What is the Christian response to transgenderism?

 

 (reprinted from the C.S. Lewis Institute @cslewisinstitute.org) 

When it comes to the topic of transgenderism, the popular perception is that political progressives of all stripes are affirming, while Christians and those with more traditional views oppose it. Christians in particular are frequently labeled “transphobic,” the assumption being that their views are motivated by hate, rather than a commitment to the well-being of their neighbor. However, Christians are far from alone in their concerns about the transgender movement. Many self-described secular voices also have serious reservations about the aims of transgenderism. Consequently, the first portion of this article will feature exclusively secular arguments against transgenderism. I will then conclude by grounding human sexuality in biblical anthropology.

The Challenge of Science

First, we need to introduce some important distinctions, beginning with science. The claim that human sexuality is binary (male or female exclusively) is rooted in human biology, giving us a classification that is a matter of basic anatomy. True, there are some exceptions in morphology, hormonal expression, or genetic makeup, but these cases are rare, and they represent a departure from a normative biological makeup. This is why we refer to them as the exception rather than the rule.

Although few pro-trans advocates would dispute basic human anatomy, they generally make a sharp distinction between gender and biology. Biology may be fixed, but gender, so the argument goes, is a feeling or perception that one possesses of their male/female identity. The term for the dissociation between one’s feelings and one’s biological sex is known as gender dysphoria. The radical claim of pro-trans advocates is that one’s perception of male/ femaleness, which is fluid and subjective, can become a biological reality through the instrumental application of medical science. In this sense, the sexual reassignment process, which includes everything from hormone infusions, plastic surgery, and radical invasive surgical procedures, is an attempt to rewrite the biological script.

While some may feel a profound disconnect between their feelings and their biological sex, the scientific facts represent a stark challenge. Consider one major factor: biological maleness and femaleness of any being across species is not merely chromosomal, but gamete based. If you’re an egg producer, you’re female. If you’re a sperm producer, you’re male. Since we don’t have combinations of eggs and sperm, sex in mammals is binary. There are no male and female combinations. While this may occur in certain types of worms, snails, and other invertebrates, it’s not exhibited in mammals. So biological sexuality is not something that can be rescripted. Whether you are a secular person, Buddhist, Mormon, or Christian, the science still applies. If you support science, the notion that sexuality is fluid and malleable collapses.

Secular Opposition to Transgenderism

It may come as a surprise that many of the most vocal critics of transgenderism include medical professionals, journalists, whistleblowers, and the LGB community. None of these are necessarily Christian. Rather, they represent a spectrum of cultural and political views. Take Jamie Reed, for example. Jamie is married to a trans man and identifies as a queer woman. She describes herself as politically to the left of Bernie Sanders. In 2018, she became the case manager for The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The logic of this program was that if you could treat children before they went through puberty and really took on masculine or feminine traits, it would ensure a smoother transition; they would be happier as adults.

However, in early 2023 Reed became a whistleblower because she came to recognize the physical and psychological harm of transitioning minors who couldn’t possibly grasp the radical and irreversible repercussions of such a procedure. She has been speaking against the transitioning of minors for several years and even started her own website, LGB Courage Coalition, which until recently was tagged LGBT Courage Coalition. They have dropped the T because they no longer want to align with it.

Another vocal critic of this movement is Bari Weiss, founder of The Free Press, a news organization that seeks to be an unbiased alternative to mainstream media. The Free Press has been vocal about the harms coming to minors who are being transitioned instead of being treated for mental health problems. Once again, the typical narrative that pits transgenderism exclusively against Christians and other religious-minded people doesn’t hold water here. Weiss is a secular person and a married lesbian, hardly a poster-child for traditionalism. And the book that exposed the full harms of transitioning of minors, Irreversible Damage, is by Abigail Shrier, a self-described progressive Jew.

The Christian View of Sex and Gender

The Christian stance that biology trumps any gender feeling isn’t rooted in hate, but clarity. Consider these timely words from Genesis 1:27:

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (NIV)

Interestingly, in this passage the word create or bara in Hebrew means to shape or form. That is a physical description of our sex. In other words, what makes us male or female is grounded in a material substance. We are shaped or formed male and female. We are physically different from each other and those differences are not limited solely to what we see externally, but they go all the way down to our gametes. The immutable characteristics cannot be changed by any amount of testosterone or estrogen supplements. When God gives us passages like this in the Bible, they are meant to bring clarity if we ever find ourselves confused.

My hope with this article has been to offer greater clarity on a highly contested topic and to bolster courage for speaking into it with the right balance of conviction and compassion. The challenge for those of us who follow Jesus is to remember what it is like to live without the clarity of mind that is given through a relationship with God. What seems obvious to Christians may be so only because they are viewing things from this side of the salvation experience. If we can stop momentarily to think of who we would be apart from God’s transforming work in our lives, we can move away from fear, anger, and confusion and toward a firm and compassionate response.