Many Christians seem to have developed strong views on gender transition and non-binary gender.

They were a pretty big deal in the recent US Presidential election. And it’s not hard to find commentary online about gender.

Is there good reason for this?

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What’s the problem?

From reading, it seems there are three main issues, for conservative Christians at least:

1. God made the human race to have two genders and two only. Alternative genders and transitioning from one gender to the other is therefore against God’s plan for us.
2. Transitioning from one gender to another is an unnecessary and sometimes dangerous operation that is sometimes allowed, or even pushed on teens, without careful consideration.
3. Working out practical issues like which bathrooms to use and sporting eligibility can be confusing and upsetting for some people.

Let’s examine these issues.

What does the Bible say?

The conservative Christian condemnation of gender fluidity is, as far as I can discover, based on two Old Testament verses.

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.”

So, it is argued, God created just two genders, and we shouldn’t try to alter that.

I don’t know about you, but this seems to me to be an extraordinarily week argument. Consider:

The literature genre

This verse appears in a passage that reads more like a theological “Just so” story, a folk tale. If we don’t accept this story as factual biology (and I don’t, since I accept evolution), then why should this gender statement be the basis of social policy or Christian ethics?

Only two genders?

This verse doesn’t say there can’t be any other gender, it just describes what we may say is a fact of God’s creation. The rest is a weak inference. Note that the passage says God made land and water, night and day, but there are also wetlands and twilight, which are between each of the created alternatives. So the writer doesn’t appear to be using these twofold descriptions in an exclusive way to deny there are other possibilities.

I have heard of a school “girl”, a hundred years ago, who actually had both sets of genital organs – a penis and a vagina. How does this unfortunate “girl” fit in with the idea that God only made 2 genders and nothing in between? Was “she ” made in God’s image or not? Did God make a mistake creating “her”? And of course, there are many others in the same situation..

The totality of God’s plan?

The passage doesn’t say that anything other than male and female is wrong and contrary to God’s plan. We can see the Bible also says God knits us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). But few christians think that means we should not alter what God has made through medical interventions, even immediately post birth. I know of several children who probably wouldn’t be alive if we said post birth operations were contrary to God’s stated plan. So if it’s OK to change the way people were born in some ways, why not with regard to gender?

Deuteronomy 22:5

“A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this.”

Again, it is argued, this passage makes it clear that there are only two genders, and God detests anything else. But while this passage seems more relevant than the previous one, there are problems with this interpretation.

Does clothing = gender?

This passage is talking about clothing, not gender operations or gender identity. To be fair, it does say that God doesn’t like men dressing as women and women dressing as men. But the gender question is about whether the transgender person really has the gender they were given at birth according to their genitals. They would say they are not dressing as the opposite sex, but rather dressing as the gender they know or feel themselves to be. This passage doesn’t appear to be addressing the modern day issue.

What’s the problem with dressing up?

It may be a trivial question, but does this passage (if taken as determinative of actions) mean we aren’t allowed to dress up at all? Not even for a fancy dress party or a drama? But if not, how much should we apply it today?

Is the Old Testament Law applicable today?

This passage is in a chapter among other passages which we don’t apply today. For example:

• All houses should have parapets around their roofs, so no-one will fall off and you will be responsible.
• Don’t plant two kinds of seeds in a vineyard.
• Don’t wear clothes of wool and linen together.
• Complex rules about women proving their virginity before their marriage.
• The death penalty for rape and adultery (under certain circumstances).

If we don’t follow all these commands (and we don’t), why should we single out this unclear command about cross dressing and apply it so strictly?

This is a small example of the larger issue of applying Old Testament laws today. For example, Leviticus 20 says homosexuals, adulterers, people who curse their parents and people who contact spirits should all be stoned to death. Does anyone think these commands should be applied today?

No, Jesus and the apostles both said the Old Testament Law is no longer applicable – see e.g. Luke 16:16-17, 22:20; Galatians 3:23-25; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Romans 7:6; Hebrews 8:13. We now have a better ethic, to love our neighbour as ourselves.

So I don’t see a compelling Biblical argument for there only being two genders and them being fixed. These two ancient passages don’t bear the weight being placed on them.

Is changing gender wise?

In the past, some people have lived as if of the opposite gender than assigned to them, sometimes without ever being detected. See e.g. Marina who lived as a priest and was never discovered,  Malinda Blalock who enlisted in the army during the American civil war and eventually left without being discovered, and James Barry who was born a woman but “became” a man and a respected military surgeon.

