The following brief story is published with the permission of the person who shared it with us when they contacted us for a referral from our Special Kind of Clergy Directory. We offered what spiritual support we could and successfully connected them with a listening priest in a member jurisdiction of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. 

Please read our friend’s story as a companion piece to:

• “Transgenderism” Isn’t a Thing
• Message from Orthodox Youth to the Church: Stop. Hurting. Us.
• Priest to Mother, “Better Your Transgender Child Were Dead”
• At Age 13 I Begged God to Kill Me
• Bishop to Bishop: Straight from Confession to Suicide
• Orthodox Sermons and Near Suicide
• and Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago’s appeal to priests and monastics to stop harming LGBTQI people.

On Sunday morning, October 13, a very young Orthodox adult who is navigating their way through gender dysphoria visited a new Orthodox parish.
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Originally posted as a Facebook comment. Published with the author’s permission. Anonymous to protect the young person in the story.

Now imagine that you’re a 9 yr old CHILD trying to figure out what it is about yourself that seems a little different; and the priest you love, as you would love a family member, goes on a homosexual rant for an entire sermon that summer during Liturgy.

Then, it happens again when you are 12 yrs old. Except now you know for sure that the sermon is about people “like you.” And, it is the first time that you think about killing yourself.
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Editor’s Note: Even though IOCC remains strictly apolitical and nonpartisan in its messaging—and rightly so—Orthodoxy in Dialogue has no hesitation in condemning the White House’s green-lighting of Turkey to escalate the violence in Syria by clearing the way to attack our Kurdish allies.

Keep reading to learn how you can help.

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International Orthodox Christian Charities Launches Campaign for
Children’s Programs in Syria
Dream Centers offer Children, Families Safe Spaces, Support Overcoming Trauma 

International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is launching a new fundraising campaign, aiming to raise $250,000 for programming that supports children and families who have survived trauma and tragedy in Syria. Read More