Friday Five: Randy Thomas
by Devon Williams, associate editor
'Gender identity is very important to God.'
Parents of children who struggle with gender confusion are being encouraged to raise their kids according to the gender they want to be.
Nationally, organizations are adopting gender-neutral restrooms.
And in California, students now can “choose their own gender” when deciding whether to use the boys’ or girls’ restroom and locker room.
According to the American Psychological Association, “transgender” is a term used to describe people whose self-perception differs from their biological gender. This condition is commonly referred to as gender identity disorder.
Randy Thomas is executive vice president of Exodus International, the largest worldwide Christian outreach to those affected by homosexuality. He spoke with CitizenLink about transgenderism and his own journey out of homosexuality.
1. Why are transgenderism and gender confusion so prevalent today?
With my parents' generation — the boomers and older — there were deeply taught gender roles, but that started breaking down with Gen X. Now people don’t know how to teach being a male or a female to younger males or younger females. We’ve lost our history of what it means to be a man and our history of what it means to be a woman, and activists have worked to obliterate that history because they feel it’s sexist. So if a man doesn’t know how to teach a little boy how to be a man, there’s a void there.
These activists are preaching this very strict worldview that there is no gender, and people are left confused. It’s no wonder that they come up with all kinds of ways to identify.
2. How are pro-homosexual activism and legislation affecting children, and what can parents do?
The schools are being co-opted by a worldview that is undermining a child’s ability to learn how to be a responsible citizen, and they are going to create chaos. Teenagers are confused enough about their identity; they don’t need gay activists or transgendered activists going into their schools confusing them even further. These transgendered activists are just going to create more chaos in the classroom. Gender identity, sexual identity, sexuality are all very complex issues, and they should originate from the home.
The abstinence programs and the abstinence fights have kind of set a template for the way that we can go about these same types of battles. We can go in, and we can challenge curriculum. We can challenge to have alternative viewpoints presented.
3. You wrote an article called The Transgender Double Standard. Explain what that is.
The activist community tells me, as a “post-gay,” that I have to embrace my genetic destiny, even though it hasn’t been proven that homosexuality is genetic. Whereas, when it comes to the transgendered, they’re allowed to ignore their genetic destiny and perceive for themselves who they are. So there’s a double standard there.
4. Where do you think the nation is heading, in terms of transgender rights and legislation?
I don’t think that the nation is ready for the all-inclusive transgendered agenda that the transgendered activists have laid out. Last year, there was a huge split in the gay community regarding whether transgendered should be included in their legislative goals. So if the gay community is not ready for transgendered so-called “rights,” I doubt that the public at large is going to tolerate that.
5. How should Christians respond to those struggling with gender identity disorder?
People who are dealing with transgendered friends or neighbors, even relatives or themselves, have hope in Christ. As Christians, we know that male and female both uniquely represent the image of God, and when they come together in the form of marriage, they bear witness of Him in a way that they can’t do alone. So gender identity is very important to God.
As Christians, it’s not enough to go out and fight (these issues) if you cannot love a person beyond what they’re projecting. God doesn’t see a transgendered person, He sees that person by name and He might be using you to reach to that person and say, “I don’t understand everything that’s going on, but I do know that God cares for your soul.” And if you have the opportunity to share the Gospel with that person, that’s what comes first.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit the Exodus Web site.
Focus on the Family's Love Won Out ministry is reaching out to those who struggle with same-sex attraction.
Hat/tip: Anglican Mainstream
Comments:
Must have been if Christ was the fullness of God and he spoke of the Father. Not to mention that payer that begins, “Our Father...”, the wedding feast, the church as the bride of Christ, unfaithful as harlots. I could go on and on. It was pretty important in the culture of Christ’s day, for the apostles, as well as the early church fathers. Yep, I’d say it was important. Oh wait, you mean in today’s culture?