transgender welcome: a bishop makes the case for affirmation

8/20/2019 Transgender Welcome: A Bishop Makes the Case for Affirmation

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Transgender Welcome

A Bishop Makes the Case for Affirmation

By Bishop Gene Robinson January 2016

WWW.AMERICANPROGRESS.O


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Transgender WelcomeA Bishop Makes the Case for Affirmation

By Bishop Gene Robinson January 2016


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1 Preface

2 Introduction

5 Recent history

11 Questions to be addressed

13 Methodology

15 Approaching the Scriptures

36 Not just compassion, but justice

39 The case for acceptance and inclusion

42 Endnotes

Contents


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1 Center for American Progress | Trans gend er Welcome

Preface

Tis documen is a love leter o he ransgender communiy, boh a “hank you”

and a “welcome” o ransgender people. I comes ou o my experience o learn-

ing so muchabou sexualiy, gender, and myselrom ransgender people. I

springs rom my belie ha God is enriching he lives o us all by bringing rans-

gender people and heir insighs ino our experience and undersandings. Tis

resource is an atemp o recognize ransgender people as he gif hey are o our

undersanding o God and God’s love.

God is up o somehing, as God ofen is! And his ime, i’s personal.


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Introduction

One o he mos sriking hings abou he Gospel o John in he Chrisian

Scripures is ha he auhor begins wih his conclusion ha Jesus o Nazareh

is indeed he Son o God, he long-awaied messiah, and he perec revelaion

o God. Reading John’s Gospel is a litle like picking up a whodunni mysery

and hen reading he las page firsbeginning wih he answer o he whodun-

ni quesion and hen reurning o he firs and succeeding pages o see how he

inspecor builds a case and ges o he answer. John wans he reader o know

exacly where he is going o wind up.

Similar o John, I wan he reader o undersand rom he beginning where I am

headed. I am seting ou o affirm ha ransgender people are children o God, wor-

hy o respec, valued or heir perspecives, and regarded as God’s gif o our reli-

gious communiies and secular culures. Teir experiences will challenge sociey’s

normaive ways o hinking abou gender, call us o a broader-han-binary under-

sanding o gender, and expand our appreciaion o he beauy in diversiy o God’s

creaion. I argue ha he emergence o ransgender people ino he consciousness

o he wider religious and secular communiies is a gif o God, given or he benefi

o all, and ha our response should be affirmaion, welcome, and celebraion.

You may be wondering why a whie, gay, male, Episcopal bishop would find himsel

sanding wih and sanding up or ransgender people. Parly, i is because Jesus

who, as a Chrisian, I believe o be he revelaion o Godsays ha when Chrisians

rea a marginalized and discouned human being wih disdain or compassion, i is

as i we are reaing Chris and God ha way. Parly i is because ransgender people

are helping me o beter undersand he unearned privilege I am afforded simply

because I am cisgender, or no ransgender. Bu I am mosly making his case or he

ull and joyul accepance, affirmaion, and inclusion o ransgender people becauseI know hem and because hey have changed my lie or he beter. Jus as i is or gay

and lesbian people, living auhenically is he mos powerul winess a ransgender

person can make. Ta auheniciy may be lived openly, i hey so choose, or all he

world o see. Bu ha world is no always sae or ransgender people, and or ha

as well as oher reasons, a ransgender person may choose o live heir auheniciy

quiely. Wheher public or privae, auheniciy is he goal and is own reward.


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wo ransgender women figure prominenly in my educaion. Te firsor privacy

reasons, le’s call her Joanwas someone who ransiioned wihin he communiy

o one o he New Hampshire Episcopal parishes. Joan did somehing ha was gen-

erally no recommended, a leas a he ime: remaining in he communiy in which

you were ormerly known as one gender, while ransiioning o he oher. Joan was

an accomplished lawyer and avid, avocaional videographer. She was deeply com-mited o her riends and o her parish, and she was no going o leave eiher behind

as she ransiioned. In being so courageous and open abou her journey, she brough

an enire parish o aduls and children along wih her or her journey. All o us ben-

efited rom he experience ha she was graceul enough o share wih us.

Te second ransgender person I came o know wellle’s call her JaneI me

while working or LGB righs and marriage equaliy in he New Hampshire

Legislaure. Wha I remember mos abou her is her generous spiri and he

ariculae and powerul way she old he sory o her lie. Living as he male gender

she was assigned a birh, Jane had made her living as a carpener and buildingconracor. Unlike Joan, however, she experienced much resisance, anger, and

hosiliy in her work environmen. Ulimaely, she lef her work as a carpener,

ook an inensive ruck-driving course, and became a proessional ruck driver

as he woman she knew hersel o be. Her endurance and her commimen o

living her lie auhenically knew no end. I was humbled, challenged, and inspired

by her courage and inegriy, and i was my privilege o call her a riend.

In one o he mos imporanand leas rememberedpars o Jesus’ conversa-

ion wih his disciples a he Las Supper, Jesus says, “I sill have many hings o

say o you, bu you canno bear hem now. When he Spiri o ruh comes, he

will guide you ino all he ruh.” [John 16:12–13a] I ake his o mean ha God’s

revelaion o God’s sel was no complee a ha momen in ime, even a he end

o Jesus’s lie. Jesus seems o be saying o his disciples, “Look! In hese las hree

years, you have learned so much and you have changed in so many ways. Bu here

is so much or youand or hose who will ollow in your oosepso learn

abou God and God’s will or humankind. Bu i is simply oo much or you o

bear, now, all a once. And so, I will send he Holy Spiri, who will each you and

guide you ino a uller, deeper undersanding o God’s ruh.”

Surely, God’s Spiri has guided humankind ino more and more ruh, as we could

bear i. For counless generaions, many used Holy Scripure o jusiy slavery. Can

any person o aih imagine ha i was no God’s Spiri leading us o love, value,

and honor our ellow human beings, regardless o heir race, ha ulimaely augh

us o end he enslavemen o all people? How long has a pariarchal church and

synagogue used Scripure o jusiy he denigraion and subjugaion o women?


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Surely, i is God’s Holy Spiri ha is leading people o aih ever increasingly o

undersand he equaliy and worhiness o every human being as a child o God.

For many Chrisians and Jews, he Spiri leading us ino all ruh has recenly

involved a new undersanding, accepance, and welcome o hose who are gay, les-

bian, or bisexual, recognizing hem as he children o God ha hey are. And now,

or many people o aih, ha journey oward a deeper undersanding o God andGod’s love or humankind leads us o he affirmaion, accepance, and welcome o

God’s ransgender children.

Tis resource is mean o assis people o aih in ha journey.


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Recent history

Effors oward he ull inclusion o gay and lesbian people ino he lie o American

sociey go back more han hal a cenury. Te pas decade has brough asounding

progress regarding righs and equaliy or gay and lesbian Americans, culmina-

ing in he Supreme Cour’s 2015 Obergeell v. Hodges decision.1 I affirmed ha all

Americans have he righ o marry he person hey love, including someone o he

same gender. While here is much work sill o be done o ensure nondiscriminaion

in public accommodaion, employmen, and housing across he counry, gay and les-

bian people are enjoying an unprecedened level o equaliy wih oher Americans.

Te same canno be said, unorunaely, abou he place o LGB people in mos

religious insiuions. Te radiional Judeo-Chrisian condemnaion o homo-

sexualiy coninues o be one o he chie obsacles in he figh or equaliy, even

in he public sphere. While here is a legal separaion o church and sae in his

counry, policymakers, boh local and naional, ofen carry heir religious belies

agains homosexualiy ino places o governmen. Tose religiously based, nega-

ive atiudes have slowed he progress oward achieving equaliy. And he official

eaching o mos religious groups is sill negaive oward homosexualiy, even

hough a ew o hose groups have ried o sound more welcoming by claiming

ha hey do no condemn gay people, jus gay physical inimacya disinc-

ion ofen seen as boh cruel and meaningless by he gay and lesbian people a

whom i is aimed. Liberal, mainline Chrisians and Jews have gone he urhes

in changing heir radiional eachings regarding gay and lesbian people, even

welcoming hem ino leadership posiions in heir churches and synagogues. Te

Luheran and Episcopal Churches no only have gay clergy, bu also gay bish-

ops; Denise Eger, a lesbian, serves as he presiden o he Cenral Conerence

o American Rabbis.2 Bu Roman Caholicismhe larges denominaion o

American Chrisianssill officially eaches he noion ha love and inimacy beween wo people o he same gender is repugnan o God. I should be noed,

however, ha as o April 2015, a majoriy o Roman Caholic laiysome 60

percen3now disagree wih heir church’s official eaching.


