Transgender Group Propose to Become Church Organisation
An LGBTQI group of 40 people on Facebook hopes to establish and register themselves as a church organisation in the future. They said they will be praying for the 2020-2021 National Budget announcement, scheduled this month.
The group, called Transgender Fiji Worship Network, hope their proposed church will be led by someone who identifies as gay. Speaking on behalf of the group Dr Isireli Biumaitotoya (commonly known as Leli Darling on social media) said the group made up of transgender persons gather every Sunday at 7pm virtually and share passages from the Bible.
He claims the group on Facebook is a movement of people who feel that they have been shunned by churches because of their identified gender and sexuality.
“We hope in the near future that we could have spiritual advisories like a talatala or a pastor that would lead the group,” Dr Biumaitotoya said.
At the moment, the group is available online under the name
Transgender Fiji Worship Network that have a private chat group of about 40 active members.
They hope that they would be able to register as a Church Organisation with a pastor who identifies himself/herself as a gay and who would provide counselling services, a fellowship group and a network that works alongside the LGBTQI community.
“We want to have a proper church that is exclusive to its members,” Dr Biumaitotoya added.
We want to have a proper church that is exclusive to its members. Dr Isireli Biumaitotoya Transgender Fiji worship Network spokesperson
Prayer
In a post on Dr Biumaitotoya’s personal page, he has called on all Fijians to pray for the Attorney-General and the Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, and his team as they prepare for the National Budget announcement, scheduled for July 17.
The post reads “.... let’s dedicate their lives and efforts to the Almighty in successfully negotiating travel bubbles and economic avenues to assist our nation.
We at Transgenders Fiji Worship Network believe anyone can pray and harness power in that communication portal...no matter who you are and what you are.
This coming week let’s put useless politics aside and pray for our Government and the huge responsibility of returning our nation to economic recovery.”
The group was created late last month.