Quite recently, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution stating that use of restrooms in the capital building must be according to one's sex assigned at birth. This was an open effort to embarrass and discriminate against transgender member Sarah McBride - birth gender identity male, current gender identity female. The resolution was proposed by Rep. Nancy Mace who, in her version of Christianity, insists that God created only two genders, male and female. Transgender people, in her eyes, are an abomination to God's design for human beings.
McBride has indicated she will follow the dictates of the resolution. We have to wonder what the response of the hetero men will be when she enters their restroom as they are relieving themselves at the urinals. Wouldn't we all like to be a "fly on that wall?"
On a more serious note, though, we need to understand how so many Christians have come to this blanket condemnation of transgender people and agree that it must be considered sinful to be a trans person.
What the Old Testament of the Ancient World Says
The Basics of Creation
First and foremost, the Old Testament states that God created the heavens and the earth and all the creatures that dwell on it. This means that humanity was created alongside all other living beings, each with its own unique nature and purpose. Interestingly, the biblical text refers to God using both masculine and feminine attributes—suggesting a divine nature that transcends human gender constructs.
Additionally, many species of sea animals and other creatures exhibit gender fluidity or transition between sexes as part of their natural existence. If God's creation includes beings that change gender, what does that imply about gender diversity in the human experience?
Some argue that biblical texts have been misinterpreted when it comes to gender identity and expression. While certain passages are often cited in debates about gender and sexuality, nowhere does the Old Testament explicitly condemn transgender individuals. If humanity was made in God's image—and if God embodies both masculine and feminine qualities—could this suggest a broader divine understanding of gender?
This perspective raises an interesting question for those engaged in trans dating and identity exploration: if God's creation is diverse and dynamic, might human gender also be more fluid than rigid societal norms suggest? Food for thought.
Enter Mosaic Law
Mosaic Law was that by which all Jews were to live life. It was very detailed and spelled out what was believed to be God's design for living according to his law. Jews were forbidden to eat, port, rabbit, or shellfish; they were never to charge interest on loans; and it was okay to kill a woman who had premarital sex. A man was never to don a woman's garment, nor was a woman ever to wear a man's apparel. Strict Christian traditions and a literal interpretation of the Bible often use this ancient law to "prove" that cross dressing is sinful as it applies to men and women who identify as the opposite gender identity.
Interestingly, these same Christians embrace only that one "rule" from Mosaic law while totally ignoring all others, affirming that the "new laws" given by Christ Jesus are to be the framework of today's Christianity.
The Book of Psalms
Everyone who has read this book knows that it is beautiful poetry all to the glory of God. Psalm 139 is often used to "prove" that God made everyone male or female and nothing else. "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb...My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place..." Many conservative Christians use this verse to claim that God created each body as male or female, and to change that body, especially its sexual organs through gender reassignment surgery, whether that is to either male or female, is to be condemned. A woman must remain a woman no matter what their internal sense of their identity as the opposite sex and their need for gender expression as a transgender person.
But what about cisgender people who alter their own image with such things as medications and plastic surgery? This, to conservative Christians, is okay because gender has not been changed. A woman is still a woman; and a man is still a man - male and female remain the same. But transgender people, given the freedom and rights to become the opposite gender goes against the will and intention of God and can even be the first indications of a fallen world. Good grief.
We have to wonder how these so-called Christians justify the birth of intersex people who do not have a definite gender identity or eunuchs who are male but without gonads. Did God fashion such people to be non binary? And do they have an internal sense of gender dysphoria? They certainly are not men and women in the way God intended, according to these Christians. So, we are still on the same subject - what does God truly intend? And are these people of the one flesh that God has created?
Certainly, there were carryovers from the Old Testament in the teachings of Jesus. God created man (man being used generically here), and it is our duty to love God. But now, God speaks to us through his chosen Messiah, Jesus. And Jesus didn't teach about biological sex, sexual orientation, same sex attraction, gender expressions, sexual organs, being gender fluid or non binary, or having gender dysphoria. Transgender and gay people were not even part of Biblical terminology.
What Jesus did say in His Sermon on the Mount was the following:
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“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
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“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
And who was the bearer of wisdom to the early church after Jesus died? The apostle Paul. And here's what Paul had to say in Galatians: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” And he followed this by admonishing church leaders for judging other Christians by their physical bodies rather than what lies within them - the real treasure.
Check out Matthew 25:40
In telling a parable about God returning to earth and separating the righteous from the wicked, Jesus says, "Verily, I say to you, inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me." The righteous are those that have cared for the most marginalized of the socially constructed hierarchy. And today, transgender people are among the most marginalized. God's word couldn't be any clearer than this. If you love God, then you love those who have chosen any gender identity or sexual orientation. Such is the position of Drew Stever, senior pastor and transgender man of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The Hypocrisy in Today's Evangelical Christianity
This command from God has been forgotten and lost among conservative Christians who take a literal reading of what the Bible teaches in the New Testament only when it suits their agendas rather than understanding what Jesus meant. Most Christians insist that they follow the teaching of Jesus to the letter - in reality, they do not, and they are not image bearers of what God wants them to be. You must be male or female and none other.
But what about the intersex and eunuch populations? Did God create them too? In the New Testament, there is the tale of the Ethiopian eunuch who was the financial manager for the Queen but who was converted to Christianity by the evangelist Phillip. He wasn't male or female, so what was he according to the strictest Christians who say there are only men and women according to the laws of God? Today, this eunuch, to them, would be asexual and a marginalized member of society to be shunned.
God's Word Says It All
God doesn't "work" this way, and Jesus told us so. We are all "one flesh" woven together by our faith and our commitment to love God and our neighbors as ourselves, in the same way that God loves us.
When supposedly religious people take it upon themselves to judge, persecute, marginalize, and restrict the rights and freedoms of any member of the LGBTQ+ community, and certainly trans people who are the most current targets, they are not acting according to God's plan.
In the Book of Luke, there is the parable of the Good Samaritan. It begins with someone asking Jesus, what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what he thought he needed to do. "Thou shalt love thy Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your strength, and your mind, and love thy neighbor as thyself." When asked what this meant, Jesus told the parable.
The upshot of the parable is that all people that God created, no matter the ethnicity, the race, the nationality, the biological sex, the sexual behavior, or a gender identity that is opposite to their male and female sex at birth are loved by God and must also be loved by all of us. This includes all non binary folks too. And while it may be human nature to "avoid" or even judge or condemn those who are not hetero male and female, this is not according to the will of God.
Being Transgender in the 21st Century
Transgender and other non binary people face challenges that hetero male and female individuals do not. One of the biggest challenges comes from numerous state laws that are meant to demean and discriminate against them. Most of these laws have been passed by state legislatures who, while not always openly saying so, are rooted in conservative Christianity. To them, there is only male and female, and everyone must identify as such according to their bender at birth. Is being transgender a sin to these people? Yes. And is the word transgender itself akin to a curse word? Yes.
The Results for Trans and Non Binary People
Judgement and discrimination affect trans people and other non binary individuals in many negative ways. When they assume a new identity as trans or non binary, they must avoid gender expression in a host of environments; they suffer mental health issues, including dysphoria and eating disorders, to name just a few.
God is in Charge
Non binary and transgender people, whether male and female or neither identity, must establish their own relationship with a God who loves them. That relationship can be intimate, personal, and wholesome. God doesn't demand only male and female identities. His grace extends to all of his children.