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Key o changing he minds o houghul, aihul Chrisians and Jews has been he

deeper undersanding o biblical exs, radiionally hough o condemn homosex-

ualiy. Te mos convincing o hese sraegies have been he effors o undersand

he relevan exs wihin he conexs in which hey were writen, no o summar-

ily oss hose exs ino he religious, hisorical dusbin. Generally speaking, he

conclusion o such sudies is ha whaever he Bible is condemning in hose exs isno wha people o aih are seeking o address oday. For insance, he aposle Paul

is likely addressing relaionships beween an older adul male and a young adoles-

cen boy, somewha common in Greek and Roman culure, which we would also

condemn oday as child abuse. Tis is very differen rom he adul, consening,

commited relaionships sociey is considering oday. Alhough same-sex physical

inimacy was known in he ancien world, i is appropriae o asser ha he Bible

is silen on he issue o homosexualiy since homosexualiy as a sexual orienaion

was simply unknown in biblical imes. Te noion o sexual orienaion as a scien-

ific consruc would no be posied unil lae in he 19h cenury. 4

For he mos par, boh secular sociey and religious insiuions have ocused

heir atenion on gay and lesbian people. As more and more gay and lesbian peo-

ple came ou o amily, riends, and communiies, a majoriy o Americans finally

knew someone who is openly gay or lesbian. And as he Pew Research Cener

repors, knowing someone who is gay or lesbian is a crucial indicaor o someone’s

likelihood o have a posiive opinion o homosexual people.5

Increasingly, people began o speak o a larger LGB communiy, which added

bisexual and ransgender people o hose ideniying as gay or lesbian. However,

i mus be admited ha much less atenion has been given o he bisexual, or “B,”

and ransgender, or “,” members o ha communiy.

Very litle atenion has been ocused on bisexual people largely because i hey are

in a relaionship wih someone o he opposie sex, hey appear heerosexual, and

i hey are in relaionship wih someone o he same sex, hey appear o be gay or

lesbian. Bisexual people are largely unseen and rarely discussed in eiher secular

or religious setings, heir paricular needs are generally no undersood, and litle

public conversaion has occurred regarding wha i means o be bisexuala realm

o inquiry sill waiing or he atenion i deserves.6

In conras, ransgender people have ound hemselves much more in he public eye

wih he emergence o some high-profile, celebriy ransgender women. Jane Mock

auhored Te New York imes besseller Redefining Realness , worked as saff edior a

he People magazine websie, and speaks ou as a ransgender righs acivis.7 Laverne


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Cox’s success as an acress in he Neflix series “Orange Is he New Black” brough

he subjec o being ransgender o he public’s atenion and o he cover o ime

magazine in June 2014.8 Te new Amazon Sudios series “ransparen” won criical

acclaim and numerous awards or is houghul and sensiive ocus on an older par-

en’s journey oward undersanding hersel and living as a woman.9 Te much-hyped

ransiion o Olympic decahlon champion Cailyn Jenner was capured in a Vinerview, Vaniy Fair cover sory, and succeeding docuseries.10

However, he naion’s atenion has no always had posiive consequences or rans-

gender individuals, and many are experiencing a backlash. Tere seems o be a con-

necion beween he wider visibiliy o rans people and violence agains hem. Te

year 2015 saw alarming raes o violence, and even murder, agains rans people

especially rans women and more specifically rans women o color.11 Higher vis-

ibiliy means higher vulnerabiliy. For rans people hemselves, he posiive effecs

o greaer visibiliy are empered by he violence i apparenly engenders. Advocaes

on behal o rans people mus always balance celebraion o increased visibiliy wih a commimen o making he world a saer place or he rans communiy.

As par o ha effor o make he world saer, advocaes mus argue ha words

utered publicly do mater, and religious words especially so. Condemnaion by

religious leaders has he dangerous effec o assuring people ha heir ransphobia

is righly el and religiously condoned.

Attacks from the religious right

In Laayete, Colorado, a ransgender woman had been atending Flairons

Communiy Church or hree years; by all accouns, she was an acceped member

o his megachurch and had paricipaed in many differen voluneer aciviies,

including specifically gendered groups. Ten in Augus 2015, he pasor sen a

leter o he ransgender member, saying ha she was no longer welcome o atend

any uncions ha were segregaed by gender, such as women’s prayer groups and

rereas, because, he pasor assered, she really is a man. Te pasor offered his

services o help he ransgender woman reurn o her God-ordained saus as a

male. In par, his leter12

o her, which appeared widely on social media, read:

When God has assigned a place, a saion, o someone, i is disobedience o

deser ha saion. I have searched Scripure and I can find no reerence ha

would say ha gender or gender-ideniy would be differen or exemp fom ha

direcive o obedience, even in he case o brokenness, emoions or eelings.


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I also can find no reerence or example in Scripure where Jesus recognizes, alers

or gives permission or a person o rea gender as anyhing o be reaed or

“healed” or correced, eiher by miracle or medical procedure.

I do find Scripural reerence and example direcing men and women o remain

in he siuaion ha hey find hemselves in, even i he siuaion ha hey have ound hemselves in conradics heir curren undersandings or who or how hey

ideniy or by heir curren eelings, orienaions or atracions. …

Melissa, “bes case scenario”, your body has berayed you due o sin bu God’s

grace is and will be sufficien. Bu, he soluion is no o embrace he conse-

quences o sin’s berayal o your flesh and o rea i as i i is somehing o be

considered or embraced as your “rue ideniy.” No. I is o hold ono wha God

has said is rue and live in he gender ha God has given o you, in spie o he

condiion o your flesh and emoions.

Afer a discussion o eunuchs, based on Scripure, he pasor concludes wih:

Reurn, rehink how you have been hinking or considering your gender-ideni-

ficaion and how you are pursuing lie as a woman … and hen … Reurn o

he acual, realiy-based, rue, gender-appropriae lie ha images he masculine

naure o God which will be made possible, only by he grace-sufficien, Chris

supplied, promised srengh o Jesus.

You are a man living in a broken body bu Jesus and his par o he body o

Chris known as Flairons Communiy Church are ready and willing o walk

along-side you as he man ha you are and always have been.

I find his supposedly pasoral leter o be filled wih cruel, shaming language

and anyhing bu pasoral. Is arroganceo claim o know he inner workings

o someone’s being beter han hey know i hemselvesakes my breah away.

Te miniser makes claims or God ha God never makes or God’s sel anywhere

in Scripure and draws conclusions or which I know no scripural or heological

basis. Bu i does illusrae he lack o saey, no o menion respec, a ransgender

person may eel around religious people and insiuions.

Jus weeks afer Laverne Cox appeared on he cover o ime , a resoluion on rans-

gender ideniy was passed wih very litle dissen a he 2014 Souhern Bapis

Convenion in Balimore.13 Ta resoluion “affirm[ed] God’s good design ha

gender ideniy is deermined by biological sex and no by one’s sel-percepion


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a percepion which is ofen influenced by allen human naure in ways conrary

o God’s design,” “proclaiming wha Scripure eaches abou God’s design or us

as male and emale persons creaed in His image and or His glory.” While he

resoluion “condemn[s] acs o abuse or bullying commited agains [ransgender

people],” i also declares “ha we coninue o oppose seadasly all effors by any

governing official or body o validae ransgender ideniy as morally praisewor-hy”apparenly wihou seeing any connecion beween he wo.

In conras, some mainline Chrisian denominaions have passed dramaically

posiive legislaion o welcome ransgender people ino he lie o heir congre-

gaions and wider church. For insance, he Episcopal Church passed a General

Convenion resoluion in 2012 opening he ordained offices o deacon, pries, and

bishop o oherwise qualified ransgender people.14

I should be noed, however, ha one canno always make assumpions abou

affirmaion or rejecion o ransgender people based on a paricular brand oreligion or approach o aih. I will surprise many people ha Pa Robersonhe

conservaive elevangelis known or his harsh judgmen and condemnaion o

los o people and behaviors based on his reading o Scripurehas saed on his

own elevision show, Chrisian Broadcasing Nework’s “Te 700 Club,” ha he

neiher regards being ransgender nor aking seps o change one’s appearance,

eiher hrough surgery or hormone herapy, o be sinul or immoral.15 In response

o a caller’s quesion abou co-workers who are ransgender, Roberson advises

he caller, “I’s no or you o decide or o judge.”

General lack of knowledge and understanding

While he word ransgender may be on he lips and minds o many more

Americans hese days, many people have a mosly superficial undersanding o

wha i means o be born ino a body and designaed a gender a birh ha is a

odds wih how ha person inernally idenifies heir gender. Ta experience,

which was once labeled as “gender ideniy disorder” and considered a menal

illness, is now called he less-sigmaizing “gender dysphoria”16 by he psychologi-

cal and psychiaric communiy. Tis erm ocuses no on gender ideniy being aodds wih he gender somone was assigned a birh bu raher on he disress17

caused by sociey’s harsh atiudes, and someimes, rejecionha may come

wih such a recogniion.


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10 Center for American Progress | Trans gender Welcome

Te leters LGB seem o roll easily off he ongues o gay and lesbian people

and even o much o he public. Bu i mus be said ha, generally speaking, gay

and lesbian people, as well as heir sraigh neighbors, are airly uninormed in

heir atiudes abou ransgender people and he issues hey acealhough his

is becoming less and less rue. For he mos par, he gay and lesbian communiy

undersands ha i mus care abou wha happens o ransgender people, bu haatiude is seldom accompanied by real lie ineracions and relaionships wih

ransgender people, nor does i include much in he way o knowledge abou he

diverse and complex circumsancesboh psychological and biologicalha

come under he umbrella o ransgender experiences.

