Do No Harm, a nonprofit that launched last year to oppose diversity initiatives in medicine, has evolved into a significant leader in statehouses seeking to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youths, producing model legislation that an Associated Press analysis found has been used in at least three states, including Florida.
The nonprofit, not widely known outside conservative medical and political circles, describes itself on its website as a collection of doctors and others uniting to “protect healthcare from a radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideology.”
Founder Dr. Stanley Goldfarb is a kidney specialist and a professor emeritus and former associate dean at the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school. Goldfarb retired in 2021 and incorporated Do No Harm in January 2022.
Do No Harm initially focused on race in medical education and hiring. “The same radical movement behind ‘Critical Race Theory’ in the classroom and ‘Defund the Police’ is coming after healthcare, but hardly anyone knows it,” it warns on its website.
Goldfarb declined to be interviewed by The Associated Press but said in an email that “Do No Harm works to protect children from extreme gender ideology through original research, coalition-building, testimonials from parents and patients who’ve lived through deeply troubling experiences, and advocacy for the rigorous, apolitical study of gender dysphoria.”
The organization’s executive director, Kristina Rasmussen, previously was chief of staff to former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, and served as president of the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank, according to her LinkedIn profile. Perhaps coincidentally, Rauner donated $250,000 to DeSantis’ former political committee.
An AP analysis of statehouse bills to restrict gender-affirming care for youths found passages identical or nearly identical to Do No Harm’s model legislation in Montana, Arkansas and Iowa.
The organization had lobbyists registered in 2022 in at least three states — Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee — and in Florida in 2023. People associated with the group have appeared as witnesses in statehouses, including Chloe Cole, 18, listed on its website as a “patient advocate” who has spoken to lawmakers about her gender-transition reversal.
In states including Florida, Idaho, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Ohio, Cole described her transition beginning at age 13, surgery to remove her breasts at 15, and stopping her transition a year later saying it was a mistake. Republican supporters of bills restricting or banning gender-affirming care often cite Cole’s story.
Cole told the Kansas news outlet The Reflector this year that Do No Harm was reimbursing her travel expenses as she testified before state lawmakers. She and her lawyer did not respond to requests for comment from the AP.
Do No Harm originally organized as a charitable organization whose tax-exempt status would be endangered by substantial lobbying.
On March 9 this year, after the group had already made significant inroads in legislatures with its model bill, lobbyists and hearing witnesses, it incorporated Do No Harm Action as a separate nonprofit with a tax status that allows for more lobbying, according to records obtained from the Virginia Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs.
Goldfarb did not respond directly to questions about Do No Harm’s lobbying, nor did another representative for the organization.
In the application for nonprofit status obtained from the Virginia agency, Do No Harm projected revenues of $910,000 in 2022, more than $1.1 million in 2023 and over $1.5 million in 2024.
The organization is so new that federal tax forms that typically reveal nonprofits’ spending details have been either not received or not processed.
It won a $250,000 award last year called the Gregor Peterson Prize. Its previous recipients include the Center for American Liberty, led by Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer who advised former President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign and who is representing Cole in her lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente over gender-transition treatments she now says she regrets. The prize was announced in December at a summit held by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a prominent provider of conservative model legislation.
Duke Health’s antiracist “pledge” is nothing more than a political assertion forcefully made on behalf of its employees, who were in no position to push back.
When did health institutions start acting politically under the guise of medical science?https://t.co/3aalgjq47S
We hope the inquiry into DEI spending at Virginia’s public colleges and universities will begin to dislodge this divisive ideology from medical education.
The people pushing this madness are right about one thing: systemic racism is real. They’re proving it by bringing racial segregation back into the higher education system. pic.twitter.com/MWQd2lqsKs
.@FLSurgeonGen’s guidance against socially and medically transitioning children is a well-thought-out and evidence-based approach.https://t.co/8xn8vg3qgk
The Florida state legislature and @GovRonDeSantis passed two commonsense bills that will help restore fairness and sound teaching in higher education, including in medical schools. pic.twitter.com/IPDsATjvXV
When it became obvious that the targetted religious war on just the LGBTQ+ community was starting to lose public support, they simply changed to hating the non-defined “WOKE” giving them a faceless generic enemy to rake in tax free money and run political campaigns, and giving them an even larger base of fellow Americans to focus their hate upon, and rally their “Christian Warriors” around.
Freedom Caucus — they hate freedom Moms For Liberty — they hate liberty Alliance Defending Freedom — they’re anti-freedom Do No Harm — they’re doing great harm
ALL of Iowa’s recent book banning, gay shaming, bathroom bills are simply out of state copy/paste laws. Oh and libs of tik tok and Q anon bitches got to write a couple bills too. Non are home grown
It ALWAYS starts out with the Trojan Horse of protecting the young children, before quickly expanding to including all teens/minors, and then the banishing of LGBTQ adults from sight…”for the sake of the children,” and not for the bigoted adults hiding behind them.
bans the “instruction, guidance, activities, or programming regarding sexual orientation or gender identity to students enrolled in prekindergarten through 12th grade
Question 1. Are you married? Question 2. How do you explain that to an 18 year old without alluding to the fact that you’re a man and the person to which you are married is not?
