ArticleEditors' note: This is the first installment in a series devoted to examining the views of various religions on transgender issues. This week: A trans perspective on the Jewish and Catholic faiths. Up next: Islam and other religions, plus a summary of trans references in the Bible and Koran.
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"The Talmud explores a range of situations and includes references to people who are men, people who are women, people who appear to be both and people who are regarded as neither," she wrote. "The legal and ethical issues involved — secular and religious — are complex. Making things even more complicated is current scientific debate over what determines gender: sex organs, hormone levels, chromosomes or even the way the brain functions."
Reuben Zellman was the first transgender rabbinical student to be admitted to Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. He said the Jewish faith has no single opinion on anything because there are four major movements in the United States, each with its own opinion about transgender issues.
