Megan Rohrer

Megan Rohrer (born 1980) is an American activist for homeless and LGBTQ+ rights and former Lutheran bishop. Rohrer is the first openly transgender minister ordained in the Lutheran tradition and a successful author and finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in 2012 for "''Letters For My Brothers: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect."'' As an award-winning historian, Rohrer has written the book ''San Francisco's Transgender District''. Following his reception as a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 2010, he was interviewed by ''Cosmopolitan'' about his experiences as an out and queer clergy member, stating "I'm a pastor. I'm a parent. I'm transgender. I am a work in progress." Rohrer served the church as bishop of its Sierra Pacific Synod from 2021 until asked to resign in June 2022. Allegations of racism came forward after Rohrer was directed to terminate "a Latino pastor following a two-year investigation into several accusations against him." On June 23, 2023, Rohrer was removed from the roster of the Sierra Pacific Synod by letter, and rostered ministers were notified by email on June 28. In his 2023 whistleblower lawsuit against the denomination for violations of labor laws and defamation, Rohrer cites discrimination from the ELCA for being transgender.

Early life and education

Rohrer was born on April 3, 1980, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In 1998, they graduated from high school and enrolled at Augustana University to study religion. In college they came out as gay, and became president of the gay–straight alliance. They encountered resistance, threats, and attempted "cures" by fellow students for their sexuality. Rohrer graduated from Augustana in 2001.

Rohrer moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2002 to continue their studies. By this time they had come to identify as transgender. Rohrer attended Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary before transferring to the Pacific School of Religion (PSR) in Berkeley, California, earning a Master of Divinity degree from PSR in 2005 and a Doctor of Ministry degree in 2016. In 2024, Rohrer successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation titled "Trans The*logy Without Apology." His Ph.D is in transformative studies through the California Institute of Integral Studies and his dissertation was later published through Wilgefortis Press.

Personal life

Rohrer claims to be related to Nicholas of Flüe in the 16th generation.

Rohrer goes by he and they pronouns.

Homeless advocacy

In 2000, Rohrer worked at the Children's Home Society in Sioux Falls, SD.

Rohrer formed the San Francisco LGBTQ Meetup to organize support for the homeless. “We can’t cure homelessness,” said Rohrer. “But we can still be present and be visible out in our community. That was a big part of why we wanted to start having these gatherings.” Rohrer has helped the homeless in San Francisco, serving as the Executive Director of The Welcome Ministry, since 2002, which programs serve the homeless and hungry by distributing sandwiches, and has participated in a night ministry with other local pastors. Rohrer has also helped to grow and distribute thousands of pounds of free food from community gardens.

Feeding people, especially seniors and people living with HIV/AIDS, has always been part of The Welcome Ministry. Rohrer managed the hot meal program and food pantry of the historic St Francis Lutheran Church, near the Castro, in San Francisco. In 2013, the city was actively working to gentrify the Duboce Park and Castro neighborhoods, and began by attempting to close down the food program as a means to reduce homelessness. On May 14, 2011, homeless youth protested in the Civic Center because of the reduction of funding for queer youth outreach, especially for ages 16 to 24, as youth age out of the foster care system. Rohrer organized an encampment and "street sweep" where youth protested by sweeping the streets with brooms as they did in the 1960s with the Vanguard Youth.

Through Welcome, in 2015, Rohrer supported efforts in Kona, Hawaii to benefit homeless people and other low-income people with their vision needs, by making gathering resources and providers in the area to sponsor and support the initiative. At the event, three generations, Megan Rohrer, his mother, Peggy Heard, and grandmother, Darlene Audus, bathed the feet of the homeless at a washing station and applied lotion to the often cracked and ragged feet.

American mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, originally founded the Singers of the Street (SOS) choir, which became a project of Welcome. Singers of the Street is a choir of San Franciscans who have experienced, or are at risk of, homelessness and its mission is to raise their voices for justice, healing and joy. In 2015, ''Street Requium,'' composed by Kathleen McGuire, in collaboration with Andy Payne and Jonathon Welch, was performed by von Stade and the Singers of the Street in the Bay Area, as a means of mourning the homeless who have died as a result of being unhoused. The Bay Area Reporter interviewed Rohrer in 2016 during the first Trump Administration when speculation that the city of San Francisco could lose $1 billion in federal funding for housing services, because of his advocacy work with HIV/AIDS homelessness.

The tension in San Francisco, due to the differing beliefs between those who believe that unhoused people actively reject help provided by the city and advocates who believe the city restricts who receives help by policies made by political pundits, has been a long standing argument. In 2022, Rohrer was appointed to the Local Homeless Coordinating Board, which advises the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. Rohrer continues to serve as the co-chair of the San Francisco Local Homelessness Coordinating Board, which is an "advisory body to the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), ensuring a unified homelessness strategy within San Francisco," and working to decrease racial bias in shelter and supportive housing. In February 20, 2024, Rohrer's work helped secure over $50 million in federal funding for homeless individuals and domestic violence survivors.GLIDE Foundation (2024, February 21)
''GLIDE Staff Helped to Secure $50M to House the Homeless - GLIDE - San Francisco: serving the people of the Tenderloin and San Francisco since 1963''.
GLIDE - San Francisco: Serving the People of the Tenderloin and San Francisco Since 1963. (Accessed March 13, 2025)

Ordained ministry

Rohrer was ordained in 2006, during a time when the ELCA did not allow LGBTQ pastors to openly serve. When the policy changed in 2009, Rohrer became the first openly transgender person to serve as a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

In 2010, Rohrer and six other Bay Area gay and transgender pastors were reinstated into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, after the national assembly voted to allow partnered gay people to serve as clergy. The pastors' churches had previously been removed from the denomination for ordaining gay and lesbian ministers who refused to adhere to the denomination's document guiding clergy conduct, "Visions and Expectations". At the time "Visions and Expectations" required that candidates for and persons on the clergy roster remain celibate outside of legal marriage and monogamous within marriage.

In 2014, Rohrer was installed as pastor of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in San Francisco.

In 2017, Rohrer was hired by the San Francisco Police Department as their first chaplain from the LGBTQ community. "I am grateful that I get to be a SFPD chaplain. These days it is a much harder to be a policy maker, judge or advocate. While I may be there on difficult days, in follow-up to a shooting, death or other critical incident, I also get to be there when officers collect coats for the homeless and new cadets graduate. My vision, in partnership with the SFPD, is to enable faith leaders across San Francisco to support victims of crimes, first responders in community policing efforts, disaster preparedness response and death notifications,” said Rohrer.

On May 8, 2021, Rohrer was elected bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod, becoming the first openly trans person to serve as bishop of a major US Christian denomination. On September 11, 2021, Rohrer was installed as bishop.

On December 11, 2021, the Sierra Pacific Synod terminated the employment of Nelson Rabell-González, who presided over Misión Latina Luterana in Stockton, California, and defunded the congregation. The congregation was uninformed about the decision and Rohrer, who attended the service there the next day, declined to provide an explanation. Members of the congregation protested the decision and left the building with a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe to worship elsewhere. Rohrer also allegedly threatened to call the police on a father and child who remained in the sacristy. Later that month, the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries suspended Rohrer from their membership for alleged "racist words and actions". In February 2022, the synod announced that Rabell-González was removed for "continual communications of verbal harassment and retaliatory actions from more than a dozen victims," which Rabell-González has denied. On May 27, 2022, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton called for Rohrer's resignation, but initially declined to pursue disciplinary actions.

On June 3, 2022, the governing body of the Sierra Pacific Synod considered a resolution asking for Rohrer's resignation but, if Rohrer refused, for them to be dismissed through formal adjudication. Out of the 324 legal votes cast, 183 voted for the resolution and 138 voted against. Since passage of this resolution required a two-thirds majority the resolution was defeated. On June 4, following an announcement by Eaton that she would be "initiating the discipline process immediately including suspension of Bishop Rohrer, based on additional information that has come to light", Rohrer resigned as bishop.

