Is it a sin to be transgender, transsexual, a crossdresser, or intersexual?
We believe that God has made a wonderfully diverse creation full of a beautiful variety of gender identities.
Gender identity is something different from sexual orientation. The usual biblical texts used against lesbian, gay, and bisexual people do not apply to issues of gender identity. A trans person may be heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.
Deuteronomy 22:5 is the only Biblical scripture relevant to issues of gender identity and it is a part of the levitical code of the Hebrew Bible, which also forbids things like eating shrimp or cheeseburgers; and wearing two different kinds of cloth simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Deuteronomy 23:1 is also cited to condemn male-to-female post-operative transsexuals. However, both history and the Bible (Isaiah 56:4-5; Acts 8:26-39; Matthew 19:12) have shown that eunuchs and castrati have been praised for their faithful service. We might also note that circumcision itself is a form of genital modification.
See also the TransFaith sections on scripture...
Is TransFaith for Christians or is it Interfaith/Multi-Faith?
TransFaith was/is founded and edited by a Christian whose primary networks and community lies within Christianity. Therefore, the content of TransFaith reflects those personal biases.
However, TransFaith also respects other spiritual traditions and also seeks to be supportive of TransFolk who may be on a different path. Therefore you will also find Jewish, Muslim, and other spiritual resources included on this website.
We welcome further collaboration and would be glad to evolve into a more fully multi-faith resource in the future. Meanwhile, for the foreseeable future, TransFaith will remain primarily Christian in perspective.
Where do you find all this content?
There are two main ways I find content for TransFaith.
- Internet surfing -- I find a lot of information through Google alerts, RSS feeds, and other stuff I just stumble upon. Sometimes, I go back over my list of relevant websites, just to see what new things have appeared that I might have missed.
- You! -- I also get a fair amount of information from a growing list of friends and colleagues. People who write in an say, "Do you know about my website?" or "Have you seen this resource?" I am truly grateful to hear from folks whether it's news, a resource, or just to say hi.
How can I help?
TransFaith is still at early point in its re-development. We need your feedback and ideas as we discern its future.
- Please contact us with your ideas, suggestions, concerns for what TransFaith is or might become!
- Help us identify resources that should be included. Are there important resources you think need to be added? Do you have something that might be appropriate to publish through TransFaith?
- Spread the word about TransFaith... mention it on blogs, newsletters, email lists, or wherever you might know people who would find it helpful.
- You financial contributions will also help defray costs of creating and maintaining the website.
- Let us know that you care about TransFaith. Since the re-launch of TransFaith, it has been such a blessing to meeting wonderful new friends and allies. As we consider the future, it helps us to have a wider community of colleagues we can bounce ideas off of.
Who is this Chris Paige person?
TransFaith articles by Chris Paige
About Chris Paige
Chris Paige is the editor and publisher of TransFaith. Chris was previously publisher of The Other Side magazine (until 2003) and now designs websites professionally.
Chris Paige's profile at The LGBT Religious Archives Network
Tell me about the technology.
It would be impossible for me to maintain TransFaith without some fancy computer gadgets to pull it all together for me. The entire website is built on the Typo3 content management system, which is used by thousands of website developers worldwide.
It's not as popular for the average user as some other content management systems (e.g. Joomla) or blogging tools (e.g. WordPress) or community tools (e.g. Drupal). But Typo3 is as flexible and powerful as it gets in Open Source/GPL content management systems.
