Cross-Dressing & the Bible

This series of discussion points are designed to generate thoughtful answers to the following questions:

My Background

I have recollections of cross-dressing as far back as age five. Over time the attraction grew stronger, but virtually every reference to it was derogatory so it seemed best to hide the truth. I attempted to submerge my feelings and drive them out of my life but those efforts failed and the secret became unbearably heavy.

In quiet desperation on my 50^th birthday, I set out to understand the truth. Instead of two-headed perverts, I found that the world of cross-dressers was filled with mostly very ordinary people. Over several years I was able to understand cross-dressing and balance it with the other aspects of my life. While working out the issues with my wife, we realized that it would be valuable to share what we had learned, so I wrote “The Bliss of Becoming One!” which has been a significant aid for others facing similar issues.

That marked the beginning of a writing and public speaking phase that has assisted many cross-dressers and their families in effectively addressing the social and emotional elements of this issue. Those efforts to educate the public have reduced much unnecessary pain and anguish.

In my cross-dressing community speaking debut, I described my journey to become a complete person. As I spoke, the memories of the pain I had endured from repeated rejection came flooding back. I had seen the impact on countless others – lost relationships, escapes into drugs and alcohol, ruined lives of quiet desperation. The ridicule and rejection expressed by society is so strong that the most consistent advice I had received was to never tell anyone! There is an incredible fear that we will lose our wives, our children, our jobs; everything of importance, if anyone learns our secret. I decided that I would never forget the pain and suffering of others and, instead of never telling anyone, I would try to tell everyone.

That fear becomes even stronger for those who wish to have a personal relationship with God. We are extremely hesitant to bring the question to our minister for fear of being branded as a sinner, excluded from the church and separated from God. So most of us say nothing and continue to hide the truth causing still more guilt, shame and pain. In recent years my attention has shifted to the spiritual concerns of Christians who cross-dress. Our primary desire is to be accepted as we are and to participate fully in the affairs of the church. Since then I have attempted to discuss these issues with hundreds of religious leaders and have been dismayed by the immediate negative reaction of so many. The reaction is largely emotional and based on little if any factual evidence.

It is important for Christians to understand the Biblical arguments that have been used to routinely condemn transgendered people. It is important to explore the issues and implications associated with using the literal interpretation of a single verse of Scripture to label a person as a sinner in need of repentance.

I was raised Catholic and attended a parochial grade school taught by Nuns in the 1950s. We were taught to memorize the questions and answers in the Baltimore Catechism. Those were the only questions and answers we were allowed to have. That was a most unsatisfactory situation. In the 1960s I attended a Jesuit university and they taught us to think critically about our faith.

In this case we will follow the Jesuit approach. It is important that you critically consider the arguments and reach an informed decision on the question. It is important that this be an interactive discussion so ask questions as we go. Most importantly, no questions are off limits.

The Standard Church Position

A large segment of Christianity has adopted a single Old Testament verse, Deuteronomy 22:5 as their weapon of choice in combating cross-dressing. It is the only Biblical passage that appears to be directed toward cross-dressing. It says that, "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God." These people use a literal interpretation of that single verse to automatically brand all male (but not female) cross-dressers as sinners in desperate need of repentance.

These people are spring-loaded to the guilty position. All one has to do is say the word cross-dresser and their condemnation gushes out. If the cross-dresser fails to repent immediately, he is characterized as being in a state of rebellion against God.

If you examine a series of commentaries you will find that there are many different interpretations of the text. Instead of discussing these differences or gathering some facts, the standard response is to simply brand cross-dressers with a big red “S” as a rebellious sinner in need of repentance. The most common responses include:

Implications of a Literal Translation

Virtually everyone applies the prohibition vigorously to men but if it is wrong for a man to wear a dress, then logically isn’t it equally wrong for a woman to wear pants? Women routinely wear “male” clothing to church and no one calls them an abomination. Curiously, the Biblical prohibition is first levied towards women and then secondarily towards men. Rather an odd sequence unless the true meaning of the verse has more application to women than to men. It should also be noted that Jesus and His disciples wore what amounts to floor length dresses.

Question to consider

A.1 – How can we justify this dual standard?

If I were to say, “He lost his shirt, He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth or He is in hot water,” would any reasonable person take the position that those statements mean exactly what they say? To truly understand, don’t we have to take into account the culture, language and prevalent customs of the times? Doesn’t achieving true understanding become even more difficult with the passage of significant periods of time?

Question to consider

A.2 – How can we ignore those changes and take ancient statements absolutely literally when we wouldn’t do that for words spoken yesterday?

There is a deep chasm between life in Biblical times and today’s world. Keep in mind that in those days conventional wisdom said the earth was flat and the sun revolved around the earth. Medical science or any other type of science did not exist. The Israelites were forbidden to draw pictures, carve statues or make graven images. They used parables and allegories to portray and explain spiritual ideas which even simple folk easily understood but never took literally. The Semitic languages are filled with idiomatic expressions that are virtually incomprehensible to the untrained Western mind. Without an intimate understanding of the customs of those times and their subtle impact on life and language, it is difficult to obtain an accurate interpretation.

Question to consider

A.3 – Can we safely ignore all these details and simply say, “That’s what it says?”

How to Handle Other Verses

And what are we to do with these verses that are also found in the same chapter:

Question to consider

B.1 – If we take a literal interpretation of Verse 5, aren’t we obligated to apply the same literal translation to other verses?

We have looked at six verses from one chapter. Do you know anyone who consistently follows the literal interpretation of all of them? From Genesis through Deuteronomy there are 5,851 verses. Some are extraordinarily harsh as shown in the following:

Questions to consider

B.2 – Are we to take them all literally as well?

B.3 – How do we decide which ones to follow and which ones to ignore?

Commentaries

Since I am not a Biblical scholar I turned to existing Bible commentaries to obtain a better understanding of this verse. Excerpts from 30 commentaries are available in Appendix A. I discovered a surprising diversity of opinion. Here is a summary of the interpretations with the number of each response shown in parentheses:

A handful spoke with absolute certainty but about one-third offered multiple possible explanations hence 52 interpretations from thirty sources. Over half used qualifiers such as likely, may/might, possible/probable, seems, some or suggests/suppose.

Question to consider

C.1 – How can anyone be certain that their view is what God intended and impose it upon others without questioning?

Where does that leave us?

Given the complex nature of this question, I believe that a blanket condemnation of cross-dressers is unwarranted. In the face of the preceding evidence:

So, back to the original two questions to be answered:

D.1 - Does Deuteronomy 22:5 declare that cross-dressing is intrinsically wrong?

D.2 - Does it automatically condemn any form of cross-dressing as a sin requiring repentance in order to be accepted into the Christian Church and to be accepted by God?

What should we do?

I believe that mainstream Christians, both clergy & lay, need to take positive steps to bring cross-dressers into the fold of the church by being willing to confront this issue openly. We must - set aside our preconceptions, become informed and participate in meaningful dialogs.

A final question to consider

E.1 – What do you think Christians should do in dealing with the issue of cross-dressing?

Parting thoughts for your consideration - This issue is a direct parallel to the issue that confronts gays and lesbians. There are a few more Scriptures involved but the arguments and approach are intrinsically the same. Perhaps we should ask similar questions about that issue as we asked today. Perhaps we should ask similar questions on any issue. Regardless of the issue involved, consider whether a legalistic approach is consistent with what Jesus did and taught us to do.