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Bible and the Transgender Experience: How Scripture Supports Gender Variance
The author, a non-transgender pastor, spent three years serving a church where ten percent of the congregation identified as trans men, trans women, cross-dressers, or genderqueer. This motivated her to learn about gender-variant people and to expand her previous understanding of the Bible.A must-read for all pastors, chaplains, counselors, and congregants, and for family and friends of transgender people, as well as for gender-variant individuals seeking to find their stories in the biblical narrative, and desiring to know how scripture supports them."The Bible and the Transgender Experience" • whether or not God creates only two genders• what Jesus had to say about gender variance• various understandings of “the cross-dressing passage”• gender variant groups and individuals in scripture• the movement, within scripture itself, from the exclusion of gender variant people to their inclusion within the people of God
139 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2016
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March 27, 2024
DO GOD/CHRISTIANITY ALLOW SUPPORT FOR TRANSGENDER PERSONS?
Author (and parent) Cheryl B. Evans wrote in the Introduction to this 2017 book, “Wounded by the echoes of the words ‘not of God,’ the close-knit fabric of our family began to unravel… my children … distanced themselves from one another… I clenched tightly to my belief that, one day, both of my children would be happy again… Through my own experience, I came to realize the struggle … was also pulling at the heartstrings of other families... Gripped with the teachings of their faith, many struggle to understand… With an open mind and an open heart, I set out to discover what is at the root of the vast differences in opinions about what God thinks, what the Bible says, and what individuals believe about transgender people… The nature vs. nurture argument… is tied directly to what individuals believe about transgender people and whether or not transgender people are a creation of God… The goal of this book is… presenting the ideas and thoughts of not only myself… but of others in the fields of both science and religion.” (Pg. 1-3)
She continues, “I was raised by Christian parents and baptized in the United Church of Canada as a baby. The United Church… is Canada’s largest Protestant denomination… Being a church that does not discriminate, they ordained their first transgender minister… in 2010. The church’s stance on gender is that God created male and female, as well as some individuals who are a wonderful mix of the two. The United Church may be considered progressive and overly liberal by some, but for me, the way they affirm each person is something to be celebrated… My husband, Jim… was brought up in the Catholic faith… Together, Jim and I have two children, one of whom happens to be transgender… This book is about looking at what scripture tells us or doesn’t tell us about transgender people and what we know from a scientific and cultural perspective.” (Pg. 3-5)
She recounts, “Jim and I did not become aware our youngest child was transgender until he was twelve years old… To find out, as I did, that my daughter wasn’t my daughter after all was so completely foreign to me. I had no knowledge when my child was young abut gender dysphoria, or that transgender children even existed… After my son, Jordan, came out to my husband and me, I began to write down all the things that were happening in our family.” (Pg. 8-10)
She suggests, “it helps to think of [gender] as a spectrum where male is at one end and female at the other. Most of the population falls to the outer ends of this spectrum… while a small percentage of people self-identify somewhere in between. Anyone who self identifies their gender differently than the sex they were assigned at birth falls under the umbrella term, transgender. Those of us that do not have this disconnect between our assigned sex and how we self-identify are cisgender people, and we make up the largest percentage of the population.” (Pg. 15-16)
She explains, “The dispute over the origin of transgender people always comes back to the nature vs. nurture argument… If we are to believe God created transgender people, we would be saying we believe in the nature theory. If we believe transgender people are somehow against God… they would be inclined to believe the nurture theory, and likely feel being transgender is a choice and something that can be willfully changed. I firmly stand on the nature side of this debate. My personal stance is based on … living with a strong-willed transgender child who presented a consistent… position that he is male, even though he was assigned female at birth. It is also based on the many books and papers I have read on the subject and the professionals I have spoken with.” (Pg. 17-18)
She asks, “If you are firm in your belie[f] that there is no such thing as a transgender person, or that a transgender person is choosing to feel the way they do, how will you feel if the day comes when we are presented with a gene that points to gender dysphoria? Would this make you think any differently about your attitudes towards the transgender community?” (Pg. 33)
She summarizes, “The fact that a transgender identity is biologically based has only begun to be supported and proven by science. Undoubtedly, hidden deep in our genes, there are answers still waiting to be discovered. In the decades ahead, we are sure to have more scientific evidence to evaluate on the topics of sex and gender. As further clinical studies are completed, proof of the hypothesis that gender is an innate characteristic should only become stronger… God speaks to those who are willing to listen and sometimes, He speaks through science.” (Pg. 37)
