Transgenderism and religion

The relationship between transgender people and religion varies widely around the world. Religions range from condemning any gender variance to honoring transgender people as religious leaders. Views within a single religion can vary considerably, as can views between different faiths.

Abrahamic religions

Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) have traditionally affirmed and endorsed a patriarchal and heteronormative approach towards human sexuality, favouring exclusively penetrative vaginal intercourse between men and women within the boundaries of marriage over all other forms of human sexual activity, including autoeroticism, masturbation, oral sex, non-penetrative and non-heterosexual sexual intercourse (all of which have been labelled as "sodomy" at various times), believing and teaching that such behaviours are forbidden because they're considered sinful, and further compared to or derived from the behaviour of the alleged residents of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, the status of LGBT people in early Christianity and early Islam is debated.

There are many different interpretations of creation stories in Abrahamic religions in which God creates people "male and female". This is sometimes interpreted as a divine mandate against challenging the gender binary and also for challenging the gender binary.

Baháʼí Faith

In the Baháʼí Faith, transgender people can gain recognition in their gender if they have medically transitioned under the direction of medical professionals and if they have sex reassignment surgery (SRS). After SRS, they are considered transitioned and may have a Baháʼí marriage.

Christianity

The New Testament presents eunuchs (Greek , similar to Hebrew ) as acceptable candidates for evangelism and baptism, as demonstrated in the account of the conversion of an Ethiopian eunuch. While answering questions about marriage and divorce, Jesus says that "there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." Discussion has occurred about the significance of the selection of the Ethiopian eunuch as being an early gentile convert to Christianity: the inclusion of a eunuch, representing a sexual minority, in the context of the time.

Some Christian denominations accept transgender people as members and clergy:
*In 2003, the United Church of Christ General Synod called for full inclusion of transgender persons.
*In 2005, Sarah Jones became the first openly transgender person to be ordained by the Church of England as a priest: the first trans person to minister in the Church of England was Carol Stone, who had been ordained in 1978 and transitioned in 2000.
*In 2008, the United Methodist Church Judicial Council ruled that openly transgender pastor Drew Phoenix could keep his position. At the UMC General Conference the same year, several petitions that would have forbidden transgender clergy and added anti-transgender language to the Book of Discipline were rejected. In 2017, the United Methodist Church commissioned its first non-binary clergy member, a transgender non-binary deacon named M Barclay. Also, Joy Everingham was the Methodist Church in Great Britain's first openly transgender minister.
*In 2009, the United Church of Canada affirmed the participation and ministry of transgender people, and encouraged all congregations to welcome transgender people into membership, ministry, and full participation. In 2010, The Rev. Cindy Bourgeoisis the first openly transgender person ordained in the United Church of Canada.
*In 2012, the Episcopal Church in the United States approved a change to their nondiscrimination canons to include gender identity and expression.
*In 2013, Shannon Kearns became the first openly transgender person ordained by the North American Old Catholic Church. He was ordained in Minneapolis.
*In 2014, Megan Rohrer became the first openly transgender leader of a Lutheran congregation (specifically, Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church of San Francisco).
*In 2017, the General Synod of the Church of England passed a motion stating, "That this Synod, recognising the need for transgender people to be welcomed and affirmed in their parish church, call on the House of Bishops to consider whether some nationally commended liturgical materials might be prepared to mark a person's gender transition."

The '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'', promulgated in 1992, does not mention transgender issues directly. In 2000, the Catholic Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith sent a confidential document to church leaders reportedly stating that sex-change procedures do not change a person's gender in the eyes of the Church. A person familiar with the document told the Catholic News Service, "The key point is that the (transsexual) surgical operation is so superficial and external that it does not change the personality. If the person was a male, he remains male. If she was female, she remains female." The document reportedly concludes that a "sex-change" operation could be morally acceptable in certain extreme cases, but that in any case transgender people cannot validly marry. Pope Benedict XVI denounced gender studies, warning that it blurs the distinction between male and female and could thus lead to the "self-destruction" of the human race. He warned against the manipulation that takes place in national and international forums when the term "gender" is altered. "What is often expressed and understood by the term 'gender,' is definitively resolved in the self-emancipation of the human being from creation and the Creator", he warned. "Man wants to create himself, and to decide always and exclusively on his own about what concerns him." Benedict said this is humanity living "against truth, against the creating Spirit".

In 2015, the Vatican declared that transgender Catholics cannot become godparents, stating in response to a transgender man's query that transgender status "reveals in a public way an attitude opposite to the moral imperative of solving the problem of sexual identity according to the truth of one's own sexuality" and that, " erefore it is evident that this person does not possess the requirement of leading a life according to the faith and in the position of godfather and is therefore unable to be admitted to the position of godfather or godmother." Pope Francis stated in 2016 that "biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender) can be distinguished but not separated". Individual Catholics have held a range of positions regarding transgender issues. Apologist Tim Staples has stated that experiencing gender dysphoria is not sinful but surgeries such as sex reassignment surgery are morally impermissible. Theologian James Whitehead has said, "The kind of transition that trans people are talking about is very similar to the journey of faith through darkness and desert that people have been making for thousands of years."

