NC News and Observer
Meiling Arounnarath, Staff Writer

This weekend, Swenson, the first known mainstream Protestant minister to go from male to female while ordained, will speak at the Church of Reconciliation as part of a weekend conference, "Transgender Experience: Deconstructing Stereotypes, Constructing Identities and Communities."

"I grew up 'closeted' as a transgender person," Swenson said. "I know what it's like to live in that closet and having to struggle with those feelings of shame and fear."