She argues, “I’ve often heard Christians proclaim… that there are only two sexes: male and female. While this statement is true for the initial two humans God created, I don’t believe His intention was that there would always only be two sexes in the world. The problem … is that we already know that there are babies born intersex, without a simple XX or XY or obvious sexual characteristics. These intersex people do not fall under the sex of male or female. So, there is a third sex---an intersex individual. Therefore… we cannot conclude there are only two types of sex within God’s creations… What we can say is that the first two humans created---Adam and Eve---appear to be male and female. My interpretation of God’s creation of all things is broad. I don’t believe in a narrow-thinking God. I believe God’s plan was to intentionally create the wonderfully diverse and enriching world in which we live today.” (Pg. 42-43)
She notes, “The Bible never gives a clear description of God in terms of physical appearance, but does use male pronouns and proclaim God as our heavenly Father… By doing so, we understand God to be male or, at the very least, that male is the way He has chosen to present Himself to humanity. The lack of physical characteristics also helps us to see God as a wonderfully divine and all-knowing spiritual being… so if we are made in his image, are we not also spiritual beings? As a spiritual being, we don’t have the physical characteristics present in our human experience. Gender only comes into play in our human experience… could we not consider our gender to be more fluid, more all-encompassing, and less binary? I believe the Bible supports this theory. When we study scriptures, there are several examples of gender non-binary people…” (Pg. 49-50)
She suggests, “while the Bible doesn’t seem to be specific in its mentioning of transgender people, we should not assume that to mean they don’t exist. The Bible is no more specific in its mention of intersex people… yet we know intersex people exist…” (Pg. 52)
She observes, “Jesus was a carpenter. What do you suppose Jesus would have said to a transgender person that had asked him to build a table for them? I believe Jesus would … have taken the same care and attention he would have taken … for a cisgender person… I certainly don’t feel it would have been like Jesus to deny a transgender person service… denying service to the LGBTQ community and … using the Bible … as a reason …. Seems to be un-Christ-like behavior.” (Pg. 56-57) She continues, “When you think of who exactly are casting out those that are different, it’s not atheists you hear about. Rather, it’s usually Christians… I can’t believe Jesus would encourage any parent to throw out their own child simply for being LGBTQ. Can you?” (Pg. 58)
She argues, “Is it enough to say we believe in the Bible because it is the word of God? How do we know it is the word of God? Is that word not only as good as our interpretation of it? After all, it is full of inconsistencies… What about the contradictions surrounding the Resurrection itself?... With such clear incongruities. We can only conclude that the Bible is filled with false statements because … both statements cannot be correct.” (Pg. 68-69)
She summarizes, “The direction today seems to be moving toward greater acceptance and inclusion for LGBTQ people in the church… the hope is more churches will … eventually, replace anti-LGBTQ teachings altogether. I will continue to hold onto my personal belief that---in the end---we will all decide to have true faith when drawing our own conclusions about what the Bible REALLY says about transgender people and the rest of the LGBTQ community.” (Pg. 77-78)
After quoting Deuteronomy 22:5 and Leviticus 18:22, she comments, “We cannot… demand that society respect and honor these passages if we are not prepared to give equal weight to all other passages in the Old Testament. There are hundreds of laws found in the Old Testament.” (Pg. 103)
She suggests, “Even those of us that believe in the text can’t say with absolute certainty that the Bible is completely non-fiction---perhaps, there is fiction woven in. I can feel the anger in some of you right now---how dare I suggest the Bible is fiction?... I have heard people say they know the Bible is nonfiction because what it foretells has come to pass for them… However, do we really know that their experience was based on reality, or is that which they believe so deeply believed that they create their own experience?... Perhaps, the act of believing in something with such conviction can make it come to pass… I am not saying the Bible is fiction, nor suggesting that this is what I personally believe to be true. I am only suggesting that, if it is fiction, it would make complete sense that so many of the places described within its text are accurately described. The fact that a book…contains stories of real places … doesn’t mean the stories are, in fact, true.” (Pg. 120-122)
She concludes, “Is it not more peaceful to live in a world where we invite everyone to the assembly? Where everyone is welcome to the table? To choose that kind of world is to choose God.” (Pg. 130)
Bible conservatives will not care for this book; but more progressive Christians and others will find it a warm and supportive testimony.