In 2006, Albert Mohler, then president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said "Only God has the right to determine gender", adding, "any attempt to alter that creation is an act of rebellion against God." He also stated, "Christians are obligated to find our definitions … in the Bible. What the activists want to call 'sex-reassignment surgery' must be seen as a form of bodily mutilation rather than gender correction. The chromosomes will continue to tell the story...Gender is not under our control after all. When a nation's moral rebellion comes down to this level of confusion, we are already in big trouble. A society that can't distinguish between men and women is not likely to find moral clarity in any other area of life." In 2014, the Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution at its annual meeting stating that "God's design was the creation of two distinct and complementary sexes, male and female" and that "gender identity is determined by biological sex, not by one's self-perception". Furthermore, the resolution opposes hormone therapy, transition-related care, and anything else that would "alter one's bodily identity", as well as opposing government efforts to "validate transgender identity as morally praiseworthy". Instead, the resolution asks transgender people to "trust in Christ and to experience renewal in the Gospel".

The 2020 ''General Handbook'' of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints states that transgender persons and their families and friends "should be treated with sensitivity, kindness, compassion, and an abundance of Christlike love". Transgender individuals may be baptized and confirmed as members of the church and receive other gender-neutral ordinances, but they may not receive sex-specific ordinances such as priesthood ordination or temple ordinances (including the endowment and celestial marriage). These sex-specific ordinances are received according to "birth sex". The church discourages medical, surgical, and social transitioning, and doing so by a member may result in membership restrictions. The church takes no position on the causes of people identifying as transgender.

Unitarian Universalism

Unitarian Universalism, a liberal religion with roots in liberal Christianity, became the first denomination to accept openly transgender people as full members with eligibility to become clergy (in 1979), and the first to open an Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Concerns (in 1973). In 1988 the first openly transgender person was ordained by the Unitarian Universalist Association. In 2002 Rev. Sean Dennison became the first openly transgender person in the Unitarian Universalist ministry called to serve a congregation; he was called to South Valley UU Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Also in 2017, the Unitarian Universalist Association's General Assembly voted to create inclusive wordings for non-binary, genderqueer, gender fluid, agender, intersex, two-spirit and polygender people, replacing the words "men and women" with the word "people." Of the six sources of the living tradition, the second source of faith, as documented in the bylaws of the denomination, now includes "Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love".

Islam

In Islamic literature, the Classical Arabic term ''mukhannathun'' is used to describe "effeminate men". The term has sometimes been equated to transgender women, gay men, members of a third gender, or intersex individuals, although it doesn't neatly fit into any of those categories.

The treatment of ''mukhannathun'' varied throughout early Islamic history, and the meaning of the term took on new dimensions over time. In some eras, men deemed ''mukhannathun'' were persecuted and castrated, while in others they were celebrated as musicians and entertainers. In later years, the term came to be associated with the receptive partner in gay sexual practices, as homosexuality was seen as an extension of effeminacy. In the late medieval era, several Islamic scholars held that ''mukhannathun'' who had innate feminine mannerisms were not blameworthy as long as they did not violate Islamic religious laws concerning sexual morality.

In the late 1980s, Mufti Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy of Egypt issued a '' fatwa'' supporting the right for those who fit the description of ''mukhannathun'' to have sex reassignment surgery; Tantawy seems to have associated the ''mukhannathun'' with the concept of hermaphroditism or intersex individuals. Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued similar ''fatwas'' around the same time. Khomeini's initial ''fatwa'' concerned intersex individuals as well, but he later specified that sex reassignment surgery was also permissible in the case of transgender individuals. Because homosexuality is illegal in Iran but identifying as a trans person is legal, some gay individuals have been forced to undergo sex reassignment surgery and transition into the opposite sex, regardless of their actual gender identity. Due to Khomeini's ''fatwas'' allowing sex reassignment surgery for intersex and transgender individuals, Iran carries out more sex change operations than any other nation in the world except for Thailand. It is sanctioned as a supposed "cure" for homosexuality, which is punishable by death penalty under Iranian law. The Iranian government even provides up to half the cost for those needing financial assistance and a sex change is recognised on the birth certificate.

In some regions of South Asia such as India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, the '' hijras'' are officially recognized as a third gender that is neither male nor female, a concept that some have compared to ''mukhannathun''. Transgender Muslims may encounter multiple forms of minority stress as a religious minority, gender minority, and often as immigrant and ethnic minorities as well. Etengoff & Rodriguez (2020) conducted an explanatory study with 15 transgender Muslims and found that although 14 of the 15 participants spoke of coming-out challenges, the average depression scores for the sample were moderate and self-esteem scores were within the normal range. In addition, qualitative analysis suggested that 8 of the 15 participants used religion and spirituality as important coping tools (e.g., Allah, Quran, liberation theology). This research offers an applied intersectional, positive growth framework for the study of transgender individuals' gender and Muslim identity experiences.

Judaism

Jewish views of transgender people have varied by time and denomination.

Rabbinic Jewish texts discuss six sex/gender categories.

The term (), generally translated to English as "eunuch" or "chamberlain",Strong's Concordance, #5631 appears 45 times in the Tanakh

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