Question 3. Why is that an exception to your rule?
This is about absolute power and control. Abortion bans/contraception bans Book bans Attacks on LGBTQ+
Can you tell the difference between Republicans/Conservatives and Muslims/ISIS and Sharia Law? pic.twitter.com/9MgNgF0AR2
— Fight4Justice Fight4Equality! AbortionIsARIGHT! (@fight4women) May 17, 2023
All 3 members of the Republican freshman class of 2020 who lectured us the loudest about family values and marriage didn’t have their marriages survive a second term. pic.twitter.com/Zel6uyB6Ut
I’ve been dubious of the word “fascism” being thrown around. But it’s the right word. After reading How Fascism Works by Jason Stanley, I am convinced that DeSantis is in fact a fascist.
“What normalization does is transform the morally extraordinary into the ordinary. It makes us able to tolerate what was once intolerable by making it seem as if this is the way things have always been.”
The point I keep trying to show people that these laws are written to outlaw cross dress, wearing clothing stereotypically thought of as for a different gender. People have commented that these laws only try to stop sexual or adult entertainment of a sexual manner. But here is a quote from the article. The practical effect is to comply with the new law that appears to classify all live drag entertainment, regardless of content, as adult entertainment, and prevent drag performances on outdoor stages that will be set up all along Wilton Drive for the June 17 party. This is what these laws are about. Denying the people who like to dress in drag to do so, which then will progress to outlawing trans people dressing as the gender they identify instead of the gender they were assigned at birth. Just as they quickly moved from don’t say gay laws for K-3 to now K-8th grade in Florida and in other states in all schools in all grades. This is about removing the LGBTQ+ from society, from the public, and they are starting with the most easy to target. The goal is stopping the public acceptance of people who do not act / reflect the values of Christians who think the best time in history was the 1950s and get their moral code from a book written 2,500 years ago. By the way, Wilton Manors is a very gay place. These laws have scared even these long gay activists. I think a lot of people have forgotten why pride parades were started in the first place. Back in the late 60s early 70s the LGBTQ+ got tired of the religious conservatives trying to make our lives miserable and make us disappear from society. We wanted our rights, and we needed to be vocal and in people’s public view. We need to remind these people of the fact we are family members, we are in their lives in every aspect. We won’t go back into any closets nor hide from the public. “We are here, we are queer, get use to it”! Hugs
In the week since Wilton Manors’ city commission voted unanimously to amend the permit for the Stonewall Pride Parade & Street Festival, people on both sides of the issue on whether or not to comply with drag laws have lashed out.
The amendment ensures event producers follow all laws, including ones passed since the permit was issued in February. The practical effect is to comply with the new law that appears to classify all live drag entertainment, regardless of content, as adult entertainment, and prevent drag performances on outdoor stages that will be set up all along Wilton Drive for the June 17 party.
It appears people in drag will be allowed into the event and to participate in the parade. However, performing in the parade or on any exterior stage is likely to be prohibited due to being labeled adult entertainment. Producers of the event haven’t finalized standards for admission and participation, but have said there will be a “dress code” applying to all participants, vendors, attendees, and performers.
Commissioner Chris Caputo will be at the June 17 parade as “Lady Vote,” according to a post on his Facebook page. Caputo says he’s ready to test — and perhaps push to strike down — the new law that bans having children at live shows that “in whole or in part” depict or simulate “nudity, sexual conduct,” or the exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts.
“Personally, I don’t believe drag performances at our Stonewall cultural event are illegal,” Caputo wrote. “I believe they are of artistic and political value, and I am comfortable showing up in drag. If the Governor disagrees with that, he is welcome to recall my seat and we can fight it out in the courts.”
The anti-drag bill (SB 1438) originally targeted food and beverage venues for criminal charges — a first-degree misdemeanor — if children were exposed to these “adult live performances.” But an amendment added on the Senate floor also subjects city officials to charges if they issue a permit for an event that exposes children to the same thing.
As Caputo notes, in addition to potential criminal charges, DeSantis has the power to remove city officials who defy the ban under a statute enacted in 2018. There’s much more at both links above.
LOCAL: It appears people in #drag will be allowed into #Stonewall and to participate in the parade. However, performing in the parade or on any exterior stage is likely to be prohibited due to being labeled adult entertainment.
I have, and will continue to encourage people to dress as their authentic selves or favorite drag icons — as I plan to do (albeit, poorly!). The city did not ban drag queens.
