My Letter to Soulforce

January 16, 2009
Soulforce
PO Box 3195
Lynchburg, VA 24503

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am contacting you NOT on behalf of my college, Grace Bible, but on myself and others like me who are too afraid to “come out”. I’m afraid to announce my identity as well, although people are beginning to have suspicions. I am afraid, to an extent, and frustrated almost everyday.
I am considered Transgendered. I was born a male, and continue to live as one too. My circumstances may or may not be unique, but I currently attend Grace Bible College. As you can imagine, this is not an easy environment for people like me. I often get depressed, think of suicide and live out my day half-heartedly. It’s not that I cannot wear women’s clothes or take female hormones openly as I transition, although that is a definite issue too, but that I will never truly be a woman. Another problem is that I consider myself straight. I want to be a woman, and be with one.
I remember one day while sitting in our chapel, our Dean of Students, Brian Sherstad, told us about an activist group called “Soulforce”. They were planning on visiting our campus in order to sway us from our righteous understanding. He told us that if they came to the college he would have them escorted away by police officers. I guess you get that a lot, I hear. Anyway, I was disappointed. I really wanted to hear them out, not just because I am tolerant of others, but also because of my own struggle.
I guess I am writing this letter as my way of reaching out and saying “I am in pain. I need support. I need advice. I need prayers”.
If there is anything you can say or do, please, say or do it. I know I will really appreciate it, and those who are still in the dark can have a little light.
I know I will be in Heaven someday. I cannot say, because I do not know or fully understand it, that homosexual/transsexual lifestyles are acceptable in God’s eyes, but I know I am saved. That much I can say.
Thanks for reading this improper letter. My grammar skills are lacking. I am not doing well in my English class at the moment. 

Sincerely,
Tyler Ebel