I have read of many women who dressed as men to achieve some goal, such as joining the army with their husbands, or doing work not then allowed for women. But we don’t know if any, or many, actually felt that they really were men.

It is different with modern day transgender people. Generally they really have a sense of their identity that is at odds with the gender they grew up with.

The conservative Christian view is that it is foolish and sometimes harmful to act on these feelings. Gender operations can be dangerous, they say, and can lead to increased suicidal thinking. In particular, such transitions should not be allowed for people in their teens, whose sense of identity may not yet be fully developed.

On the opposite side, it is said that trying to remain as a gender that feels foreign to them is even more harmful and more likely to lead to suicidal thoughts than transitioning. This situation is made much worse if there are legal and social barriers to changing sexual or gender identity.

A nanny state?

Democracies try to maintain a balance between individual freedoms and societal wellbeing. Individual freedom may lead to foolish actions, and it is questionabkle how much the state, or the church, should try to prevent that except by persuasion.

For example, I think behaviours like smoking, tattoos, cosmetic surgery and excessive drinking are unhelpful and sometimes harmful. I am not interested in taking part. But I don’t feel I have any right to force my views on others. There may be valid reasons to increase taxes on these behaviours to cover the later cost of treatment, but banning them seems to be too extreme.

So while transition surgery may in some cases be foolish (I don’t really know), it really isn’t my business. Of course there must be protections to prevent vulnerable people, especially children or teens, making a detrimental decision before they are ready for it.

So by all means focus, if you wish, on education, helpful guidelines for parent sof transgender kids, research into the wellbeing of transgender and non binary people and improving medical/psychological processes to reduce unnecessary and unhelpful surgery. But let’s not do more harm than good.

Practical issues

There’s no doubt that gender fluidity raises pratical questions about public toilets. But it hardly seems a reason to oppose or discriminate against transgender or non-binary people. If we can put people on the moon and do heart transplants, we can work this out.

Pronouns

Surely this is one of the silliest reactions from those opposed to gender transition. Surely we can all be considerate enough to name and refer to people however they wish, within reason? It doesn’t hurt me to refer to my transgender friend as “they”!

I haven’t always been sensitive to others in my life as a Christian, but I try to learn. Jesus commanded me to love my neighbour, and I believe that means relating to them sensitively even if I disagree with them, or am not sure I approve of their choices.

For those who have strong opinions on this, good advice is: Just because you “know” something doesn’t mean you have to say it.

What would Jesus do?

We see how Jesus treated people lovingly and didn’t allow men in a patriarchal society to control women and condemn them, even when they had apparently sinned sexually (Luke 7:39-50 & John 8:1-10).

Is not this the way I should treat those who are different to me?

I feel this strong focus by christians on sexual and gender issues while ignoring other important issues like wealth, anger, pride, forgiveness, etc, is not following Jesus’ gentle ways with oppressed minorities. We can do great harm to them.

The bottom line

The Biblical case against transgender and non-binary gender looks very weak to me, based on forced interpetations of two ancient old covenant verses. There are much stronger Biblical cases for loving neighbour, forgiving enemies, and the snares of wealth and materialism.

Maybe we should begin there in our ethics?

Those who focus on gender issues are doing much harm on the basis of an extremely doubtful Biblical conclusion. That doesn’t seem loving to me. We can do better.

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References

The conservative view:

• 7 Facts about Christianity and the Transgender Debate. Lifeway Voices, 2018.
• Thinking Biblically about Transgenderism: A Biblical Response to Current Trends and Thinking Biblically about Transgenderism: Christian Identity and Response to the Movement. Centre for Faith & Culture, 2024.
• Biblical View on Transgender Identity: A Primer for Parents and Strugglers. Focus on the Family, 2020.

The “progressive” view:

• What Does the Bible Say About Transgender People? Human Rights Campaign.
• What does the Bible say about transgender people: An in-depth look. LGBTQ Nation.
• The Politics of Identity: thye Impact of Trump’s Two Gender policies on the Trans Community. Simply Put Psych.
• Understanding Transgender People: The Basics. Advocates for Trans Equality.

Neutral view:

• How Should Christians Respond to Transgender Pronouns? Christianity.com.
• Trans rights and political backlash: five key moments in history. The Conversation, 2022.

Photo by Ducky.

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