God's Design: Why Transgender People Reflect God's Divine Creation

Clownfish are protandrous hermaphrodites, meaning they are all born male and can change sex to female, but not vice versa. They live in social hierarchies where the largest fish is a dominant female, followed by a smaller, sexually active male, and smaller non-breeding juveniles. If the female dies, the male changes sex to female, and the largest juvenile matures into the new male.

Examining Trans Identity Through Scripture, Biology, and Theology

"How can I reconcile my faith tradition's teachings with accepting my transgender child?"

"Does supporting my child's transgender identity mean I'm rejecting God's design for humanity?"

"What does Scripture actually say about gender diversity, and have I been taught the complete truth?"

For too long, many Christian communities have taught that God created only two genders that neatly align with biological sex at birth. But this is a human assumption, not a divine truth. When we look at Scripture, nature, and science with honest eyes, we find something far more beautiful: God's creation is gloriously diverse, and transgender people are not errors to be corrected—they are part of God's intentional, stunning design.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

— Psalm 19:1:

Sex reversal may be common within and across green frog populations, occurring in 12 of 16 populations and with frequencies of 2–16% of individuals sampled within populations. National Library of Medicine

Did you know? 

Some fish change their sex based on environmental needs. Clownfish are born female and can become male. Some species of frogs reverse their sex assignment while they are in tadpole stage. Hyenas have complex reproductive systems that defy binary categories. If God designed nature with such flexibility, why would God lock human gender into an absolute binary?

The Assumption We Made (and Why It's Not Biblical)

Genesis, the text many cite as proof of binary sex, doesn't say what we think it says. God says, "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27). This is actually mysterious and beautiful. The Hebrew word tzelem (image) suggests something deeper than chromosomes or anatomy. It refers to the essence, the soul, the divine imprint within us. God's image in humans cannot be limited to binary sex.

The idea that sex and gender are identical, unchangeable, and binary is not taught in the Bible. Rather, it's a belief we inherited from our particular culture and time period—something much more recent than most Christians realize.

The Bible also acknowledges people who don't fit conventional gender categories. Jesus speaks of "eunuchs who were born that way" (Matthew 19:12), affirming that God creates humans outside typical male/female categories. Throughout the Bible, we find people like Deborah (a military commander and prophet), Huldah (a female prophet), and Priscilla (a female teacher)—women exercising roles typically assigned to men. God used them powerfully without requiring them to conform to narrow gender roles.

What Creation Actually Reveals About Diversity

One of the most beautiful verses in Scripture is Psalm 19:1: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." All of creation testifies to God's character. So what does creation tell us about gender?

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

— Psalm 19:1

When we look at nature with honest eyes, we find staggering diversity in how sex and gender express themselves across species. We see fish that change sex, insects with intersex characteristics, and countless variations that defy simple categories. Yet all of these creatures—in their infinite variety—are part of God's creation, reflecting divine design.

If this is true for the animal kingdom, how much more so for humanity? If God made all humans, in all their variations and expressions, then transgender and gender-nonconforming people are not aberrations or exceptions. They are part of God's creation. They reflect the same divine imagination that painted the diversity of nature.

When a trans person lives authentically in their gender identity, they are participating in the fullness of what God made possible in human existence. Creation itself testifies to this truth: God's design includes them.

Nature is wild

with diversity.

Even human biology is more complex than we typically acknowledge. Some people are intersex, born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't fit standard definitions of male or female. According to the Intersex Society of North America and medical organizations worldwide, an estimated 1.7% of the population has some form of intersex variation. This is comparable to the percentage of people who have red hair. The Cleveland Clinic confirms that "around 2% of people worldwide have intersex traits." If God created people intersex, that alone reveals that God's creation is more nuanced than "male and female, period."

1.7% of the (human) population has some form of intersex variation

Neuroscience shows us something equally fascinating: brain structure and gender identity don't always align with assigned sex at birth. Research has found that transgender individuals often show brain patterns that align more closely with their identified gender. A major study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine analyzing brain data from over 800 participants found that "transgender men and women may have their own unique neurobiological phenotypes"

One peer-reviewed study found that "the brains of transgender women ranged between cisgender men and cisgender women (albeit still closer to cisgender men), and the differences to both cisgender men and to cisgender women were significant," supporting "the notion that the underlying brain anatomy in transgender people is shifted away from their biological sex towards their gender identity"

European Society of Endocrinology: Using MRI scans and tests involving pheromones and memory exercises, scientists found that teens’ brains responded in ways that aligned with the gender they identify with. The findings suggest that the roots of gender identity may appear early in brain development, offering hope for earlier and more supportive diagnosis and care for young people with gender dysphoria.

Additionally, research from the European Society of Endocrinology found that transgender adolescents "show brain activity patterns more similar to their experienced gender than their assigned sex at birth," suggesting that "the roots of gender identity may appear early in brain development."