Personally, I don’t believe drag performances at our stonewall cultural event are illegal. I believe they are of artistic and political value and I am comfortable showing up in drag. If the Governor disagrees with that, he is welcome to recall my seat and we can fight it out in the courts. The amendment we passed protects city employees — since language in the law directly affected them. It’s one thing for the Governor to recall my elected seat; it would be poor leadership on my part to put city staff at risk of being unemployed for any duration. I can afford a protracted legal battle without my city position, they shouldn’t have to.
I understand emotions are high — the anti-LGBTQ legislation we are facing is deplorable. We need to stand together against it.
𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰: I disagree with the state’s supposed interpretation of what adult entertainment is (i.e., I personally don’t feel that drag performers at Stonewall are engaged in that) AND I am personally willing to take it to the courts to test it. I plan to be at Stonewall as “Lady Vote 🗳️,” which I believe isn’t illegal, and it’s an opportunity to clash with the Governor if he wants to push an abusive, inappropriate interpration of the law and infringe on my civil rights.
If you have any questions about that or my position, I am always here and happy to answer them. You can also text me at 954.557.2801.
That’s why I posted these warning signs from Berlin yesterday. At first, Jews weren’t allowed to join the Red Cross or auto club. And a few years later they were being massacred.
Freedom to DeSantis means “You have everything to lose if you don’t obey.”
I sure hope the actions of Chris Caputo and others leads to all these laws being overturned. Those actions are what John Lewis called causing good trouble.
Edit: I can’t imagine pride without the multi-colored queens performing everywhere you look and the leather folks walking around in full gear with strap-ons and every other adornment!
OMG!!! It’s SO good to see you, girl!!!! (big hugs)
Do it anyway. Fuck DeSantis and anti-First Amendment, unconstitutional laws. Fight back against fascism or step out of the way. Those bricks didn’t throw themselves.
Hence you plan to have willing folks be the target for the fight and pre-set the legal funding to ride the case up. You also work with national level orgs to figure out the best unified response as part of a national legal strategy.
I remember at a pride event, one private security guard threatening to throw members of the leather community out for bare asses, even tho it was completely legal in the city. Luckily, the people stood their ground and the Pride leadership and the police educated the guard.
These people can deny it all they want but kids know both gender and sexuality at a very young age. Kids understand gender from the time they learn of boy or girl, Mr or Mrs / Miss. Gender is not a strange thing in human society, it is ingrained in everything we humans do. Simply think how kids are taught which bathroom to use in public, little kids don’t care until they are forced by adults to use the “proper gendered” bathroom, which forces them to identify their own gender. As for sexuality, kids also understand who they are attracted to long before they are given words to understand it. The idea that kids are somehow clueless to their attraction as they grow is not what medical science or personal experience of people asked shows. Ask yourself when you knew you were attracted to … and you will say well forever. When did you know you were a boy / girl, well I just knew. Well so do trans kids. Also gay / lesbian kids know who they get tingles and attractions to. Plus the idea that kids are not sensual in knowing what feels good with their own bodies is just stupid. How often do you hear of little kids being told they shouldn’t touch themselves in public, because even as little kids it feels good and they don’t know to not do what feels good in front of other people. The problem is some people want to keep society in the 1950s strict gender roles when society and the public has moved beyond that. We have evolved, and that terrifies those that have invested interests in keeping the country in the past. Why because in the past they were in charge, their ideas were taken for granted as being the only correct ideas, their god was not really questioned in society. Think of the history of child abuse in churches, in the time frame these people want you / the country to return to the church leaders doing the abusing were not questioned and kids not believed. Because of the automatic authority of the church. That is what these people want to force us all to return too.
Then we get to the second part of the video. The videos of the Texas Guard putting up razor wire in front of people seeking asylum and trying to enter the country. My gods if you think that this huge country couldn’t find a more humane way to handle people fleeing death and destruction to work for a better life I have to ask what is wrong with you. We have states in this country that are so underpopulated they can not afford to provide for themselves without federal wealth sharing. This country is huge and needs more people willing to be in it supporting all the infrastructure. That is a known fact. Ask what would happen if you let these people come in and establish lives working and paying taxes while being part of the communities they live in? The only reason this push to keep people out at the southern border is completely racism. The white ones convinced that the brown ones are going to take over if they are let in the country, that somehow the white ones will lose all the assumed authority and power they once had. Well guess what, it has already happened and will keep happening. If you are one of those people, the tipping point was reached long ago, and yes the white majority rule is pretty much over and will be soon. The thing is that is not such a scare thing as these white supremacist want to make it. The only difference is whites that don’t want other races will have to accept them, everyone will be equal. That is all, everyone regardless of race will be equal. Everyone’s traditions and celebrations will be give equal time. See the world won’t stop, the destruction won’t happen, just equality and expanded awareness for everyone. Now to the video. Hugs
A religious person forcing her church doctrines on what is acceptable in society on all students, teachers, and other parents. It is not enough for her child to deny gay kids exist, but to force all kids, even the gay ones, to pretend that no gay people exist. Are we going to let this keep happening? Is everyone OK with driving the country back to civil inequality and denying human rights to appease a religious view of how things should be based on a misinterpreted book written before people understood what germs were? I cannot stand this drive to return to the time when gay kids were scared and in hiding, when there were no books for them to read with gay content, when there were no positive role models, when kids were targeted for abuse if it was discovered they might not be straight. Why are we letting a group of religious conservative bigots drive us to a theocracy with a Christian Taliban in charge? Hugs
Also I want people to understand just how repressively religious these people are. Want to know where else this movie won’t be shown due to the gay story line of a few minutes of just dialog? Disney refrained from showing “Strange World” in the Middle East, China, Indonesia, Turkey, Nigeria, Uganda and other countries because of the LGBTQ storyline. Yes other religious fundamentalist countries and countries that restrict personal freedom with the government ruling what people can do in their private lives with other consenting adults. Hugs
A Florida teacher is under investigation by the state Department of Education after what she believes is a targeted attack by a school board member who took issue with a Disney movie shown in her classroom. At a Hernando County School Board meeting Tuesday, fifth-grade teacher Jenna Barbee alleges school board member Shannon Rodriguez reported her to DOE for showing her students Disney’s 2022 movie “Strange World.” It’s the first Disney movie with an out, gay character.
