Years after my last commitment, I still have a strong sense that my person would be better expressed in a female form, but my commitment to God is final and I no longer struggle as I did. The topic recently came up again in my conversations with God; it seemed that He offered me the possibility of that kind of change when I enter eternity. I thought hard about it, about my desire, about the possible consequences, about the ways my eternal life might be altered: in the end, I said to Him, “Lord, you know my heart and desires, that I would like to be expressed as a female. And I sense you are offering me that possibility. But Lord, if my choice of a change would mean that I would not be as useful to You in Your eternity, and I would miss Your best for me, then I will remain the way I am and accept it.”

While this struggle has been among the most difficult of my life, it has given me the opportunity to pray for others with GID, imploring God to adopt them and work through them, and heal them. Brothers and sisters, please pray for these people. Many of them are hostile to God in part because the world fears and hates them and they project that on God; their (our) struggle is a very, VERY difficult one.

With all due respect to Jennifer Marcus, I cannot disagree more with her dismissal of Biblical relevance and authority. Many minds far more brilliant than ours have poured themselves into trying to validate her remarks, only to become utterly convinced that the Bible is what it says it is: the Word of God. If the Bible is what she claims, inaccurate, irrelevant, untrustworthy, then in fact, Christianity is all of those things as well. Yet it is clearly not these things, and two millennia of searching, discovering and proving, both by Jesus’ people and (more tellingly) by His enemies, not to mention all of the millions of people who have supernaturally lived above themselves and their circumstances over this time, make it clear beyond any honest doubt its veracity.

Jennifer, I was once a serious skeptic, I thought you had to throw your brain away to be a Christian, but when I honestly examined what God had to say in the Bible, THAT drove me to look for Jesus in the people who claimed to be His, and when I found those people, I started to put my conceited prejudices aside and started asking God THE most important questions about ourselves that WE are ALL afraid to ask. I had always assumed my second-hand knowledge of Christianity was sufficient to dismiss it – that was my conceit: when I humbled myself to make an intellectually honest first-hand assessment by reading the Bible for myself and testing it, that’s when “I knew the truth, and the truth set me free.” Now, too many times has the Bible passed my stringent tests for me to be shaken when someone like Ms. Marcus disparages it; she literally does not know what she is saying.

>>> from a scientific genetic standpoint NO ONE is absolutely male or female<<<

Except for hermaphrodites, that is not genetically true. However it is hormonally true: everyone has varying degrees of male and female hormones in their bodies at any given time. Some males (such as me) have more estrogens than normal and some females have more testosterone than normal. In the womb, in the early stages of development, we all start-out anatomically female; becoming male is the “exceptional” path of development and it is kicked-off by male genes.

>>> don't consider my issue to be a 'gay' issue at all<<<

Correct, while on the surface homosexuality and transgender-ism appear to be variations of the same, they are really quite different. Homosexuality is primarily concerns sexual attraction, while transgender-ism is concerned with sexual identity. I might add that transvestites and transgendered people are very different too: the transvestite gets sexual gratification from dressing only. The transgendered wants to BE the other sex, looking like it is somewhat secondary, and it has nothing to do with sexual gratification.

>>>It’s just SIN<<<

Being homosexual or transgendered is no different from being angry: it just IS. ACTING ON THESE IMPULSES IS WHAT IS SINFUL. So while this may correct on the surface, this comment is ultimately not very helpful. We are responsible to God for our actions, even if the curse of our sinful world predisposes us to one type of sin or another. The predisposition gives us no excuse. Nevertheless, knowing your predispositions can be very helpful in avoiding the sin. In my own case, when I decided to submit my confusion over my identity to God (which had/has plenty of environmental justification), I chose to take my mind off of those desires, considering myself dead to them. That's why, I was able to make the commitments that I made, and why it took a year to make my final commitment, and why I'm free of my struggle in this area today. God gave me sufficient grace to resist my predispositions, and the confidence to accept His will in eternity.

C, The only references I can find are two tangential ones: Deut 22:5 “A woman shall not wear a man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on woman’s clothing, for this is an abomination to the Lord your God.” 1 Cor 11:14 “Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her.” I’m not convinced that either of these really address truly transgender people (transvestites, certainly, but their cross-dressing is a sexual-gratification thing, not an identity thing). Also, while it is clear that acting-out (or fantasizing) homosexual impulses is sinful, I’m not convinced that acting transgendered is. HOWEVER, in my case: 1) It's sinful for me to put my wife into a homosexual relationship. 2) I can't justify spending GOD'S money to change my temporary body just so I can fell better. 3) I'd likely cause my fellow Christians to stumble (assuming I'm right). 4) It would be selfish in my present circumstances.

C, There is another powerful argument others have mentioned: "God makes no mistakes." I struggle with this one because I know God makes no mistakes, yet He has allowed us to be impacted by creation's curse and others' sinfulness. For a relevant example, our industrial food production has dumped so much female-like hormones in the water supply that hermaphodite fish are becoming common, and it's dramatically boosting these hormones in us, effecting our bodies too (example: gynecomastia). There is strong evidence to show that this is also boosting the incidence of transgenderism. (There's strong evidence for the "nurturing" side of this too. In my case there's some of both: my hormones are wacky, I was raped as a young child, and my Myers-Briggs personality is a feminine-like INFP.) Could it be that an environmental accident (allowed by the permissive will of God) caused me to be male instead of female? I think I will only know for sure when I am face-to-face with God and can ask Him.

