Biological sex is binary and fixed

Transgender ideology claims that each person has a ‘gender identity’ (an internal sense of gender) which may or may not align with their biological sex. According to this ideology, the ‘real you’ depends on what you feel on the inside, which is not confined to the man-woman binary. There are said to be unlimited ‘genders’, with people able to move between them fluidly based on how they feel.¹

Underlying such deeply unbiblical thinking is a radical form of self-determination, with its roots in the ancient heresy of Gnosticism.² Subjective feelings override objective, biological, genetic reality. Ultimately, this seeks to completely destroy the distinction between men and women that God in his wisdom has created.

Genesis 1:27 records: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” The Bible teaches that a human person is a mind-body whole, e.g. Genesis 2:7, Mark 12:30. The body as well as the mind determines who a person is. The first Christian heresy was to deny that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (1 John 4.2). An individual deliberately living as if a member of the opposite biological sex is defying his or her creator. However, it is wrong to use worldly stereotypes to define legitimate male or female behaviour in a way Scripture does not warrant.

Christians are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), applying biblical principles with compassion but without compromise, ultimately pointing people to life-changing repentance and faith in Christ. A man cannot become a woman and a woman cannot become a man. It is not loving to affirm the idea that a person is ‘trapped in the wrong body’, especially when this could encourage them to undergo irreversible medical interventions to deform their healthy body. Biblical Christians hold that ‘sex change’ surgery desecrates a body made in the image of God.

A person with a male body is a man or boy. If he believes otherwise, this false belief must be the focus of treatment, not his body. Medical intervention aimed at changing a male body to approximate a female body (or vice versa) on the basis of the person’s psychological disorder is illogical and futile. It contradicts the approach taken in other situations, such as body dysmorphia, where it is the inaccurate perception of the body that is addressed. Psychological confusion should not be given precedence over unambiguous biological sex.

Children in particular should be protected from the dangerous influence of gender ideology. Its promotion in schools has sown confusion and its application in healthcare has seen young people irreparably harmed.

In various contexts, gender ideology is a threat to women’s safety and undermines basic standards of modesty and fairness. This includes toilets and other facilities that should be single-sex, as well as sport.

In a fallen world, an extremely small number of children are born with physical sex characteristics that do not reflect the genetic male-female binary, including genuinely ambiguous genitalia. This is a matter of biological sex characteristics, not the myth of gender identity. The existence of disorders of sexual development neither denies the normal man-woman binary nor means that perception should be elevated over biology. It does a disservice to such people to categorise them as transgender and/or seek to use their existence to promote the concept of gender identity. People with disorders of sexual development must be treated with dignity and compassion, and in line with best medical advice and practice.

The Bible teaches that the State should validate what is right, not what is wrong (Romans 13:3). The Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows adults who meet certain criteria to change their legal sex for many purposes, including on their birth certificate, thereby enshrining a lie in official documentation. The Act should be repealed.³

¹ The belief that one’s body does not match one’s true identity is sometimes known as ‘gender dysphoria’ or ‘gender incongruence’.

² Gnosticism was strongly condemned by early Christian theologians such as Irenaeus (c 130 -200 AD) and Tertullian (c 155 -220 AD). See Berkhof, L, The History of Christian Doctrines, The Banner of Truth Trust, latest edition 2002, pages 45 -51 and 62-63; Elwell, W A (Ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Paternoster Press, 1999, pages 444-447, 569 and 1078 -1079; https://www.christian.org.uk/resource/gnosticism/; https://www.christian.org.uk/resource/gnosticism-booklet/

³ There is a case for those with certain disorders of sexual development to be able to change their legal sex.