Barbee, a teacher at Winding Waters K-8, said during public comment the Disney movie tied into her students’ Earth science lesson and did not have sexually inappropriate content. Rodriguez, who was elected to the school board last fall, was endorsed by conservative parents’ rights group Moms for Liberty. In her short tenure, she has argued there is “smut” and “porn” on schools’ library shelves and has asked for books to be removed, according to Suncoast News.
A complaint by a #Florida school board member who belongs to the fascist group Moms for Liberty may lead to a first-year teacher being fired for showing a Disney movie in class. Welcome to what America would be like with #DeSantis as President. https://t.co/FABUjNVXP8
“The word indoctrination is thrown around a lot right now, but it seems that those who are using it are using it as a defense tactic for their own fear-based beliefs without understanding the true meaning of the word,” Barbee said at the lectern.
Florida educators are prohibited from teaching about gender and sexual identity due to the Parental Rights in Education Act, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year. Also known as “Don’t Say Gay” by critics, teachers have expressed anxiety and confusion over the vague wording of the law for fear of losing their teaching licenses or criminal penalties if found in non-compliance.
Opponents of the law say the vague wording unfairly targets books and classroom materials with gay and transgender characters and themes.
Hernando County’s school district confirmed a fifth-grade teacher is being investigated for showing “Strange World,” and that a parent complained to the principal about the movie not being appropriate for students.
Rodriguez, who was elected to the school board last fall, was endorsed by conservative parents’ rights group Moms for Liberty. In her short tenure, she has argued there is “smut” and “porn” on schools’ library shelves and has asked for books to be removed,according to Suncoast News.
She also alleges Rodriguez called her father to tell him about the DOE complaint.
“I’m a first-year teacher. I’ve had to learn so much this year,” she told the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida. “I work with teachers who have taught for 20 years, 30 years, tell me every day it never used to be like this. Times have changed so much and they are so micromanaged, they’re not allowed to teach anymore. They’re basically a caregiver who has to teach the standards. Teachers stay for the children, but because of the laws and the fear of being let go for saying one wrong thing, they can’t connect to their students.”
At the end of the school board meeting, Rodriguez said Barbee broke school policy because she did not get the specific movie approved by school administration and said the teacher is “playing the victim.”
Rodriguez’s daughter is in Barbee’s class.
“It is not a teacher’s job to impose their beliefs upon a child: religious, sexual orientation, gender identity, any of the above. But allowing movies such as this assist teachers in opening a door, and please hear me, they assist teachers in opening the door for conversations that have no place in our classrooms,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also said she has called DOE about other issues in the district and believes children should not be “a pawn in the crossfire” of liberal political agendas.
“As a leader in this community, I’m not going to stand by and allow this minority to infiltrate our schools,” she said.
Please note again the religious parent / school admits above that she who is a minority on the school board and among the parents and is the only one objecting to the movie, is saying “She is not going to let this minority (meaning gay people or the LGBTQ+) infiltrate our schools”. Think about what she is saying, gay kids existing is an infiltration, that gays in society / public are so offensive to her that she needs to wipe them out. In other words, genocide! Hugs
Disney refrained from showing “Strange World” in the Middle East, China, Indonesia, Turkey, Nigeria, Uganda and other countries because of the LGBTQ storyline.
“In countries where we operate, we seek to share our stories in their original form as we and the artists involved have created them. If we make edits, because of legal or other considerations, they will be as narrow as possible. We will not make an edit where we believe it would impact the storytelling. In that circumstance, we will not distribute the content in that market,” Disney says in its Human Rights Policy, which was updated in 2022.
