The Right Thing: The Transgender Pastor
Broadcaster
BBC World Service
TX Date
11th Feb 2022
Presenter
Mike Wooldridge
Producer
Rosie Dawson
Quotes
"Such a wonderful crisp intro. A touching programme."
Simon Pitts, commissioning editor, BBC World Service
June Joplin was born outwardly a boy – but at the age of 11, at a Christian summer camp, two things became very clear to her: that she was supposed to be a pastor, and that she was supposed to be a girl.
Becoming a pastor was the easy bit: June studied to become a Baptist minister, married and started a family. Yet the sense that she was really a woman never left her – and her struggles with her gender identity led to a deep depression.
Eventually, by now living in Canada, she decided to come out as a transgender woman to her congregation… and face the consequences.
In conversation with Mike Wooldridge, June Joplin tells her story and reflects on the cost of doing what she felt was the right thing.