maybe this is a blessing from God?
And that maybe God has blessed you with this gender identity?' I hadn't ever thought anything positive about what I was doing and I realized that it hadn't been much fun living life as being cursed by God.
I thought I would try and live it as a blessing from God." Since then, Satin's devoted her life to what she calls her "ministry of presence", making sure that trans people are a visible, respected, and celebrated part of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the larger faith communities of which she's a part.
