It's becoming a big issue, even though it affects less than 1% of a population. It seems to be hitting the headlines more often, as people grapple with the troubling condition known variously as gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder (GID).
Stories appear constantly in the media: a four year old is being given treatment to help them become a boy, if born a girl – or vice versa. A 12 year old appears on a current affairs programme – 'she' apparently suffered increasing distress as a boy, until 'her' parents decided to enrol her at school as a girl. Now she is about to undergo treatment that will block the onset of puberty, until she is older and then more able to decide if she wants to go down the surgical and hormonal path of transitioning fully to a female.
Then there's the stories about whether a school should allow boys who identify as girls to use the girls' changing rooms and toilets at school. Isn't it their right to be able to do so?
What do we make of all this?
Gender dysphoria
Gender dysphoria is the dysphoria (distress) a person experiences as a result of the sex and gender they were born with. (Not every transgender person experiences such distress). It is no longer regarded as a mental health issue but it is accepted that psychological help is usually necessary.
Are their patterns in the developing brain which might lead to the condition? Some studies suggest this; other people see the cause as largely psychological. As more studies are done, one thing is clear: the 'wiring' of the brain is not immutable so that when men become fathers their brains may well become rewired as they adjust to parenthood! Brain studies yield differing results.
Who are transgender people?
Whatever the cause – and the jury is still out on this one – it is clear that how Christians respond to people who identify as another gender is all important. How do we see such people? Do we regard them as being made in the image of God, as all human beings are?
Yes, we are made male and female, and both genders reflect the image of God. But all of us struggle with some issue or another, we are all imperfect, and we are all a 'work in progress.' For some people their struggles are to do with gender. So it is important we welcome any person, whoever they are, and however they identify, because they are God's children too.
We may welcome them – but then what? A leading Christian researcher and worker in this area says it is not our role 'to fix them.' Different people handle their dysphoria in different ways; some manage to live as adults in a way that is largely aligned with their biological sex, perhaps with help and support from others.
Others do the same, but have occasions when they may 'cross-dress', or do something that reflects the behaviour of the sex they identify with. Others will identify as the other sex, and maybe take another name, and dress and behave accordingly. And then there are others who go the full surgical and hormonal path.
Can we accept each person, wherever they may happen to be on the spectrum?
Diversity or disability?
Accepting such people may depend on the understanding we bring to their condition. Society is moving towards a position of 'diversity', where each person is celebrated for whatever they are. Currently there is such a variety of labels and pronouns for anyone along the spectrum that it's highly confusing for those outside the LBGQTI etc sector.
(Did you see the video clip of the guy addressing an audience, not with merely ' Ladies & Gentlemen', when he began his speech, but with up to 60 different labels?)
Dysphoria though means 'distress', and some people with so- called gender identity disorder are suffering. That is not something to be celebrated. The church is to come alongside suffering people, and extend grace and help wherever possible. (Maybe the reason for such a high rate of mental disorders amongst transgender people is the ostracism and abuse such people have experienced in the past– and the lack of community. One thing that a functioning church may be able to provide is community.)
Male or female – or a spectrum?
Society is increasingly questioning the so-called binary model of gender; that is, that we are either male or female, and that's it. Instead there is increasing recognition of diversity so that ideally, the thinking goes, we should celebrate people wherever they happen to be along the spectrum. (There is also a more radical element that has suggested people should be able to choose which gender they are at any time, and opt in and out, whenever it suits.)
The Scriptures see the genders, though basic to who we are as human beings, as much more. The complementarity of the sexes is what most fully reflects the image of God. (Interestingly that complementarity is also seen in the Eastern symbol of yin and yang; both male and female are symbolically represented as distinctly different, yet both are necessary to make up the whole.)
How do we see gender? - my next article continues this theme.
Liz Hay left her small mountain village an hour away from Christchurch, NZ, for a brief visit to Australia where recent TV docos and articles gave rise to her thoughts in this article. She and Ron have three adult children, and five grandchildren.
Liz Hay's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/liz-hay.html