By: Sophia Carey
Imagine being trapped inside a body that wasn’t yours. Imagine waking up tomorrow only to realize the body you see in the mirror is of the wrong gender. You would feel alone, trapped, and miserable. This is how true transgender people feel from a very young age.
People often confuse transgenderism with homosexuality. While homosexuality deals with one’s sexuality (SEXuality), transgenderism deals with one’s identity: their gender (transGENDER).
Homosexual people have an attraction for the same sex; transgender people feel they are the opposite sex from what they were born as, regardless of their attractions.
Let’s take a look at what the Bible says on the topic. “A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 22:5 NKJV).
Some Christians who oppose transgenderism attempt to use this verse against transgender people. The problem with this approach is that this verse, in an apparent, literal sense, seems deals with cross-dressing. A girl who was born with the body of a boy is not trying to dress as the opposite gender, but is simply matching who she believes she truly is.
Those who believe that one is defined by their genitalia must be asked a question: what about those born with both genitalia? As much as we may wish gender issues were simply black and white, it is much more grey than most think.
Being transgender should not be put in the same category as homosexuality. It is a curse that some are born with. Like an illness or defect, it was not appointed to them by God and wasn’t meant to dictate their every day life. I believe God gave us our gender as a sacred gift that should not be so superficial as to be decided by one’s genitalia. I do not believe we were born as “wet cement” to be molded into our specific genders by our fellow humans, but as already molded cement that God gave to us as a gift. Sin came to this world and corrupted it: some are cursed with tumors, illness, or under-developed bodies, just as some are born with genitalia of the wrong sex.