Religious organizaions have been so ocused on soring ou wha hey hink and

believe abou homosexualiy ha litle o heir ime has been ocused on wha

Godand, consequenly, heymigh hink o ransgender people and he real-

iy ha in order o be rue o hemselves and God, ransgender people mus live

as a gender ha is no he one hey were assigned a birh. Tis is perhaps atribu-able o a general weariness in some religious communiies over seemingly endless

discussions abou sexual orienaion, as well as a lack o easy reerences o rans-

gender people in Scripure or in he hisories o aih radiions. While heological

work on he religious undersanding o gender ideniy has been ongoing since

a leas he 1990s, ha workor he mos parhas no ye reached he main-

sream o even he mos liberal aih communiies.


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Questions to be addressed

Tis resource aspires o inorm one small par o he discussion relaed o rans-

gender people by considering he ollowing quesions.

Do he Bible or religious radiions and pracices provide any guidance in under-

sanding ransgender people? How do he sories ound in he sacred exs o

Jewish/Chrisian radiion shed ligh on wha he church’s/synagogue’s sance

should be oward ransgender people? How migh people o aih approach hese

ancien exs o bes discern God’s will or us?

Wha migh people o aih learn rom he creaion sories o Genesis? Wha does

he creaion sory have o each us abou he goodness o creaion and he place o

ransgender people in ha creaion?

As people o aih, how are we o regard hose who ake deliberae seps oward

a gender ransiion, which may include hormonal and/or surgical inervenions

o various ypes? Teologically, how do we undersand God’s gif o agency o

humans, and how does i empower ransgender people o become co-creaors

wih God o heir own lives and ideniies?

Is he creaion good, as Genesis claims God declares? Wha difference does i

make o hold such a posiive regard or creaion in general, and humankind more

specifically?

Does he appearance o eunuchs in boh he Jewish and Chrisian holy exs pro-

vide an example o ransgender people being named in Scripure? Wha migh we

learn rom heir menion and reamen?

Does he lie o Jesus offer any guidance or Chrisians abou how o regard rans-

gender people? Where else in Scripure migh ransgender people, as well as he

larger religious communiy, find resonance wih ransgender experience?


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How is God calling people o aih o welcome and incorporae ransgender people

ino our religious communiies? Wha is he bes way o making he case or sup-

por and inclusion? Wha role are religious communiies and insiuions called o

play in helping heir members undersand and welcome ransgender people?

And finally, wha is o be affirmed and celebraed in ransgender lives, and whagifs do ransgender members bring o religious communiies?

Tis resource will atemp o answer hese and oher relaed quesions.


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Methodology

In my work as a Senior Fellow and member o he LGB eam a he Cener or

American Progress in Washingon, D.C., I noiced ha while much biblical and

heological work has been accomplishedand popularizedregarding homo-

sexualiy, biblical and heological work regarding ransgender people and com-

muniies has enjoyed much less in he way o wide disribuion and prioriy in

religious communiies. I waned o creae a usable resource ha is reasonably brie

and horoughly accessible o people who are no heologically rained.

I hen invied eigh people o aihmosly ransgender and some nonransgen-

der, some lay and some ordained, some older and some younger, rom a variey o

ehnic and racial backgroundso come o CAP or a consulaion on he biblical

and heological case or he accepance and inclusion o ransgender people in

conemporary Jewish/Chrisian communiies and insiuions. Tis diverse group

o people o aih aced as a council o wisdom and advice or me as I prepared

o do his work. ogeher, we brainsormed wha hreads o Scripure and heol-

ogy migh suppor an inclusive sance oward ransgender people and serve as a

deense agains heir condemnaion by some in he religious world. Te exen o

which heyand his processalso urhered my own educaion and learning

abou ransgender people canno be oversaed.

I hen ook he noes, hemes, and ideas brainsormed and discussed a he con-

sulaion and se abou creaing a resource ha makes he case or he affirmaion,

accepance, and welcome o ransgender people ino he lie o churches and syna-

gogues. Drafs o he resource were circulaed among he consulaion paricipans

or heir eedback, correcions, addiions, and suggesions.

I rejoice ha in he wriing and ediing o his resource, my own educaion abouransgender people and heir experience coninued apace. I would ofen wrie

somehing, only o receive careul, houghul, and paien eedback rom someone

in he consulaion poining ou how I had poorly described or compleely misun-

dersood he real, lived experience o ransgender people. I wan o express my deep


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appreciaion or members o he consulaion or heir candor and heir paience

wih me. Tis is he kind o loving, respecul inerchange I hope can occur more

requenly beween ransgender and nonransgender people, and especially people

o aih. No one o us ever ges i all righ. ogeher, we can do somehing beauiul.

Tis resource is he final resul o ha arduous and exciing conversaion. I amdeeply graeul o he many ways in which his advisory consulaion worked o

keep me on he righ rack so ha somehing could be produced ha is useul, rue

o lived experience, and respecul o ransgender people. Flaws and insufficiencies

ound herein are all mine and my responsibiliy. Our conversaion and educaion

will and mus coninue.

Wih graeul appreciaion o he consulaion paricipans:

• Carolyn Davis, Washingon, D.C. (Faih eam, Cener or American Progress;

Unied Mehodis Miniser)• Nicole Garcia, Denver, Colorado (Psychoherapis; Evangelical Luheran

Church in America Candidae or Ordained Minisry; Luher Seminary, S. Paul,

Minnesoa)• Seve Greenberg, Boson, Massachusets (Orhodox Jewish Rabbi)• Asher Kolieboi, Balimore, Maryland (Chaplain, Johns Hopkins Universiy;

Vanderbil Universiy Diviniy School, Nashville, ennessee)• Sarah McBride, Washingon, D.C. (LGB eam, Cener or American Progress)• Alex Pachin McNeill, Washingon, D.C. (Direcor, More Ligh Presbyerians;

Harvard Diviniy School)• Cameron Parridge, Boson, Massachusets (Episcopal Pries; Boson

Universiy; Harvard Diviniy School; Episcopal Diviniy School, Cambridge,

Massachusets)• Jusin anis, Berkeley, Caliornia (Adjunc Proessor, Pacific School o Religion;

Managing Direcor, Cener or Lesbian and Gay Sudies in Religion and

Minisry; Harvard Diviniy School; San Francisco Teological Seminary)


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Approaching the Scriptures

Tere are a number o ways o approach he exs held sacred by Jews and

Chrisians. Te approach aken here is a nonlieralis one, which seeks o read

Scripure and o siuae i in is conex, boh lierary and hisorical, including he

hisorical undersandings o he ime. While people o aih do no expec ancien

wriings o know abou modern quesions and realiies, we are called upon o

engage hem and wisely apply heir eachings o our conex.

People o aih would also do well o remember ha he original Scripures wereno writen in English. When we fixae on wha a paricular word migh or migh

no mean, we should remember ha he English words we are parsing are already

an inerpreaion. Some ranslaoror group o ranslaorshas already made an

inerpreaion in deciding ha his word insead o ha word will be used o rans-

lae he original word’s meaning. In shor, here is much in Scripure ha canno

be read simply or undersood easily. One canno assume ha words and phrases in

Scripure mean in ancien imes precisely wha hey mean now. Nor can we always

deermine how a word ound in he original Hebrew or Greek was used a he ime

o wriing. However, i should be noed ha Jews are generally no obsessed wih

deermining he auhor’s original inen, since i is he many and varied readings o

a ex ha will illuminae ha ex. Sill, i is he naure o he biblical and heologi-

cal enerprise o use all he ools and approaches available in order o discern he

meaning o he Scripures and heir appropriae applicaion o our own ime.

Tis resource assumes ha he words o Scripure need o be undersood in he

conex o:

1. Undersandings and belies a he ime he words were writen

2. How he religious communiy has inerpreed hose words over ime3. Curren, modern day undersandings o science, psychology, and he

conex o modern imes

I believe ha using all o hese perspecives ogeher will bring people o aih

close o wha hese ancien words migh mean oday.


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I is imporan o remember ha “ransgender” and “gender ideniy” were no

caegories used and undersood a he ime o biblical wriing. However, i is air

o assume ha here have always been people who have, o one degree or anoher,

ransgressed he prevailing norms o gender in heir conexs. Scripure does show

specific roles ha are ulfilled by individuals based on gender or perceived gender,

bu here is no reerence o he concep o gender ideniy isel. ransgenderpeople likely exised in biblical imes bu were no acknowledged or recognized as

ransgender and were no undersood in he ways hey are odayeven by hose

ransgender people hemselves. ransgender people in biblical imes migh have

lived heir realiies wihou a name or wha hey were experiencing or an inel-

lecual ramework wihin which o undersand i hemselves. Te ransgender

communiy is coninuing o build ha ramework even oday.

