The crusade against transgender rights — in Florida and across the country — is anti-God | Opinion

Transgender people nationwide are facing unprecedented attacks from Republican lawmakers. Since the beginning of 2021, legislators in more than 30 states have proposed more than 100 pieces of legislation designed to dismantle transgender rights, from banning trans people in sports to denying medical care.

Let’s be clear: This crusade is the product of a coordinated push from conservative faith groups and religious leaders to crush transgender rights. They have a misguided belief that identifying by a gender that differs from one’s biological sex is against the word of God.

As the president of a seminary in New York with many LGBTQ students, I am outraged. This anti-transgender crusade completely misinterprets the Bible. It also contradicts the most basic of all religious beliefs: that all humans are created in the image of God and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.

During his first joint address to Congress, President Biden told transgender people nationwide that the “president has your back.” Religious leaders and people of faith everywhere should take note — and vehemently fight anti-transgender legislation, not actively and aggressively push it.

Sadly, though, that’s exactly what’s happening. An array of conservative organizations with strong religious underpinnings — including the Heritage Foundation and the Eagle Forum — are behind the unprecedented assault on transgender rights.

For years, they’ve strategically and methodically crafted anti-transgender legislation that can be easily replicated across state legislatures. For example, the Alliance Defending Freedom — which was founded by 30 leaders of the Christian right and is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center — helped draft Montana’s HB 112, the first anti-transgender sports bill passed by a state legislature.

The groups are now part of a coalition called a Promise to America’s Children, which enables lawmakers to download model anti-transgender legislation that they can then introduce in their own states.

These efforts have been alarmingly effective. Arkansas and Tennesse recently prohibited gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Other states have considered similar legislation. Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, and West Virginia recently banned transgender girls from playing girls’ sports.

A growing list of conservative religious groups and leaders have lined up to support these bills. For example, members of the Christian-right Family Research Council (FRC), which explicitly recommends that parents work with churches to undermine transgender rights, attended many Arkansas committee meetings to support the state’s draconian anti-transgender legislation. Tony Perkins, an ordained minister and the head of the FRC, claimed, “There is a growing and urgent need for this legislation as harmful gender ideology sweeps across our nation.”

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new anti-trans bill at Trinity Christian Academy, a religious institution with a clear history of opposing LGBT rights.

Conservative people of faith believe opposing transgender rights is firmly rooted in the Bible. A commonly used justification comes from Genesis 1:27: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” This is often interpreted to mean that gender is a binary that cannot be altered.

But in reality, there is nothing in the Bible that explicitly discusses transgender people. Conservative religious leaders have simply extrapolated the rhetoric beyond its intentions. In fact, “them” can refer to a multiplicity of identities.

What’s more, Jesus is far more concerned with loving others and healing those who have been harmed than with gender identity. The pervasive theme of the Bible is to love and support one another, free from prejudice and discrimination, and to protect the most vulnerable. Trans people, who suffer disproportionately large numbers of hate crimes and die by suicide in alarming numbers, sadly fit that category all too well.

Faith leaders have a moral responsibility to speak against anti-trans legislation and encourage others to do similarly. They should call their legislators, pen letters to the editor and use their social media platforms to dispel the gross wave of LGBTQ discrimination throughout the country. God calls upon us to act on and stand up for love, not hate; inclusion, not discrimination. We cannot remain silent.

Kai Shappley, a fourth-grader who is transgender, recently showed us the courage faith leaders should exhibit. When Texas was considering anti-trans legislation, she told the Texas Senate Committee that God made her and loves her for who she is. If a fourth-grader can acknowledge God’s love and speak out for what is right and just, so can all of us.

Rev. Dr. Serene Jones is the president of Union Theological Seminary, a 185-year-old seminary devoted to progressive religious scholarship and activism.

This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 12:50 PM.