An honest question
What does the Bible say about being gay or transgender?
Key points
- Short answer: Christians read the Bible differently on this, and honestly so.
- What Jesus did: Jesus spoke about marriage when he was asked about divorce, quoting Genesis: God made them male and female, and the two become one.
- The Lutheran view: In 2009 the ELCA adopted a social statement, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.
The short answer
Christians read the Bible differently on this, and honestly so. A handful of passages speak against sex between people of the same sex; Christians disagree about what those passages meant then and what they mean now.
Jesus himself never spoke about it directly. What he did say, over and over, is that God loves the people others push away.
What Jesus said and did
Jesus spoke about marriage when he was asked about divorce, quoting Genesis: God made them male and female, and the two become one. Christians who hold the traditional view point to this. Christians who hold an affirming view (fully accepting same-sex relationships) note that he was answering a question about divorce, not about same-sex couples.
In the same conversation, Jesus spoke of eunuchs, some of them that way from birth. They did not fit the usual pattern of marriage, and he did not condemn them. Traditional readers take this as being about staying unmarried; affirming readers see in it room for people who don’t fit the usual categories. Later, an Ethiopian official who was a eunuch and a foreigner asked Philip, “What is keeping me from being baptized?” Nothing was.
And Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God and love your neighbor as yourself.
A little longer
The passages people usually point to are in Leviticus, in Paul’s letters (Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6, 1 Timothy 1), and the story of Sodom. Traditional readers see a clear and lasting teaching. They also point to the whole Bible’s picture of marriage as a man and a woman, from Genesis 2 to Ephesians 5. Affirming readers argue these passages are about things like using people, worshiping idols, and abuse. They say faithful, loving relationships between equals were not what the writers had in mind.
On gender identity, the Bible says even less directly. Some Christians start from “male and female he created them.” Others start from the people in Scripture who did not fit the usual categories, and were welcomed. The ELCA has no separate statement on gender identity; transgender people are members, and some are pastors, in ELCA congregations. If you are transgender or nonbinary, it is fine to ask a pastor before you visit whether you’ll be called by your name and pronouns. In a welcoming congregation, the answer is a simple yes.
Whatever a church concludes, Jesus leaves no room for contempt. LGBTQ+ people, and especially young people, face high rates of rejection by their families and churches, and many have been badly hurt in Jesus’ name. That is not his way.
Someone may tell you to change who you are attracted to, or to pray it away. Major medical and mental-health groups warn that trying to change sexual orientation or gender identity doesn’t work, and causes real harm. Being honest about who you are is not a lack of faith.
- Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust (ELCA, 2009) The ELCA’s own social statement, among its others on elca.org.
- The Trevor Project Free, 24/7 crisis support for LGBTQ+ young people, by phone, text or chat.
Where Christians disagree
This is one of the sharpest disagreements among Christians today. The Catholic and Orthodox churches, the LCMS and WELS, and many evangelical churches hold the traditional view. Most of them welcome gay people to worship, but ask them not to have sex and do not marry same-sex couples. The ELCA, the Episcopal Church and several others are affirming. Within the ELCA itself, members still hold different beliefs, and the church asks them to respect one another’s consciences.
How Lutherans see it
In 2009 the ELCA adopted a social statement, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust. It says honestly that faithful members hold different beliefs, and asks them to respect what it calls one another’s “bound conscience.” That same year the ELCA opened its ministry to people in “lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships.” Luther taught that all of Scripture should be read for what “promotes Christ.” Lutherans ask that question here too. They believe everyone stands before God by grace, not by being the right kind of person.
Where it is in the Bible
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Matthew 19:3–12 Jesus on marriage and divorce, and on eunuchs.
Read Matthew 19:3–12
3 Pharisees came to him, testing him, and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” 4 He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?’ 6 So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, don’t let man tear apart.” 7 They asked him, “Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce, and divorce her?” 8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so. 9 I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.” 10 His disciples said to him, “If this is the case of the man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven’s sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.”
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
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Acts 8:26–39 An outsider asks, “What is keeping me from being baptized?”
Read Acts 8:26–39
26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert.” 27 He arose and went; and behold, there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship. 28 He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.” 30 Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He said, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He begged Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he doesn’t open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generation? For his life is taken from the earth.” 34 The eunuch answered Philip, “Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?” 35 Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him about Jesus. 36 As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?” 38 He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch didn’t see him any more, for he went on his way rejoicing.
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
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Mark 12:28–31 Love God; love your neighbor as yourself.
Read Mark 12:28–31
28 One of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together, and knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the greatest of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one: 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 The second is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
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Galatians 3:26–28 All one in Christ Jesus.
Read Galatians 3:26–28
26 For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
World English Bible, public domain. The whole chapter on Free Scripture → · Read in the NRSVue, the ELCA’s standard translation →
What do these words mean?
| The word | It means |
|---|---|
| Pastor | A church leader who preaches, teaches and cares for people. |
| Faith | Trust in God. Lutherans say it is a gift God gives, not something you work up. |
| Grace | God’s love that you don’t have to earn. |
Tap a word for more. All 228 church words: the glossary, A to Z
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Written by Digital Lutheran Church, a small, free website from the nonprofit Hope for Americans, in the tradition of the ELCA. Bible passages are from the World English Bible.