Southern Baptists Oppose "Transgenderism"

“Southern Baptist leaders voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to affirm the biblical model of human sexuality, agreeing that gender identity is solely determined by biological sex and not by ‘one’s self-perception.’ ... While many claim that a person’s gender can differ from one’s sexuality, the Southern Baptists declared just the opposite in a resolution titled ‘On Transgender Identity.’ ‘God’s design was the creation of two distinct and complementary sexes, male and female, which designate the fundamental distinction that God has embedded in the very biology of the human race,’ the resolution states in part. ‘The messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, June 10–11, 2014, affirm God’s good design that gender identity is determined by biological sex and not by one’s self-perception--a perception which is often influenced by fallen human nature in ways contrary to God’s design,’ the resolution continues. The resolution also exhorts Christians to unashamedly proclaim the biblical perspective on human sexuality. ‘Our love for the Gospel and urgency for the Great Commission must include declaring the whole counsel of God, proclaiming what Scripture teaches about God’s design for us as male and female persons created in His image and for His glory,’ it says. ... Supporters of ‘transgenderism’ swiftly condemned the Southern Baptists’ resolution, describing it as discriminatory and oppressive. ‘The [Southern Baptist] denomination wants to have it both ways, welcoming in everyone, and yet denying the realities of their lives,’ Ross Murray, a spokesman for the pro-homosexual organization GLAAD, wrote yesterday. ‘Instead of listening to transgender people, it chose to define them as other and oppose their ability to live full and productive lives.’”

(“Southern Baptists Unanimously Affirm Biblical Sexuality, Oppose ‘Transgenderism,’”Christian News Network, June 12, 2015)

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