Christian intersexantagonism

Last updated 11/01/2025

1. Many conservative Christians view intersex people as having a disorder and support genital surgeries on babies. Intersex activists oppose such procedures because they aren't medically necessary, frequently have negative impacts later in life, and happen solely to conform to harmful standards of normalcy.

Uncritical examples

The Briefing With Albert Mohler | Friday, June 17, 2022 (look in the section "How Do Christians Uphold Christian Doctrines with an Intersex Child? — Dr. Mohler Responds to Letters from Listeners of The Briefing")

Archived on Wayback Machine and Archive.today

Commentary

Conservative Evangelicals Embrace Intersex Genital Mutilation | The Intersex Roadshow (September 2017)

This Year's Attacks on Trans Health Care Target Intersex People, Too by Sydney Bauer | Them (September 2021)

2. Some Christians view intersex conditions as a sign of living in a fallen world. In other words, they believe no one would be intersex in a world without sin.

Uncritical examples

On Transgender Identity | SBC.net (June 2014)

Archived on Wayback Machine, Archive.today, and Ghost Archive

Sexual Identity and the Biblical Philosophy of Gender by Doulas Groothuis | Christian Research Institute (June 2024)

Archived on Wayback Machine and Archive.today

Commentary

None yet

3. Attacks on gay and transgender rights have had negative impacts on intersex people.

Uncritical examples

None yet

Commentary

When Intersex People are Collateral Damage in Transphobic Battles | The Intersex Roadshow (February 2015)

Theologians Call on Church to Abandon Resistance to Transgender, Intersex People by Kevin Molloy | New Ways Ministry (December 2020)

Do I Have the Right to Marry Anyone? | The Intersex Roadshow (December 2010)

The Censors and my Intersex Body by Emory Hufbauer | InterAct (January 2024)

Understanding the Biblical Binary of "Male and Female" | The Intersex Roadshow (July 2022)

4. Even after learning about the variety of ways a person can be intersex, some Christians still insist intersex people have to fit into a binary view of sex. For good measure, these Christians will take the opportunity to bash trans people.

Uncritical examples

Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 132: Seeing through the Intersex Confusion by Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk | The National Catholic Bioethics Center (June 2016)

Archived on Wayback Machine, Archive.today, and Ghost Archive

What About Intersexuality? by Caleb Price | Focus On The Family (September 2015)

Archived on Wayback Machine, Archive.today, and Ghost Archive

Nashville Statement | Counsel for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (article V. is the one directly addressing intersex people)

Archived on Wayback Machine, Archive.today, and Ghost Archive

Archived on Wayback Machine and Archive.today

Commentary

The Catholic church is dangerously mistaken about intersex people | DePonySum (June 2019)

More about Christian intersexantagonism

Research on intersex experience highlights overlooked population in religious communities by Justine Chen | Vanderbilt University (October 2022)

How intersex Latter-day Saints struggle to stay in a 'two gender' faith by Peggy Fletcher Stack | Salt Lake Tribune (October 2020)

Joint statement to the Congregation for Catholic Education | InterAction (July 2019)

This was written in response to "Male and Female He Created Them", Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education by the Congregation for Catholic Education. The statement available in English, Spanish, and Italian.

Further information

Information about intersex genital mutilation (IGM)

This is another linkspam I did dealing with a major intersex issue.

Background Note on Human Rights Violations against Intersex People | United Nations Human Rights

Being Intersex– More Than a Diagnosis by Catherine Graffam | Huff Post (June 2016)

Hate speech against intersex people in Greece | Intersex Greece (May 2024, the hate speech in question includes eugenics, medical abuse, bullying, misgendering, and anti-gay slurs; includes a brief section on Christian intersexantagonism)

Are Trans Communities Losing Intersex Allies in the TERF Wars? by Cary Gabriel Costello, PhD | TransFusion (September 2014)

This post criticizes how anti-trans feminists see gender in ways that also apply to many conservative Christians.

Envisioning African Intersex: Challenging Colonial and Racist Legacies in South African Medicine by Amanda Lock Swarr (2023)

Christian hostility towards LGBTQIA+ people