Those little things can really dig under your skin. Like you, I've faced some rough moments over my being transgender, and you would think the "big" ones would be the most bothersome. But it's those little things... The experience that has hurt me the most, thus far, was during a conversation on evolution and genetics, I was having a good back and forth with this person until it came up that I was transgender. Then, all of a sudden, nothing I'd contributed to that conversation mattered because I was "mentally ill".

I am gay and was raised by devout Pentacostal parents. The Bible was literally used for bedtime stories when I was very little (the illustrated Children's Bible, so I learned it without really trying. As I got old enough to actually think(teens), I started to see the contradictions, errors, and horrendous teaching points riddling the Bible. Part of me is just plain tired of this ridiculous archaic folk story that has no credibility. But part of me remains morbidly fascinated by this tome of schlock literature that has shaped so much of society. As you described, we are often not in a position to correct or lecture proslytizers, but if you can, it would be fun to take that gifted Bible, take a highlighter to the most objectively horrifyingly cruel parts, to the most blatant factual errors, and (my favorite) to the David and Jonathan and the Ruth and Naomi stories that portray loving, committed same-sex relationships in a positive light. Then add a note to the effect of it being a shame that Christians are too often such hypocrits about their notions of sin and morality.

Yeah that's enough to piss you off. I let people be people. It's my quote to live and let live. I learned that the hard way. I wish you peace of mind. We sometimes just have to walk away and try not to understand the meaning of something. I know that sounds crude. I have had to be in a place where i was the supervisor and a prayer was being said. I just tolerated it to keep peace with my workers. I didnt loose any sleep over it. Its just a harmless jester to a intelligent you.