The Pastor

By Asche

Copyright 2015

Chapter 3 -- A Talk With A Psychologist

The pastor couldn't shake the memory of Jesse's bleak look or the conversation on Sunday from his mind. It followed him home, it intruded as he drove in on Monday and again during the planning of the Altar Guild supper. As he planned the program for Wednesday night Bible study, after each item on the program, the memory would intrude.

Finally, on Thursday, he left a message for Dr. Hancock to call him.

"I'm calling about Jesse Taylor, one of your patients," he explained when she called him back.

"You know I'm not allowed to talk about one of my patients without their permission, or, in Jesse's case, his mother's."

"I'm not asking about him in particular. But his mother said you thought he was -- transgender, and I thought I should find out a little more about trangender children. Have you had a lot of them?"

"I've treated a few. And I've spoken with colleagues on occasion. I'd say I know about maybe twenty, either from my practice or my colleagues. I've also attended talks about transgender children and adults at conferences."

"How successful are you at curing them?"

"Reverend Hanley, I haven't tried, but people have tried in the past. The success rate is so low and the outcomes so bad, it's no longer considered ethical. We now simply support the child in whatever he or she--"

"She?"

"Transgender children come in both genders. Trans girls are children who are assigned male at birth but transition to female. Trans boys are children who are assigned female--"

"I get the picture." The idea of girls wanting to be boys was, for reasons the pastor wasn't sure he wanted to think about, even more distressing than the other way around.

"As I was saying, we support the child. Some change their mind on their own. Most don't. In those cases, we help their families and communities learn to accept it."

"And if they don't?"

She sighed. "When they don't -- it's not good. Some run away, or leave as soon as they're able to make it on their own. Others -- the ones I know about, at least -- most of them die. Usually suicide, but sometimes they become alcoholic or drug addicts and die in alcohol or drug-related accidents. Or they engage in risky behavior. Many of the colored trans people end up murdered. The suicide and murder rates -- being murdered, I mean -- are really high."

"And how do you see Jesse turning out?"

"I told you, I can't talk about him with you. You, of all people, should understand that."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, you did explain that. Thank you for speaking with me, you've been very helpful. And you've been very generous with your time. I won't take any more of it. Goodbye."

"Doesn't that mean, 'God be with you'?"

"That it does, ma'am, that it does."

"Well, may God be with you, sir," she said and hung up.