Transgender and cisgender people (a person whose gender identity matches the sex given at birth) are the gender they identify as. Gender identity and sex are not the same. Sex is what you are given at birth based on your chromosomes and genitals. Gender identity is how you feel inside. The source of your gender identity, just like your personality, is in your brain.
Dr. William Reiner of the University of Oklahoma states, “The organ that appears critical to psychosexual development and adaptation is not the external genitalia but the brain.“ Certain regions in the brain develop differently in cisgender males and females. MRI brain scans show the brains of transgender people are consistent with their gender identity, just as cisgender people’s brains match their gender identity. However, transphobic people claim those with XX chromosomes are biological females and those with XY chromosomes are biological males. However, that argument falls apart when reproductive biology is examined more carefully in three areas: variant chromosome combinations, androgen insensitivity syndrome, and the gestational release of testosterone.
Millions of people have other X and Y combinations, such as XXY males (Klinefelter Syndrome), XXX females (Trisomy X), and “biological” males and females with genitals that correspond with their sex but also have internal reproductive organs of the opposite sex (Swyer syndrome). Androgen insensitivity syndrome is a condition that prevents the brains of people with a Y chromosome from absorbing the Y chromosome information. Most of these people develop as female and might not know about their condition until puberty or later. Dr. Reiner’s research shows females might develop male genitals if they receive too much testosterone in the womb, and males might develop female genitals if they receive too little. Testosterone levels also affect brain development in regions that differ between males and females. Dr. Reiner notes, “You cannot necessarily tell by looking at the genitals whether you’re going to have a child with a male or a female gender (identity).” Some of these children are transgender, but only the child can determine their gender identity.
Religious and political agendas cause the problems transgender people experience. Christian nationalists in the GOP are attacking transgender children without understanding developmental biology. They legislate policies that increase violence against the LGBT community under the ruse of protecting women from a non-existent threat.
They claim allowing transgender women into a woman’s bathroom will put women in danger of sexual assault, yet these attacks have not happened. “There has never been a verifiable, reported instance of a trans person harassing a cisgender person, nor have there been any confirmed reports of male predators ‘pretending’ to be transgender to gain access to women’s spaces and commit crimes against them.”
In 2015, 23 transgender people were murdered in this country. Unfortunately, 32 transgender people were killed in 2022, and 145 anti-transgender bills were introduced nationwide. Clearly, anti-trans violence and legislation are on the rise. However, 2022 was also the year LGBT candidates were on the ballot in all 50 states, and 436 people won their races. Have the tables turned? The 2024 election will tell.
Some conservative Christians support the LGBT community. The Crux, a magazine that ‘Takes the Catholic Pulse,’ reports that after same-sex marriage was legalized, Catholics who supported Gay marriage asked: “How can we who support Gay rights remain in a Church that appears so bigoted, backward, (and) blind?” They wondered how church leaders could hold such hate for the LGBT community yet profess they teach the acceptance, compassion, and empathy of God’s love.
The Washington Post wrote an article about one group that supports parents with LGBT children and teaches the acceptance, compassion, and empathy of God’s love. The Mama Bears is a national conservative Christian organization with about 35,000 members. They have not abandoned their Christian beliefs and are advocating for their LGBT children. This group supports Christian families with LGBT children by being a loving presence in the life of those who need support and providing private online communities to connect, ask questions, and find resources.
A word of caution: If you are a Christian family who wants to help your LGBT child and know your child’s sexual orientation or gender identity cannot be changed, make sure you connect with the real Mama Bears at https://www.realmamabears.org/. The counter group, Mama Bear Apologetics, will try to convince you that your child is committing a sin and needs to change.
The Maine Chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation defends the LGBT community from religious bigotry.