Will God accept people who change their name and alter their body?

Let’s be clear: When people say the Bible has nothing to say about the transgender issue, they are mistaken. In Matthew 19, Jesus was very clear: “He who created them from the beginning made them male and female” (v. 4). God is the one who determines our sex. To try to change that most basic thing about us is an act of defiance and rebellion against God.

My older daughter, Julia, is a licensed professional counselor. She says gender dysphoria needs to be treated compassionately, but it needs to be treated. It’s a sickness. Until recently, in the world of psychology and psychiatry, dysphoria was considered an illness. It was abnormal. If your child came home and told you, “I think I’m a kumquat,” you wouldn’t go out and plant him in a field somewhere and say, “Honey, let me help you grow as a kumquat.” No, you’d take your child to a psychiatrist.

It’s the same thing with gender dysphoria. It is a mental and emotional C that needs to be treated with compassion. We don’t need to hate people who are mentally disturbed; we need to treat them with compassion—but they do need to be treated. You’re not doing any child a favor by compounding their confusion. You need to name the illness for what it is.