Hanna believes the investigation began after Brandi Andrews, a board member of the Leon County chapter of Moms for Liberty, sent a letter to the governor calling on the superintendent “to be removed from his position.” The letter was stamped with “LET’S GO BRANDON,” a saying popular among conservatives who use the G-rated term in place of “(Expletive) Joe Biden.”
Andrews included an excerpt from an email, a Facebook post and an op-ed in the Democrat, all written by Hanna in August 2022, as examples of “issues we have with our local school board right here in Leon County.”
In a statement, Andrews told the Democrat her complaint is “one of many.”
“Any assertion that concerns I expressed as a parent should not be presumed as a catalyst for any investigation,” she said.
The movie had no sex. It had a gay person. The prudish homophobes on the right are not worried about children being exposed to porn, they are worried about children being exposed to the fact that gay people exist.
They also think we are evil, so they don’t want to see us treated as normal or equal to them. We must be despised if they are to feel good about themselves.
I find it remarkable that that’s what they believe. There wasn’t a single gay person in my sphere of influence whatsoever as I was growing up. Not one. Thus, the reason it took me to 23 yrs old to fully come out. I had zero exposure to the gay universe. Let me tell you that I made up for lost time…
Those people seem to believe that gay sex is so hot, so rapturous, so absolutely irresistible, that even the thought of it is enough to entice anyone into giving up straight sex immediately. That’s why they are so adamantly against having anyone even mentioning anything that reminds them of what they want but won’t allow themselves to have. The temptation is just too strong and they are just too weak.
Indeed. You’d think that would give them pause, but at least some of them seem to mean it when they say they’d rather have a dead child than a gay one.
One of the first people I met when I was coming out, was an only child of a couple who disowned him when he came out to them. Not only did they disown him, however, but when people would ask how many children they had, they would say that they didn’t have any children.
Conservative Plan to Destroy the Public Education System: 1. Create fake outrage about “horrible” things kids are being taught. 2. Attack teachers and the education system to sow distrust. 3. Get radical conservatives on local school boards to create havok. 4. Siphon off funding for public schools by creating vouchers for private schools. 5. When educated teachers quit, lower standards to allow others without teaching degrees to “fill the gap”.
Mom’s for Liberty is active in my area too. I absolutely despise them! They are an outright fascist group made up of prudes and religious fanatics. They don’t want schools to acknowledge the existence of gay / trans kids and they want to whitewash American history in regards to racism. I think it was in Tennessee where one Mom’s for Liberty member wanted a book on the life of Martin Luther King banned because it was “anti-American”! JFC!
But, according to the article, they are winning. This is the saddest part, so many are supporting them and they’re increasing their control and dominance over others.
It’s because a large section of our population is made up of bigoted idiots. Plus their pleas of “Think of the children” resonates with people with no critical thinking skills.
A point repeatedly made is that the parent / school board member that is on a rampage about the gay kids in the movie who did not even kiss had no problem with all the kissing done by the straight couple in the beginning of the movie. The parent / school board member is entirely about removing all representation of gays in schools at any level. She finds them abhorrent and wants them out of society. Notice this is not about trans which is where this started, it is about pushing a religious message about being gay is shameful and bad, so don’t admit to being gay. They must not be allowed to make another generation of gay kids targets of that hate. Replace gay with Jewish or black and it wouldn’t be accepted, yet. But that is where these haters are going, back to the 1950s with only Christian white straight males being in charge and gender roles strictly enforced. Hugs
Florida teacher probed after showing Disney film in class. Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss on The Young Turks. Watch TYT LIVE on weekdays 6-8 pm ET. http://youtube.com/theyoungturks/live
Read more HERE: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/new… “A Florida teacher is under investigation by the state Department of Education after what she believes is a targeted attack by a school board member who took issue with a Disney movie shown in her classroom.
At a Hernando County School Board meeting Tuesday, fifth-grade teacher Jenna Barbee alleges school board member Shannon Rodriguez reported her to DOE for showing her students Disney’s 2022 movie “Strange World.”
It’s the first Disney movie with an out, gay character.”*
I don’t have the background nor the education to evaluate these claims. They make sense to me as I read the argument. I would be interested in those that come to my playtime that do engage more in the Christian religion or have studied the bible. Hugs
Let’s explore what the Bible says about transgender people, its general perspective on gender and identity, and common misinterpretations.
Many people wonder, “What does the Bible say about transgender people?” — from conservative Christians who want to point to “Biblical truths” about gender identity, biological sex, and men and women to LGBTQ+ and ally Christians who want to support diverse identities. But even though trans people have existed throughout history, the Bible doesn’t directly mention trans people because the term “transgender” wasn’t coined until the 1960s.
Despite this, the Bible does examine some issues having to do with gender identity, biological sex, and also men and women. Queer and progressive theologians spoke with LGBTQ Nation about some commonly misinterpreted Bible verses, verses that seem to affirm trans people, and different ways of understanding Christianity’s message to transgender people.
