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.”
Recent initiatives by the Biden administration have resulted in usage of federal funds to facilitate and directly fund “gender transition” surgeries and procedures. For example, the Department of Defense issued new policies beginning in 2021 that provide pathways for members of the Armed Forces to obtain gender-affirming care. Without the inclusion of provisions to prohibit the use of federal funding for this purpose, taxpayers, and government employees alike will be required to support “gender transitions,” even if such procedures and prescriptions violate their deeply held religious convictions.
The ERLC will continue to advocate each year for new provisions to be added to the National Defense Authorization Act and annual appropriations bills to address this problem and will support the End Taxpayer Funding for Gender Experimentation Act, which offers a permanent solution. These steps must be taken to protect vulnerable victims of gender ideology and the consciences of taxpayers. The ERLC remains committed to representing Southern Baptists and proclaiming God’s good design for gender and sexuality in the public square.
