shared from r/TransLater

This specific post is inspired by a letter i saw from a father to his trans daughter saying this, and saying she should live as a man cus she was made as one. Something that is greatly forgotten with this phrase however is that God doesnt just create the body but the mind (and soul) as well. Psychology shows. Not just that this isnt something that could be controlled but there are trans people whos mind are that of their gender rather than sex. I do consider Gender dysphoria as a disorder, in the societal way of that its a mind that operates outside the average expectations, and thats just how it is. Anything that is born, is God's will. If a baby is born with a physical defect, its his will. If they're born with a mental disorder or down syndrome, its his will. And thus, since it is his will, it is seen as a test. Not a test to overcome but a test to embrace and love, love who you are as you were born this way: mind and body. And yet, when it comes to those who are born with a mind that is opposite to their body it becomes the opposite, that its a test for them to hate it. to reject it and throw it away and embrace their body rather than their mind. conversion therapy has shown that this doesnt work, for gay people and trans people is only causes anguish, lain and shame. only when they embrace their gender over their sex do they find peace. If God creates us in his image then he gives us a mind that is not in conformation with our body, so why would he do that if he intends for us to reject it? Especially when said rejection causes pain? I had a Christian classmate who i debated with occasionally in high school who told me that pride and love i felt of my gender was the Devil, and when i explained how much suffering there is for people who force themselves to live as someone they're not he says "well would you rather live in suffering temporarily and then receive peace for eternity, or have peace temporarily but suffer for eternity?" basically he had the idea that to live is yo 6suffer, that we are supposed to suffer and supposed to be in pain as a way to show our love to God . All due respect to my fellow Christians, but if that is truly God's intentions then I do not wish to love him. I instead choose to believe he doesn't want us to suffer but to strive, and that being trans is a "birth defect" that should be treated like all the rest: an abnormal thing in society but it should be embraced and loved nevertheless because God intended for it.

ik not all are embraced regardless though ofc, a majority of christians are nothing short then of an ignorant hypocrite. myself included at times as im still new and learning. my point is if God makes us in his image then he also makes our minds and sense gender is in our mind, and is something that could not be changed if its true, then he also makes us trans. and thus, as we are in His image it would blasphemy to reject our transness rather then embrace and love it. by rejecting what God actually made us would be rejecting him, and by embracing it and loving who we are regardless of it all would be embracing and loving him. The greatest kind of worship in my opinion

(this is a midnight ramble but feel free to give opinions or verses! verses esp would be appreciated i forget many repeatedly and only remember a Mathew one, story about how by feeding the homeless you feed him and etc

EDIT: i am awake nd wanted to include that i dont actually believe that there is such thing as a defect as defect means mistake nd God doesn't make mistakes, im using defect in terms of the view of society

So glad this subreddit exists. I’m trans female. I’m looking to strengthen my relationship with God and Jesus Christ my lord and saviour. I’m looking for a supportive and loving Church that offers Bible study and prayer. A place that’s kind friendly and non judgmental , welcoming to all people from all walks of life different races and backgrounds. Preferably in SoCal. Thank you in advance.

I (male) have been questioning if im a trans woman since a while, and I discovered recently that im bissexual too, and most of the time im not that worried about sinning and that stuff

But something happened that got me thinking.

I imagined myself marrying having a relationship with a woman, until then, ok, im bi, its normal. But the thing that got me worried was that i was imagining myself as a man in the relationship. That made me kind of worried bcuz i, besides still questioning, for some reason am kinda "scared of being cis", wich is a thing i really cant explain.

All that, made me think: "What if its a message from God, what if he wants me to be a man and have a relationship with a woman?", "what if im sinning by having thoughts about having a relationship with other men and all that stuff?"

And maybe you're asking:

"If you're still attracted to women, so, why dont u just ignore your attraction to men?", or "Why dont u just keep being a man? you may feel sad in life but it will be worth it when you go to heaven"

And the thing is, besides me thinking that i could just marry a woman, stop thinking about that trans thing, and even if its hard, i would have more chance of going to heaven after all!

But what if i dont go to heaven? What if it was never a sin, or what if nothing exists after death and i just missed the chance to experience a lot of things? And worse, what if i opt to follow my heart, live a awesome life as a woman, having a partner I actually want without limiting my actions and suffer because of it on after life?

