I stood and told the hall full of evangelical conservatives who I was and why I was there. I told them that I used to be a father, a son, a brother and a husband. I told them I was the homecoming king and an all-state linebacker in high school when we won state in 1973. I told them I was in banking for 30 years and raised two amazing kids. I proudly told them I was transgender.

And I told them that they were wrong about us. I told them these bathroom horror stories were unfounded hate speech, the bathroom predator fear was a myth and that transgender people simply wanted to live our lives, free from hate, discrimination or harassment. And I told them how many trans people were committing suicide and being murdered each year because of misinformation and fear mongering.

As I took my seat, I noticed how Minister Terry’s hands were shaking as he rose to speak. It was quiet except for an uneasy murmur across the hall and I noticed how no one would look me in the eye. Minister Terry asked if I was going to stay, and I said, “Yes, I came to hear what you had to say.” There was another prolonged silence as I held my breath expecting to be escorted out of the “place of worship,” but no one moved.

For the next hour, I endured the canned rhetoric being sold by the Liberty Counsel and hate groups across the country. Often, when people rose to speak, they looked directly at me. I heard a young mother speak of her concern for her 10-year-old daughter in public bathrooms and cried as she said she no longer feels comfortable going in any public restroom. They spoke of how their religious freedoms were under attack and how the LGBT agenda was sweeping the country.