I here was no a name or caegory or ransgender people in ancien imes, hen

how can people o aih expec Scripure o offer any help in undersanding wha

a Judeo-Chrisian undersanding o ransgender people migh be? Tere aremany hings in modern lie ha are imporan and conusing and require some

sor o moral consideraion. Many o hese conceps are simply no reerenced in

he Bible because hey did no exis, had no ye been discovered, or were simply

beyond comprehension a ha ime. People o aih would no expec Moses o

have known ha he earh revolved around he sun, nor would hey expec Jesus

o have made pronouncemens on he depleion o he ozone layer or in viro er-

ilizaion. I should no be surprising, hen, ha he word “ransgender” does no

appear in he Bible, nor is here obvious and direc reerence o gender ideniy

or o ransgender people in Scripure.18 People o aih are lef, hereore, o lif

up rom wha is in Scripurehose exs ha migh help us creae a reasoned

heological reflecion on he relaionship beween God and ransgender ideniy.

For many religious people, seeking and undersanding God’s atiude and will or

God’s people is cenral o being godly in heir acions and atiudes, as individuals

and as a communiy o believers.

Again, a good measure o humiliy is recommended in such an endeavor, admi-

ing o our own biases and experiences ha may lead us o undersand and

inerpre he meaning o Scripure in paricular ways. When seeking guidance

rom Scripure regarding issues or undersandings ha were unknown in heancien world, Chrisians and Jews are lef wih his kind o exrapolaionand in

so doing, we mus always pu orward our conclusions wih he cavea ha we are

discerning hose conclusions as bes as we can undersand and inerpre.


20/47


I also wan o acknowledge ha oher, more conservaive readings o Scripure may

arise rom a houghul, aihul, and reasonable place. As evidenced in much o he

orah, Jews have always had a reverence or order and a leas a nervousness abou

disorder. Guidelines, rules, and proscripions are mean o keep order, and much o

Hebrew culure and religious pracice was abou applying he divine o God o he

social order o human beings. Jews have always been as concerned wih he com-mon social order o he human communiy as wih he individualan emphasis

rom which Chrisians migh well learn. And so, or Jews, i is a legiimae ques-

ion, arising rom a deep aih, o ask wheher or no gender is a par o he Divine’s

ordering o humankind. As people o aih seek o answer his quesion, we would

do well o honor he legiimae concern or order rom which i comes.

As we seek o explore our sacred exs as a way o undersanding curren, mod-

ern realiies, people o aih would do well o be creaive in our approaches. Jews

have he rich and ancien radiion o dealing vigorously and even coneniously

wih heir sacred exs. Te rabbinic radiion o midrash is a many-cenuries-old,chronicled hisory o grappling wih he meaning o sacred exspushing he

boundaries, making associaions, asking hard quesions (even o God!), and no

being araid o challenge radiional meanings assigned o cerain exs. Anyone

who has ever paricipaed in a Seder knows ha much o he evening involves

arguing abou wha God did, why God did i, and wha i all means oday. Jews are

no araid o play wih a ex in order o ease ou is many meanings. Even assum-

ing ha a single ex can have muliple meanings is a wonderully Jewish way o

going abou inerpreing Scripure.

Chrisians, on he oher hand, ofen rea Scripure as a single, fixed objec o be

revered and obeyed bu never quesioned. While biblical undamenalism is his-

orically a recen phenomenon,19 i has been remendously influenial, especially

in conemporary American sociey. Tere is a difference beween believing, on he

one hand, ha he Bible was dicaed, word or word, by God and, on he oher

hand, believing ha he wriers o he Scripures were inspired o record heir

encouners wih he Living God as bes hey could or humankind’s benefi. Te

approach o his resource is closer o he later, wih a healhy dose o he Jewish

radiion o playing wih Scripure o ease ou is muliple possible meanings. Te

orah claims ha every word is rom God, and he word’s meaning is open o 70possibiliies: Te words are acual, bu wha hey mean is no given.


21/47


What are the moral implications of transitioning one’s gender,

whether socially or medically? With what authority or agency

do people make the decision and take steps to transition?

Usually, human gender is hough o in a binary way. Male and emale are simply

undersood as he way hings are. However, i is ineresing o noe ha one o he

wo creaion sories rom he Book o Genesis posis he noion ha gender was

acually creaed in a secondary sep by God.

Te firs creaion sorybeginning wih Genesis 1:1–2:3ells he more amiliar

sory o each day’s creaive asks accomplished by God and declares ha God “saw

ha i was good.” And on he sevenh, Sabbah, day o he week, God ress. In ha

elling, humankind is creaed male and emale rom he very beginning, in God’s

image. Tis is he raher sraighorward sory mos people hink o when hey

hink o he Genesis creaion sory.

I was born the oldest son in a Roman Catholic, Hispanic family. I feltI had a specific role to fulfill in my family: to marry, have kids, and

carry on the family name. I tried as hard as I could to be the person

everyone wanted me to be. By the time I was 40, I had been married

in the Roman Catholic Church, lived in a beautiful home, and was

a respected law enforcement officer, but I never felt comfortable

in my own skin. I knew I was lying to my wife, family, and friends. I

became angry at God for not taking away the feelings I had deep

inside even though I prayed and prayed for solace. I stopped going

to church. Eventually, I turned to alcohol to cope with the façade

I had created in order to make all those around me happy. After

eight years of marriage, my wife and I divorced. I blamed her for

all the pain I felt, but in reality, she was the one who had to suffer

through a marriage with an angry and frustrated spouse.

Soon after my divorce, I was depressed and entertained thoughts

of suicide. I entered therapy, and after a few months, I admitted to

my counselor that the source of my pain was the guilt associated

with the fact that I liked wearing women’s clothing. My counselor

referred me to a support group where I met other people who had

the same feelings. Over several months of therapy, support group

meetings, and attending a conference with some 200 transgen-

der participants, I realized I wasn’t a freak or an outcast, but was really a woman. When I accepted the fact that I had to li

the rest of my life as a woman, the weight of the world was li

from my shoulders. I found peace. I felt in my heart and soul

I had discerned God’s will for my life. My anger toward God d

peared, and I knew I had to return to church. I was transgend

and divorced, so I did not anticipate being welcomed back in

the Roman Catholic Church. I had met a transgender woman

was welcomed into a Lutheran church so I decided to attend

church in downtown Denver, where I expected the people to

and point at “the man in a dress.” Instead, I was welcomed w

open arms. I heard words of love and acceptance from the pu

and I was told I was a beautiful child of God. I had found a ho

where my faith in Jesus Christ was restored. Today, I thank G

for the journey of self-discovery. The path I took during the fir

years of my life showed me what suffering means, but now I

empowered to be a beacon of hope for those who follow afte

The welcome I felt in that church in Denver is one I will replica

in a church I will someday lead as a pastor, when I complete

seminary studies and am ordained as a minister in the Evang

Lutheran Church in America. Thanks be to God!

— Nicole


22/47


However, in a second elling o he creaion o he world by God, which immedi-

aely ollows he firs, beginning wih Genesis 2:4, here is a differen order and

emphasis in he creaion o he world:20

In he day ha he Lord God made he earh and he heavens, when no plan o he field

was ye in he earh and no herb o he field had ye sprung upor he Lord God had nocaused i o rain upon he earh, and here was no one o ill he ground; bu a sream

would rise fom he earh, and waer he whole ace o he groundhen he Lord God

ormed man fom he dus o he ground, and breahed ino his nosrils he breah o lie;

and he man became a living being. And he Lord God planed a garden in Eden, in he

eas; and here he pu he man whom he had ormed. Ou o he ground he Lord God

made o grow every ree ha is pleasan o he sigh and good or ood, he ree o lie

also in he mids o he garden, and he ree o he knowledge o good and evil. …

Te Lord God ook he man and pu him in he garden o Eden o ill i and keep i. And he Lord

God commanded he man, ‘You may feely ea o every ree o he garden; bu o he reeo he knowledge o good and evil you shall no ea, or in he day ha you ea o i you

shall die.’

Ten he Lord God said, ‘I is no good ha he man should be alone; I will make him a

helper as his parner.’ So ou o he ground he Lord God ormed every animal o he

field and every bird o he air, and brough hem o he man o see wha he would call

hem; and whaever he man called each living creaure, ha was is name. Te man gave

names o all catle, and o he birds o he air, and o every animal o he field; bu or he

man here was no ound a helper as his parner. So he Lord God caused a deep sleep o

all upon he man, and he slep; hen he ook one o his ribs and closed up is place wih

flesh. And he rib ha he Lord God had aken fom he man he made ino a woman and

brough her o he man. Ten he man said,

‘Tis a las is bone o my bones

and flesh o my flesh;

his one shall be called Woman,

or ou o Man his one was aken.’

Tereore, a man leaves his aher and his moher and clings o his wie, and hey becomeone flesh. And he man and his wie were boh naked, and were no ashamed.