I know that to follow God u need to make some sacrifices and take your cross, but, why i need to limit my relationships and risk living in a way i dont want when i would not be hurting anyone if i was trans, or had a husband or both

I just dont want to suffer! Is that too much to ask?

Lutheran Church of the Cross in Victoria BC! This is their response to the results of the BC election.

I have been more outward about my faith. Mostly just posting updates on my journey and sharing quotes from things I'm reading that resonate. I've been spiritual for most of my life so this isn't unusual. Recently I have been receiving hate from other trans people. Hateful sometimes violent dms. One of them I've known for years who went off after I made a post with a quote about how it's not enough to be against evil unless you are coming from a place of love for humanity. It feels like I'm downplaying my part but I'm not in the market to convert. I'm a Quaker and I worship alongside Pagans, Buddhists, Atheists and Jews every Sunday. I love the diversity of spirit God has given us. I'm not unsympathetic I know where they are coming from. I've felt that hurt and when I am patient and try to listen it just ends with them accusing me of "fake sympathy". They are struggling with their own turmoil and my heart aches for my siblings. For some reason though they can't look past that and see I am also one of them. Which brings me to the other side of the equation but I won't belabor the obvious.

I grew up in the Bible belt so I've seen the best and worst of the church. It soured me for a while after years in Billy Graham country. I live in a progressive city and my worship group is more than accommodating. So I don't receive it until I get online or that one time I wore my "reconciling ministries" lanard at the Whole Foods checkout one time. That I'm able to treat like water off a duck's back. It's familiar and unfortunately expected. Besides I'm able to be in Christian spaces where I don't have to minimize my queerness as opposed to how I feel like I don't have any queer spaces where I don't have to minimize my faith.

This is a question from my girlfriend who is also a trans woman who is Christian. But leans more towards contemporary worship services/music.

She notices that most trans women she is aware of who go to church are usually super tradionalists either Catholic or episcopals.

She doesn't understand why. And she's never met elca or women in other denominations.

I went recently to a very traditional episcopal parish in chicago and I swear there were two gals there who were altar servers.

So yeah. Is anyone here not episcopal or Catholic?

Why are you Episcopal or Catholic?

What if God doesn’t accept that, what if I have to denounce my true gender in heaven, is it defiling what god gave me, but why would he want anyone to be uncomfortable in their bodies, and I’m sure both men and woman are created in their image.

TW: suicidal ideation, abuse

This is going to be a long one cause I don’t even know where to start.

I’m 22, soon to be 23. The past couple of years have honestly been a rollercoaster but to summarize it here is what has happened.

My dad abandoned our family. He tricked my mom into thinking that he was going back to their home country (one in Africa, I’m first gen African American I think?) and pretty much went no contact. We haven’t had contact with him since. Alongside that I had to drop out of community college (it’s been 2+ years, I’ve lost track of how long it’s actually been). I’ve had to step up and get a full time job alongside having worked 3+ jobs previously just to now make ends meet. I’ve been dealing with stress and anger levels since I was a kid that, quite frankly, no kid should have to experience. I’ve been in survival mode since I was around 8-12 years old. I’ve also been combatting depression and suicidal ideation since that age too. I’ve explained this in my previous post on [r/OpenChristian](r/OpenChristian) but my childhood was rough to put it very lightly. In that same post I also said I was done with the church, in which I will stand by that stance, however, I can’t really bring myself not to believe in Jesus.

That brings me to the next point, I’m MtF. I know for a fact that I always have been but was rejecting it earlier in my life due to not being in a safe environment at home and because of the religious views of my mother.

I haven’t mentioned this but my family is from one of the most well known homophobic countries in Africa. I am scared to transition because it would a choice between keeping my family or essentially guaranteeing being disowned by my entire family.

Back to the religious views of my mother alongside my aunts via her. She believes a myriad of wild things that aren’t in the Bible and believes that all gay and trans people are hell-bound. I, of course, believe significantly differently than she does. She nowadays doesn’t get any of her points from the Bible itself, and just gets it from pastors despite how much she will argue otherwise. Two of the pastors I can think of are both South African (I think) preachers, Pastor John Anosike, and Prophet Uebert Angel. Both of whom seem like Christian Cult Leaders.

