Donnie Anderson

Donnie Anderson (born 1947 or 1948) is an American Baptist minister and social activist based in Rhode Island. As executive minister of the Rhode Island Council of Churches from 2007 to 2020, Anderson acted as a representative for various denominations and church organizations in the state and was the subject of media attention in 2018 when she came out as a transgender woman. She ran in the Democratic primary to represent Senate District 1 (Providence) in 2022, losing to incumbent Maryellen Goodwin. In 2023, she was elected chair of the Rhode Island Democratic Women's Caucus, a political organization separate from the state Democratic Party. The Providence Journal in 2018 described her as a social activist for "the poor, the homeless and the LGBTQ community in Rhode Island."{{cite news |last1=Kuffner |first1=Alex |title=Prominent minister's long journey to womanhood |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/2018/09/05/prominent-ri-minister-reflects-on-transition-to-woman/10845220007/ |access-date=October 30, 2023 |work=The Providence Journal |date=September 4, 2018}}

Biography

= Early life =

Anderson was born to Carl and Ruth (Fassel) Anderson ({{died-in|2003}}) in 1947 or 1948.{{cite news |title=Ruth Anderson Obituary (2003) - Providence, RI |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/providence/name/ruth-anderson-obituary?id=17800428 |access-date=December 26, 2023 |work=The Providence Journal |via=Legacy.com}}{{cite news |last1=Bartlett |first1=Emma |title=Rev. Dr. Donnie Anderson shares her experience as a transgender woman |url=https://warwickonline.com/stories/rev-dr-donnie-anderson-shares-her-experience-as-a-transgender-woman,182699 |access-date=December 31, 2023 |work=Warwick Beacon |date=November 2, 2022}} Raised in Cranston, Rhode Island, she graduated from Cranston High School West in 1966, when the institution was a combined middle school and high school,{{cite news |last1=Lowney |first1=Brian J. |title=ACLU files suit challenging prayer banner |url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/aclu-files-suit-challenging-prayer-banner |access-date=November 24, 2023 |work=National Catholic Reporter |date=May 19, 2011 |location=Cranston, Rhode Island}}{{cite news |last1=Kalunian |first1=Kim |title=Council of Churches leader supports removal of prayer banner |url=https://warwickonline.com/stories/rev-from-council-of-churches-expresses-support-for-prayer-banner-removal,66926 |access-date=December 2, 2023 |work=Warwick Beacon |date=January 19, 2012}} and she went on to earn a bachelor's degree in business education from Barrington College, a master's degree in religious studies from Providence College, and a Doctor of Ministry from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary.{{cite news |title=Cranston Hall of Fame inducts 2012 class this Friday |url=https://cranstononline.com/stories/cranston-hall-of-fame-inducts-2012-class-this-friday,75908 |access-date=December 25, 2023 |work=Cranston Herald |date=October 17, 2012}}

Anderson was raised in the conservative evangelical Protestant faith, but felt her "attitudes shifted" during college.{{cite news |last1=Ziner |first1=Karen Lee |title=Uncoupling |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/2018/12/14/reinventing-relationship-when-one-spouse-reveals-theyre-transgender-video/6586067007/ |access-date=December 3, 2023 |work=The Providence Journal |date=December 14, 2018}} By her early thirties, she was affiliated with the American Baptist denomination, which she found to be more liberal. In the 1980s, she was pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Southington, Connecticut, during which the church was primed for an expansion that would, according to Anderson, allow the church to "minister to the needs of people more effectively."{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/record-journal-church-eyes-expansion/137329516/|date=May 19, 1984|page=15|title=Church eyes expansion|newspaper=Record-Journal|location=Meriden, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023}}{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/record-journal-area-churches-list-holy-w/137329437/|date=March 30, 1983|page=26|title=Area churches list Holy Week services|newspaper=Record-Journal|location=Meriden, Connecticut|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 24, 2023}} In Connecticut, she felt that her "openness" was out of place, being the only pastor in that denomination in New England who supported the concept of ordaining women.

= Rhode Island Council of Churches =

Anderson was a pastor for the First Baptist Church in East Greenwich, before joining the Rhode Island Council of Churches (RISCC) around 2007.{{cite news |last1=Botelho |first1=Jessica |title=Heroes of faith to be celebrated at Oct. 31 breakfast |url=https://warwickonline.com/stories/heroes-of-faith-to-be-celebrated-at-oct-31-breakfast,85810 |access-date=December 25, 2023 |work=Warwick Beacon |date=September 26, 2013}} She served as RISCC's executive minister, a role in which she acted as a "face" of the organization, which in 2012 represented churches from thirteen Protestant and eight Orthodox denominations in addition to seven church-affiliated groups. In this capacity, she was among the opponents of legislative efforts in 2008 allowing 24-hour gambling in two casinos in the state;{{cite news |last1=Vosk |first1=Stephanie |title=R.I. aims to beat Mass. to casinos |url=https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2008/01/04/r-i-aims-to-beat/52688945007/ |access-date=November 24, 2023 |work=Cape Cod Times |date=January 4, 2008}} spoke in favor of a 2011 lawsuit against the city of Cranston by the American Civil Liberties Union to remove a prayer banner displayed in Cranston High School West (Ahlquist v. Cranston); was among religious leaders who gave testimony at the Rhode Island State House in favor of a 2013 same-sex marriage bill;{{cite news |last1=Kalunian |first1=Kim |title=Confidence grows same sex marriage bill will make it this time |url=https://warwickonline.com/stories/confidence-grows-same-sex-marriage-bill-will-make-it-this-time,78448 |access-date=December 2, 2023 |work=Warwick Beacon |date=January 17, 2013}} and led interfaith sanctuary church efforts in 2017.{{cite news |last1=Ziner |first1=Karen Lee |last2=Borg |first2=Linda |title=Schools, churches take steps to ease fears |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/2017/02/24/ri-schools-take-steps-to-ease-fears-in-face-of-deportation-threats/22079129007/ |access-date=December 31, 2023 |work=The Providence Journal |date=February 24, 2017}} Anderson participated in the 2017 Women's March in Washington, D.C., held after the inauguration of Donald Trump as president, and shortly after she signed a petition opposing Executive Order 13769, one of the executive actions comprising the Trump travel ban, alongside other religious leaders in the state.{{cite news |last1=Gregg |first1=Katherine |title=R.I. religious leaders condemn refugee ban; Tobin silent |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/2017/01/30/ri-religious-leaders-condemn-refugee-ban-tobin-silent/22576516007/ |access-date=December 25, 2023 |work=The Providence Journal |date=January 30, 2017}}