[Genesis 2:4–9; 15–25]


23/47


A lieralisic reading o hese wo creaion sories in English hides he rich and com-

plex meanings o be ound in he Hebrew language. Boh creaion sories in Genesis

use a combinaion o meanings or he Hebrew word “ a-DAM.” Someimes i

means a man; someimes i means man and woman; someimes i means human-

kind; someimes i means a paricular male human being named Adam. I is no

always possible o ell. And ha means ha readers are mean o hink abou i, oconemplae all he possible ways o undersanding his sory. However, i is raher

clear rom he Hebrew ex o he second elling ha, iniially, “a-DAM” is no a

man named Adam bu “human being,”21 “earh creaure,” or “earhling.”22

Here is one possible way o reading his sory:

God firs creaes he earh, bu i is sill barren. And hen God creaes he adam,

he earhling, he human being wih no gender. God hen plans a abulous gar-

den, ull o every good hing, and pus he earhling in he garden o ake care o

i. Very soon afer, God realizes ha here is a problem in his perec garden: Teearhling is lonely. God hinks, “I’ll make some eneraining animals o cheer he

human upand perhaps he human being will find one o he animals o be a sui-

able and ulfilling companion, a cure or he loneliness ha he human being eels.”

(I is ineresingand imporano noe ha God does no a firs seem o

know wha will be he answer o he earhling’s loneliness bu raher is dependen

on he earhling o name he earhling’s own happiness and cure or loneliness.)

Te earhling seems o like he animals and gives names o hem all, bu a he

end o he day, he loneliness is sill here, and no helpmae is ound or he adam.

Ten, God ges an idea! God causes he earhling o all asleep, akes one o he

human’s ribs/sides, mixes i wih he dir (he adamah rom which he ormed he

earhling in he firs place), and produces a second earhling o be he adam’s help-

mae. And he adam, he human being, seems o become a man, viewing or he

firs ime a woman (who is no named Eve unil Genesis 3:20). And Adam says o

God, “Tis is he answer o my loneliness. Tis is my helpmae.” And alhough his

is no repored in he ex, God mus have been quie relieved o have solved his

imperecion in he garden!

Tis only slighly ongue-in-cheek reelling o he sory is a leas one o he ways

his ex can be read. Because o he complexiy o he language and he ar andpoery o he elling, i is impossible o posi only one meaning in his sory. Wha

migh Chrisians and Jews learn rom his undersanding o he creaion?


24/47


In his second creaion sory, Adam is a co-creaor wih God. Adam’s naming o

he creaures is no small conribuion. Especially in ancien imes, he naming o

somehing was highly significan. Names had meaning. Places were named or

evens ha happened here. Te Name o God was so sacred ha i was never

spoken aloud by Jews. In addiion, people’s names were ofen changed when some

grea ransormaion occurred or some big even affeced heir lives orever.

However, he power o name is no he only auhoriy given o Adam by God.

God grans o Adam he abiliy and auhoriy o deermine much o Adam’s own

liean auhoriy somewhere beween he exremely limied auhoriy and con-

sciousness o he creaures o land and sea and he complee auhoriy o God.

Sociologiss would call his auhoriy given o humankind “agency”he capaciy

o individuals o ac independenly and o make heir own ree choices. Agency

is a deeper way o undersand he ree will given o human beings by God. Free

will ofen sounds limied o choosing a paricular way orward or ourselves whenpresened wih one or more opions. Agency, however, represens he reedom,

independence, and auhoriy o human beings o ake acion and o be proacive in

he world on behal o hemselves or ohers.

I seems ha one o he hings i means o be made in he image o God is o

have agency, he auhoriy o deermine much o one’s own human lie in he

world. Unlike he oher creaed creaures, Adam is given unmached indepen-

dence and he abiliy o make decisions ha will affec Adam’s lie and hap-

piness. I is Adam, no God, who ges o decide wha and who cures Adam’s

loneliness and brings happiness.

Such agency, according o Scripure, is one o he hings ha ses human beings

apar rom he res o creaion. And his has dramaic relevance or he issue o

gender ideniy. When people o aih ask, “ Wha are he moral implicaions o he

decision no only o live ouwardly as a differen gender, bu also o change one’s

body medically?”, we are asking a quesion abou he exen, qualiy, and characer

o human agency. Te auhoriy o ake such an acion on one’s own behal is o

asser ha humans are indeed co-creaors o our lives wih God.

While here are hose who would argue ha one’s gender is deermined solely by

one’s physical characerisics, he gif o agency would sugges ha each o us ges

o decide wha our rue ideniy is, regardless o he gender assigned a birh based

upon a physical deerminaion. Raher han a rejecion o wha God has done, he

embracing o one’s rue gender ideniy is an exercise o God’s gif o agency.


25/47


As Genesis makes clear, unlike he res o he creaures o creaion, humankind is

indeed vesed wih he creaive powers o he Creaor and made in he Creaor’s

image. For ransgender people, his means ha i is no only appropriae, bu also o

heir very human naure o claim who hey are, o ake responsibiliy or heir lives,

o bring ino being ouwardly he personal ideniy hey know hemselves inwardly

o be, and o proclaim, like he adam, he earhling, “his is wha is righ or me.”

What are some of the theological or religious perspectives with which

to make sense of the occurrence of transgender people in creation?

Tis discussion mus sar a he beginning: “In he beginning, God … .” Te

sories in he early chapers o Genesis ell o a beginning and a Creaor who

inenionally creaes he world ou o boh chaos and void. Te firs elling o ha

creaion marches hrough he firs seven “days” o creaion, wih God creaing

succeeding pars o he creaed order and declaring i good! Te God o creaion

seems o ake deligh in wha has been creaed, sanding back and admiring he

handiwork o ha “day.” [Genesis 1:1–2:3]

Te declaraion o he world and all ha is in i as “good” is no small or insignifi-

can hing. Chrisianiy inheried much rom he Greek philosophy o he ancien

world, which ends o denigrae and judge he physical world as less han he world

o mind and soul, even calling i corrup and evil. I should be noed, however, ha

some scholars would argue ha his Greek undersanding is much more complex

and nuanced han such a characerizaion migh sugges. Greek philosophy, which

ofen ocused on a dualism and separaion o mind and body, influenced Paul’sleters o he early churches, and I would argue, sill plagues Chrisianiy odaya

dualism ha would have been oreign o Jesus and ancien Jews alike.

I am not a mistake. My transgender identity and experience is not a mistake, but

rather a blessing. It has made me a stronger and better person, a more empathetic

being, and a more enlightened neighbor. This experience has led to a life of revela-

tion. Being transgender was not a mistake, but the path I was meant to walk down.

Our diversity enriches us, and that includes the experience of being transgender.

— Sarah McBride


26/47


I have deeced a divide among various denominaions and religions, based on

wha ha paricular aih regards as he quinessenial and defining momen

or humankind. Tere are hose who believe ha he Fall defines us. [Genesis 3

accoun o Adam and Eve’s eaing he orbidden rui in defiance o God’s will]

Human beings are weak a bes, corrup a wors, and wihou he help o a sric,

unwavering oversigh by religion, we would deeriorae ino he beass ha we are,unleashing he demons in a Pandora’s box kind o world. Religion, in such a world,

is our only hope o keeping a lid on ha box. Our goal becomes reaching he end

o our lives wihou having done anyhing really, really bad.

A differen view poses he noion ha he quinessenial and defining momen

or humankind is our creaion by a loving God and being declared good by he

Creaor. Whaever else may happen, no mater how bad some o our choices urn

ou o be, no mater how ar shor o our bes selves we all, we have been declared

good by he Creaor, and ha ulimaely defines us. In ha kind o world, religion’s

role is liberaion, seting us ree rom whaever holds us back rom being he very bes, mos compassionae, and ully alive human beings we can be. Our goal is

reaching he end o our lives having done much ha is good.

In ruh, no religion or denominaion is enirely on one side or he oher o his

divide. Bu which o hese narraives abou he naure o humankind dominaes

our consciousness affecs our oulook.

God, i seems o me, delighs in God’s creaionall o i. One o he prayers in he

Episcopal Church’s Book o Common Prayer ha is used on Ash Wednesday begins

by addressing Almighy and Everlasing God as he one “who haes nohing ha

hou has made.”23 Indeed, here is nohing in all creaion ha God does no will

ino being and declare good.

Te quesion abou wheher or no God has made a misake in creaing ransgen-

der people is an ill-placed and nonsensical quesion i God has declared he enire

creaion good. Te quesion is no “Wha wen wrong?” bu raher “Wha gif is

God giving o us in he creaion o ransgender people?” and “Wha is he res o

creaion mean o learn rom hese paricular children o God?”


27/47


Does the appearance of eunuchs in both the Jewish

and Christian holy texts provide an example of transgender

people being named in Scripture? What might be learned

from their mention and treatment?

Firs, here is nohing in eiher he Hebrew Scripuresradiionally called he Oldesamen by Chrisiansor he Chrisian Scripureshe New esamenha

idenifies someone as eeling ha heir gender is a odds wih he gender o which

hey have been assigned. While prohibiions in he ancien world abou cross-dress-

ing poin o he occurrence o people who indeed raversed gender lines, gender

ideniy and sexual orienaion are caegories unknown in he ancien, biblical world.

