“Yesterday the members of @lorneparkbc voted to fire me. The vote went 58-53 in favour of termination,” Joplin tweeted on Tuesday. “I only slept about 90 minutes last night - not for dread or anxiety, but out of eager anticipation over entering the next chapter of my life. I don’t know where I’ll land next, but I know I’ll land as my authentic self.”
Joplin is due to deliver a guest sermon via Zoom at St. Charles Avenue Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, this Sunday, she announced in a subsequent message shared to Tuesday’s thread. The church promoted Joplin’s upcoming appearance at the service in its own tweet soon after.
Joplin came out to her church congregation during a June 14 sermon, also delivered via Zoom, which incorporated lessons about truth and the value of living your own life.
“Hi, friends. Hi, family,” she waved. “My name is Junia. You can call me June. I’m a transgender woman and my pronouns are she and her.”
The virtual church service took place one day before the U.S. Supreme Court voted to expand a federal civil rights law that prohibits workplace discrimination based on sex to include LGBTQ employees. The ruling says employees cannot be fired on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Joplin spoke about her termination from the Lorne Park Baptist Church in an interview with Canadian news station CTV on Wednesday, following the congregation’s vote.
“I wish that some of those people [in the congregation] were more eager to at least say, ‘Hey, let’s talk about this, even if I didn’t vote the way you wanted to. Let’s talk anyway,’” she said.
The church shared a statement regarding Joplin’s removal with CTV News on Wednesday.
“The Church has journeyed for the past month through a process of attempting to discern God’s will resulting from June’s announcement of June 14, 2020 that she is a transgender woman,” the statement read. “After a month of prayerful discernment and discussions between June and the congregation, it was determined, for theological reasons, that it is not in God’s will that June remain as our pastor. We wish June God’s grace and peace as she departs from us.”
Newsweek reached out to Lorne Park Baptist Church for additional comments but did not receive a reply in time for publication.
