A Pinch of Salt and a Little Light: Transgenderism

Transgenderism has been a topic heavily covered by much brighter Christians than I. There was nothing that I could add to the subject until the other day. My family and I were shopping at the local Toys R Us. She was picking out some items for the little girl we hoped to welcome into the world later that week, while I was on daddy-duty following around my son as he ran into the motorized car aisle excitedly yelling, "Beep! Beep! Beep!" (I write this while sitting across from my sleeping wife in the Labor & Delivery room - baby Elena is not here yet)

There were a mixture of jeeps, SUVs and convertibles to pick from - some for boys others for girls. When we first entered the aisle, he ran straight to a pink SUV. I opened the door for him and he climbed right in, and began hitting the horn and turning the wheel. A couple of minutes later, he was off to another car (a boy's car this time) and then to another (a girl's car). I didn't and don't care one bit that he was playing in a girl's car. More importantly, he only cared that it was a BEEP!

After some time, I whisked him away to look around the rest of the store. By popular demand we were back in the car aisle 10 minutes later. He immediately ran over to the car he first entered, the pink SUV. But something went through my head this time. It was because there were other people in the aisle - what would they think if they saw me letting my son play with a girl's car? I let the thought go for a minute but it crept back in.

I began to ponder, if someone comments or asks why my son is in a girl's car - what would the Christian response, especially in light of the transgender movement? We cannot deny that certain parents would see this behavior in their own children and question their sexuality. Maybe it wasn't just liking girly cars for their boy; maybe their boy likes putting on pink dresses and playing with dolls. The parents then wrongly conclude that he must be identifying as a female and instead of correcting, teaching and redirecting their son or daughter, they ultimately encourage the behavior.

Back to my predicament, what would be my response? Let's assume the question is direct, "Sir, it looks like your son may actually be identifying as a girl. Do you see how he is attracted to girl's cars. You have a special little one there, encourage this behavior though it might be uncomfortable."

My Christian response: "Thank you, I appreciate your concern. My family and I are actually Christians, we believe that gender is a gift from God. He made my son a boy and my wife and I plan to honor God by raising our son to be a man. We will teach him about His Creator and how he should strive to live out the roles, enjoy the rights and fulfill the responsibilities he will have as a man. I know our culture and the news place so much emphasis on transgenderism, but I encourage you to read about the God of the bible and learn about His ways. More importantly, I hope you learn about His Son, Jesus (The conversation can go anywhere from here - hopefully to the gospel. Remember, law first, then the good news ;-). 


How would you respond to such a question? Let me know what you think in the comments.


Yours In Christ,
Tom Vazquez