It is not possible to be a “gay Christian” or a “transgender Christian,” the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission says.
In a new social media reel posted by the ERLC, that question is answered by RaShan Frost, ERLC director of research and senior fellow “focused on issues of human dignity.”
“The short answer to the question of whether or not it’s OK to identify as a transgender or a gay Christian is no. We do not categorize our identities as Christians with sinful activity,” Frost states.
RaShan Frost
“However, there is a distinction between saying, ‘I am a Christian who suffers from gender dysphoria or same-sex attraction’ and ‘I’m a Christian who identifies as transgender or gay.’ Any ongoing identification with sinful behavior should cause any individual to prayerfully repent and question whether they have been fully obedient to Christ and laying aside their sins.
“For the Christian who struggles and yet is faithfully seeking to obey Christ there should be a recognition that this ongoing work of sanctification will not be uniform in all cases and will instead be characterized by an ongoing life of repentance as with all of our struggles against sinful behavior,” he says.
The SBC has made national headlines this month for its stand against women being considered pastors in title or function, but the nation’s largest Protestant denomination also draws a hard line against same-sex attraction and transgender identity. The ERLC, in particular, routinely denies that transgender identity is real.
The ERLC recently published an article against Pride Month and advocates for legislation banning recognition of transgender people.
In February, the ERLC published an article praising President Donald Trump: “For many opponents of our nation’s cultural embrace of radical gender ideology, the past several months have been a welcomed reprieve from the madness and a return to truth. Once sworn into office, President Trump began repealing Biden-era policies that pushed gender ideology into every corner of the federal government.”
Since the 1970s, messengers to SBC annual meetings have passed more than 40 resolutions addressing sexuality and gender issues. Among those was a 2014 resolution “On Transgender Identity” that declared “gender identity is determined by biological sex and not by one’s self-perception — a perception which is often influenced by fallen human nature in ways contrary to God’s design.”
The ERLC video drew a sharp response from the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists.
Brian Henderson
“For countless LGBTQ Baptists, identifying as a queer LGBTQ Christian is not an attempt to place one’s sexuality or gender identity above one’s faith. Rather, it is an honest acknowledgment that God meets us not in some imagined version of ourselves, but in the fullness of who we are,” said Brian Henderson, executive director.
“To claim that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is inherently sinful is not simply mistaken — it distorts the gospel and bears false witness against the lives of countless faithful Christians. LGBTQ people have existed throughout history, across every culture, family and faith tradition. We are not deviations from God’s creation; we are part of it.
“The suggestion that LGBTQ Christians must continually question the legitimacy of their faith simply because they acknowledge who they are has caused immeasurable spiritual harm. Too many have been driven from congregations, estranged from their families or taught to distrust the very gifts with which they live. This is not the good news AWAB knows the gospel to proclaim.”