Christian Ethics and Transgenderism

Transgenderism is the phenomenon of people choosing to identify as a gender other than their biological sex.  Various controversies about how to respond to this phenomenon have caused transgenderism to become a hot button political, social, and moral issue in contemporary American culture.  For example, if a person identifies as transgender, should they be allowed to use a public restroom corresponding to the gender they identify with, or should they be required to use the public restroom corresponding to their biological sex?

As with the issue of homosexuality, there has been significant division within the Christian Church about what the correct Christian perspective on transgenderism should be.  The unfortunate term “LGBTQ” has linked the two issues of homosexuality and transgenderism together in many people’s minds, such that they assume that one’s position on homosexual behavior must determine one’s position on transgenderism and vice versa.  However, this is not necessarily the case.  The two issues can overlap (for example, if a man has sex reassignment surgery to “become” a woman and then marries a man, this arguably could be considered homosexual behavior).  However, they do not have to overlap.  Just because someone identifies as transgender, that does not in any way necessitate that they engage in homosexual behavior.  

If we want to clearly discuss the issues surrounding transgenderism, it is important that we not conflate it with the distinct issue of homosexuality.  We must consider transgenderism as a separate topic, and engage in careful biblical and theological reflection on the ethics surrounding this complex issue.  Of course, this first requires that we have a clear understanding of what transgenderism is.

Gender Dysphoria and Transgenderism

Why do people choose to identify as transgender?  Usually, it is because they experience gender dysphoria.  Gender dysphoria is a psychological disorder in which a person feels intense psychological discomfort with their biological sex.  We should distinguish this from intersex conditions, which are extremely rare biological conditions in which a person actually has an ambiguous biological sex.  In contrast, a person who experiences gender dysphoria has an unambiguous biological sex; they are just not psychologically comfortable with it.

As with same-sex attraction, it is not fully understood what causes gender dysphoria.  Some have proposed a brain-sex theory, according to which a person might biologically have a male brain even though the rest of their body is female or vice versa; according to this theory, gender dyphoria would arguably be a kind of intersex condition.  However, it is not clear that such a sharp distinction between male and female brains can be drawn, much less that everyone who experiences gender dysphoria does so because the sex of their brain is different from the sex of the rest of their body.  It seems most likely that, as with same-sex attraction, gender dysphoria is caused by a combination of multiple factors, which may differ in significance from individual to individual.  

It is not extremely uncommon for children to go through a period of gender confusion, but for the great majority of those who do, it is a temporary phase which they grow out of.  But for those who continue to experience gender dysphoria into adulthood, it can often be extremely difficult to overcome, even with good therapy.  And the psychological discomfort of those who experience gender dysphoria can often be quite intense.  

For these reasons, many secular psychologists recommend that people who experience persistent, intense gender dysphoria choose to identify as transgender in order to alleviate the psychological distress their gender dysphoria is causing them.  There are various lengths to which a person may go in identifying as trasngender.  At the most basic level, a person who identifies as transgender may dress like the opposite sex, act like the opposite sex, and change the name and pronouns they wish others to refer to them by.  Some go further and undergo hormone treatment to make their bodies align more with the gender they desire to be.  In its most extreme form, transgenderism involves sex reassignment surgery to try to transform one’s body, as far as is possible, into the opposite sex.  

There are two wings of the transgender movement.  On the one side are psychological essentialists, who insist that a person’s gender is determined not by their biological sex but by their subjective psychological feelings.  Thus, a biological male who psychologically feels that he is supposed to be a woman is a woman, and a biological female who psychologically feels that she is supposed to be a man is a man.  On the other side are postmodern deconstructionists, who argue that the difference between male and female is just a social construct and there really is no real distinction between men and women.  Thus, anything goes as far as what gender people want to identify as.  These two wings can actually sometimes come into conflict, since claiming that there is no difference between men and women can be interpreted by transgender psychological essentialists who identify as men or women as taking away their identity.  However, the two wings are united in affirming the decisions of people who choose to identify as transgender and attempting to get society to approve of and support these decisions as well.

Scripture and The Distinction of Genders

What is the biblical view of transgenderism?  Some point to Deuteronomy 22:5 as answering the question: “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.”  However, this verse, which appears in a set of miscellaneous laws without further explanation, may be directed at certain pagan religious practices.  It is not clear that it applies to people who engage in cross-dressing in order to deal with a psychological disorder.  Instead of pointing to this verse as a “proof text” that ends the discussion, we must look to what Scripture as a whole has to say about the distinction between men and women if we want to know what the biblical position on transgenderism is.

