An Evangelical Guide to Transgenderism (1): Introduction

In recent weeks, international media outlets have published a number of articles and interviews about transgender surgery, focusing especially on the regrets experienced by many recipients of gender reassignment operations.

In an interview with The Telegraph, world-renowned genital reconstructive surgeon Miroslav Djordjevic said that he is seeing an increase in “reversal” surgeries for persons who want their genitalia back. These persons express crippling levels of depression and, in some instances, suicidal thoughts.

The Telegraph article also reports that Bath Spa University allegedly refused psychotherapist James Caspain’s application to research gender reversal surgeries because it was deemed “potentially politically incorrect.” According to Caspain, the university initially approved his research proposal, but later rejected it because of the backlash they expected from powerful transgender lobbies.

A recent Newsweek article takes note of Djordjevic’s concerns, illustrating their legitimacy by pointing to a BBC documentary, One Life: Make Me a Man Again. In the documentary, BBC interviewed Charles Kane, a man who underwent male-to-female reassignment surgery. Kane explains that he decided to have the initial surgery immediately after having a nervous breakdown. After having the surgery and identifying as a female named “Sam Hashimi,” Kane soon experienced regret and went for reversal surgery.

“When I was in the psychiatric hospital,” Kane said, “there was a man on one side of me who thought he was King George and another guy on the other side who thought he was Jesus Christ. I decided I was [a girl named] Sam.”

Instances such as Kane’s cause Djordjevic to express grave concern about the level of psychiatric evaluation and counseling given to people before they are allowed to have gender reassignment surgery in the first place. Given that clinics charge up to $50,000 for reassignment surgeries, Djordjevic fears that doctors are stuffing their bank accounts without concern for the physical and psychological well-being of their patients.

Given the explosive growth in gender reassignment surgeries worldwide and ongoing revelations of the physical and psychological dangers of those surgeries, I am offering this series, “An Evangelical Guide to Transgenderism,” as series of five brief articles. In addition to the current introductory article, I will publish:

My hope is that these articles will generate more light than heat, enabling Christians to understand transgenderism, evaluate it in light of biblical teaching, interact lovingly and authentically with individuals experiencing gender dysphoria, and respond appropriately to transgenderism as an ideology and movement.