Sarah Weaver is on the board of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lewis Center, Ohio (near Columbus), where she works as a cabinet finisher.

She recently shared with a male co-worker that she was trans and was changing her name to Sarah.

“Huh? Why?” He asked.

“’Why?’ Good question.  To be honest, that’s a mind-bender for me still,” Sarah replied.  “I’ve been out on Facebook for a year, and to my church and family for longer than that, and I still ask ‘Why?’  I still look for an explanation.

“I still find myself looking for some evidentiary basis to point to, that will prove that I am who I say I am, a woman.  The people who prefer to define me differently have evidence they can point to.  But here I am, and all I can say is, ‘I’m just way happier now.’”

The co-worker said this made sense to him, and he asked her to explain, so Sarah went on.

“I tried not to be this.  I didn’t want to be this.  I struggled to be what other people wanted me to be, but it didn’t work. I didn’t feel loved for being the real me, until recently, because I was never being the real me.  I thought it was impossible to be loved for being who I am.

“And that makes such a difference,” Sarah explained, “such a big difference.  I used to not want to be me, and now I do want to be me.”

“Yeah, I get it,” he said, “That is a big difference.”

March 28, 2025