Some point to Scriptural teaching about “eunuchs” as providing support for Christian agreement with transgenderism.  There is a trajectory, they argue, from the Torah forbidding eunuchs from offering sacrifices (Lev 21:16-23), to the prophet Isaiah speaking of God giving eunuchs “within My temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughter” (Isa 56:3-5), to Jesus pointing to “eunuchs who were born that way” (intersex people!) as positive examples of living for the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 19:12), to the Ethiopian eunuch being baptized into the Church (Acts 8: 26-40).  Since “eunuchs” are people who do not fit into the binary categories of male and female, they argue, we should see this Scriptural trajectory as supporting the idea that the Church should be supportive of people identifying as transgender.

The problem with this argument is that eunuchs do not actually have an ambiguous gender; they are just men who have been castrated.  Jesus’s reference to “eunuchs who were born that way” very well may refer to people with intersex conditions.  However, in this passage Jesus does not actually make any positive comments about them or any other type of eunuch; he just tangentially refers to them in order to make a positive statement about people who metaphorically become eunuchs (i.e., become celibate) for the sake of God’s Kingdom.  Thus, Scriptural teaching about “eunuchs” does not seem to tell us anything about the biblical view of transgenderism.

A more fruitful place to start in attempting to discern what Scripture has to tell us about transgenderism is the creation story of Genesis.  In the creation story, we see that God created human beings “male and female” (Gen 1:27).  The story of Adam and Eve makes it clear that there is a real difference between men and women and that they are two distinct, complementary parts of humanity (Gen 2:15-25).  Furthermore, a real and important distinction between men and women is implied by Scripture’s condemnation of homosexual behavior, as well as its teachings about differing gender roles in marriage.  If the difference between men and women were unreal or unimportant, such teachings would make little sense.  Thus, Christians cannot accept the postmodern deconstructionist idea that there is no real difference between men and women.  Scripture clearly teaches that the difference between male and female is not a social construct, but an objective part of God’s created order.  

What of the psychological essentialist view that a person’s real gender is determined by their psychological feelings, not by their biology?  This view is based upon the idea that a person’s personal identity is defined by their interior subjective feelings and desires.  As I argue here, such an idea is biblically and theologically erroneous.  For Christians, our personal identity is defined not by our interior subjective feelings and desires, but by our identity in Christ.  Having been given this identity in our conversion, we are then called to live out this identity through a process of gradually being conformed to the image of Christ.  

Part of growing in Christlike maturity and holiness is becoming a person of the utmost truthfulness and integrity, which means refusing to live a lie or pretend to be something we are not, even if doing so will make us feel better.  Christians must be who God created them to be, and not what their subjective psychological feelings tell them they should be.  This means that a biological man saying that he is a woman or a biological woman saying that she is a man is incompatible with Christian ethics.  In other words, transgender ideology is incompatible with Christian ethics.

Transgenderism and the Church

So how should the Church respond when some of its members choose to identify as transgender?  Some Christians believe that the loving and compassionate thing to do is to approve of their decision and to encourage them to continue in it, while celebrating “gender diversity.”  This, as we have seen, is deeply problematic, since it entails encouraging Christians to choose to act in a way that is not consistent with biblical theology and ethics.  True Christian love entails telling other Christians the truth about the demands of Christian discipleship and practicing biblical church discipline.  

Thus, many Christians believe that the Church should simply tell Christians who identify as transgender that their decision is sinful and exclude them from the Church.  This approach, however, also seems problematic, since it fails to take seriously the difficulties and struggles that Christians who experience gender dysphoria face.  Yes, the Church must hold its members accountable to growing in holiness and Christlike virtue.  But the Church must also recognize that serious psychological disorders may limit a person’s ability to act in a fully virtuous manner, and make allowances for this.

The Church teaches that suicide is a serious sin.  At the same time, most Christians have come to recognize that if a person commits suicide because of a psychological disorder they were struggling with, they cannot be held fully responsible for their actions.  In the same way, the Church can reject transgender ideology, while recognizing that Christians who identify as transgender in an attempt to alleviate the intense gender dysphoria they are experiencing should not be held fully morally responsible for their actions.

The Church should not encourage transgenderism.  But neither should it regard identifying as transgender as a mortal sin.  It is easy to have one of these simplistic responses.  But the Church is not called to what is simplistic and easy.  Rather, the Church must show demonstrate wisdom, compassion, and understanding as it seeks to aid those in its midst who are struggling with gender dysphoria and exploring the transgender option.  The Church must do its best to encourage such members to live out the truth of who God has created them to be, while also showing understanding and gentleness when such members struggle with doing so.  This might mean, for example, discouraging more extreme expressions of transgenderism (e.g., sex reassignment surgery), while making allowances for less extreme expressions (e.g., cross-dressing).  If church communities are going to show proper love and care to their members who are struggling with transgender issues, they must both be informed about the realities of gender dysphoria and care enough about their members to be involved in the complexities of their lives.  This is the complex, difficult task to which the Church is called.