Recent political strategies are using transgender people and their lives as a wedge issue to whip up fear and anxiety among voters. Below I've gathered a list of resources for understanding the issues and cutting through the anti-trans talking points offered in the media and by politicians.
Last updated: January 23, 2025
Video
- ContraPoints (Natalie Wynn) | One of YouTube's most influential trans vloggers. Wynn often plays a cast of characters in her videos to embody different points of view expressed within various trans communities. She covers a variety of topics including pronouns, gender dysphoria, "gender trenders," autogynephilia, the brouhaha around J.K. Rowling and The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling by Megan Phelps Roper.
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Podcasts
- The Anti-Trans Hate Machine: A Plot Against Equality (also on Apple Podcasts)
Two seasons covering topics like trans kids in sports, they myth of rapid onset gender dysphoria, and the money behind the recent explosion of anti-trans legislation across the United States. - Science Vs (on Spotify)
- Masha Gessen on the War against Trans Rights from The New Yorker
Blogs
- Trans legislation tracker
- Julia Serano | Julia Serano is my favorite trans advocate author. Here she is offering a collection of her essays available for free!
- Male, Female, and Transgender: Notes from Theological Anthropology | A short post written in 2018 by yours truly.
General Books (also available as audiobooks)
- Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serano | An important book for understanding many of the basic questions asked about transgender people and experiences.
- Trans Like Me: Conversations for All of Us by CN Lester | A personal exploration from a nonbinary trans author.
- Who's Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler | If you follow gender theory (or gender critical ideology) then Judith Butler's name has probably come up. Butler's earlier works are specialized academic projects written for very targeted audiences. This book is in some ways a distillation and plainer spoken version of their work. In others it covers new ground.
- Intersexion: A Story of Faith, Identity, and Authenticity by Cynthia Vaccca Davis | A personal exploration from an intersex author navigating being born intersex and how it affects gender identity, sexuality, and faith.
Theological Books
- Understanding Transgender Identities. Edited by James K. Beilby and Paul Rhodes Eddy | An overview of four positions on transgender questions from conservative to accepting and celebrating.
- Trans-Gender: Theology, Ministry, and Communities of Faith by Justin Tanis
- Transgender, Intersex, and Biblical Interpretation by Teresa J. Hornsby and Deryn Guest
Theological Books on Intersex Conditions
- Sex and Uncertainty in the Body of Christ: Intersex Conditions and Christian Theology by Susannah Cornwall
- Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God by Megan K. DeFranza
