Happy Easter from the Trans Evangelist!
Welcome to volume 2 of SEX CHANGE USA: THE NEWSLETTER. This week we're digging into one of my favorite people I've discovered from a tabloid: Sister Paula Nielson, The Trans-Evangelist.
Unlike most of the people I learn about through my research, there's a wealth of info about Paula online.
She was born in the 1930s, began transition when she was twenty-five, and publicly came out years later in 1971 when she began her association with the church in Oregon. She'd been living stealth up until that point, and its both admirable and baffling to me that she'd wait until she was in a high leadership position in a pentecostal church to reveal she was a trans woman. But that's just how Paula went about things.
She had a public access cable TV show in Portland for decades, and theres really nothing but incredibly supportive and loving writing about her in the form of blogs, facebook comments, and news articles. Theres about a half dozen interviews with her on YouTube as well as a few documentaries. The above image, from an early 1990s national enquirer, was my first time encountering Paula and pretty much the only negative article about her I’ve found.
She seemed like a local legend in Portland, and I'd be curious if anyone reading this from that area had heard of her and watched her show! Here's a clip of Paula talking about bigotry within religious communities during one of her public access pride month sermons:
On the surface, there appears to be a contradiction in Paula’s life- why would a trans woman act as a spokesperson for an institution that has served as the trans communities primary opponent? To Paula, this didn’t feel like a contradiction at all. She was a lifelong advocate for having her own personal relationship with God, which to me wonderfully parallels the trans experience: having your own personal relationship with your body and soul, regardless of what various institutions or society tells us the “correct” relationship looks like.
Here’s a great quote from a 2013 interview:
Monika: In one of my previous interviews, Lisa Salazar indicated that transgender persons are said to be some of the least likely to become involved in religious institutions (like church) since most have been rejected and judged by their Christian families, friends, and faith communities. Would you disagree?Paula: I understand where Lisa is coming from – however, I respectfully disagree. I am a part of transgender Christian groups on Facebook – there always have been, and always will be, trans people involved in all churches, both clergy, and laity; whether they are open about it or not.Speaking for myself, even though I may have been rejected in some religious circles, my friendship with Jesus who does accept me grows stronger than ever.
Sister Paula passed away in 2022. She led a wonderful, faithful life. Im curious about this phenomenon of faithful trans women and I think I’ll write about it more in the future.
My Mormon upbringing feels just as much a part of me as my trans identity does. One doesn’t cancel the other out, despite what the institution of Mormonism tells me. If anything, transitioning caused me to deeply reflect and reevaluate the religious traditions I’d left behind. I agree with Sister Paula, that God doesn’t make mistakes, and that we were all meant to be the ways we are.
Being trans is a blessing! happy Easter
I hope you enjoyed this! thanks for reading.