In collaboration with the City of West Hollywood and the Transgender Arts Initiative,

Blair and Laur present the ritual, “My Spring. My Crown.”

As infants, our families’ pastors sprinkled water on our heads and claimed us for God before we could talk. They then presented us to the church as an amalgamation of the things our families had chosen: our sex, our gender, our name, and the spiritual path we were supposed to walk.

Like many queer and trans people, our lives have been a journey of reclaiming those things for ourselves.

In our reimagined and queered baptismal ritual that is centered around the trans experience and open to all, we provide process and space for people reclaiming themselves. Ritual has always been important to humanity, as a way to ease transition, release, and healing; to celebrate joy; and to create communal belonging. This secular ritual honors the transition of its participants and serves as a celebration of their self-recognition and communal belonging. The ritual’s chanted verses frame this baptism as an act of stepping into a new life rooted in personal truth and call participants to confirm their faith in themselves.

One at a time, each participant baptizes themselves in their chosen name and identity. Some are joined by close friends and/or family members who stand at their side as a show of support. For those comfortable with recognition from the assembled larger group, we follow the tradition of presenting them in their new identity to our gathered “congregation.”

We conclude our ritual and all its affirmations in a shout of joy!

We performed the first iteration of this ritual on Sunday, April 30th at Plummer Park in West Hollywood. This was a free event and was supported in part by an arts grant from the City of West Hollywood. Capacity was limited and seating was socially-distanced to preserve our community's health.

If you are interested in sponsoring or cohosting an iteration of "My Spring. My Crown." please contact us at fxtritual at gmail.com.