To the editor:

I’m writing today in response to the many anti-trans letters that have been printed recently. I know I should have done this long ago, but frankly, I’m not too excited about opening myself up to the attacks that I know people get for letters like this, but as a Christian I just can’t sit back any more and let the message from the “Christian perspective” be one of judgement and hostility. The basic arguments I see in these letters are: 1) It’s against God’s will and therefore 2) Christians should fight against being trans in general, and finally 3) it will have some impact on religious freedom.

First, the claim that this is against God’s will implies that being trans is a choice. If you choose to ignore the science that tells us that there’s more to gender than the XY we were taught in 4th grade, then please take a minute and think about it. If someone offered you the opportunity to spend the rest of your life as the opposite gender, would you? Would you go through hormone therapy, surgeries, and face the mental anguish of being judged and bullied by perfect strangers? Would you choose to constantly explain yourself and possibly lose the love of friends and family members? Especially as a teenager, when everything is already crappy? And for what benefit? To get to play on the girls’ soccer team in high school? That seems like a really high price to pay for not much benefit. There’s just no way on God’s green earth that this is a choice.

Second, the claim that Christians should fight against trans people is terribly un-Christlike. And yes, as I stated previously, I am a Christian. I am a member of the LCMS church and have run youth groups and taught Sunday School for the past 20 years. Christ told us clearly and repeatedly to love our neighbors, to treat people the way we want to be treated, & to be kind and welcoming. If Jesus wanted us to be perfect and point out others’ sins, then hanging out with tax collectors, prostitutes, etc, was a strange example to set.

Finally, the claim that this would force religious institutions to lose control of things like hiring is one we’ve heard before. In 2012 – 2013 in the battle over legalizing same-sex marriage, we were told that churches would be forced to perform gay marriages, hire all the gays, etc. Did that happen? Of course not. So why would we believe that allowing people to get hormone therapy would all of a sudden fill churches with trans Sunday School teachers that you can do nothing about? Don’t worry. It won’t.

So I recommend you follow Christ’s example and love one another. Or at the very least, follow my mom’s advice and MYOB. Throw that enthusiasm for a fight into a real problem.

Betsy Dimock

North Mankato