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Lonnie Kenebrew was born on July 20, 1965 in Harvey Illinois. He grew up in a lively family of 11 in Robbins, Illinois. He fondly recalls summers playing sports with his brothers and neighbors. Both his parents were ministers, and his family frequented the Langley Avenue Church of God in Chicago.
Lonnie grew up amidst the civil rights era, and remembers frequently having conversations at home about how to navigate the changing socio political landscape as a Black family. Lonnie’s older brother, Michael, was heavily involved in activism until the day he was tragically murdered in a racial altercation with two white men.
Lonnie was assigned female at birth. At around 3-4 years old, Lonnie recalls having a conversation with the Holy Spirit, who told him that there was something different about him that would upset his parents. At 7-8, when Lonnie was playing house with his friends, he would always want to play the male role without knowing why. Around puberty, he also felt that his genitalia were developing differently — which he later learned was due to his being intersex — but his mother refused to examine him or take him to the gynecologist. While he didn’t have vocabulary for his gender identity, Lonnie grew up feeling different.
At age 16, Lonnie visited his godmother after she lost her husband, and learned for the first time that her goddaughter, Lonnie’s godsister, was transgender. Lonnie had no idea, as his mother had cut off contact with his godmother because of her support for transgender people. Lonnie spent the weekend with his godsister, who introduced him to a lesbian with whom he had his first sexual encounter. Lonnie started to identify as a lesbian.
As soon as Lonnie graduated from college, he moved to New York City and entered a 4 year relationship with another woman from his church community. He wasn’t openly “out,” as he was surrounded by church folks. Even after the relationship ended, he spent time working for the church’s TV ministry.
Lonnie returned home to the Chicago area for good in 2016, moving in with a sister. One day while watching Oprah, her guest was OUTWORDS interviewee Dr. Marci Bowers – the first transgender surgeon to specialize in gender reassignment surgeries. While she told the audience about gender affirming care, Lonnie suddenly realized that he was a trans man. That very day, he called up Dr. Bowers’ office to make plans for getting on testosterone and becoming eligible for top surgery.
When Lonnie came out as transgender to his sister, she asked him to leave; it made her uncomfortable that he would transition in her home. Lonnie moved in with another sister, who supported him through both his medical transition and changing his legal documents. He’s since joined a trans man support group, gotten involved in the local trans community, and got top surgery in 2021.
Alongside vulnerably sharing his story with us, Lonnie opens up about battling feelings of loneliness, the support he feels from his relationship with God, and the importance of unconditional love and forgiveness in all his relationships.