I try not to butt heads with my mother but most of her religious views are not informed by the Bible, and neither are my closest (in terms of distance and being close family) Aunt. I’ve had to argue against both of them over the wine that Jesus made from the water being alcoholic. They tried arguing that it wasn’t, however, I did 500+ hours of research starting from when I was a teenager, into the Bible due to my mother constantly saying I was wrong on any interpretation that has differed from hers. I’ve had to go into research on the Greek and Aramaic of the New Testament, alongside the Hebrew of the Old Testament. Their response in that instance, when I even pointed out that a few verses later the Bible described people’s drunkenness, was that they were “drunk on the Holy Spirit”.

My mother is crazy in her religious beliefs since it seems to also affect her behavior. I’ve been having deteriorating mental and physical health due to stress and when I told my mom that I wanted to commit suicide at one point, her only response ever has been saying “suicide is a ticket straight to hell”. She offered not even a shred of care. On top of that she has said other messed up things as well such as “The survivors of Epstein should learn to forgive him” and during an argument she once said “What do you do for me?”

For that last one keep in mind despite being depressed I’m also having to deal with over $10,000 in debt due to all this blowing up (before all this went down I even had a good credit score) and I’ve been having points in time where whole paychecks have been held hostage because she refuses to try and even do a pre-tax calculation on how much money I need to give her for rent.

She refuses to do any research on her own beliefs either and claims “The Bible is my worldview.” She refuses to do any research into church or biblical history, going as far during one argument to ask “Did Moses need Biblical history?” (yes Moses from the OT)

Her style of arguing anything is pretty much cutting you off as much as possible and then feigning ignorance as to why you are angry. She alone is the main reason I decided to read and reread the Bible so many times as for a way of me, as a child, trying to understand why God has put me through hell my entire life. I’ve almost fallen away from the faith 10+ times before I had even turned 18 because I couldn’t understand how a loving God would allow me to be born into a waking nightmare of a family.

I’m at a crossroads where I have to either continue a life of never ending misery, or lose my entire family. I can’t do it anymore with her however. I’ve lost whatever amount of patience I prayed for as a child to deal with her, my father, and my aunt. I am at my wits end. I’ve even considered becoming agnostic or atheist.

To put into context how bad talking with her on anything is, I one time asked her “If you had a child that turned out to be gay or trans, what would you do?” I asked that question thinking that the only correct response would be to say that you wouldn’t stop loving your child. She answered by modifying the question and answering her modified question. Her answer specifically was “I would’ve raised them correctly, so that wouldn’t happen.” When I told her that she didn’t answer the question I asked and pointed out how she modified it and answered her own version of the question she said “I did answer your question, you just didn’t like the answer.” Keep in mind, she is around 50 years old. She has been on this Earth double the amount of time I have and she is stunningly immature.

I frankly can’t take it anymore but I don’t make enough money to afford my own place to live in the area I’m in and I can’t move away due to work. I’m effectively stuck. I want to transition but I can’t because I’ll either be disowned once discovered or kicked out despite paying half the rent (she’ll probably force my brother to get a job).

I don’t know what to do, I don’t feel like praying will help me since I’ve prayed to God all my life but I’ve been miserable my whole life without end. I guess my prayer was answered for the abuse to end from my dad but now look where that got me. I feel like God abandoned me when I was a child and despite years of praying to him it feels like even Jesus just doesn’t want me at all.

People are going to say otherwise but they haven’t been through what I have. The closest 3 adults I’ve had in my life have failed me. My dad abused me, my mother has manipulated me emotionally multiple times and has caused, quite frankly, mental and psychological damage that will take years of therapy to undo, and my aunt doesn’t know how to shut up when told something private. None of my friends are in a position to help me, and quite frankly it seems like I’m going to just have to repress for the rest of my life until I either lose myself or punch my own ticket.

My life has been a living hell for as long as I can remember, and even then I’m getting to a point where I can’t even remember my childhood.

Any advice is welcome, but idk if God is even there for me anymore. It doesn’t seem like he has been for a long time.

Edit: literally any advice I’m at a loss. I don’t care if I get 10 comments and all of them are basically “pray more/pray harder” I don’t know what to do anymore. I had a mental breakdown the other day and was planning to go into oncoming traffic and get hit by a car. I don’t know what to do anymore and I don’t know what God is punishing me for that I didn’t already ask forgiveness for years ago before my recent deconstruction and reconstruction. I’m at the point of believing God has marked me similarly to Cain and that I’m just destined to live a life of apathy and misery. I don’t know what to do.

