(RNS) — In many ways, Natalie Drew is like any other Midwestern mom.The 43-year-old mother of two lives in a Michigan suburb, drives a 12-year-old minivan, volunteers at her church youth group and unwinds by watching “The Office” with her spouse.
But as a trans woman, veteran and pacifist with a self-described Orthodox Christian theology, Drew shatters more than a few stereotypes.
Described by friends as a quick-witted prankster who exudes mercy — “she makes everybody feel like she’s in their corner, even if she doesn’t agree with them,” said Southern Baptist Convention abuse survivor Hannah-Kate Williams — Drew regularly receives online vitriol from those on the right and the left.
Though openly LGBTQ affirming, Drew is a member of the Christian Reformed Church, a denomination that voted in 2022 and again in 2023 to codify its opposition to homosexual sex. But Drew, a lesbian, has no plans to leave her congregation.
“I get asked a lot, why do I stay? Why do I stay in these spaces when I am not welcome there? I stay because I truly believe Jesus Christ came, died and rose again the third day. That is where my faith is,” Drew told Religion News Service during an interview in the home she shares with her wife and their two children.
Born in 1979 in East Texas, Drew was raised in the Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, a group of conservative churches that believe only the King James Bible is the word of God. Drew’s childhood was punctuated by physical and spiritual abuse, and her introduction to a vengeful God taught her that her salvation was in constant jeopardy.
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But as a trans woman, veteran and pacifist with a self-described Orthodox Christian theology, Drew shatters more than a few stereotypes.
Described by friends as a quick-witted prankster who exudes mercy — “she makes everybody feel like she’s in their corner, even if she doesn’t agree with them,” said Southern Baptist Convention abuse survivor Hannah-Kate Williams — Drew regularly receives online vitriol from those on the right and the left.
Though openly LGBTQ affirming, Drew is a member of the Christian Reformed Church, a denomination that voted in 2022 and again in 2023 to codify its opposition to homosexual sex. But Drew, a lesbian, has no plans to leave her congregation.
“I get asked a lot, why do I stay? Why do I stay in these spaces when I am not welcome there? I stay because I truly believe Jesus Christ came, died and rose again the third day. That is where my faith is,” Drew told Religion News Service during an interview in the home she shares with her wife and their two children.
Born in 1979 in East Texas, Drew was raised in the Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, a group of conservative churches that believe only the King James Bible is the word of God. Drew’s childhood was punctuated by physical and spiritual abuse, and her introduction to a vengeful God taught her that her salvation was in constant jeopardy.
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