Religious Right Rages After Texas Pastor Points Out No Biblical Basis for Transphobia

Religious conservatives flew into a frenzy after a Texas pastor took to social media to point out a few Biblical stats - including the absolute absence of condemnation of transgender people in scripture.

Restore Austin Church pastor Zach Lambert sent out a tweet on International Transgender Day of Visibility that ticked through a few Biblical references with contemporary relevance, Chron reported.

"Bible verses condemning trans folks: 0," Pastor Lambert noted.

Other Bible pointers by the number offered by the man of the cloth:

"Bible verses about welcoming migrants: 33"
"Bible verses about advocating for peace: 429"
"Bible verses about loving God and others: 714"
"Bible verses about taking care of the poor: 2000+"

"It's #transdayofvisibility🏳️‍⚧️ and this is your reminder that there are absolutely no 'biblical' grounds for being anti-trans," Pastor Lambert captioned the post.

Unsurprisingly, members of the anti-LGBTQ+ religious right soared into a high dudgeon. Instead of informed theological discussion, though, the ad hominem attacks flew.

"Wicked serpent, encouraging people into hell," Megan Basham, a writer for The Daily Wire and "evangelical influencer," accused, according to Chron.

Pastor Lambert, in keeping with the spirit of his teachings, responded to Basham's fire with kindness.

"I'm really sorry about your cancer diagnosis, Meg," Lambert replied. "Praying that you experience healing."

Another individual seethed, "Zach W. Lambert is what happens when a pastor trades the fear of God for the applause of man."

"Is this what happens when a church is completely void of testosterone?" sniped another.

One reply took a try at turning the rhetorical tables: "Bible verses mentioning the existence of trans folks: 0"

"So let's just pretend they don't exist".

Some religious conservatives sought to reduce the issue of transgender people to a question of cross-dressing, or frame gender identity as an attempt to deceive others.

But others acknowledged the Bible's priorities - and those of the Christian doctrine as communicated in the Gospels - are significantly different than the messaging of those using scripture to advance anti-queer narratives and policy agendas.

"Maybe the real 'biblical values' were the ones that opened doors, fed the hungry, and named the image of God in every body," one retweet of Pastor Lambert's message mused.

"Funny how sometimes we major in what the Bible barely mentions... and ignore what it screams," the post added.

"The conservative backlash speaks to the ongoing manifestation of anger directed at the public acknowledgement of transgender people," Chron said. "It also reflects the vastly different views held by progressive and conservative Christians when it comes to transgender identity and visibility."

The report went on to note that "About 90 percent of white evangelicals and 70 percent of Black Protestants believe a person's gender is determined by sex at birth, according to the Pew Research Center, compared with 60 percent of the population as a whole," while "religiously unaffiliated Americans are far more likely to say society has not gone far enough" in accepting and protecting people around the issue of gender identity.