Trans people have been kings and queens, fought in wars, and led the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, thriving despite widespread social oppression.
Understanding gender in the Bible
British theologian Rev. Jonathan Tallon says that some people point to Bible verses as proof that God created only two distinct genders and, because “God doesn’t make mistakes,” changing gender is “against God and God’s plan.”
But these empty slogans ignore the existence of transgender people as well as intersex individuals, those born “with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male.”
Two such verses illustrate the narrow way that some Christians misinterpret the Bible and how history and modern perspectives can provide new insights into the ancient text.
Genesis 1:27 – So God is a man?… and he only created two genders?
“So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Some people point to this verse, the first mention of gender in the Bible, as “proof” that God only created two genders — man and woman — and nothing in between. But this is a misinterpretation that ignores that most things in the world exist on a spectrum, says Dr. Justin Sabia-Tanis, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics and Social Transformation at the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
Dr. Sabia-Tanis tells LGBTQ Nation, “In the original Hebrew, the verbs used for God are both feminine and masculine; God is shown here as embracing more than one gender, so we know more complex things are happening with gender here.”
He also points out that, before creating humans, God created the day and night as well as water and land.
“Day transitions to the night at dusk; night becomes day at dawn — it’s not an on/off switch but a continual process,” Sabia-Tanis writes. “And then, in a similar way, the sky and the waters, and then the waters and the land, are separated. We know, however, there are many places in which both water and land mingle — wetlands, estuaries, beaches. And places where sky and water are one — clouds, the cycle of evaporation. The sky and the water, the water and the land has never been a binary system, but a cyclical, dynamic one.”
Deuteronomy 22:5 – Is God super-judgy about personal fashion choices?
“A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God.”
This verse is the only one that directly references gender-based notions of clothing.
While the Bible honors many women of faith who act bravely, there are also many verses that dictate what men and women should do: how women should behave, how husbands and wives should treat each other, and how children should honor their mothers or fathers.
The Bible’s Old Testament contains 613 commandments known as Old Testament Law, ancient Biblical law, or Mosaic Law. These laws were created around 1393 to 1273 BC and were issued to regulate almost every aspect of Jewish life at a time when the Jewish people were still a group of ex-slaves struggling to survive in the desert. In fact, Biblical scholars have theorized that this specific law about clothing may have been established as a way to differentiate Jews from other religious cultures or as a way to ensure that the Jews’ gender-segregated society stayed truly segregated.
“This would prevent things like men and women engaging in various forms of forbidden sexual contact, women from entering the temple, men evading military service, women signing up for military service, and other behaviors perceived as contrary to the boundaries between the distinct parts of God’s created order,” three queer theologians told the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
Mosaic Law also contains prohibitions against wearing garments of linen and wool together; burning incense; eating pork, rabbit, and shellfish; charging interest on loans; and working on Saturdays. In fact, the Old Testament refers to each of these things as “abominations” and states that the latter two items should be punished by death. Other parts of the Old Testament say it’s okay to kill women who have pre-marital sex, to smear animal feces on the faces of lazy priests, and that it’s okay to own and beat slaves.
Of course, most contemporary Christians don’t follow these ancient Biblical laws because they don’t make any sense in modern-day life. As such, people who point to Deuteronomy 22:5 to demonize trans people and other “gender-nonconformists” should question why they’re willing to uphold this particular Biblical law while ignoring all the rest — it’s likely because they want a religious-based reason to punish people they disapprove of.
However, another verse in the Bible, Hebrews 8:13, explicitly states that people no longer need to follow ancient Biblical laws now that Jesus Christ established a new covenant between man and God. The verse states, “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one (Mosaic Law) obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”
Perspectives on Being Transgender in Christianity
Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount by Carl Bloch (1877)
While the Bible literally says nothing about transgender people, biological sex, or gender dysphoria, there are still a handful of verses that show how the earliest Christians embraced marginalized people as well as eunuchs, people whose bodily changes subjected them to widespread oppression.
Galatians 3:28 – All are equal in the love of Christ
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
This verse appears in the apostle Paul’s letters to early Christian churches. In his letter, he angrily begins, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” He then asks church leaders who taught them to judge other Christians by their physical bodies and how well they follow laws rather than by their spirit or faith.
Paul says that ancient Biblical law was only put in place to help guide and protect people until Jesus arrived. But after Jesus arrived, one’s faith mattered more than one’s adherence to old laws.
Queer theologians told the HRC that when Paul says “there is neither male nor female,” that doesn’t mean that individual differences shouldn’t matter. Indeed, Paul’s other letters reveal that he considered personal differences important within the church. But Paul’s letter says that if we are all children of God, then that should be the basis for building a community together rather than discriminating against others based on nationality, race, social standing, class, or gender.
This sentiment is echoed in 2 Corinthians 4:7, a verse that compares the light of God inside of humans to “treasure in jars of clay.” Reflecting on this verse, queer-affirming Rev. Tallon asked LGBTQ Nation, “Which is more important: the clay jar or the treasure?”
