Nicole Garcia: The journey of one transgender Latina in the church

c. 2015 Religion News Service

(RNS) Nicole Garcia looks more like a well-heeled church lady than a radical—but her faith journey over the past 55 years reflects a radical shift in mainline Christian denominations’ acceptance of transgender people as leaders in the church.

A self-professed church nerd, Garcia says she was “a good Catholic boy” when she was in her teens. Today, she is a candidate for ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Last year, the ELCA welcomed its first openly transgender clergy person, Megan Rohrer, pastor at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in San Francisco. When Garcia is ordained and called to a church, she will be the denomination’s first transgender clergyperson of color.