Open Doors Sharing Closet opens at Federal Way church

The Open Doors Sharing Closet is now open, located at Wayside United Church of Christ at 2000 Southwest Dash Point Road in Federal Way.

The closet is designed to provide free clothing in an affirmative and supportive environment, especially for those who are changing how they express their gender.

After reaching out and scheduling a private appointment to pick out and/or try on clothes, guests can take home six items to add to their own wardrobe.

When Julie Walker joined Wayside UCC, leadership was looking for suggestions on inclusive and affirming projects. Walker suggested an affirming closet to offer clothes to trans people in the community.

“There are people who are going through transition that have difficulty knowing how to put things together and find clothes. I know in my day, you couldn’t go into the store and just buy anything, so it’s nice to have some place where they can go and try things on, and have people that can help them put something together,” Walker said.

The idea grew, and soon Wayside church member Mimi Meeker became involved in championing the project. Christopher Landers-Agosta also jumped in to help, and many others in the church and community helped out too.

“We just want to be a supportive environment for them to explore their new identity, kind of a welcome to your gender party,” Meeker said.

The closet had their first customers on opening day on Aug. 3, during a Pride celebration hosted by Wayside UCC.

“We had two trans individuals at Pride that came through, and were really shocked that we’re doing this for free,” Meeker said.

While the church is providing the space, the closet is its own entity and guests don’t have to attend services or be of any specific religion.

The focus is on the trans community, but already the closet has served others in need of accessible clothing. Meeker said she put together some pieces for someone to wear to a funeral who didn’t have anything appropriate. The closet could also be a resource for someone going to a job interview or who just needs specific clothing and doesn’t have the means to purchase it.

For people who are interested in donating, Meeker said, “look for something that’s current season, something you would lend to a good friend, so clean, not in need of mending.”

Transparent Closet in Puyallup at First Christian Church and Hope’s Closet in Tacoma helped the volunteers “determine guidelines for providing clothing to those in need,” and also gave them guidance on “what information and paperwork to retain” to help obtain grants, Meeker said.

A different time

Walker is transgender and began her transition about 50 years ago. At the time, she didn’t have the language for what she felt, but was “bullied horribly all my life,” for being different.

“Tacoma was a very, very dark place to be if you were LGBT at that particular time … most people lived in hiding in order to survive,” Walker said.

She first began living as a woman a few years after high school, around 1978 or so. One of the challenges about transitioning is that it can be like “going through puberty all over again,” where they “need to do that really quick, and we don’t have the luxury of having time,” where ”natal-born girls have a period of time and your mom and other women to help kind of guide them through that,” Walker said.

“I remember the first time going out and buying makeup, and I was terrified. I was absolutely terrified, and I didn’t know what to get. I didn’t have anybody to guide me, and I picked out what I thought I would like, and I didn’t know how to put it on. I used way too much,” Walker said.

“I think that some people feel very insecure because passing is a big deal still to a lot of people, for sure. It’s very important, and they don’t want to be laughed at, and I understand that. I didn’t want to be either,” Walker said.

For people who are starting their transition, Walker said, “the thing that I try to impress upon people is that the focus should not be so much on do I pass or do I not pass? The focus is on how you present yourself and how you carry yourself. That’s really important.”

Another member of the church, Jamie, is also transgender and said that although they have a supportive family, they know people this closet would help and went through their own experiences with a lack of acceptance in middle school. Jamie is nonbinary and now in high school.

Thinking about those that this closet would help, Jamie said, “I had this one friend that was a lesbian, and already knew that if she came out, her parents would probably kick her out. She wanted to wear something that wasn’t as feminine and just wear more gender neutral clothes, but she didn’t have the resources for that.”

To schedule a shopping session or donation, email OpenDoors@waysideucc.org. A volunteer will reach out to schedule, and the shopping trip can be confidential.

Robin and Jamie Lutze attend Wayside United Church of Christ and have been big supporters of the opening of the closet. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror

Christopher Landers-Agosto are two volunteers who have been involved in creating the closet. Here they stand by an earlier version of the church’s pride doors that was vandalized in the past. Next to the old doors is an informational poster about the history of the doors, their vandalization, and how they’ve continued to put up new ones.

Aside from clothes, the closet also includes accessories like earrings, shoes, purses and hair accessories.

Mimi Meeker has led the project to create the closet, shown here with Christopher Landers-Agosto, who has volunteered a lot of time and effort to help create it.