Some people are confused. They think only Christians are opposed to transgender ideology because of a bigoted, Bible-thumping hatred towards people who identify as transgender. This is false.
Christians do recognize God has created human beings a certain way and people will not thrive if they don’t live according to their created intent. But it’s not only Christians who have grave concerns with transgender ideology. Secular non-Christians oppose it too. While they don’t rely on biblical arguments to make their case against transgender ideology, they present secular arguments against it. Here are five of the reasons why non-Christians oppose transgender ideology.
They Reject the Unscientific Views
First, non-Christians deem transgender ideology unscientific. Secular critics rely mostly on scientific data to deduce what is true. What they’ve discovered is that the vocal minority of people who advance transgender ideology hold unscientific views pertaining to biology.
For example, transgender advocates often reject the sexual binary—the idea that every human being belongs to only one of two possible sexes: male or female. Instead, they claim there can be more than two sexes, an in-between sex, or a spectrum of sexes. But this is unscientific. Non-Christians know there are only two sexes because there are only two kinds of reproductive cells (gametes) that humans can produce. Human bodies are designed to produce either sperm or eggs. There is no other possible gamete—no intermediate combination of sperm and egg (like a “spegg”)—that a human body can produce. If there were a third gamete type, there would be a third sex. But there isn’t. There are, therefore, only two sexes, which is why denying the sex binary is deemed unscientific.
Non-Christians also reject other unscientific concepts related to transgender ideology. For example, they point out that gender identity (one’s psychological self-perception) is neither testable, measurable, nor quantifiable. Gender identity, they say, is pseudoscience. It purports to be scientific, but it’s not.
They Reject the Medical Malpractice
Second, non-Christians oppose transgender ideology because it involves medical malpractice. The most recent guidelines of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH)—Version 8, published in 2022—direct doctors to prescribe a three-stage plan for people who identify as transgender or experience gender dysphoria: social transitioning, hormonal transitioning, and then surgical transitioning. Hormonal transitioning, for example, involves cross-sex hormones, which means administering testosterone to biological women or estrogen to biological men. Studies show this significantly increases the risk of blood clots, cardiovascular disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and a whole host of other harmful effects.
Even worse, pre-pubescent children are sometimes prescribed puberty-blocking hormones to give them more time to decide whether they want to identify as a boy or girl. This treatment program was evaluated by the Cass Review, a 2024 independent report of England’s treatment of gender dysphoria. The report showed there was very little evidence to justify the use of puberty-blocking drugs. Furthermore, the treatment carried significant and irreversible impact on bone density, fertility, sexual function, and neurocognitive development. That’s not surprising given that one of the drugs injected in children’s bodies is Lupron, the same drug used to chemically castrate sex offenders.
WPATH’s third stage, surgical transition, involves the amputation of healthy sex organs or the harvesting of body tissue to create “new” body parts that cosmetically imitate opposite sex organs but don’t fully function. Manipulating or removing non-diseased organs is tantamount to bodily mutilation. That such operations are sometimes performed on minors is even worse. These medical practices do not constitute health care. They are neither healthy nor caring for people struggling with gender dysphoria, which is why many non-Christians condemn these “treatments” as malpractice.
They Reject the Threat to Fairness and Safety in Women’s Sports
Third, according to some non-Christians, transgender ideology threatens both the fairness of women’s sports and the safety of girls and women. Secular critics are aware of the inherent physiological and athletic advantages of biological males in competitive sports. It’s well established that biological sex is the most significant determinant of athletic performance. That’s because male puberty, driven by testosterone, triggers a cascade of physiological changes that increase muscle mass (for example, upper-body mass is 30–40% greater in men), bone size and density, and oxygen-carrying capacity (10–15% more oxygen per unit of blood) and produce a host of other neuromuscular and metabolic advantages. These differences don’t entirely disappear when male-to-female transitioners suppress their testosterone. Going through male puberty masculinizes a body, and many of those advantages remain. Allowing athletic competition between transgender women (who are biological males) and biological women gives the males a significant and unfair advantage in sports. This is to say nothing of the increased injury risk that girls and women face when they compete against men.
Women are victimized not only on the field but also in female spaces like changing rooms and bathrooms. Secular critics of transgender ideology have been fighting against the inclusion of biological men in women-only spaces for years. They recognize it’s wrong to subject women to males disrobing or to allow males to see women disrobe.
They Reject the Medical Exploitation of Vulnerable People
Fourth, secular critics of transgender ideology are concerned that the medical industry is exploiting vulnerable people with “gender medicine.” WPATH’s standards of care direct doctors to encourage “gender confirmation surgery,” a euphemism for unnaturally altering bodies with drugs, hormones, and surgery. Once a patient has undergone surgical “transition,” they become a lifelong user of costly drugs and hormones. An individual who “transitions” at 18 years old will likely spend $31,000 to $300,000 over their lifetime. This is to say nothing of the additional tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars that, for example, a man might spend on breast augmentation, genital surgery, facial feminization, voice surgery, and mental health services needed to support his psychological health. Many secular critics see this as financial exploitation since there is no option but to remain tethered to a lifetime of gender-related medical services.
They Reject Mind-Body Dualism
Fifth, some secular (atheist or naturalist) critics reject the premise behind gender identity because they reject the dualism of the body and mind. On the typical atheistic or naturalistic worldview, matter is all there is. There’s no immaterial soul or you that is inside your body. Therefore, there can’t be a self (e.g., a woman) that is the you that is different than your male body. There is only your body, and it’s either male or female. According to people who reject dualism, this is a fatal flaw of transgender ideology. After all, if there is no gender identity—the immaterial you that is your authentic self—then there can be no body that is different than you.
Naturally, this raises the question of whether the Christian is now saddled with the obvious challenge: Since a biblical worldview presupposes the existence of both body and soul, can transgenderism be more easily sustained by a Christian? While Christian theology affirms that humans are a composite of body and soul, it’s the body that is sexed (either male or female). This is to say nothing of the fact that a biblical worldview rejects the concept that sexuality is part of your identity. Such an anthropology is a modern invention and foreign to a biblical worldview.
They’re Not Motivated by Ignorance or Bigotry
As Christians, we believe the Christian worldview best explains reality and provides a framework for how humans can flourish. That’s why Christians who hold a biblical worldview recognize transgender ideology to be flawed and sinful. God, however, has spoken not only through Scripture (special revelation) but also through creation (general revelation). That means even people who don’t accept the Bible as God’s Word can sometimes come to know true facts about reality. That’s the case with transgender ideology. Large numbers of non-Christians also recognize that transgender ideology is deeply flawed. Although Christians and many non-Christians (including many atheists and evolutionists) make strange bedfellows, we’re allied against transgender ideology. The primary motivation is not ignorance or bigotry but love and biology. We’re concerned for the welfare of fellow human beings and making sure that what we stand for is true.