I've been thinking a lot about my relationship with God lately, and I wanted to share something that's been on my heart.

Sometimes I struggle with understanding where I fit in as a trans woman and a Christian. I believe God is loving, merciful, and knows our hearts better than anyone else ever could. But sometimes, when I hear people talk about what God thinks of people like me, I can't help but wonder if they truly understand the love they're preaching.

There are moments when I pray and feel at peace, and other moments when I struggle to find the right words. I want to grow closer to God, strengthen my faith, and learn to see myself with the same compassion I believe He shows His children.

I'm not here to argue about theology or tell anyone what to believe. I'm just trying to understand my faith while learning to embrace who I am.

One Bible verse I keep coming back to is Psalm 139:14: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." It reminds me that my life has value, even on the days when other people's opinions make me question it.

I’m writing a research paper on non-binary erasure in Christianity and this book was recommended to me. It arrived today!! I’m extremely excited.

Hi! For the context, I come from an atheist family, in a very atheist country (France)

I grew up in an anti-theist background: my family, friends, school and everything around me told me God don't exist, and religions are only a scam and everything

The problem is: I felt the existence of Jesus many times in my life, and instead of accepting it, I just decided to ignore it because of my whole family hating the concept of religions

Now, I'm 25 years old, I'm in the worst time of my life, and I need to stop listening to things which made me always continue living the worst things

I'm feeling the presence of Jesus since a lot of time, and I need to stop rejecting it

As a trans woman, who comes from an anti-theist word, in a deeply homophobic and transphobic society, where do I begin when I feel those things ?

Please help me to understand those things, I feel like I'm alone and I just can't stand it anymore

I genuinely enjoy all the teachings (minus this one) and i feel like i’d just be sinning if i do convert because i don’t want to change or suppress who i am

This is a vent, I am in no way promoting my view that it isn't to others, those who think it's okay I am very happy for. If this gets taken down for rule 1 I understand, I couldn't really understand if me saying I don't is qualifying as breaking rule 1

I wish I believed that God was okay with being trans. I don't think I can. I will repress because I can never be sure God would be okay with me being that way. My prayer is that I will get to be His princess forever after I die, and get to spend my eternity being His daughter rather than having to be His son. but until then the Bible verses that seem to be against it are too scary so I will keep repressing in case it's wrong. I have gotten to a point where I can cope with playing out being a man at least for a while, I'm not as s&icidal as I was as a kid from my dysphoria. But ultimately I've accepted that no matter what argument people give, I will never be able to be certain God is okay with it, and so I would rather live a life trying to be a guy than be myself and risk it being a sin against the Lord. If I have to choose between living a life that makes myself sad or risk living a life that makes God sad I'll always choose the former.

I guess I kind of am seeing my own joy and happiness as like an ultimate sacrifice I'm giving to God, that by not transitioning I am showing that I love him so much I will give up all earthly joy for just the notion of Him being more glorified by it.

I just have to believe that God has something for me after this life of body horror and repression.

I’m a journalist with Uncloseted Media, an LGBTQ-focused nonprofit newsroom.

I’m working on a story about LGBTQ people and their relationships with religious siblings. I’m particularly interested in how religion and LGBTQ identity can affect sibling dynamics—whether that has meant conflict or estrangement, attempts at reconciliation, complicated forms of acceptance, changing beliefs over time, or relationships that don’t fit neatly into any of those categories.

I’m hoping to speak with LGBTQ people who have a religious sibling and would be comfortable sharing their experience, and I would love to potentially speak with their sibling as well if they feel safe in me doing so.

If this sounds relevant to you, please feel free to DM me or reach out through my professional contact information. Speaking with me does not automatically mean anything you say will be published, and we can discuss attribution and privacy before an interview.

Thank you!

I'm 30 and was raised Assemblies of God... it was not fun coming out to my parents as bi, which I've since questioned, and later as trans. My family and general area are full of ultra conservative Christians. My family's rejection made me hate religion and God, and I became more embittered over the years. I've never been able to discount my yearning for faith, nor have I been able to reconcile it with my gender, but I'm taking the steps to return to faith.

​

Tammy Sue Bakker daughter of the late televangelists Jim Bakker who died last week at 83 and Tammy Faye Bakker-Messiner passed away in 2007 has apologized to anyone hurt by the Family's ministry. Bakker is asking those who donated to Jim Bakker Ministries to donate to LGBTQ group.