I should be noed ha he curren phenomenon o exclusion o and discriminaion

oward ransgender people has no always been he case. Tere are imes, places,

and culures o he pas in which ransgender people were no excluded and even

valued highly, perceived o bring special gifs o heir communiies and given a placeo honor in heir culures. For insance, many indigenous ribes o Naive Americans

have honored “wo-spiri” people as being “doubly blessed” wih boh genders

and especially “spiriually gifed.”24 Te moral quesioning, suspicion, and violence

aimed a ransgender people oday is a somewha new phenomenon.

Boh he Hebrew Scripures o he Old esamen and he Chrisian Scripures

o he New esamen poin oward a movemen rom rigid exclusion o greaer

inclusion o hose ouside normaive lie in some way. Older proscripions are

giving way o ever more-inclusive undersandings. Tis movemen rom exclu-

sion oward greaer inclusion should be helpul in guiding people o aih oward a

conemporary response o ransgender people.

Te Bible rarely alks abou sexual organs and sexual acs, excep perhaps

euphemisically. Tere is, however, a caegory o people menioned in boh he

Hebrew and Chrisian Scripures who are named despie his reicence: eunuchs.

Generally undersood o be casraed men, he erm was someimes used o

describe oher sexual or physical configuraions. While i would be wrong o

declare ha all eunuchs were ransgender people or all ransgender people change

heir bodies, eunuchs represen examples in Scripure o people whose bodieshave been alered or were ambiguous a birh. [Mathew 19:12]


28/47


On several levels, eunuchs provide an analogy or rying o undersand ransgen-

der people and conemporary religious communiies. However, he eunuch label

generally applies only o people assigned male a birh, and o course, ransgender

people are no limied o a single gender. Addiionally, i is imporan o noe ha

many ransgender people live as a gender differen rom he one assigned o hem

a birh wihou alering heir bodies.

Generally speaking, people end o hink o eunuchs as casraed men who were

given oversigh o harems or kings who were considered pagan o he Jews.

“Eunuch” also came o be a common adminisraive erm used or someone

charged wih auhoriy over ohers. Casraion solved he poenial problem o he

harem overseer impregnaing women in he harem, which was no only a violaion

o he king’s so-called propery, bu also caused quesions abou legiimae heirs o

he hrone. Eunuchs could be rused wih he king’s wives or concubines.

Beore examining his group o people who were caegorized by heir physicalatribueseunuchsi should be noed ha ransgender people ofen resis he

reducion o heir bodies and ransiions o surgery in general and o genial surgery

in paricular. While looking a scripural reerences o eunuchs, he erm “eunuch”

could have several meanings. In addiion, i is imporan o remember ha he cur-

ren undersanding o ransiioning may or may no include a number o differen

sors o bodily changessurgeries or hose who choose hem and/or hormone

replacemen herapy. I also should be noed ha he biblically menioned “eunuchs

who have been so rom birh” [Mathew 19:12] probably includes hose born wih

physical ambiguiies who oday would be described as inersex.25 In some places

noably in Ausraliainersex people are organized and vocal and have a huge

impac on he discussions abou and undersandings o human sexualiy.26 In shor,

no comparison or analogy is perecsomehing imporan o keep in mind when

looking a he presence o eunuchs in ancien imes.

Bu hese Scripure passages abou eunuchs poin o how some ancien religious

communiies deal wih someone physically ouside sociey’s gender norms,

including making a place or hem specifically because o heir gender ideniy.27

And more imporanly or ransgender people and people o aih who love

hem, hese Scripures ell o a dramaic, hisorical arc rom exclusion o inclu-sion. Te message o Isaiah is ha God has provided a way or even eunuchs o be

woven ino he covenan beween God and humankind. Te Hebrew Scripures

offer mixed reviews on he reamen o males whose genials have been alered,

presumably by acciden or volunarily. Deueronomy 23:1 reads, “No one whose

esicles are crushed or whose penis is cu off shall be admited o he assembly o

he Lord.” Similarly, Leviicus 21:17–21 cauions:


29/47


Speak o Aaron and say: No one who has a blemish shall draw near, one who is blind

and lame, or one who has a muilaed ace or a limb oo long, or one who has broken a

oo or a broken hand, or a hunchback, or a dwar, or a man wih a blemish in his eyes or

an iching disease or scabs or crushed esicles. No descendan o Aaron he pries who

has a blemish shall come near o offer he Lord’s offerings by fire; since he has a

blemish, he shall no come near o offer he ood o his God.

I is no unusual ha only male genials would be addressed here, owing o he cul-

ure’s pariarchy and ocus on men. Relaively speaking, women are quie ignored

in he exs, exceping he general disdain or women’s bodily uncioning, cleanli-

ness, and subservien saus o men.

I is imporan o noe ha while a man’s crushed esicles or he removal o his

penis disqualifies him rom being “admited o he assembly o he Lord,” even

his se o circumsances does no compleely exclude him rom he communiy.

Insead, i jus orbids him rom aking a Jewish wie and disallows his serving inhe emple i he is a pries. Te lis o oher disqualificaions rom being a par

o he assembly includes circumsances ha oday would no resul in exclu-

sion or penalies rom Jewish communiies: blindness, “lameness,” uneven legs,

being hunchbacked or dwar, having a blemish in he eyes (perhaps reerring o

caaracs), and skin rashes (perhaps eczema). In applying hese prohibiions and

disqualificaions o modern siuaions, here is no reason o believe ha he con-

demnaion o hose wih alered genials would remain rue and operaive oday,

any more han having a disabiliy or caaracs would disqualiy someone rom

being a par o a religious communiy.

Te Holiness Code ound in Leviicus comes down hard on anyone or anyhing

ouside he norm, i seems. Only hose who are whole and unblemished in hese

paricular ways may be admited ino he assembly o he Lord or serve God and

he assembly as a pries.

However, he Hebrew Scripures also offer anoher hisorically laer view, one ha is

much more posiive and inclusive. Te porion o Isaiah ha addresses he Jews held

in capiviy in Babylon and promises God’s deliverance in he near uure reads:


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Te prophe Isaiah, preaching o an enslaved communiy and promising hope and

deliverance by God, includes eunuchs in his descripion o he broadness o God’sredempion. Tese hereoore oucass are no merely o be included in he new

Jerusalem ha will ollow he end o exile, bu will also be honored, elevaed, and

given a “name beter han sons and daughers.”

Perhaps i was his passage rom Isaiah ha Jesus’ ollower Philip remembers as

he obeys God’s call or him o ravel oward Gaza o preach he Good News o

Jesus’ resurrecion:

Tus says he Lord: Mainain jusice, and do wha is righ, or soon my salvaion will

come, and my deliverance be revealed.

Happy is he moral who does his, he one who holds i as, who keeps he Sabbah, no

proaning i, and refains fom doing any evil.

Do no le he oreigner joined o he Lord say, “Te Lord will surely separae me fom

his people”; and do no le he eunuch say, “I am jus a dry ree.”

For hus says he Lord: o he eunuchs who keep my Sabbahs, who choose he hings

ha please me and hold as my covenan, I will give, in my house and wihin my walls, a

monumen and a name beter han sons and daughers; I will give hem an everlasing

name ha shall no be cu off. [Isaiah 56:1–5]


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One can fill in he eelings beween he lines o his sory. Philip is on a wilder-

ness road, no knowing wha o expec, leas o all an Ehiopian eunuch in a char-

io. Philip has all kinds o reasons o see his person as ouside he Kingdom o

God ha Jesus preached: He is a oreigner; he may be a genile who is a conver

o Judaism and a believer shor o being circumcised, which was no uncommon;

he serves a pagan queen, he Candace; and he is a eunuch. As Barbara Brown

aylor wries, he was “wealhy enough o ride in a chario, educaed enough o

read Greek, devou enough o sudy he prophe Isaiah, and humble enough o

know ha he canno undersand wha he is reading wihou help.” 28 And besides,

beore Philip reaches ou o him, his eunuch shows admirable hospialiy in

inviing Philip o si wih him in his chario.

Because Philip is seeped in he Scripuresremember, i is he Hebrew

Scripures o Chrisians’ Old esamen ha are Philip’s Biblehe is able o imag-

ine even a eunuch being welcomed ino he Kingdom o God preached by Jesus.

Now here was an Ehiopian eunuch, a cour official o he Candace, queen o he

Ehiopians, in charge o her enire reasury. He had come o Jerusalem o worship and

was reurning home; seaed in his chario, he was reading he prophe Isaiah. Ten he

Spiri said o Philip, ‘Go over o his chario and join i.’ So Philip ran up o i and heard

him reading he prophe Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you undersand wha you are reading?’

He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invied Philip o ge in andsi beside him. Now he passage o he scripure ha he was reading was his:

‘Like a sheep he was led o he slaugher,

and like a lamb silen beore is shearer,

so he does no open his mouh.

In his humiliaion jusice was denied him.

Who can describe his generaion?

For his lie is aken away fom he earh.’