“Yes, we need to take our physical bodies seriously – we follow an incarnate Christ. Our bodies are real. But so is what is going on inside us. Our minds are real too.” Rev. Tallon continues. “Your gender identity is how you think of (and feel about) yourself … Is making a commitment to Christ real, or just a feeling? Is having an identity in Christ real, or just psychology? To reduce biology to being the only reality is sub-Christian.”
Matthew 25:40 – We honor God by loving trans people
“And the King answering shall say to them, Verily, I say to you, Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to me.”
This verse comes from a parable Jesus tells about God returning to the Earth as a messianic king who separates righteous people from the wicked. The king knows the righteous because they are the ones who fed, sheltered, clothed, and healed the poor, sick, and imprisoned. When the wicked people protest that the poor, sick, and imprisoned have nothing to do with their king, God essentially says, “But that which you did to the lowest of people, you also did to me.”
Put another way, Jesus says that a person’s relationship with the most marginalized people in society reflects their relationship with God — people honor God by honoring oppressed people. When people ignore or abuse trans folks, they ignore and abuse God as well as God’s commandment to love the most oppressed people in society.
“Here Jesus brings a notion of the least: those marginalized and scapegoated [and] the persons or groups targeted for exclusion and violence,” priest and theologian author Robert E. Goss tells LGBTQ Nation. “What I love about Jesus is that he consistently teaches us that compassion is justice. When we stand in solidarity with those who are marginalized we stand for [Jesus Christ].”
Psalms 139:13-16 – God’s gift of life blesses trans people and their bodies
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
These verses appear in the middle of a hymn that praises God for being ever-present and all-knowing of everyone’s innermost thoughts and beings. Some people point to this verse as proof that God purposefully created each person’s soul and body before birth, and thus changing one’s body goes against God’s creation.
But queer-affirming theologians see no textual basis in the Bible to think that God’s creation of bodies and souls should exclude any person’s gender identity or gender expression. Indeed, cisgender people regularly undergo medical and non-medical “gender-affirming care” — including styling their hair, wearing certain fashions, taking medications, having surgeries, and otherwise altering their appearance — in ways that affirm their God-given bodies while fitting the self-image they hold in their hearts and minds.
“[Many trans people who undergo physical transformations are] acting on the conviction that being ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ means that peace and wholeness is actually what God wants for us and for the world, whatever that journey looks like to each person,” several theologians wrote.
The Eunuchs: proto-transgender people in the Bible
The Baptism of Queen Candace’s Eunuch (c. 1625–30, attributed to Hendrick van Balen and Jan Brueghel the Younger)
The Bible doesn’t explicitly mention trans people, but it does contain several references to “eunuchs.” Eunuchs weren’t exactly transgender — they were people who were either intersex or who were assigned male at birth and had their external genitals removed before puberty. A Biblical law from Deuteronomy 23:1 forbids eunuchs from participating in Israelite society. As such, eunuchs in ancient Isreal experienced discrimination and oppression similar to what some trans people face today.
“Eunuchs have been proto-transgender individuals in the ancient world and even in the modern world as Hijras, religious eunuchs in Hinduism,” priest and theologian author Robert E. Goss tells LGBTQ Nation. “The eunuch was not religiously acceptable in the ancient world as transgender folks are not acceptable to many conservative Christians today.”
Dr. Sabia-Tanis tells LGBTQ Nation, “I think the value of looking at the eunuchs is not that we (trans people) share persecution with them, but that we embody similar variations in human society and physiology. I’m not sure if this helps address religiously-based transphobia, simply because I’m not sure how much it helps change those who have already firmly made up their minds to exclude and reject trans people. But, these points do, I think, provide information and comfort to those who are open to hearing it.”
Matthew 19:12 – Loving trans people is a divinely radical act
“For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
Jesus says these words when speaking to Judeans asking whether divorce should be legal. Numerous verses command married people to treat their spouses with love and respect, and Jesus tells the Judeans that it’s actually better for people not to marry in the first place rather than to get divorced later on.
Understanding that some Judeans may reject his radical opposition to divorce, Jesus then mentions that there are many types of eunuchs and that people should accept them as well, even though some may find that too radical.
Isaiah 56:5 – Trans people (and their names) are included in God’s many blessings
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”
In this section, the prophet Isaiah conveys the voice of God, urging the people of Israel to keep their covenant with God by observing the Sabbath, a religious day when one isn’t supposed to work. “Blessed is the one who does this,” God is quoted as saying in book of Isaiah.
God then states that this commandment includes foreigners and eunuchs, even those who think that they fall outside of God’s blessing. Put another way, God says that no one is excluded from God’s blessings, even outcasts who were traditionally excluded from the socio-cultural life of ancient Isreal.
