(VOX) -- Junia Joplin, the Mississauga, Toronto, pastor who came out as a trans woman in a livestreamed sermon on June 14 (and who was profiled shortly thereafter by Vox), has lost her job after a congregational vote.
Joplin’s sermon proved hugely popular within the world of queer Christianity, in large part due to her skill as a preacher and how she weaved together themes of God-given acceptance and the struggle to embrace one’s truest self. “I want to proclaim to my transgender siblings that I believe in a God who knows your name, even if that name hasn’t been chosen yet,” she said during the livestream. “I believe in a God who calls you a beloved daughter even if your parents insist you’ll always be their son.”
Shortly after delivering her coming-out sermon, Joplin, a pastor at Lorne Park Baptist Church, said she received an outpouring of support from parishioners, including some she hadn’t expected to be in her corner. But the church’s leadership council sent her a terse email shortly afterward, saying “no decisions have been made yet.”
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