Trans Inclusion in the Church: What Christians Need to Know

GUEST WRITER: BROMLEIGH MCCLENEGHAN

Particularly since the re-election of Donald Trump, trans persons have been targeted by policies and legislation that aim at their erasure. Christians cannot stand idly by while marginalized people are harmed.

As anti-trans rhetoric and laws increase in the United States, Christian churches face a moral choice: to remain silent or to affirm the sacred worth of all people. For those committed to following Jesus’ example of love and justice, supporting trans people is not just a political act—it’s a theological one.

The Alarming Shift in Public Opinion

In recent years, an increasing number of Christian churches have become publicly affirming of queer and trans people in the United States. Still, those who care about the safety and thriving of all people, including LGBTQIA+ people, cannot assume that will continue without resistance.

Indeed, one poll demonstrated that in 2021, most Americans were opposed to laws restricting gender-affirming care and other anti-trans policies. Yet by spring 2025, an overwhelming majority (including Democrats) supported limiting access to care or participation in activities that affirm the gender identity of trans folks, such as trans women and girls participating in girls’ and women’s sports. 

That’s a frightening reversal in public opinion, and it shows how effective anti-trans messaging has been—even in just four years. 

A Theological Response to Anti-Trans Messaging

Christians have long affirmed beliefs over and against the fickle winds of public opinion. The 20th century, in particular, saw a myriad of theologians wrestle with how to faithfully engage a rapidly changing culture.

It’s encouraging that so many congregations today reject anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric and offer a different, more hopeful theological vision. Still, given the increased danger to members of this marginalized group, voices from more moderate or “purple” churches are needed now more than ever. 

Creating safe and affirming churches for trans people is not about politics—it’s about discipleship. It’s an obligation born of our theological and ethical commitments to love, justice, and the inherent dignity of every person made in God’s image.

Why Moderate Churches Must Speak Now

Pastors may feel hesitant to enter into political discussions with their congregations, even with apparently new IRS rulings that we can endorse political candidates from the pulpit (?!). But affirming the humanity of trans people isn’t partisan—it’s faithful.

Silence in the face of harm communicates complicity. As anti-trans policies spread, moderate churches have a unique opportunity to model what it means to be both compassionate and courageous.

Science and Faith Agree: Gender Diversity Is Real

Throughout history—including biblical history—people have had a wide range of gender and sexual identities. Trans and nonbinary people are not a “modern” or “liberal” invention.

The story of the Ethiopian man who meets Philip on the road is one of my favorites. When he asks, “What is to prevent me from being baptized?” we can almost hear the deeper question: I am different, my body is different, my identity is different. Can I be included in the family of God? Philip’s answer is definitive, even if unspoken: he climbs out of the chariot and baptizes his new companion. 

Science, too, affirms this diversity. Gender and biological sex are more complex than what we learned in 7th-grade biology.

The executive order President Trump signed on January 20th, 2025—entitled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government”—states:

It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality…‘Female’ means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell. ‘Male’ means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell.

Yet even within this brief excerpt, there are two factual errors. 

First, roughly 1.7% of the world’s population is intersex, which means they were “born with sex characteristics that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies.”  In the United States, that’s nearly 5.7 million people. 5.7 million people whose existence is denied by this executive order, and that’s before we even get to trans folks.

Secondly, biological sex is not solely determined at conception. Both sperm and egg contribute chromosomes, but many factors—genetic and hormonal—shape development throughout pregnancy. Biological sex, therefore, is a category assigned at birth, not an unchangeable reality.

Human variation is vast, and that diversity reflects the creativity of our Creator.

Listening to Trans Voices and Following Jesus’ Example

There’s some mystery in gender identity and the way it intertwines with biological sex. As pastors and people of faith, it’s not our job—nor the government’s—to tell others who they are.

Trans people exist, even among identical twins. There’s no single way to be a man or woman, boy or girl. Each of us is uniquely known and loved by God.

We should listen when trans people tell us who they are. And if you love science as well as scripture, consider this: a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States found that trans children’s gender development mirrors that of cisgender peers. Meaning, trans girls develop their sense of identity as girls in the same way cis girls do; trans boys in the same way as cis boys.

Science and lived experience agree: trans people know who they are—and our faith calls us to believe them.

What Pastors and Churches Can Do Next

Affirming churches have the power to save lives. Here are a few ways to begin or deepen your congregation’s work:

• Listen and Learn. Invite trans and queer voices into your pulpit, panels, or adult education series.
• Audit Your Language. Review church signage, forms, and worship materials for inclusivity.
• Preach Love Boldly. Speak about the dignity of trans people from the pulpit and in pastoral care.
• Create Safe Spaces. Ensure your church is a place where trans youth and adults can belong, lead, and thrive.

Another post in this series will debunk common myths about gender-affirming care for children and teens—helping pastors be better informed, correct misinformation, and reduce the harm being done to trans folks in their congregations and communities.

Bromleigh McCleneghan

Bromleigh is ordained in the United Methodist Church and has dual master of divinity and public policy degrees from the University of Chicago. She loves books, Broadway musicals, and pizza, and lives with her husband and three daughters. She’s mostly lived in Chicagoland, but is currently sojourning in Gainesville, FL.