Dr. Sabia-Tanis tells LGBTQ Nation, “In fact, [God’s] promises are directed precisely towards those who have been treated unjustly and excluded from society. God never reserves privileges for those who follow societal norms or behaves ‘properly’ in human terms — God’s call is to be just and faithful according to God’s commandments, which include how we treat the poor and outcast.”
Sabia-Tanis also points out that God’s reward of an everlasting name makes Isaiah 56:5 a particularly beautiful verse for nonbinary and trans people who may change their names. “It affirms the promise of an authentic name that is everlasting and blessed by God,” he said.
Acts 8:26-36 – God wants Christians to welcome trans people with open arms
While traveling, Phillip, an evangelist who cares for poor Christians in Jerusalem, meets an Ethiopian on a chariot who is also a eunuch. The Ethiopian, who is reading a scroll of Isaiah, asks Philip to explain a Bible verse to him, and Philip does. When the two later encounter a body of water, the eunuch asks, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” Finding that there is nothing that should prevent, exclude, or deny the eunuch, Philip baptizes him, and the Ethiopian leaves rejoicing.
Dr. Sabia-Tanis told LGBTQ Nation that this Biblical story about a eunuch isn’t about discrimination or dehumanization. Instead, the Ethiopian “is treated as a person, who has riches (which we know because of his position in the queen’s court, his chariot, and his scroll), and is included.”
“While there are earlier baptisms in the book of Acts, this is the first really detailed account in which we get to know a bit about a person who desires to join the emerging Christian faith,” Dr. Sabia-Tanis adds. “The author chose this [story in partcular], I believe, to illustrate the inclusion of all kinds of people into the Jesus movement. It would have been easy to tell the story of an upstanding male pillar of the Jewish community being baptized — no controversies about Gentiles or women or eunuchs — but instead, the story was told about an outsider. That’s important.”
“This is a Biblical model about how to respond to nonbinary and transgender people — and one that the church should follow,” Dr. Sabia-Tanis continues. “There is no litmus test or exclusions because of who the person is, what their ethnicity or gender, or nationality is, or any other category. Just inclusion.”
Goss tells LGBTQ Nation, “The post-Easter Jesus movement reflected Jesus’ radical inclusive practices of inviting outsiders and marginalized into his table fellowship. If God in the Isaiah scripture, Jesus in the eunuch statement in Matthew, and Luke in Acts on the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch [all welcome eunuchs] into the body of Christ, then we can stand [with trans people] in solidarity.”
A complex topic for Christianity
The topic of transgender individuals and their place in Christianity is intricate and layered. While the Bible may not explicitly refer to transgender individuals, it does offer insight into the larger concepts of gender and identity.
It’s worth noting that the way different denominations and individuals approach this issue varies widely – some condemning, while others accepting and showing love.
Ultimately, it’s important to approach all interactions with individuals, regardless of their gender identity or how they choose to express themselves, with love and empathy as a guide.
Stay informed on the latest issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community by subscribing to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter.
DeSantis signs bill to defund DEI programs at Florida’s public colleges
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that would bar the state’s colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and limit how race can be discussed in some courses.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks on a book tour in Des Moines on March 10, 2023. (Rachel Mummey for The Washington Post)
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill into law Monday barring the state’s colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and limiting how race can be discussed in many courses.
The move comes amid a larger conservative attack on higher education DEI programs, which DeSantis and others say reinforce racial divisions and promote liberal orthodoxy. Supporters of the programs say they are critical to serving the nation’s increasingly diverse student populations.
“If you look at the way this has actually been implemented across the country, DEI is better viewed as standing for discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination,” DeSantis said at a news conference at New College of Florida in Sarasota. “And that has no place in our public institutions. This bill says the whole experiment with DEI is coming to an end in the state of Florida.”
Florida’s new law prohibits public colleges from spending state or federal money on DEI efforts. These programs often assist colleges in increasing student and faculty diversity, which can apply to race and ethnicity, as well as sexual orientation, religion and socioeconomic status.
The law also forbids public colleges from offering general education courses — those that are part of a required curriculum for all college students — that “distort significant historical events,” teach “identity politics,” or are “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, or economic inequities.”
The Florida legislation has been met with backlash at both the state and national level, where higher education experts and First Amendment advocates say the state is trampling on academic freedom. “It’s basically state-mandated censorship, which has no place in a democracy,” Irene Mulvey, president of the American Association of University Professors, said in a recent interview with The Washington Post.
DeSantis said students who want to study “niche subjects,” such as critical race theory, ought to look elsewhere. “Florida’s getting out of that game,” he said. “If you want to do things like gender ideology, go to Berkeley. Go to some of these other places.”
The governor held the signing on the campus of New College of Florida, a public liberal arts college in Sarasota, where the governor recently appointed a crop of conservative trustees. Eliminating New College’s DEI office was among the newly constituted board’s first orders of business.
The event drew protests, whose chants could be heard inside the bill-signing ceremony.
