On Friday, the Church of Sweden’s official Twitter account acknowledged “International Transgender Day of Visibility”. Charlotte Frycklund, an online priest who focuses on social media, posted a prayer wishing for “a better world, where everyone can be themselves”. While there were negative comments, the post received many shares and positive reactions. Frycklund noted that the attention was unexpected and the Church of Sweden typically highlights vulnerable groups. She believes the post received attention due to the many negative comments, adding that the hate that made it go viral was ironic. Frycklund tries to answer almost all comments, although some are too extreme to engage with. She acknowledges that the LGBTQI community, including transgender individuals, has not always been welcomed by the Church of Sweden, but says that the faith should be expressed in the way one lives. Finally, some of the negative comments can be traced to the United States, where the reporting of a mass shooting carried out by a perpetrator who was transgender caused controversy.
During Friday, it was “International Transgender Day of Visibility”, i.e. a day to draw attention to the situation of transgender people. And on the Church of Sweden’s official Twitter account, attention was also paid to the day. The priest Charlotte Frycklund, who has a service as an online priest specifically aimed at social media, wrote: “God, I pray for all trans people who suffer, are oppressed, are killed. I pray for those whose names I will never know, those who have been forced to live a lie. Help me work for a better world, where everyone can be themselves. Amen”.
Unexpectedly many reactions
The reactions were not long in coming – many negative comments appeared in the Twitter thread, but soon also many shares and positive comments about the post and the message. Among the negative comments, it was claimed, among other things, that the Church of Sweden was a “sect” and “pk” and that it took a position on political issues, while others declared that they could now be proud to belong to the religious community.
For Charlotte Frycklund, who made the post in her mission as an online priest, the great attention was quite unexpected.
Charlotte Frycklund, online priest at the Church of Sweden. Image: Magnus Aronson / Ikon
– We usually pay attention to this “Transgender visibility day” and also “Transgender day of remembrance”. And it usually comforts people that we see their vulnerability, that’s why we do this, but we’ve never seen it get this big.
– I have served as an online priest in the Church of Sweden since 2016 and this post has reached more people than any other post we have made, I think. We often highlight vulnerable groups on our accounts.
The dynamic behind the post going viral was precisely the many negative comments, she believes.
– Ironically, perhaps it is the hate that has lifted this and made it viral.
She chooses to see it positively.
– I think it’s great if it increases the visibility of trans people, the day is about visibility.
Tried to answer almost all
At the same time, some comments are extremely negative and have – as is common on Twitter – a condemning tone where accounts also use many negative reviews. But Charlotte Frycklund tries to answer basically everyone, which is not so common on Twitter.
– We are making this post to highlight that human dignity – for us it is absolute. In line with that, we try to answer everyone, we try to see people. But then there are conversations that are impossible – if someone screams “pedophile whore”, there’s no point in having a conversation.
– What attracted me when I started working with social media is that the message itself is in the tone we use. If you are loving and kind to people, then you tell something about the church in the tone itself.
She notes that LGBTQI people, which includes transgender people, have not always been welcomed by the Church of Sweden.
– Unfortunately, we have a somewhat boring history when it comes to LGBTQI people, that we have been judgmental. I find that very boring. Then the Church of Sweden was quite early in seeing that it was wrong to do so.
American media debate background
The fact that there were so many negative and in some cases hateful comments on the subject linked to the post can also be traced to the USA. One of the series of mass shootings in the United States this week had, according to American police, a perpetrator who was transgender. Among other things, the Washington Post pointed out in the reporting that it is very unusual for transgender people to be the perpetrators behind such acts but, on the contrary, are usually the victims of violence, and that the perpetrators are almost always cis-men (men who identify with the gender they were born in ). But conservative Fox News blew the whistle on the perpetrator — and a number of right-wing Republican politicians have long sought to push legislation that would curtail transgender rights. Several commenters in the Twitter thread were connected to the events in the United States.
– It’s a disgusting way of looking at people, and that you shouldn’t be able to pray for a group for what a person in a certain group has done. What nonsense is that, we pray for men all the time, says Charlotte Frycklund.
Charlotte Frycklund is used to the fact that the Church of Sweden in these contexts is often accused of taking a political position.
– A faith that only lives in one’s heart and is not expressed in the way one lives is a very strange faith.
– But then not all Christians vote for the same party, people from all possible parties sit on our church board. Faith involves politics, but not necessarily party politics.
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