35: Trans Liberation with Josephine Inkpin

Josephine is Australia’s first out Transgender priest and on this
podcast, shares her experiences, and why she believes that trans
people can help to shine a light into the world.   Simon and
Josephine reflect on why transphobia occurs, and how trans, queer
and non-binary ways of being create anxieties for those who fear
transition in their own lives.  Josephine believes that
trans liberation is not just about emancipating transgender
people, but it offers a vision of a beautiful world, where
diversity flourishes.  Josephine shares how being
transgender doesn’t take away the gender identities of male and
female, it expands the limitations of the binary and adds new
possibilities.   Discussing being in the church, Josephine
embraces a theology that embraces mystery, a Christianity that is
based on love and a church that embraces transitioning in this
life and beyond. 



BIO
Josephine McDonnell Inkpin is the first openly and fully
recognised transgender Anglican priest in Australia, now
currently working as Minister of Pitt Street Uniting Church in
Sydney.   Originally from England, where she studied at
Oxford and Durham, she is a feminist church historian and
theologian who has taught in various university settings over
many years, as well as in a variety of ministry settings,
typically ‘on the edge’.  Chair of Equal Voices, a peak
Australian network of LGBTIQ+ Christians and allies, Jo has also
been a prominent leader in Australian inter-faith, multicultural,
First Nations Reconciliation, and other justice activities over
many years. A former officer of the National Council of Churches
in Australia and General Secretary of the NSW Ecumenical Council,
and later described as a ‘Dangerous Woman of Queensland’, she was
highlighted by Deloittes as one of the 2020 Out50 Outstanding
LGBTI Leaders in Australia.