Te eunuch asked Philip, ‘Abou whom, may I ask you, does he prophe say his, abouhimsel or abou someone else?’ Ten Philip began o speak, and saring wih his scripure,

he proclaimed o him he good news abou Jesus. As hey were going along he road, hey

came o some waer; and he eunuch said, ‘Look, here is waer! Wha is o preven me fom

being bapized?’ He commanded he chario o sop, and boh o hem, Philip and he eunuch,

wen down ino he waer, and Philip bapized him. When hey came up ou o he waer,

he Spiri o he Lord snached Philip away; he eunuch saw him no more, and wen on his way

rejoicing. [Acs 8:26–40]


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Perhaps Philip remembers Isaiah’s prophecy o he Lord’s inclusion o he eunuch

in his redempion o he Jews. Tis kind o inclusion, his broadening o he vision

o God’s love, is wha leads he early disciples o incorporae ino heir communiy

all kinds o people hihero excluded rom God’s grace and avoramong hem

eunuchs, he uncircumcised, and hose who do no ollow Leviical dieary laws.

Afer conversing wih Philip abou he meaning o his passage rom Isaiah, he

Ehiopian eunuch surprisingly, and raher boldly, asks: “ Wha is o preven me

rom being bapized?” One can only imagine ha Philip is aken up shor or

a momen, wondering wha craziness he has wandered ino and i he himsel

believes he message o God’s grace ha he had jus given he eunuch. o answer

he eunuch’s quesion“Wha is o preven me rom being bapized?”Philip

can hink o only one answer: nohing! And so Philip bapizes he eunuch.

Jesus himsel is recorded as menioning eunuchs once. In an exchange wih he

Pharisees over he religious laws regarding marriage and divorce, Jesus says:

Tere are eunuchs who have been so fom birh, and here are eunuchs who have been

made eunuchs by ohers, and here are eunuchs who have made hemselves eunuchs or

he sake o he kingdom o heaven. Le anyone accep his who can. [Mathew 19:12]

Given ha he conex or hese commens is an argumen over marriage, divorce,

and remarriage, some have argued ha Jesus is likely using he word “eunuch” in a

more meaphorical wayindicaing hose who are no physically able o procre-

ae or choose no o do so or a greaer good hrough celibacy. However, Jesus’

menion o “eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by ohers” argues agains such

a reducion o he erm “eunuch” o a meaphor abou heerosexual sex and repro-

ducion.29 In any case, Jesus’ one is ar rom condemning or judgmenal.

While hese passages rom Scripure abou eunuchs poin o how ancien religious

communiies deal wih someone physically ouside he norm o sociey, hey also

ell he sory o a religious communiy’s growing accepance o hose who are ou-

side he norm in some way and have hisorically been marginalized rom he larger

communiy because o ha difference. Tese passages rom Scripure describe a

hisorical arc rom exclusion o inclusion. I mus be acknowledged, however, hahis hisorical arc is neiher ineviablei akes human work and advocacynor

linear because here will be boh sebacks and advances over ime.


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Tese passages do show ha hisorically, boh Judaism and Chrisianiy were

moving seadily oward greaer inclusion o he non-normaive in he vision o

God’s beloved communiy. Tis is a huge, overarching heme o boh he Hebrew

and Chrisian sories. Indeed, many people oday measure he progress o boh

religious insiuions and sociey in general by he movemen away rom exclusion

oward greaer inclusion and paricipaion.

Tis movemen rom exclusion oward inclusion evidenced in Scripure should be

good news or ransgender people. I calls on conemporary religious communi-

ies o ully accep and embrace ransgender people as children o God and heirs

o he Reign o God.

For Chrisians, he lie and minisry o Jesus are ouchsones or how we are o be

in he world.

What might Jesus’ life teach us about

how we should treat transgender people?

While i is difficul o say wha i means, i is imporan o noe in passing ha he

cenral figure in he Chrisian narraive, Jesus, does no exacly oe he prevailing

line on radiional gender boundaries and expression.

According o Scripure:

1. Jesus never marries in a culure ha virually requires i.

2. Jesus seems o cross many o he socieal boundaries regarding he separaion

and hierarchy o he sexes, reaing women wih a deep respec and high regard

virually unheard o in his culure. [he hemorrhagic woman, Mat 9:20–22 and

Mark 5:25–34; Samarian woman a he well, John 4:7–30; Mary and Marha,

Luke 10:38–42]

3. Jesus is said o have a paricular disciple who holds a special imporance in his

lie, “he one whom Jesus loved.” [ John 13:23–26, 20:2, 21:17, 21:20]

Jesus is paricularly known or breaking long-sanding boundaries regardinghallowing he Sabbah [Mat 12: 1-14 and Mark 2:23-3:6] and riual cleanliness

[ouching/healing he leper, Mat 8:1–3]. Jesus does no advocae or he break-

ing o long-esablished rules jus or he sake o causing rouble, bu raher gives a

raionale or deying radiional boundaries or prohibiions:


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One sabbah he was going hrough he cornfields; and as hey made heir way his

disciples began o pluck heads o grain. Te Pharisees said o him, ‘Look, why are hey

doing wha is no lawul on he sabbah?’ And he said o hem, ‘Have you never read

wha David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need o ood? He

enered he house o God, when Abiahar was high pries, and ae he bread o he

Presence, which i is no lawul or any bu he priess o ea, and he gave some o hiscompanions.’ Ten he said o hem, ‘Te sabbah was made or humankind, and no

humankind or he sabbah; so he Son o Man is lord even o he sabbah.’

[Mark 2:23–28]

Jesus is rying o each hose who will lisen ha a cerain sandard mus be

applied when assessing wheher o ollow or o disobey a radiional boundary:

Does he observance o his boundary serve or harm human beings? I his answer

is harm, hen i is he godly and good hing o disobey he rule because he well-

being o humankind always rumps rules.

Chrisians should be neiher surprised nor alarmed a he noion ha Jesus breaks

rules and violaes boundaries when i resuls in a more compassionae and respec-

ul reamen o human beings. Te Chrisian communiy has every reason o

embrace a similar sandard when esing a long-sanding pracice. When assessing

wheher or no o embrace and include ransgender people in he communiy, he

sandard is sill he same: Does i help or harm human beings? Clearly, inclusion

helps and exclusion hurs. Such an acion by Chrisians oday ollows in he oo-

seps o he one hey call Lord.


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Where in Scripture might transgender people, as well as the larger

religious community, find resonance with transgender experience?

Names and naming

One o he sronges, mos recurring noions in Scripure is he power o names

and naming. Tis resource has already noed he auhoriy given o Adam o name

all he creaures. Names are careully atended o in he hisory o he Jews.

In a dramaic scene in he sory o he Exodus ha serves as a preamble o his

demands ha Pharaoh release he Jewish slaves, Moses asks God wha God’s

Name is. [Exodus 3:1–15] He wans o know how o answer i Pharaoh asks, who

is “he God o your ancesors?” Tis is no small reques Moses is making. In he

ancien world, knowing someone’s name was a deeper kind o knowledge and ini-

macy han in he modern world. Knowing someone’s name gave a cerain amoun

o power over ha person, o bless or o curse. Ta God would share God’s name

wih Mosesand by exension, he Israeliesis an indicaion o how inimaely

God is linking God’s sel wih his chosen people and he lasing deph o commi-

men God is making o hem in he Covenan.

Te changing o names is also a cusom seen in boh he Hebrew and ChrisianScripures, paricularly o mark a dramaic and proound inernal change ha

occurred in he lie o he one whose name is being changed. Afer journeying in

aih wih God or many years, Abram begins o despair o ever having progeny,

despie God’s promises o he conrary. Finally, when Abram is 99 years old,

God says o him:

I was in my second year serving a church when I got the courage to send a church-

wide letter about my name change, which was the first step I took towards transi-

tioning. After sending the letter I was so nervous to face the congregation on Sunday

morning. I was worried the members of the congregation wouldn’t have read the

letter, or would pretend they hadn’t read it, and would continue calling me by my old

name. While I was in the front of the sanctuary, setting up the candles and making

the final preparations for worship, almost everyone came up to me before they sat in

the pews to say hello and call me by my new name. I squinted into the sun streaming

through the stained glass and realized I had never felt so seen.

— Alex Patchin McNeill


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I am God Almighy; walk beore me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenan

beween me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous ... his is my covenan wih

you: You shall be he ancesor o a muliude o naions. No longer shall your name be

Abram, bu your name shall be Abraham; or I have made you he ancesor o a muliude

o naions. [Genesis 17:1b–4]

Similarly, God gives Abram/Abraham’s wie, Sarai, a new name along wih a

promise:

God said o Abraham, ‘As or Sarai your wie, you shall no call her Sarai, bu Sarah

shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless

her, and she shall give rise o naions; kings o peoples shall come fom her.’ [Genesis

17:15–16]

Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, has a harrowing encouner wih he Divine in heorm o a man. [Genesis 32:22–32] Tey wresle hrough he nigh unil dawn,

when Jacob demands a blessing. Te man asks Jacob his name and hen says, “You

shall no longer be called Jacob, bu Israel, or you have sriven wih God and wih

humans, and have prevailed.” [vs. 28] Jacob, now Israel, says “For I have seen God

ace o ace, and ye my lie is preserved.” [vs.30]30

When one encouners he Divine, he inner ransormaion is so proound, a

name change seems necessary o honor he sacred power o he ransormaion.

