A meme floating around social media in response to a day-one executive order from the second Trump administration claims that “All embryos begin by developing female sex organs, with male sex organs only replacing them around 6 weeks of gestation.” From X, Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) Based on this understanding of development, the meme claims, “Under Trump’s executive order, every single person...
In a recent essay published in The Wheel, Dr. Katherine Kelaidis compares contemporary understandings of transgender experience with the specter of “Gnosticism,” an early heresy that takes its name from the Greek word gnōsis, meaning “knowledge.” While a full response to this essay goes beyond the scope of a Public Orthodoxy blog post, I wish to explore the author’s charge of “reborn heresy.”
What is the role of gender in Eastern Christianity? In this volume, Orthodox experts of different disciplines and cultural backgrounds tackle this complex question. They engage critically with gender issues within their own tradition.
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.
The following errors have been reported for my book Gender Essentialism and Orthodoxy: Beyond Male and Female. Readers wishing to report an error may do so through the Contact page.
The following errors have been reported for my essay "Something New Under the Sun: Sexualities, Same-Sex Relationships, and Orthodoxy" in the edited volume Orthodox Tradition and Human Sexuality. Readers wishing to report an error may do so through the Contact page.
I'm pleased to announce that my first book will soon be released May 16, 2023!
Sex is a difficult issue for contemporary Christians, but the last decade has witnessed a new-found openness regarding the topic among Eastern Orthodox Christians.
Gender-essentialist interpretations of these Genesis passages are an exercise in question-begging: they assume that the essentialism modern readers point to is, indeed, a feature of the texts themselves. However, this is not the case.
A collection of links related to the Bridging Voices: Contemporary Eastern Orthodox Identity and the Challenges of Pluralism and Sexual Diversity in a Secular Age project.