Neuroscientist Julie Bakker noted, "Although more research is needed, we now have evidence that sexual differentiation of the brain differs in young people with gender dysphoria, as they show functional brain characteristics that are typical of their desired gender."

This isn't a rejection of how God made them—it's evidence that God made them complex and whole, with an internal sense of gender that is as real and as created as anything else about them. As Scientific American reports, "Overall the weight of these studies and others points strongly toward a biological basis for gender dysphoria.”

God loves complexity. Look at creation: thousands of species, billions of stars, infinite variations within "kinds."

Banana slugs are simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning every individual possesses both functional male and female reproductive organs at the same time. They mate by exchanging sperm, often engaging in complex, hours-long rituals, and can even self-fertilize if necessary.

God loves complexity. Look at creation: thousands of species, billions of stars, infinite variations within "kinds." The Psalmist captures this: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well" (Psalm 139:14). God made trans people wonderfully.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well

(Psalm 139:14)

The Rainbow: God's Symbol of Covenant and Promise

"And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and all living creatures with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds.'" Genesis 9:12-13

There's profound theology in the rainbow. After the flood, God sets a rainbow in the sky as a sign of covenant—a promise of hope, renewal, and grace despite human failure. Genesis 9:12-13 tells us: "And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and all living creatures with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds.'"

A rainbow is made up of many colors, each distinct and necessary. Remove one color and it's no longer a complete rainbow.

When we exclude trans people from our understanding of God's creation, we diminish the full spectrum of what God has made. Trans people aren't breaking God's design—they are part of the full spectrum of it. They are part of God's covenant community, fully included in God's redemptive story.

What the Gospel Actually Demands

Jesus's primary teaching about identity wasn't "follow the rules of binary gender." It was: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... And love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39). He told us that "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13).

"I have come that they may have life, and to the fullest"

— John 10:10

Jesus spent his ministry breaking down false categories and hierarchies. He ate with tax collectors, spoke to Samaritans, healed on the Sabbath, touched the untouchable, defended women, and affirmed a eunuch's full belonging. He consistently chose compassion over conformity.

If we claim to follow Jesus, we must ask ourselves: What would Jesus do about a trans person? Would he condemn someone for living authentically in the image of God they carry within? Or would he welcome them, as he welcomed everyone society rejected?

The gospel is about liberation—liberation from shame, from hiding, from the impossible demand to be something we're not. Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and to the fullest" (John 10:10). For many trans people, living authentically is how they find wholeness and fullness of life. That is gospel work.

The Invitation: See God's Full Design

To Christian parents, pastors, and faith leaders: you have the opportunity to revise the story you've been told about gender. Not to reject Scripture, but to read it more carefully and faithfully. You can choose to see trans people as God's beloved, created in God's image, worthy of full inclusion, affirmed, and celebrated in your faith communities.

You can teach your children that God made a beautiful, diverse world. You can make space at your table for people of all gender identities. You can repent from the harm that has been done in the name of "biblical womanhood" and "biblical manhood." You can listen to trans people's stories and trust what they know about themselves.

Most of all, you can trust that God is big enough, wise enough, and loving enough to have created trans people intentionally. Your job as a Christian parent isn't to fix them or convince them they're wrong about themselves. It's to love them with the fierce, unconditional love of Christ, and to help your faith community do the same.

You can choose to see trans people as God's beloved, created in God's image, worthy of full inclusion, affirmed, and celebrated in your faith communities.

God's design isn't binary. It's a rainbow—full of color, full of variation, full of beauty. Trans people are part of that rainbow. And they deserve to be seen as the wonderful works of God that they are.

"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

— 1 Corinthians 13:12

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Sources & Citations

Intersex Statistics:

Intersex Campaign for Equality - How Common is Intersex?

Cleveland Clinic - Intersex Information

National Health Law Program - Surgeries on Intersex Infants are Bad Medicine

Transgender Brain Research:

Journal of Sexual Medicine - Mueller, S.C. et al. (2021). "The Neuroanatomy of Transgender Identity: Mega-Analytic Findings From the ENIGMA Transgender Persons Working Group."

PMC/NIH - "Brain Sex in Transgender Women Is Shifted towards Gender Identity"

ScienceDaily - "Transgender Brains are More Like Their Desired Gender From an Early Age" (European Society of Endocrinology, 2018)

Scientific American - "Is There Something Unique About the Transgender Brain?" (Francine Russo, 2024)

USC News - "Researcher Explores Links Between Transgender Brain and Gender Identity" (2023)

Identiversity - Neuroscience Transgender Research Overview

Nature/Scientific Reports - "Structural Connections in the Brain in Relation to Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation" (2017)

Neuropsychopharmacology - "Biological Sex Classification with Structural MRI Data Shows Increased Misclassification in Transgender Women" (Nature Publishing Group, 2021)

Additional Research:

PMC/NIH - "A Review of the Status of Brain Structure Research in Transsexualism"

European Society of Endocrinology - "Transgender Brains are More Like Their Desired Gender From an Early Age" (peer-reviewed presentation)