Creationist and complementarian positions assert that God’s vision of humanity has two distinct forms of personhood: male and female. Within this binary model, male and female may be created, but they are not necessarily created equal. However, the impact of such constructions of gender on identities which do not fit within the ’biological’ categories of male and female has received considerably less attention. How, then, do such theologies respond to identities which resist or transgress these dualistic boundaries?
Examining the dramatic rise in anti-trans legislation in the United States, this paper considers how theological applications of gender, language, and scripture can be shown to underpin political and social ideologies which relegate trans*persons, particularly trans*women, into positions of precarity. Considering the trans*misogyny evident in the positioning of trans*women as dangerous, deviant, and amoral, this paper explores how theological language might operate in creating and perpetuating gender-based violence.