On March 1, 2023, Rohrer filed a lawsuit against the ELCA and Sierra Pacific Synod, seeking monetary damages for gender discrimination, openly "hostile work environment" and workplace harassment.

On June 23, 2023, Rohrer was removed from the ELCA roster of Word and Sacrament by Interim Bishop Claire S. Burkat as a result of the denial of Rohrer's petition for On Leave from Call status.

Since 2023, Dr. Rohrer has been the Sr. Church Communications Specialist for GLIDE Memorial Church.

Transgender historian

In 2011, Rohrer and historian Joey Plaster created a remarkable work of public history: Vanguard Revisited, which introduced the history of the 1960s radical queer-youth organization Vanguard to contemporary queer homeless youth, who created their own art and poetry zine in conversation with essays and themes from the original Vanguard newsletter.

Rohrer was recognized by Out Magazine for his work at their 20th Annual Transgender Unity Banquet, in 2012, for his historical research in Vanguard Revisited: The Queer Faith, Sex & Politics of the Youth of San Francisco's Tenderloin.

In 2015, Rohrer started a fundraiser to raise bail for Meagan Taylor, a black trans woman who was held in isolation in an Iowa jail.

Starting in 2016, Rohrer wrote a children's books series expressing LGBTQ themes to help churches who want a safe children's ministry materials for reconciling churches and diverse families.

For the 50th Anniversary of Compton's Cafeteria Riot, in 2016, Rohrer published a second issue of the''Vanguard Revisited'' zine with new materials by the original authors and editors for the Tenderloin Museum. The Tenderloin was the historical geographic center of the city’s emerging GLBT movement from the 1940’s through the 1960’s.

In the wake of the 2016 Oakland warehouse fire, in which at least three transgender people were killed, Rohrer was called upon by the city of Oakland to provide support and assistance to the community. During a December 2016 vigil, in the Castro, 75 people gathered in Harvey Milk Plaza to remember the loss to the transgender community and Cash Askew, a famous transgender musician who also perished at Ghost Ship. Rohrer developed the ''‘''Elegy For Ghost Ship: An Evening of Music In Remembrance’ at Grace Cathedral as a means of healing and mourning the loss of the 36 people who died. "When a tragedy happens in our community we need a lot of opportunities to mourn," Rohrer said. "When the original tragedy happens the first thing we do is mourn the victims and care for the survivors. Then we attend to the people who may have had similar tragedies in their lives and who might be affected by seeing this in the news media." Rohrer also noted that first responders and parents who imagine losing children in such a tragedy might also be in need of guidance and healing.

2018 was the Year of the Woman, with the Women’s March movement, which Rohrer was on the board leadership.

In 2017, Rohrer was hired as the first-ever LGBTQ+ Chaplain for the San Francisco Police Department. In 2017, working with his deeply held belief that religion should unite, not divide, us even further. As part of his work with the San Francisco Police Department, in 2019, Rohrer advocated for then Police Chief William Scott to apologize on behalf of the Police Department, to the Transgender community in San Francisco, at the 53rd anniversary of the Compton's Cafeteria riot, which predated the Stonewall riots in New York by 3 years. This truth and reconciliation event occurred at Glide Memorial Church which has long been a place of advocacy for the Transgender District, especially in the 1960s through 1980s.

As the Trump Administration announced in 2017 that Transgender people would be banned from serving in the military, Rohrer led protests to advocate for the rights of transgender active military and veterans. Rohrer explained why he is protesting "For those who are putting themselves on the line and literally putting their skin at risk, the least we can do is to help them feel comfortable in their bodies as they fight for us. I think that soldiers are anything but a burden. I think they're people who are sacrificing their bodies. And the more that we can do to care for them so that their minds and bodies and spirits are whole and healthy, the stronger our military will be." Also, Rohrer explained that "for every war that I might march against, I will support every soldier who comes home and make sure they have health care."