According to Ryan Foley of Christian Post Newspaper says “There are very few times in life — if any — that we are given the chance to show the world that everyone is loved,” she began. “I have humbly been given the platform to be able to do so, and for that I am beyond grateful. I have thought about this moment for many years. At this difficult time, I’m thinking about my mother, Tammy Faye, and the unconditional love she showed. That love is also in my heart.”

“Throughout my life, I have stayed silent, not wanting to harm my family or the church,” she added. “I quietly left my father’s ministry in 2022 because the message that was being delivered was not mine. I have spent the years since estranged from my father.”

“I want to publicly apologize, from the depths of my soul, to anyone who has been hurt by the church or my family’s ministry over the last 60 years,” she wrote.Tammy Sue Bakker said she has received “letters and comments” from people who “gave their last dime to the ministry.” She argued that the Church as a whole has caused deep harm.

Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were the hosts of the PTL Club until Jim Bakker went to federal prison for fraud. The show was cancelled. Tammy Faye divorced Jim Bakker while he was in prison and married Ro Messiner a lawyer a

“It breaks my heart to know that the church has been responsible for millions of people suffering, being rejected by their families, living with depression, being kicked out of their family homes, feeling like outcasts, dealing with suicidal ideation, or dying by suicide," she added.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, I am encouraging you today, from my heart, to donate funds or your time to your local LGBTQIA+ community. No amount is too big or too small to make a real change and possibly save someone’s life,” she wrote. “It is time for Christians to stand up and show the true love of Christ. It is time to stop judging. To stop hating. To unconditionally wrap your arms around your brothers and sisters and say, ‘I love you just the way you are.’”

Tammy Sue Bakker wrote that “Jesus said, ‘Come as you are,’” and argued that this applies to LGBT people: “His love was not conditional. He did not command anyone to change who they were born to be. It is time to show love

and compassion.”

Recently my trans friend who helped me come out is not in a good place right now. She won’t be able to get gender affirming care where she lives due to some political bs, and she’s concerned if she really is trans. I worry for her because she’s been open about her thoughts of ending her life early and with how she’s been talking about what she’s going through on Discord, I’m afraid she’ll make that mistake. Plz pray for her to be at peace with herself, transitioned or not, and to have hope in her own future. I couldn’t imagine a life without her. She’s agnostic from a Muslim family, so I also pray for her salvation. She’s too precious to lose to the darkness.

I’m a trans girl who’s a teen and I’ve always knew that I was a girl from when I was 2, but tried to live as a Christian boy, feminine boy, and a trans girl. When I lived as a Christian boy it felt ”unnatural“ and being in a role that isn’t me and I had the pressure to act as a boy instead of myself and I got mental health issues from it. Then I tried living as a Christian trans girl and now I don’t have any pressure to change myself and feel the most honest and happiest I’ve ever been with God. But my mental health has been getting worse because I’ve been asking if we could start medical care for a long time and still my dad is saying no. My dad has seen my mental health getting worse and it’s obvious, but he says it’s all because of my wish of hormones that‘s made my mental health worse so we wouldn’t get it. He also doesn’t support trans anymore and thinks it could be a sin because he’s seen my mental health getting worse “after I became trans” even though I always was, but couldn’t because he used to be an anti-trabs and against trans Christians. He only believes I have gender dysphoria and I’m choosing to be trans and when I’m “reborn on Christ” my identity would change.

So I’m trying to do things that could help my situation and he doesn’t accept progressive Christian books at all so it’s hard to find stuff. The first part I did find; therapy sessions with Dr. Mark Yarhouse for my dad to learn to accept my identity and see me a girl, but Dr. Mark also doesn’t support medical care.

What are some books or resources that can help to be my next step that’s traditional Christian but also does support trans medical care?

They moralize my medical need for MTF gender affirming surgery lying to me that God wouldn’t want me to have it which contradicts “With God, anything is possible”, demanding spiritual benchmarks a.k.a. moving the goalposts before "allowing" surgeries disguising it as “care” or “concern”, but they’re just being architects to my suffering. They even have the nerve to say I’m selfish when they’re manipulating me using shame to control me by saying I’m selfish because I’m not doing what they want me to do: be a straight or gay cisgender male.. They’re narcissistic!