Author (and parent) Cheryl B. Evans wrote in the Introduction to this 2017 book, “Wounded by the echoes of the words ‘not of God,’ the close-knit fabric of our family began to unravel… my children … distanced themselves from one another… I clenched tightly to my belief that, one day, both of my children would be happy again… Through my own experience, I came to realize the struggle … was also pulling at the heartstrings of other families... Gripped with the teachings of their faith, many struggle to understand… With an open mind and an open heart, I set out to discover what is at the root of the vast differences in opinions about what God thinks, what the Bible says, and what individuals believe about transgender people… The nature vs. nurture argument… is tied directly to what individuals believe about transgender people and whether or not transgender people are a creation of God… The goal of this book is… presenting the ideas and thoughts of not only myself… but of others in the fields of both science and religion.” (Pg. 1-3)
She continues, “I was raised by Christian parents and baptized in the United Church of Canada as a baby. The United Church… is Canada’s largest Protestant denomination… Being a church that does not discriminate, they ordained their first transgender minister… in 2010. The church’s stance on gender is that God created male and female, as well as some individuals who are a wonderful mix of the two. The United Church may be considered progressive and overly liberal by some, but for me, the way they affirm each person is something to be celebrated… My husband, Jim… was brought up in the Catholic faith… Together, Jim and I have two children, one of whom happens to be transgender… This book is about looking at what scripture tells us or doesn’t tell us about transgender people and what we know from a scientific and cultural perspective.” (Pg. 3-5)
She recounts, “Jim and I did not become aware our youngest child was transgender until he was twelve years old… To find out, as I did, that my daughter wasn’t my daughter after all was so completely foreign to me. I had no knowledge when my child was young abut gender dysphoria, or that transgender children even existed… After my son, Jordan, came out to my husband and me, I began to write down all the things that were happening in our family.” (Pg. 8-10)
She suggests, “it helps to think of [gender] as a spectrum where male is at one end and female at the other. Most of the population falls to the outer ends of this spectrum… while a small percentage of people self-identify somewhere in between. Anyone who self identifies their gender differently than the sex they were assigned at birth falls under the umbrella term, transgender. Those of us that do not have this disconnect between our assigned sex and how we self-identify are cisgender people, and we make up the largest percentage of the population.” (Pg. 15-16)
She explains, “The dispute over the origin of transgender people always comes back to the nature vs. nurture argument… If we are to believe God created transgender people, we would be saying we believe in the nature theory. If we believe transgender people are somehow against God… they would be inclined to believe the nurture theory, and likely feel being transgender is a choice and something that can be willfully changed. I firmly stand on the nature side of this debate. My personal stance is based on … living with a strong-willed transgender child who presented a consistent… position that he is male, even though he was assigned female at birth. It is also based on the many books and papers I have read on the subject and the professionals I have spoken with.” (Pg. 17-18)
She asks, “If you are firm in your belie[f] that there is no such thing as a transgender person, or that a transgender person is choosing to feel the way they do, how will you feel if the day comes when we are presented with a gene that points to gender dysphoria? Would this make you think any differently about your attitudes towards the transgender community?” (Pg. 33)
She summarizes, “The fact that a transgender identity is biologically based has only begun to be supported and proven by science. Undoubtedly, hidden deep in our genes, there are answers still waiting to be discovered. In the decades ahead, we are sure to have more scientific evidence to evaluate on the topics of sex and gender. As further clinical studies are completed, proof of the hypothesis that gender is an innate characteristic should only become stronger… God speaks to those who are willing to listen and sometimes, He speaks through science.” (Pg. 37)
