Emerald City MCC

Emerald City Metropolitan Community Church Seattle starts penpal program for transgender inmates

Seattle, WA—

Raised Voices is a new ministry being offered by Emerald City MCC. Letter writing programs are often popular among inmates, since mail may be someone’s only contact with the outside.

Members of Emerald City noticed that there are many Christian programs, as well as amazing queer and trans specific penpal projects. But there wasn’t one that brought the two elements together. And so Raised Voices was born.

Why the name? “It’s a mission statement in itself,” says Lincoln Rose, program coordinator. “As queer Christians, we are mandated to speak against the evils of the prison industrial complex. This is the time to show our incarcerated TGI cousins that they are not forgotten. Our intent is to form relationships and provide support.” As of this writing, they are unable to give money to inmates who ask.

Raised Voices currently serves TGI inmates at facilities in Washington State and Oregon. They feel a regional focus will help with relationship building and resource referral.

Inmates don’t have to be wary of getting religion pushed on them if they sign up. “Absolutely not,” explains Ray Neal, Emerald City’s pastor. “You never have to talk about God if you don’t want to. The mission is to support inmates.” But he does know there’s a need for the faith aspect. “There is rarely any queer-affirming pastoral care provided in the prison system. We want to be available if people do have questions.”

If you or someone you know is incarcerated in Washington or Oregon, let them know about Raised Voices. They can send a letter to this address:

Raised Voices
C/o Emerald City MCCS