Kari, God requires one thing of us only: believe in the one He sent (that is Jesus). What it is to believe? Certainly it is to know, but it is much more; belief, faith, is active trust. (If you believe a chair will hold your weight, you will trust your body enough to sit in it – THAT’S the kind of belief/faith that God is talking about). There are many scriptures that support this, and I’ve starred the ones my spirit senses you need to hear: John 6:28-29****, John 1:12-13, 12:44-45, 14:11-12, 20:31, Acts 8:37-39***, 16:31, 19:4, Rom 4:21-24, Rom 6:8-9***, Rom 10:8-13***, 1 Thes 4:14- 18***, Heb 11-12***, I John 3:23 ***, 5:13-14***.

Dear Kari, He loves you as much as He loves me or anyone one else. You and I, and a relatively few others in the world struggle down this particular path; it’s a lonely path that no one understands well, and most loathe. Yet we too are His adopted children if we believe God has sent Jesus to reconcile us to Himself, even through His death on the cross. It will not be long for any of us (for our lives are truly like the grass that fades) before we meet Him; He will correct all that is wrong; He knows us into our deepest being. We who live in inner struggles such as ours have a special understanding of this. I expect to meet you soon Kari, and it will be glorious! (1 John 3:2-3) "Father, please be with those of us who walk this path, to bring use close to You in a way that pleases and honors You. You have shown us there is a place in Your heart and kingdom for the eunuch (Matt 19:12), and we want be what you created us to be, though that may not be clear to us now. Amen!"

Kari, sorry for all my misspellings; I do my best proofreading after I hit send! The reason I wrote to you about belief, faith and intimate tie to the concept of trust, is because It’s so easy for people, and especially people like us to have difficulty trusting others, and more importantly, trusting God. He has set before us many tests all of which boil down to this: will we trust God even when everything in the whole world, even our desires, even our identity, even our sexual identity tells us NO! How can we love God? It is through trust, and EVERYTHING ELSE will flow from this trust: every fault, blemish, sin that we have will eventually be rooted-out and cast away from us as we trust His Spirit to work in our lives. How will He do this? He will us His Word, the Bible; He will use His people, the Church; He will use unbelievers and our circumstances. Our work is to LET HIM work in us -- THAT, is the active trust He desires of all of us -- hard as it can be, I've seen it work in me!

Clint Frank, certainly scriptural authority is paramount. However, there is a lot more going on in life than is spelled-out in the Bible. God gives us principles, some clear commands, and many real-life examples. The Bible is our “user manual” if you will. However, it makes no claim to being a book on how EVERYTHING works (including humans) or the reasons for everything. It contains the information we need to be reconciled to God and to live God-pleasing lives. Clint, while your general principle is sound, you have not even attempted to show us where medical information is contradicting the Bible in this case. This is as close as the Bible approaches the transgender topic (though not without a degree of tenderness): Mt. 19:12, Acts 8:34-39. I think there is quite a bit of sinfully-expressed anger on both side of this issue. The majority side anger seems to come from fear, ignorance, and resentment; the transgender anger from being misunderstood and grossly vilified.

That there are transgendered people is a fact that neither trivializing nor spiritualizing will deny. It is also a fact the Bible does not address the issue directly, which means it’s a gray area. There is a little biblical evidence to suggest that God doesn’t want us playing games with gender distinctions (Duet. 22:5, 1 Cor. 11:14) (transvestite?); there is also evidence to suggest that people who go further, for non-trivial reasons, are no more worthy of demonization than anyone else (Mt. 19:12, Acts 8:34-39) (transgender/transsexual?). The vastly larger degree to which the Bible speaks of homosexuality underscores this point. As an important aside, notice how Jesus acknowledges that some eunuchs are BORN that way, and He does not condemn the fact that some are MADE that way either: the concept of the eunuch is the closest that the Bible comes to addressing the transgendered.

I sense it all boils down to this issue (for Christians): God made man in His image; male and female He created them (Gen. 1:27) On the one hand some think this is such a foundational distinction that God would NEVER allow there to be any confusion, and to suggest otherwise is to make God fallible (which He isn’t). The other view is that as important as the distinctions between the sexes are, they are every bit as subject to the fall of man and the curse of creation as everything else. And while God intends things to continue as He created them, He allows the curse to warp them. (Why, I don’t fully understand, but neither do any of you fellow readers, Biblical clichés not withstanding.) I’m convinced that the Biblical and empirical evidence favor the later view.

I am very disappointed that some transgendered people have taken their issue into the political realm, trying to force people to accommodate them. Transgenderism is NOT normal, and transsexualism is even more rare (1/30,000 persons, last I read). I AM transgendered, and it’s a relatively private issue for me – I would never dream of forcing myself on society (and I’ve resolved it as described in my earlier posts). Yet some transgendered have become political in reaction to the leper-like treatment received from societies that are at least (nominally) Christian. Too many true Christians assume that God can’t love the transgendered because of the assumed equivalence to homosexuality, and miss the point that the only people God rejects are those who reject Him. Even if we think transgenderism/transsexuality is sinful, we should love the sinner while hating the sin. (That indicts a great many of the comments I've read here.)

Charlie Ray: “There is zero evidence proving that either homosexuality or the transgender condition are biologically or genetically predetermine.” On what basis can you credibly make that remark? Have you investigated this? Assuming you made your remark in “good faith,” then I can answer your question: you have NOT investigated this. I have, and while the current state of our knowledge about HS and TG (which should not be lumped together, BTW), is that biology (nature) and personal experience (nurture) both have a role. No one understands this well, and it is just as much a mistake to say that this is Sin (with no other qualification), than it is to say that such people have No Responsibility (with no moral qualification). Yes, HS and TG ultimately boil down to our fallen selves and fallen world, but just telling such people to “stop sinning” is no more helpful than telling an alcoholic to “stop drinking" (to use a over-simple example). Please educate yourself before commenting.