Today was the funeral for Pope Francis and something interesting happened. The honor guard who accompanied his casket included transgender people! Also immigrants, sex workers, poor people, prisoners, and other marginalized people. It seems this was Franics’ expressed desire for his funeral. You can read about this in the official announcement by the Vatican.

Pope Francis has been a conflicting figure for many trans and other LGBT people because while he has often spoken openly and welcomingly of us, he has still maintained much of the old official stance of the Catholic Chruch that we are sinners and that our existence somehow offends human dignity. Nonetheless, he has also embraced us as part of the Church and promoted acceptance of us in society as well. He leaves a mixed record, but we should still recognize that what he did do in shifting the attitude of the Church on LGBT issues was quite revolutionary and, it is to be hoped, a sign of greater things to come. He himself appointed 110 of the 138 Cardinals who will choose his successor, so there seems a good chance that the next pope will continue and hopefully expand on the newfound LGBT acceptance in the Church.

If you want to know a little more about Francis’ history with transgender people and sex workers, this thread on Mastodon has a nice summary.