Cedar Monroe

Cedar Monroe’s life story is a vibrant tapestry woven with threads of courage, compassion, and spiritual innovation. As a trans activist, creative writer, and hedge priest—a spiritual guide who works outside the bounds of formal religious institutions—Cedar has dedicated himself to cultivating spaces where marginalized voices are not just heard but celebrated.

Cedar was born into a conservative, working-class family in 1983 in San Jose, California. He was raised in Christian fundamentalism, with its emphasis on personal responsibility and opposition to mainstream culture, with rigid views on gender and sexuality. As a young teen, his family moved to rural Washington state, where he grew up on a farm and fell in love with the other-than-human world and the vast forests of the Pacific Northwest.

During his educational journey, Cedar gravitated toward religious studies that allowed him to bridge theology and justice. Cedar graduated from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, in 2010, where he studied cultural studies and first encountered liberation theology and queer theory. He enrolled in Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduating in 2013. He studied liberation theology and interned with Ecclesia common cathedral, where he worked with folks experiencing homelessness.

Monroe was ordained as a deacon in the Episcopal Church in 2012 and as a priest in 2014. His professional path has been one of service, dedicated to uplifting those pushed to society’s margins. He co-founded Chaplains on the Harbor in 2013 and Harbor Roots Farm in 2017, working in Grays Harbor County, where he grew up. He was pastor to around 500 people experiencing homelessness, incarceration and addiction, many of whom were queer. As rural America became less and less hospitable to trans people, and tired of consistent harassment and threats as the only openly queer minister in the community, Cedar and his partner left the community in 2022. He left the Episcopal Church in 2023. His ministry was always outside the formal church structure, hence the term “hedge priest,” which he has kept even after leaving the church and Christianity.

As a hedge priest, Cedar embraces a role as a guide who champions spiritual exploration and community-building beyond the walls of institutionalized religion. Hedge priests often stand at the thresholds—between faiths, communities, and personal identities—providing solace and wisdom to those navigating their spiritual paths. He continues to teach, write story and poetry, hold space for people, and lead ritual. He is preparing to offer spiritual direction.

Cedar married his partner Lee in 2018. He began to transition as a trans man in 2021. They currently live in Cork City, Ireland where Cedar is studying transqueer spirituality, trans/ecology, and new religious movements at University College Cork, working towards a Ph.D. in Study of Religions.

Cedar’s activism continues to tackle systemic challenges like poverty, health care, and homelessness. He has organized with the Poor People's Campaign, with University of the Poor, and with the National Union of the Homeless. His 2024 book, “Trash: A Poor White Journey” masterfully weaves personal narrative with sharp social critique, exploring the intersections of queerness, poverty, and spirituality. In it, Cedar proclaims, “Human beings aren’t trash; it’s the system that enables humans to imagine each other as such that needs to end.” This powerful work invites readers to confront systems of capitalism and colonialism and build a world that where everyone’s needs are met. In Cork, he is working and organizing around trans health care in Ireland.

Cedar Monroe continues to inspire as a writer, speaker, and spiritual leader. Through his enduring commitment to justice and inclusivity, he builds bridges between faith and empowerment, reminding us that spirituality is at its most potent when it uplifts and unites. His legacy shines as a beacon of hope, resilience, and radical compassion, guiding us toward a future where every voice is cherished and every soul recognized as divine.

(This biographical statement written by Brandy M. Brewer from the sources below for a fall 2024 Queer & Trans Theologies class at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and was edited by Monroe.)

Biography Date: January 2026

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