Certainly there is a real battle going on regarding how Christians think society should regard and treat its members from the LGBT community. That especially is true for those who are or are considering being transgendered. Carl Trueman (click here for a bio) has just wrote an article lamenting how some, especially a well respected theologian, are petitioning the British government to ban the use of Conversion Therapy on those who are or are in the process of becoming transgendered (click here for the article).
Trueman starts his article bemoaning the fact that rhetoric has replaced truth in many of society's discussions on topics like transgenderism. Here he is referring to a letter by some of Britain's religious leaders asking Britain's PM, Boris Johnson, to provide legal protection for the transgendered from attempts by some to use Conversion Therapy on the Transgendered. But in so doing, Trueman assumes, rather than shows, what the truth is regarding transgenderism. And since his complaining contains a certain flourish to it thus proving his point but from the wrong direction.
According to Trueman's reading of the letter, even prayer would be considered to be coercive and a form of bullying. But Trueman's biggest complaint is that a very prominent theologian, whom until now he use to admire, Rowan Williams, signed his name to the letter. This seems to have disillusioned him.
Trueman then goes on to attack gender dysphoria and those who suffer from it. Trueman calls the feeling of being trapped in a woman's body 'rationally empty.' He blames gender dysphoria on the excessive freedom and individualism that is part of current thinking in the West. He also includes Post Modernism as a culprit. And then he continues to complain about how such a prominent thinker and theologian could sign on to the LGBT community's cause.
The problem with Trueman's approach is that it is very simplistic in its approach to Transgenderism. He seems unaware of what the American Medical Association (click here), and what the American Psychiatric Association (click here) says about gender dysphoria. So far, there are no known causes but there is some suspicion that biological factors might be involved in the Transgendered (click here for the source).
As for blaming Western culture, Trueman seems unaware that some Native American tribes recognized up to 5 genders or gender roles. These tribes honored those who were not cisgendered. And tribes that recognized more than 2 genders included the Lakota, the Cherokee, and the Cheyenne (click here for the source).
What is also missing in Trueman's awareness is the context in which the opposition to Conversion Therapy exists. Those in the LGBT community have suffered centuries of marginalization that included criminalization, persecution, and discrimination. At this point we should note that attempts to undo long standing social injustices often, and understandably, employ black-white thinking that tends to condemn anything associated with those past injustices, even if they are coincidentally associated with those injustices, with the injustices. That could account for some of the perceived oversensitivity to any kind of correction, such as labeling prayer as being 'manipulation,'
In short, Trueman is unaware of the struggles that those who have gender dysphoria have, he is unaware of what is used to make a diagnosis and dangers of gender dysphoria, he, like everyone else, is unaware of the causes for transgenderism, he is unaware of gender identity issues from other cultures, and he is unaware of the historical context of past marginalization of the transgendered. As for Conversion Therapy, certainly there are parts that should be banned. as for the talking therapy approach, the concern is with any increased degree of distress that can threaten the health and even lives of those who receive it.
At the same time, one has to also ask Trueman what are his expectations of society regarding how those in the LGBT community are treated. To assume that one of society's jobs is to punish the Transgendered is to believe that society must marginalize the Transgendered. If that is what Trueman believes, he is horribly wrong.
It's not that I disagree with Trueman's beliefs that neither same-sex orientation nor becoming transgendered are biblical. At the same time, we need input from other sources besides the Bible to discover ways of lovingly and intelligently presenting the Biblical views of sexual orientation and gender identity. And that includes working for acceptance of the transgendered as deserving full equality in society.
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