Te same holds rue in he Chrisian Scripures o he New esamen, mos

amously wih he persecuor o he new Chrisian communiy, Saul o arsus.

[Acs 9:1–22] Afer Saul’s encouner wih God on he road o Damascus and his

conversion o believing ha Jesus is he Son o God, Saul becomes Paul, a change

in name signiying his new lie in Chris. Even Jesus paricipaes in his renaming

radiion by renaming Simon son o Jonah. Upon Simon’s declaraion ha Jesus is

he Messiah, Jesus says, “Blessed are you, Simon son o Jonah! For flesh and blood

has no revealed his o you, bu my Faher in heaven. And I ell you, you are Peer,

and on his rock I will build my church.” [Mathew 16:17–18a]

Names are imporan in mos culures. Once a name has been given o a child,he culure places many barriers o changing ha legal name. Legally renaming

onesel is a long, complicaed, and edious process. Names and naming ofen have

a special resonance wih ransgender people since mos names have an associaion


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wih he gender o he person being named. Mos ransgender people choose a

new name or hemselves. Te process o choosing a new name can be a sacred ac

or ransgender people.31 Te name change is a spoken embodimen o he rans-

ormaion ha has occurred in he person being renamed. I is why he chang-

ing o he name on one’s driver’s license, passpor, or birh cerificae can be so

imporan or ransgender people’s well-being and saey. For example, millions o viewers wached and heard Cailyn Jenner say in her inerview wih Diane Sawyer,

“Tis is he las ime you will see Bruce.”32 Te experience o embracing one’s own

gender ideniy is so proound an experience ha or some, nohing shor o a

name change will do or marking he occasion.33

From death to rebirth to joy

Anoher recurring heme in Scripure is he movemen rom deah o rebirh

and he joy ha comes rom ha journey. Te experience o conversion o eiher Judaism or Chrisianiy is ofen spoken o by hese religious communiies as dying

o one lie and being reborn ino anoher. Liurgical riuals ofen ac ou he dying

and he rising o new lie wih ceremonial washings and preparaions or burial; a

liurgical acion symbolizing being buried, such as ull immersion in he waer o

bapism; rising rom he grave and he old lie ino a new lie; and receiving a new

name symbolic o ha new lie.

ransgender people migh find resonance wih he sory o Lazarus and Jesus’

raising him rom he dead. [ John 11:1–44] Lazarus has already died when Jesus

appears on he scene, bu Jesus calls o him inside he omb, commanding him o

come ou. o he asonishmen o everyone who is presen, Lazarus appears a he

door o he omb alive bu sill wrapped in burial bands o cloh. Jesus commands

he people around him o “unbind him.”

Par o wha can resonae wih ransgender and oher marginalized people in his

sory is he implied communal naure o rebirh. Tere is only so much an indi-

vidual can do, and hen i is he communiy’s responsibiliy o conribue o and

complee he rebirhing. Lazarus will no be ully inegraed back ino he com-

muniy o he living unil ha communiy unbinds him rom he clohs ha sillimprison his body. Many ransgender people have done he hard work necessary

o bring abou reconciliaion wih heir own bodies, bu he ull inegraion o ha

new, rebirhed person needs o be compleed by he larger communiy. A com-

muniy does ha by using he name chosen by ha ransgender person, by using

pronouns o reerence indicaive o he gender embraced by ha person, and by

welcoming his new person ino he wider communiy.


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In his arewell discourse o he disciples, which would come o be known as he

Las Supper, Jesus says, “I have said hese hings o you so ha my joy may be in

you, and ha your joy may be complee.” [ John 15:11] Te reward o living a lie

wih God is an abundance o joy. I is alarming o noe how unhappy and joyless

many proessed believers appear. I here is no joy, how complee or effecive is

heir conversion?

One o he mos sriking characerisics I have ofen observed in ransgender people

is joy. I is he joy ha comes rom finding he peace ha only wholeness and recon-

ciliaion brings afer eeling a disconnec beween he gender one has been assigned

a birh and he gender one knows a heir core. Ta joy is ofen expressed as relie,

much like finally reaching a desinaion afer a long and difficul journey.

However, 2015 was no only filled wih joy, visibiliy, and progress or he rans

communiy. Tere seems o be a correlaion beween greaer visibiliy or he rans

communiy and greaer violence agains is members. For some rans people, his vulnerabiliy o greaer violence overshadows any joy ha hey migh be eeling. Te

hrea o violence does no ake away he gains ha have been made, bu i should

remind us all ha par o he advocacy work on behal o rans people is making

sociey a place o saey wihin which rans people can live lives o inegriy and

auheniciy wihou ear o harm or even being murdered. Ta advocacy or saey

reminds me o a peiion addressed o God in he prayers o he Episcopal Church’s

service o Evensong o “shield he joyous”: Par o religious people’s responsibiliy o

he rans communiy is o “shield he joyous”34 rom violence.

One ransgender person explained o me he disconnec beween her assigned

gender and he gender she undersands hersel o be as being like eeling home-

sick. She described ha seemingly unouchable and painul ache in he pi o one’s

somach or which coming home is he only cure. Finally acknowledging and

embracing one’s gender is like coming home o one’s sel. And wih ha reurn

home comes a peace ha some migh describe as a peace “which surpasses all

undersanding.” [Philippians 4:7]

Religious people would do well o lisen o ransgender people elling heir sories.

Religious hemes are ofen echoed in hem: lie, suffering, deah and rebirh;resurrecion; coming o one’s senses, as did he Prodigal Son, and going or coming

home; leaving an old lie behind and embracing a new lie, ull o joy; knowing a

“peace ha surpasses all undersanding.” Teir sories, and he calm confidence

wih which hey are old, will be he greaes moivaors or change among hose

who eel uncomorable or judgmenal abou ransgender people.


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Not just compassion, but justice

Loving God and loving one’s neighbor is a he cener o wha i means o be

Jewish or Chrisian. Indeed, i is a core value held, in one orm or anoher, by mos

o he world’s religions. I is he shorhand summary or how God wans us o be

in relaionship o God and o one anoher. Aside rom God’s love or humankind,

here is perhaps no sronger heme in he Scripures o he Hebrew and Chrisian

exs han God’s ocus on how people rea one anoherwih Jesus going so ar

as o claim ha in reaing our ellow human beings a cerain wayposiively or

negaivelyChrisians are, in ac, reaing Jesus ha way as well.

Since ransgender people are children o God, inherenly worhy no only o God’s

love, bu also our own, people o aih are called o figh or jus insiuions, laws,

and atiudes ha build up, suppor, and equip ransgender people or produc-

ive and joyous lie. I is no enough o merely eel kindly oward ransgender

people; we are called o work or heir ull accepance, saey, and affirmaion in

sociey and wihin our religious insiuions. Ta means advocaing or proec-

ions agains discriminaion; access o healh care, including services relaed o

hormone replacemen herapy and sex-reassignmen surgery or hose who desire

i; and proecion rom violence. We mus pay special atenion o ransgender

people o colorespecially ransgender women o colorwho are disproporion-

aely argeed or violence.

In boh he Hebrew and Chrisian Scripures, God is depiced as caring deeply

abou jusice. God is porrayed as waning humans, individually and as a com-

muniy, o rea one anoher wih respec, compassion, and airness, even, and

perhaps especially, when i requires sacrifice on our pars. Reconciliaion and

jusice are he goals o loving Godhe verical or human-God dimension o

religious lieand loving one’s neighborhe horizonal or human-o-humandimensionas one’s sel. I we love God, hen we ough o love one anoher as

God loves us. Loving one’s neighbor is wha jusice looks like in acion.


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Jusice works rom he premise ha God’s creaion is good and should be reaed

wih respec and reverence. Jusice declares ha every human being is a child o

God and is eniled o air, compassionae, and lie-affirming reamen.

Jusice has a powerul social dimension, declaring ha jus reamen is no only

a requiremen o he individual, bu also o he sociey in which individuals live,move, and inerac wih one anoher. I he sysems o sociey do no reflec he

respec or every person as a child o God, hen jusice demands ha hose sys-

ems be changed.

Jusice demands, as does God, a special emphasis on care, compassion, and advo-

cacy or he poor, he marginalized, and he mos vulnerable. People o aih are

called upon o work or jusiceas human beings and as members o socieyor

hose who are orgoten, scorned, and misreaed by he sysems o sociey. In

addiion o direc, compassionae service o hose who are reaed as less han he

children o God hey are, jusice demands ha people o aih bring he insiu-

ions o sociey ino line wih ha undersanding o he inheren worh o every

human being. Sysemic jusice is he calling o accoun o religious insiuions,

which sadly are ofen he mos guily o he judgmen

transgender welcome: a bishop makes the case for affirmation

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