During the 14th Annual San Francisco Trans March in June 2017, the march leadership protested the police who provided security for the event in Dolores Park and the march through San Francisco, because of police behavior toward BIPOC transgender people. The Trans March leaders told march participants to guard their behavior toward police: "Do not talk to them. Do not take selfies with them. Do not high-five them. Do not thank them." Rohrer, the police chaplain, advised compassion by stating, "For the officers who volunteer at the Trans March, (they do so) because they are LGBTQ, (and) because they want to support their own community, it means the world to them." "Beyond the care that I provide for members of the SFPD, I hope that the existence of a transgender SFPD chaplain can encourage at least one person to seek safety from domestic violence, to report a hate crime, or to learn more about the burden first responders carry on our behalf," Rohrer said.

In late June 2016, people gathered to at 18th and Castro streets to remember the lives of the tragic mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida that took the lives of 49 people with a memorial of flowers, photos and cards. One year later, on June 12, 2017, Rev. Rohrer spoke to over 100 people to remember the anniversary. “We’ve known gun violence before,” shouted Pastor Megan Rohrer. “Angry people of faith are not the majority. We are queer. We are transgender. We are fabulous, we are faithful. We must stand up. We must vote until everyone is safe in bathrooms, in churches, and in the … streets.” “We have also come out of our churches and into the streets! Out of our temples and into the streets! Out of our mosques and into the streets!”

Rohrer has advocated for trans people who would be negatively impacted by proposed "bathroom bills" that seek to restrict restroom usage based on sex assigned at birth. "While courts have long ruled that Title 9 protections cover transgender individuals, newer health care victories and employment protections could be rolled back," Rohrer said in 2017. "Minimally, the large number of court vacancies and the Supreme Court appointment will have large implications for how transgender individuals will be treated by future courts."

In 2021, Rohrer shared their experiences of being a pastor during the COVID-19 pandemic, and advocated for LGBTQ community members to get vaccinated.

Awards, honors, and recognition

* 2010 – OutHistory.org “Since Stonewall Local Histories Contest” First Place for “Man-i-fest: FTM Mentorship in San Francisco from 1976 – 2009" featuring the life and work of Lou Sullivan
* 2011 – Honorary Doctorate, Palo Alto University
* 2012 – Lambda Literary Award finalist, transgender nonfiction
* 2012 – "Pastor Megan Rohrer Day" declared on August 12 by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
* 2014 – Honorable Mention, Unsung Hero of Compassion (awarded by the Dalai Lama)
* 2014 – Award of Merit for ''Zanderology: Disability 101'' (director), International Film Festival for Spirituality, Religion, and Visionary
* 2015 – Distinguished Alumni/ae, Pacific School of Religion
* 2015 – Soldier of Social Change, San Francisco Magazine
* 2017 – Recognized by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors as an LBGT Leader in San Francisco
* 2017 Bay Area Reporter #ChangeMaker Recognition

Publications

Through Grace Lutheran Church and Wilgefortis Press, Rohrer has written a number of books for children in the Good News Children's Book Series.

Children titles authored by Rohrer:
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Children titles authored and illustrated by Rohrer:
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Children titles authored by Rohrer with diverse illustrators:
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Adult titles authored and illustrated by Rohrer:
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Adult titles authored by Rohrer:
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*Rohrer, Megan (2025). ''San Francisco's Transgender District''. Arcadia Publishing.

Adult titles co-authored by Rohrer:
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Adult titles edited by Rohrer:
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Adult titles co-edited by Rohrer:
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References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohrer, Megan
Living people
1980 births
21st-century American Lutheran clergy
Augustana University alumni
Transgender non-binary people
American non-binary people
American transgender people
American LGBTQ rights activists
Religious leaders from the San Francisco Bay Area
LGBTQ people from South Dakota
LGBTQ Lutheran clergy
LGBTQ people from California
People from Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Transgender Christian clergy
Lutheran chaplains
American homelessness activists
Non-binary activists
Religious leaders from South Dakota
21st-century American Lutheran bishops
21st-century American LGBTQ people
Pacific School of Religion alumni
Non-binary Christians