Marsha, I posted a response to another thread earlier this year in response to a question about Christians and the validity of gender dysphoria and being transgender. Here is a copy and paste of what I wrote.
I posted this answer on Quora to somebody who was asking whether I have ever experienced feelings of guilt or shame because of my religious affiliation.
https://www.quora.com/Has-anyone-struggled-with-guilt-and-denial-of-their-gender-dysphoria-because-of-their-religious-beliefs-which-prevents-them-from-coming-out-Ive-struggled-with-this-since-childhood-and-its-hard-to-keep-battling/answer/Casey-Jones-271?share=1606e641&srid=pPLse"Yes. I was in denial my whole life because I was afraid of what it meant if I admitted it. Especially after I became a Christian at the age of 15. In the eyes of most evangelicals, especially those I have known, being Christian and suffering from gender dysphoria is impossible. Christians don't suffer from that!
I am now 36. After almost 35 years of trying to convince myself that this will all resolve on its own and go away someday, I have finally admitted to myself, my wife, and God that it's part of who I am and it's not going away.
I have had to really reevaluate my faith in light of this. Am I still a Christian? Can I still believe the Bible and say I suffer from gender dysphoria?
I came to the conclusion that yes, I can!
I was always taught the Genesis account of creation, and still believe it with all my heart. In the beginning God made them male and female, and it was good. Everything God created was good at first, wasn't it? But we know that it's a messed up world out there now, and places in the Bible like the book of Romans backs that up. It says that all of creation groans under the curse that came by sin.
One of the big obstacles to accepting gender dysphoria as real is accepting that we can't cherry pick what aspects of creation we want to allow to be under the influence of the curse. Somehow gender and sexual development in the womb is off limits. It's too sacred somehow to think that things like gender could get screwed up even though Christians readily acknowledge a wide range of other developmental flaws that are a result of the curse.
Eunuchs are found in several places in the Bible. In ancient Jewish culture, a eunuch was an outcast because they were gender nonconforming. They were considered neither male nor female. They were not even allowed to be part of Israel or to enter the congregation or temple. Yet there are verses in the Old Testament showing that God loves eunuchs and promises a great inheritance for them in the world to come.
And Jesus had something interesting to say about eunuchs. Not only did he acknowledge that there are people born that way, and even that some are forced by others to become eunuchs (slaves were frequently turned into eunuchs in ancient cultures) but he said that some people choose to become eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. Why would that be? It's certainly not a requirement for entry. I believe that he was talking about people like myself who find the burden of their biological sex so great that the depression and anxiety prevents them from being effective for His Kingdom. Whether it is a cisgender person who feels overly burdened by biological sex drive, or a transgender person who feels overwhelmed by gender dysphoria.
Jesus told us that "the flesh profits nothing". And also that at the resurrection our bodies will be like the angels, which are genderless. Male and female genders were created for this world and procreation, but will be done away with in the age to come. The apostle Paul said that since the age to come is nearly upon us we are better of to not burden ourselves with procreative roles like marriage but rather focus on the age to come and serving God.
With this in view, I have accepted that gender dysphoria is real, it is a valid experience of many people, including Christians like myself.
I want to leave with one more remark. Premature death due to suicide or substance abuse are the biggest dangers facing transgender people. The book of Ecclesiastes tells us that "Anyone who is among the living has hope - even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!". People who suffer from gender dysphoria are viewed as dogs, especially by Christians. But I would rather be a live dog who is eager to love and serve Jesus, than a stately lion who is dead inside and on its way to hell.
I hope I can challenge transgender people to consider that the Lord Jesus loves them and calls them to salvation, the same Lord who many claim finds you to be an abomination. I also hope I can challenge the viewpoints of those who claim gender dysphoria and being transgender are damnable abominations."