She argues, “I’ve often heard Christians proclaim… that there are only two sexes: male and female. While this statement is true for the initial two humans God created, I don’t believe His intention was that there would always only be two sexes in the world. The problem … is that we already know that there are babies born intersex, without a simple XX or XY or obvious sexual characteristics. These intersex people do not fall under the sex of male or female. So, there is a third sex---an intersex individual. Therefore… we cannot conclude there are only two types of sex within God’s creations… What we can say is that the first two humans created---Adam and Eve---appear to be male and female. My interpretation of God’s creation of all things is broad. I don’t believe in a narrow-thinking God. I believe God’s plan was to intentionally create the wonderfully diverse and enriching world in which we live today.” (Pg. 42-43)
She notes, “The Bible never gives a clear description of God in terms of physical appearance, but does use male pronouns and proclaim God as our heavenly Father… By doing so, we understand God to be male or, at the very least, that male is the way He has chosen to present Himself to humanity. The lack of physical characteristics also helps us to see God as a wonderfully divine and all-knowing spiritual being… so if we are made in his image, are we not also spiritual beings? As a spiritual being, we don’t have the physical characteristics present in our human experience. Gender only comes into play in our human experience… could we not consider our gender to be more fluid, more all-encompassing, and less binary? I believe the Bible supports this theory. When we study scriptures, there are several examples of gender non-binary people…” (Pg. 49-50)
She suggests, “while the Bible doesn’t seem to be specific in its mentioning of transgender people, we should not assume that to mean they don’t exist. The Bible is no more specific in its mention of intersex people… yet we know intersex people exist…” (Pg. 52)
She observes, “Jesus was a carpenter. What do you suppose Jesus would have said to a transgender person that had asked him to build a table for them? I believe Jesus would … have taken the same care and attention he would have taken … for a cisgender person… I certainly don’t feel it would have been like Jesus to deny a transgender person service… denying service to the LGBTQ community and … using the Bible … as a reason …. Seems to be un-Christ-like behavior.” (Pg. 56-57) She continues, “When you think of who exactly are casting out those that are different, it’s not atheists you hear about. Rather, it’s usually Christians… I can’t believe Jesus would encourage any parent to throw out their own child simply for being LGBTQ. Can you?” (Pg. 58)
She argues, “Is it enough to say we believe in the Bible because it is the word of God? How do we know it is the word of God? Is that word not only as good as our interpretation of it? After all, it is full of inconsistencies… What about the contradictions surrounding the Resurrection itself?... With such clear incongruities. We can only conclude that the Bible is filled with false statements because … both statements cannot be correct.” (Pg. 68-69)
She summarizes, “The direction today seems to be moving toward greater acceptance and inclusion for LGBTQ people in the church… the hope is more churches will … eventually, replace anti-LGBTQ teachings altogether. I will continue to hold onto my personal belief that---in the end---we will all decide to have true faith when drawing our own conclusions about what the Bible REALLY says about transgender people and the rest of the LGBTQ community.” (Pg. 77-78)
After quoting Deuteronomy 22:5 and Leviticus 18:22, she comments, “We cannot… demand that society respect and honor these passages if we are not prepared to give equal weight to all other passages in the Old Testament. There are hundreds of laws found in the Old Testament.” (Pg. 103)
She suggests, “Even those of us that believe in the text can’t say with absolute certainty that the Bible is completely non-fiction---perhaps, there is fiction woven in. I can feel the anger in some of you right now---how dare I suggest the Bible is fiction?... I have heard people say they know the Bible is nonfiction because what it foretells has come to pass for them… However, do we really know that their experience was based on reality, or is that which they believe so deeply believed that they create their own experience?... Perhaps, the act of believing in something with such conviction can make it come to pass… I am not saying the Bible is fiction, nor suggesting that this is what I personally believe to be true. I am only suggesting that, if it is fiction, it would make complete sense that so many of the places described within its text are accurately described. The fact that a book…contains stories of real places … doesn’t mean the stories are, in fact, true.” (Pg. 120-122)
She concludes, “Is it not more peaceful to live in a world where we invite everyone to the assembly? Where everyone is welcome to the table? To choose that kind of world is to choose God.” (Pg. 130)
Bible conservatives will not care for this book; but more progressive Christians and others will find it a warm and supportive testimony.
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