Their fear of separation, fear of being forgotten, fear of being kept out of God’s family – all based on identities as unchosen as the place of their birth and as intrinsic as the shape of their body. I felt an immediate connection to the eunuch and the foreigner. I could swear I had never heard these verses before in my life, despite having read through the book of Isaiah for a class only the year before. I will give, in my house and within my walls,įor my house shall be called a house of prayer “The Lord will surely separate me from his people” “Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, I was especially touched by the author’s description of how he found life in the passage Isaiah 56:3-8.

But I hadn’t realized how much there is specifically for those who don’t fit gender norms. I knew that the Bible does not speak against being transgender.

I’m not going to repeat every argument why it is not biblical to reject transgender people or to require that gender dysphoria is the one medical condition that should not receive medical treatment of any kind. He talks about the good it does transgender people when their churches accept them – but also the good it brings to churches when they embrace their transgender members. He brings in the voices of many other transgender people. This book is written by a transgender pastor. At the same time, I’ve read happy stories of what happens when people transition with love and acceptance from their faith communities. I’ve heard many sad stories of what happens when a church family rejects a transgender person and the harm it causes their entire families. I’m also in a Facebook group for mothers of transgender children. I’ve seen for myself this isn’t some kind of delusional temporary whim.

My own oldest child is a transgender woman. I picked this book up from the library, and the very next day was glad I did, having a reason to defend transgender people to some well-meaning Christian friends. The Bible & the Lives of Transgender Christians

Transforming by austen hartke