A transgender woman, Anderson experienced gender dysphoria since childhood and an interest in "the feminine" when she was growing up, and she started transgender hormone therapy in 2017. She was nearly 70 years old when she told her family she was transgender, and she made her identity public knowledge in May 2018, when she announced her intent to take a three-month sabbatical to begin her male-to-female gender transition through the summer. During the sabbatical, she had her name changed to Donnie and her wife began using her maiden name again; she returned to her position as executive minister in September 2018.

Anderson resigned from her position as executive minister at the start of 2020 after she "felt a call to church ministry." She moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts to become the pastor at the United Methodist Church later that March.{{cite news |last1=Naylor |first1=Donita |title=Donnie Anderson to pastor Methodist church in Provincetown |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/2020/03/16/donnie-anderson-to-pastor-methodist-church-in-provincetown/1519006007/ |access-date=December 28, 2023 |work=The Providence Journal |date=March 15, 2020 |location=Provincetown, Massachusetts}}

= Political activities =

Anderson ran as a candidate in the 2022 Democratic primary for the Rhode Island General Assembly seat for Senate District 1 in Providence, challenging incumbent Maryellen Goodwin, the majority whip of the state senate. She was reported to be one of three transgender people running in the primaries in September, who, if elected, would be the first transgender person to join the General Assembly.{{cite news |last1=Fitzpatrick |first1=Edward |title=R.I. could elect its first transgender state legislator this year |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/08/10/metro/ri-could-elect-its-first-transgender-state-legislator-this-year/ |access-date=November 23, 2023 |work=The Boston Globe |date=August 10, 2022 |location=Providence, Rhode Island}} Goodwin ultimately won the primary.{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Patrick |title=Progressive push left sputters against establishment Democrats in RI primary |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2022/09/14/ri-primary-2022-general-assembly-election-results/8026015001/ |access-date=December 28, 2023 |work=The Providence Journal |date=September 14, 2022}}

In 2023, Anderson ran unopposed in the election for chair of the Rhode Island Democratic Women's Caucus {{en dash}} an organization that separated from the state Democratic Party over new party bylaws forbidding it from spending and making statements and political endorsements.{{cite news |last1=Fitzpatrick |first1=Edward |title=R.I. Democratic Women's Caucus elects the Rev. Donnie Anderson as chair |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/27/metro/ri-democratic-womens-caucus-elects-rev-donnie-anderson-chair/ |access-date=November 23, 2023 |work=The Boston Globe |date=January 27, 2023 |location=Providence, Rhode Island}}{{cite news |last1=Gregg |first1=Katherine |title=Rhode Island Democratic Women's Caucus makes history with new group chair |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/27/rev-donnie-anderson-elected-as-first-trans-chair-of-ri-dem-womens-caucus/69847265007/ |access-date=November 23, 2023 |work=The Providence Journal |date=January 27, 2023}} At the time of her election, she was a minister at the Pilgrim United Church of Christ in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She moderated the caucus's forum for Democratic Party congressional candidates in the special election for the 1st congressional district that year. Allen Waters, a former Republican who was running in the race, said in an open letter to the caucus that he would not participate because Anderson was transgender. Waters's remarks were rebuked by Anderson and other candidates including local and state political figures Aaron Regunberg, Sabina Matos, Gabe Amo, and John Goncalves.{{cite news |last1=Fitzpatrick |first1=Edward |title=Allen Waters blasted by fellow R.I. congressional candidates after declining forum citing transgender moderator |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/06/12/metro/ri-congressional-candidate-wont-take-part-forum-because-moderator-is-transgender/ |access-date=November 23, 2023 |work=The Boston Globe |date=June 12, 2023 |location=Providence, Rhode Island}}{{cite news |last1=Gregg |first1=Katherine |title=RI's congressional candidates took part in first in-person forum Monday night. What they said. |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/24/where-do-ris-cd1-candidates-stand-on-issues-candidates-attend-forum-congressional-election/70455145007/ |access-date=November 23, 2023 |work=The Providence Journal |date=July 24, 2023}}

Donnie Anderson

Biography

= Early life =

= Rhode Island Council of Churches =

= Political activities =

See also

References

Further reading