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I don’t want men in the women’s bathroom either …
… but as always, the devil’s in the details … and in the definitions.
So this is the new rallying cry, is it? “No men in women’s bathrooms.”
Well I happen to agree. A man has no right in a public women’s bathroom. What I disagree on is their definition of man and woman, male and female.
It continues to sadden me that certain segments of the Christian population are spearheading this attack on the safety of transgender people. But what saddens me particularly today is the blatant disregard for truth by these Christians. Love of the truth should be one of the hallmarks of a Christian.
The word “truth” occurs 117 times in the Old Testament and 118 times in the considerably shorter New Testament. It is a major theme in the Gospel of John and John’s epistles.
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. – John 1:17
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. – John 4:24
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. – John 8:32
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. – John 14:6
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. – John 14:17
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. – John 16:13
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. – John 17:17
I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. – 1st John 2:21
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. – 1st John 3:18-19
John was not the only New Testament writer to deal with truth. Here are some verses from Paul’s epistles.
[Charity] Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; – 1st Corinthians 13:6
But [we] have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. – 2nd Corinthians 4:2
For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. – 2nd Corinthians 13:8
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. – Ephesians 4:25
(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) – Ephesians 5:9
And still more verses from the New Testament:
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. – James 1:18
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. – James 3:14
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: – 1st Peter 1:22
Now what truth does this segment of Christianity ignore, deny and dispute?
- They dispute our personal testimony. Even with conservative estimates of the frequency of transgenderism, hundreds of thousands of people in the United States and millions around the world claim that this is our story, our experience, our reality. It is the testimony of little children whose lives are improved when they are allowed to live in their true gender identity. It is the testimony of people of my generation, baby boomers, who tried to repress and deny the truth about ourselves even more than our opponents do. But our identities persisted despite everything we did. It is the testimony of many fine, upstanding citizens and many whose potential is untapped because of discrimination. It is the testimony of Christians like me who have and continue to proclaim Christ, tenaciously holding onto our faith in the face of every attack we have received from those who claim to speak for the church and for Christ.
- The ignore the danger that transgender people face every day because of bigotry and hatred against us. They ignore the horrific murder rate against transgender people, a rate that is most likely even higher than reported in a world where many murders are reported with the transgender identity of the victim hidden behind rejected name and gender; where there are many countries (e.g. Russia and China) where our very existence is denied. They ignore the even greater danger we would face if forced to use spaces based on our gender assigned at birth rather than our true gender.
- They outright lie about transgender people being a danger. Earlier this month, a sheriff with 41 years of law enforcement experience unequivocally gave testimony to the legislature of his state that he has “never heard of a transgender person attacking or otherwise bothering someone in a restroom. This is a non-issue.” This is not a sheriff in the liberal Northeast or California. This is Leon Lott, Richland County (SC) Sheriff since 1996. His county includes the state capital, Columbia, so he serves in a populated area. In addition, any law enforcement official at his level is going to keep up-to-date on crime trends and issues outside of his own area, especially once the issue rises to the be on the front burner in his state and around the country. The plain truth is that of the jurisdictions that have passed laws protecting the right of transgender people to use bathrooms consistent with their innate gender, laws that have been in place for many years in some cases, there have been ZERO problems. In addition, when transgender people are in public, we have to use restrooms. So even in locales where such protections don’t exist, we fearfully use the restroom that corresponds to our identity. Again there have been ZERO problems.
- They dispute the preponderance of learned opinion of the medical community, in the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. They were very willing to accept their findings decades ago when these groups had little to go on in the way of research and real life experience. But with nearly three full generations of evidence at hand (and more being gathered), these respected organizations have updated their opinions and protocols based on the enlightenment gathered from their findings. Somehow in our opponents mind, without evidence, this is all a plot. Instead, they lean on discredited studies, discredited psychiatrists, rogue organizations and misrepresentation of valid studies. (I’m old enough to have lived through this before. I can remember when rock ‘n roll was supposedly a communist plot.)
- They often lie and hide their true motive for waging this battle. But not always. With a debate version of three-card monte, they deftly shift from reason to reason behind their legislation and umbrage. When the moral/Biblical argument is rejected, they shift to the need to protect women as the purpose. When that argument is countered, then it becomes a matter of a right to privacy: balancing the rights of transgender people against that of cisgender women.
- As far as the moral/Biblical argument, I will touch upon that in the next bullet point. As far as the protection argument, I have already shown that to be a canard. But I will take it one step further. There is a group known to be a danger primarily to women and children. They are the people on the sex offender list. Where is their hue and cry about such people being allowed to use public bathrooms? And as far as transgender protection laws opening the door for perverts to take advantage of it (recently parroted by Curt Schilling, among others), not only doesn’t it happen, they (many of whom are staunch 2nd Amendment defenders) would never apply the same rationale to strict gun control measures just because a small minority of people in our society actually do carry out horrific violence using firearms.
- As far as the privacy argument, the only bathrooms I have ever seen where the stalls had no doors was in men’s locker rooms. (I hated them. I avoided using them whenever I could.) A naked cisgender woman in a public women’s bathroom would likely receive a negative response unless it was a clear case of a medical problem. I have never seen someone in a public bathroom whose genitals were in plain sight unless they were on the changing table. In spaces where nudity is more likely to be involved, the topic is more sensitive. (I never totally disrobe when I go to my gym, and there are private changing stalls if I ever would need to.) But even here, social custom is changing for reasons other than transgender. When I went to my 40th college reunion two years ago (Cornell), the dorm where my class was housed is a coed dorm. Most of the student rooms do not have private bathrooms. The common bathrooms (including showers) are also coed. This is a growing trend according to what I have read.
- They distort or err on what the Bible says on the topic of transgender. I have written many blog posts countering their arguments (in conjunction with all the medical evidence that has been gathered on the nature of transgenderism). The short version is that very little can be found in the Bible on the topic and the term is not found in the Holy Scriptures. Of course, there are many modern terms (e.g. democracy and republic) that are not found there, either. The closest we can come is when Jesus describes three types of eunuchs in Matthew 19:12. The person who is born a eunuch could describe a number of situations, including someone who is transgender. Most importantly, Jesus does not condemn any of the three examples, consistent with many instances in which the new and better covenant is more inclusive than the old. And as to whether God defines us by our mind/spirit or our body parts, I have shown by many verses the preponderance of evidence that He identifies us by our mind/spirit.
Please understand that this is not a transgender vs Christianity issue, nor should it be. I and a number of friends are evidence that a person can be both. And I have many devout conservative Christians in my life who are accepting and supportive.
I know full well that there are a number of topics on which Christians are in disagreement. And there is always room for honest disagreement. But what hurts the most is the vitriol directed by this segment of the Christian population at the transgender community. And even if Christianity has come under attack from some segments of the transgender community (and I will not descend into a “who started it” black hole), Christians are not supposed to return evil for evil. We are called to a higher purpose.
Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. – 1st Corinthians 10:32-33
When you read the many verses earlier in my post, you may have noticed a connection between truth and a loving attitude. (If not, look again.) Even if the segment of Christians who I have called out in this post earnestly believe what they are preaching about transgender people, all Christians are admonished to be “… speaking the truth in love …” (Ephesians 4:15).