In Victoria, the law now restricts the right to push back on a person identifying as transgender. This is because some people have reacted insensitively in the past, sometimes even harmfully, toward those who therefore now need protection. It should go without saying that Christian grace would naturally afford respect and care to all people. Sadly, though, even polite disagreement with opinions on matters of sexuality is sometimes branded as hateful and bigoted. How might we conduct responsible discussion about such issues when different perspectives exist?
How we treat relevant biblical texts is important. They are not self-evident directives to all! Some have suggested, though, that verses which appear to describe gender in binary terms should be read as ‘merisms,’ meaning that references to men and women would be intentionally inclusive of other gender identities (e.g. in Genesis 1:27). This risks the insertion of a preferred interpretation into the text. Verses ascribing character qualities of both men and women to God don’t help here, given God is a spiritual being. Careful exegesis is required when defending long-held views that might alienate minority groups, but indeed when forming any views at all.
How we treat people is also important. To state that gender is biologically defined, and therefore binary, may well align to a historical understanding, but it nevertheless fails to convince a number who will believe the opposite. While those who are intersex do not constitute a case for challenging biological norms, discussions about such matters remain deeply personal for those who are, or may be, intersex. Care is also needed for parents who, in Victoria, are legally denied the right to challenge the views of their own gender dysphoric children.
Caution is needed when appealing to one research opinion, too, because the scholarly community determines collectively, and not individually, the merits or otherwise of papers published. (This was an important consideration during the recent debates over COVID vaccinations in which numerous views of PhD-qualified experts were roundly criticised by mainstream science).
Of course, mental health concerns associated with the challenging of views on sexuality are often significant. This should be concerning enough that all Christians would model exemplary conduct, especially in welcoming such people into churches to then address matters of Christian discipleship.
Some churches in our movement throughout the nation are currently road-testing some respectful ‘crucial conversations’ on a range of complex issues to help encourage the safe expression of views. We hope to share more information on this soon. Biblically-informed and clear-headed discussions with fellow Christians on matters of difference need care without this necessarily warranting compromise. This is especially important when we will often see things differently from fellow believers, people who we continue to love and respect.
