12. Transgender & non-binary

The terms transgender and non-binary refer to similar psychosocial conditions. Both conditions involve feeling at odds with one’s biological sex. For example, a biological male might feel “mismatched” with his maleness, or a biological female might feel “mismatched” with her femaleness. In other words, it feels as if their biological sex does not line up with their gender identity—how they perceive themselves inwardly. This experience has been described as gender dysphoria, a feeling that one has been “born in the wrong body.”

Definitions and meanings

Transgender and non-binary describe different things. A person can be transgender without also being non-binary. In fact, only 25.6% of transgender adults consider that they are non-binary. This means that a large majority (74.4%) of transgender adults identify with the traditional categories of “male” or “female.” In the same way, a person can be non-binary without being transgender. This just means that they don’t see themselves as falling neatly into the “male” or “female” categories (see chart below).

Depending on station of life and financial resources, a transgender person may undergo "gender-affirming surgery" (GAS)(also called "gender reassignment surgery" (GRS) or simply "sex change surgery"). This involves rebuilding parts of the body to look more like the opposite sex. It usually also involves "gender-affirming hormone therapy" (GAHT) to change patterns of hair growth and to alter the voice, with the goal of presenting an outward appearance that the transgender person feels is more aligned with their inward experience.

Changing one’s body and lifestyle to that of the other sex may bring greater peace and a more positive self-image, though there is plenty of evidence that GAS and GAHT do not "fix" the underlying issue, which is a crisis of identity. Recall in lesson __ we looked at same-sex attraction as a disrupted sense of one's self-image before God. A person who experiences SSA is often convinced that these experiences dictate who they are and become cornerstones of identity. In the case of a transgender person feeling at odds with their body, changing the body to suit will not address the problem any better than taking painkillers for an appendicitis. GAS and GAHT treat the symptom very efficiently, but they do not address the root cause. Even worse, however, the mindset that God somehow made a mistake and put them "in the wrong body" denies the goodness of all of creation, and initiates a lifelong quarrel with God over the goodness of His handiwork.

Fearfully and wonderfully made

As more an more people (especially young people) identify as transgender and non-binary, Christians have been wise to reread their Bibles to find out just what scripture says on the matter of sexuality. The debate is especially complex, because the concept of gender identity is not actually found in the Bible. While some Christians take this as an indication that God doesn't care one way or the other, others take it as evidence that the Bible is inadequate for interpreting the "realities" of modern times.

But the scriptural position on biological sex is more than adequate to make sense of the issue, and in fact there is a very good reason that scripture makes virtually no mention of gender identity: who we perceive ourselves to be (or not to be) is irrelevant in the Kingdom of God. This is true not just of gender identity, but all identities, since the identity of Christ is the only identity that matters:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 

—Galatians 2: 20

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 

—2 Corinthians 5: 17

But let's back up a bit and review what the Bible tells us about biological sex. In the beginning, God created two sexes (male and female):

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

—Genesis 1: 27

Jesus vouched for this declaration in Genesis in the gospel of Matthew:

“Haven’t you read … that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’?”

—Matthew 19: 4

Our biological sex, then, is a gift of God, a piece of our unique createdness. It is not a minor detail; indeed, there are no minor details with God, since even the hairs of our head are numbered (Matthew 10: 30). Like any part of our createdness, our biological sex may or may not be something we like. I have memories at various times in my life of disliking my biological sex (male), my hair color (reddish), my hair texture (very fine and floppy), my skin (unable to tan and prone to freckling), my physique (not muscular) or some aspect of it, and my list goes on. I have wished I had a stronger, more commanding voice. I have wished I was heterosexual. It is certainly not a sin to feel "at odds" with some aspect of our createdness or to imagine ourselves as someone different, but we must not lose sight of the fact that everything God has created is good (Genesis 1: 31), so we must be careful not to proclaim some part of His creation as "not good." The psalmist provides an example for us:

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

—Psalm 139: 13–14

Isaiah (45: 9) warns us not to "quarrel" with our Maker about the way He made us, and Paul instructs us not to question the goodness of our Creator's work:

But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”

—Romans 9: 20

It is one thing to color one's hair or put on makeup to modify one's outward appearance, but even this can go too far. When our goal is to obscure or hide or plainly deny some aspect of our created self, then we are denying the goodness of something God has created, we quarreling with our Maker, and we are no longer blameless.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

—Isaiah 5: 20

In other words, in assessing God's creation, we must take great care that we don't invert good and evil, even with good intentions, even for the sake of personal, inner peace. True peace will never come from quarreling or finding fault with God in this way. It can only be found by being renewed in Jesus Christ.

What about intersex?

Intersex is a condition in which a person is born with an outwardly non-specific biological sex. It affects between 1 in 1,500 and one in 2,000 individuals. Despite appearances, intersex people are fearfully and wonderfully made. Being fearfully and wonderfully made does not mean "made perfect." After all, every human being is born with genetic predispositions and physical limitations. These serve as reminders that God's creation is good but also fallen. All sexuality is fallen, and this includes the physical bodies we inhabit. It is unhelpful to adduce intersex as "evidence" in favor of non-binarity and gender fluidity, since intersex is a physical, genetic, and hormonal condition and gender dysphoria is, by medical definition, a form of psychological distress.

For discussion:

1. In what ways have you ever felt "at odds" with your body or some aspect of your created self? How have you dealt with these feelings?

2. What biblical argument would you make to a transgender or non-binary person to encourage them to embrace their createdness as either male or female? What argument might you give from your own story or experience?

3. How would you respond to a transgender person who insists that their sense of gender (rather than their biological sex) is "how they were born" or "just how they are"? What argument could you give from your own story or experience?