Can You Be Transgender and a Christian?

What does the Bible say about transgender people? Does the Bible say that being a transgender person is a sin worthy of hell? Many today would say so.

The truth is that the Bible does not really address what we know today as a transgender identity: a person who identifies as a gender other than biological sex they were assigned at birth.

This concept is fairly recent and ancient peoples would not have understood anything such as gender dysphoria.

The closest the Bible comes to addressing a transgender identity is a couple of passages.

A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 22:5)

Well, the Bible says that is wrong and so there must be serious consequences for disobeying. The only problem is that a few verses later, we find this:

You shall not wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together. (Deuteronomy 22:11)

None of us would suggest today that wearing clothing of mixed fabric is a sin (you are probably wearing something like that right now), and certainly not one worthy of hell.

If we are to suggest that one of these commands is still for today for gentile Christians and the other is not, we better have a very good reason for it.

Some also point to this New Testament passage:

Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is degrading to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. (1 Corinthians 11:14-15)

There are numerous problems withering this to suggestion cannot be a Christian and a transgender person. One is that we would have to say that a cisgender male with long hair and be a Christian. Also, in the same chapter it talks about the importance of women praying with their heads covered, something most churches do not enforce.

Now some will point toward passages that seem to condemn same-sex relationships. For this, I encourage you to watch the video at the end of the post.

But I will say that all transgender people identify as gay or their gay identity is based on their new gender identity, which critics don’t accept anyway. Many transgender people are in relationships with people of a different biological sex than their own biological sex.

None of this is proof that the Bible approves transgender identities. But it does demonstrate that the Bible never states that identifying with a different gender sends someone to hell.

You might respond by saying that even if the evidence is slim, that it is sin and one cannot be a Christian and sin.

Really? Some of the most vocal critics of transgender people demonstrate many of the things found in Paul’s sin lists. In fact, there is no one without sin.

Being free from sin, whatever that sin might be, is not a prerequisite to become or remain a Christian. It is about confessing Jesus as Lord and relying on the grace of God.

If someone, whether they are cisgender or transgender, does this, they are a Christian.