Southern Baptists have resolved that efforts to “gender transition” conflict with God’s good design and impede human flourishing. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 affirms that God “created [mankind] male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation.”
In recent years, we have seen alarming increases in the number of individuals, many of whom are minors, undergo physically damaging “gender transition” surgeries and procedures. In addition to going against God’s good design for sex and gender, these surgeries and procedures flaunt sound medical practice and do lasting harm to their victims. Though many states have taken action to ban these procedures, it remains legal and widely available in much of the country.
Southern Baptists are firmly opposed to such “gender transitions.” In the resolution “On Opposing Gender Transitions,” Southern Baptists resolved to condemn corporate medical providers that exploit minors through “gender transitions” and called on legislators to reverse and otherwise prevent “gender transitions” from being enabled or permitted to take place. Additionally, Southern Baptists affirmed a desire to defend “the free speech and conscience rights of religious believers from governmental efforts to coerce them into endorsing gender ideology.”
Southern Baptists have recognized that those seeking to “transition” are victims of the outworkings of the sexual revolution in desperate need of the gospel. The 2023 resolution goes on to say that Southern Baptists desire to “extend the love of Christ, who can save anyone who would call on His name” to those victims of “gender transitions” and provide them with “compassionate care and tender mercy.”
The Biden administration and numerous elected officials have sought to impede conscience protections for individuals who object to “gender transitions” on religious or moral concerns. For example, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission proposed newly revised enforcement guidance on sexual discrimination that, in part, would consider language prohibiting colleagues from using pronouns on the basis of biological sex to be a form of harassment. The ERLC has pushed back against such action by submitting public comments on Nov. 1, 2023.
The ERLC is advocating for these procedures on minors to be outlawed and supports the Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act, which provides conscience protections for medical providers and ensures parents and children affected by “gender transition” surgeries and procedures have a private right of action. The ERLC remains committed to representing the voice of Southern Baptists and proclaiming God’s good design for gender and sexuality in the public square. In doing so, the ERLC aims to protect religious liberty, safeguard children, ensure parents retain their right to raise children in accordance with Scripture, and point the vulnerable and hurting to the love of Christ.
