I recently wrote a piece for Baptist Global News about why God is trans. You can read the original piece here.
Below you’ll find an excerpt of the article…
God transcends gender.
Theologically speaking, God is nonbinary.
That means in English, God’s pronouns are they/them.
God is trans.
I’d love to say this thought was originally mine, but that would be another cis white man commandeering someone else’s thought, my friend’s thought: Kevin Garcia.
Kevin is a nonbinary queer theologian who is spunky and smart and ambitious. They put me to shame when it comes to thoughts of the divine and spirituality; maybe it’s the master’s degree in theology.
The thought of God being trans — transcending gender — is provocative, important and ultimately true. We can see it all over Scripture.
God, Creator of the universe, is neither male nor female. And humans — males, females and all in between — are created in “their” image. The term “Spirit” is feminine in nature, and Scripture compares God to both a father and a mother.
Creation itself is nonbinary. Scripture speaks of God creating night and day, yet we know by observation that there are in-between times such as dawn and dusk. When it comes to animals, Genesis says God created creatures of land and sea, yet we know there are amphibians. And while scripture says God made man and woman, we know that 1.7% of the population are born intersex. The nonbinary is all throughout creation.
The very nature of God transcends a binary description too, and we are reflections of that nature. Is it any wonder that gender is expressed in various and wonderful ways? We can again look at the biblical text to confirm this.
In Christ, gender is abolished. In ancient Jewish thought, there were eight genders. In Christ’s early church, it was a eunuch who was entrusted to carry the gospel to Africa. And even Jesus says many will become eunuchs and are born eunuchs (some scholars view this as intersex).
“Transness” is not only the nature of God; it also is ours. It is written into the very text Christians are somehow invoking today to block transgender individuals from basic human rights. This religious zealotry intends not just to block these children of God but to cause harm.
As of today, there are nearly 500 anti-trans bills up for vote across the United States; in 2022, more than 20% of far-right demonstrations were anti-trans in nature, and in 2021, there were 50 trans fatalities as a result of violence, all while anti LGBTQ rhetoric has been on the rise for three consecutive years.
It’s not a coincidence that hateful rhetoric perpetuates and empowers hateful behavior. Actions begin with words. Words begin with thoughts, and thoughts begin with beliefs.
Our theology has consequences, and those consequences are lives. Lives that have transformed me.
It was a trans woman who first taught me…
To read the whole article, you’ll need to head on over to Baptist News Global.
Happy stumbling, friends.
Image by Deliah Giandeina via Unsplash.
One response to “God is trans”
Great article, Brandon! Very provocative, yet wonderfully described. I too feel great compassion toward trans individuals — and great anger toward all of the animus and bias against they/them in America. Thanks for your important contribution.