Charlotte Clymer , a transgender woman and U.S. Army veteran, is a press secretary at the Human Rights Campaign. She lives in Washington, D.C.

On Sunday afternoon, I was sitting in front of a cafe in downtown Washington, sipping coffee under a sliver of roof on a wet day, minding my own business, when three people who were clearly tourists walked up and gestured for me to take out my headphones. When I did, one of them asked, “Can we pray for you?”

I asked them why they wanted to pray for me, and the same person answered that they felt called by God to walk around the streets of D.C. and let God’s voice tell them who might be “broken” or otherwise need prayer. Broken.

As a Christian, I’m neither opposed to prayer nor to people praying specifically for me, at least not when it’s done in good faith. But I’m also a transgender woman, and I was dressed as femme as anyone today, with gorgeous makeup and clothing and earrings. I sure as hell caught the gist of why these folks happened upon me to offer prayer.

My introduction to Christianity was in evangelical churches. For years, I navigated conservative religious spaces where I encountered bigotry and attempts to shame LGBTQ people and women as often as I found warmhearted people eager to serve others. There was more than a little racism, too. I have heard the statement “I’ll pray for you” said with love, and I have heard it said full of judgment and scorn. I know the difference, and the folks who confronted me outside the cafe were making their judgment clear. Read more via Washington Post