To those who regularly attend UU services, a lot of this will sound familiar. I just wish to share my experience and also post it here for anyone considering.

I was raised southern Baptist spent years as an agnostic trying out different things like Wicca and Shintoism while I lived abroad, but feel most "at home" in some flavor of Abrahamism and converted to Islam a little over a year ago. I still consider myself a Muslim/Quranist, if not for the simple fact that it's a religious book that resonates greatly with me. People ask how do I reconcile my queer identity with having faith and I answer, "Just fine" because I do believe it is the people who take faith-based words and twist them to justify horrible things. But because of that it's obviously difficult to actually worship in community. Outside of sightseeing in foreign countries and a recent funeral, I haven't stepped foot in a church in nearly two decades. I've never stepped foot in a mosque, I'll just watch Friday prayers online. That changed a couple of weeks ago.

Months ago I searched for "lgbt congregation" or something similar and one of the first things that came up was Unitarian Universalism. I was shocked at the open mentions about LGBT acceptance and POC involvement on the website. Even with this, I put off going to my local branch (literally 10 minute drive away) for months. I was just too afraid that it might all be a lie, or lip service. Then I saw that they were having a TDOR service, and I took that as a sign to go. I'm so glad I did.

I've been going through a lot personally lately, a lot mentally. While I am of course working on my mental health medically, I feel the need for spiritual work as well. This was a healing experience. It felt familiar, but different. All the fixtures of a church were there, but this felt more welcoming. Going into the Christian church that the UU rents out, I was greeted with light filtering through rainbow curtains. There was a Pride Progress flag draped across a wooden wall hanging of a dove. (I was told later that these were there all the time, and that the Christian pastor who had arrived about five years prior had put them up.) I was greeted with a smile, a hello, an "assalamu alaikum" and offered to sign up for the newsletter and a to put my name and pronouns on a nametag. I noticed that recurring members had permanent nametags, all with names and pronouns on them.

The service started off with a native land acknowledgment, a prayer for transgender people who have lost their lives, a hymn, a sermon about how binaries lock us into viewing the world as "us vs. them" and how it lends to a cycle of hate and violence, testimonials from the congregation about their own trans relatives and how it helped them change how they see the world as well as their fears for their safety, a memorial reading of names (many from my area but also some famous cases from this year as well), money collection, another hymn, and finally a prayer for the hope of freedom of gender roles and expressions for all people including children, as well as safety, security, and community.

Not once was God or any particular entity mentioned. There was no talk of sin and punishment, only love, community, and striving for understanding and togetherness. Prayer was referred to as "prayer, meditation, or intentional reflection". I could tell the congregation were from multifaith backgrounds, some seemingly not necessarily believing in a particular being at all. There was just this shared idea that we are all in this universe together, so let's commune and try to set our spirits right to fight for what's right.

I was nearly brought to tears. Before and after the service so many people came up to talk to me. I'm young but clearly not a student at the local university and the majority of the congregation is 55+. People wanted to know how I even found out about the place and hear my story. I felt seen, I felt heard, I felt respected. I plan on going back.

And I have! The Thanksgiving sermon was a great message about service/self sacrifice, knowing yourself, and setting healthy boundaries. And since the congregations minister is a musician, it was a very musical sermon as well, which I was told happens the last Sunday of every month!

I imagine that of course every UU congregation is different. I'm just very glad I gave myself to chance to experience one.