Evangelicals, Trans Athletes and Respect
With the increased openness in our society to transgendered people, we have had to navigate some new territory. One of these is that of trans athletes and women’s sports. Trans athletes in men’s sport doesn’t seem to be an issue.
There are some examples of trans women competing in women’s sports and because of the originally male body, being able to beat their cis female competitors by a wide margin. There are only a few examples but enough to get people’s attention.
It is a reasonable conversation to discuss if trans athletes have an unfair example. I know that there are trans activists who believe that even the conversations transphobic and that athletes should just be accepted as competing in their identify gender, end of discussion. I don’t think that is helpful.
There needs to be a real and healthy conversation. However, I would like to see that discussion happening between trans and cis women athletes rather than men who have no real stake in the outcome.
But what I would like to address even more is the way some evangelicals are responding to this conversation. Instead of moving the conversation forward, they are resorting to mean-spirited mockery.
Making fun of trans athletes may reflect what they feel inside, but how helpful is it really? It might be worth asking what God would want our posture to be. Is God more interested in us venting outrage or in reaching out with love and respect? Is God’s priority more about the rules of sports or the building of the kingdom?
Based on how many evangelicals are responding to this controversy, how safe would a trans person feel in visiting a church? Are we building bridges or burning bridges to the trans community?
Something to think about.
