So apparently I was way behind on some big transgender issue that was happening with some famous guy who is now a famous woman. I feel that this is being blown WAY out of proportion (on both extremes) and I know this is going to be considered very controversial given the great diversity of thought among those I associate with. I admit I am not a professional, but this is something I have studied probably more than most of you (exceptions; you probably know who you are). I know this has the potential to be the most controversial thing I’ve posted, but I expect you to all be civil; even if you don’t agree with everything said. That being said, here goes.
I have a lot to say about this issue. Firstly, as a student of gender studies, transgenderism is much more complicated than many are alluding to. Many are conveying an idea that this guy just decided one day that he wanted to be a women, so he changed his name, had some surgeries and boom: thus he became female. Issues of gender congruence or incongruence (including transgenderism) are much more complicated than anything as simple as physical manifestation of gender. Gender (and gender congruence) is a intricate interplay of biology, identity, and attraction. We do not yet fully understand these interactions and origins. Any claim to a perfect knowledge of such is completely biased, flawed, and unfounded and therefore has no place in this discourse.
Many people who do not well understand these issues regarding gender try to simplify it or merely consider it from their biased (and in this case experience-less) perspective. Many try to make it as simple as a conscientious choice; because they believe in God and agency. But do any of us remember a moment that we decided: “You know, I think I’m just going to be a boy/girl. That is what I will be.”
Transgenders are often criticized or feared because of a common misconception that they believe in no real differentiation between genders or gender roles. However; quite the opposite is true. Transgenders very much understand those gender roles (in fact, they’ve probably spent a great deal more time than you or I consciously considering those seemingly dichotomous roles of gender); but they find themselves in deep conflict when their outward/physical manifestations of gender are the complete opposite of the one they feel they are internally. It would be like you waking up tomorrow embodied as your opposite gender. Wouldn’t you feel unnatural and out of place?
Many are saying that God would not make a transgendered person. However, did God really create this man’s (or woman’s) body and brain? I would argue that He didn’t. While I believe deeply in God’s creative powers, my mortal body was the product of the two fallen, mortal humans that are my parents. They are imperfect people in an imperfect world. Since the fall of Adam, the human family has fallen from it’s divine, perfect state. God is perfect and does not create imperfect things. In the beginning, He created a paradisiacal world and the two humans He placed there were perfect for a time. It was only after human choice and error were introduced that our flesh became corrupt.
So while God does play an important role in the creation of life, it is mere mortals that bring it about. We say He would not create something as blasphemous as a transgender, yet there are hundreds of thousands in the world with different gender-related problems. These include hermaphroditism (people born with both male and female parts). What about those? Or those with XXY, XXX, or XXYY chromosomes? Do we blame these on God? No, we recognize them as incongruencies or anomalies that occur in prenatal development. We also have people born with all manner of diseases and trials. Did God make them that way? Not necessarily. We are subject to all manner of human fallibility in this life for which we do not blame God for “creating”. I don’t think transgenderism is any different.
Church leaders have said we understand so little of this issue of transgenderism. Just a few months ago by Elder Oaks regarding transgenderism: "I think we need to acknowledge that while we have been acquainted with lesbians and homosexuals for some time, being acquainted with the unique problems of a transgender situation is something we have not had so much experience with, and we have some unfinished business in teaching on that."
Please, be compassionate. Do not assume your limited experience or perceived knowledge of God’s whole plan and purposes are so sure. While I completely believe in and support the doctrines of the LDS church regarding gender, the church does not attempt to make a claim to understand the issue of transgenderism. So please don’t operate under the faulty assumption that you’ve figured it out.
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