For the first 54 years of Barbara Satin's life, almost every decision that she made was

centered around hiding her transness, trying to wash it away as she describes it.

She went to seminary, joined the Marines, got married, and then when she was 54, she realized, okay, this part of me

is not going away. And then I love this next part of the story. A couple of years later, when she

shared with her son that she was trans, he said that he'd been waiting for her to tell him,

and he'd even gone so far as find a trans-affirming therapist for her.

Here's how she describes that first appointment.

She said, you know, you have lived your life as though you have been cursed by God.

Have you ever stopped to think that maybe this is a blessing from God?

I hadn't ever thought anything positive about what I was doing.

I realized that it hadn't been much fun living in it as living life as being cursed by God.

I thought I would try and live it as a blessing from God.

And basically that's what I've done for the last 20, almost 30 years.

Since then, she has devoted her life to this ministry of presence, being a trans presence

in and out of our community.

And that part is crucial.

This was the mid-90s, and it was clear right away to Barbara just how invisible trans people

were even in self-proclaimed LGBTQ plus spaces.

It was clear to her just how ignorant we in the community could be.

Barbara set out to change that, and for her work, she's been recognized by places like

the White House. She was invited by the Obama administration to speak on multiple occasions.

She served as a prayer leader at President Biden's inauguration, and just this month retired

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