Some people believe that the universe was intelligently designed by an omnipotent being or beings, therefore they choose to adhere to certain rituals, traditions, and behaviors in order to please these beings and earn a pleasant afterlife.

These are religious people. There is nothing inherently wrong with being religious.

Some people don’t believe that we have definitively determined how the universe came to be, acknowledging that there are leading theories including the big bang, evolution, and a myriad of other concepts that offer insight into how things might have happened.

These people are not religious. There is nothing inherently wrong with not being religious.

Some people believe that because the universe was intelligently designed, it is their duty to ensure that as many other people as possible live their lives based on the rules, rituals, and guidelines prescribed by the organized religion they were indoctrinated into.

These people don’t care whether others believe the same things as them, because they know they’re right and their way is the only way to secure a pleasant afterlife. These people are bigots who use faith to defend their ignorance. There is something inherently wrong with being a bigot who hides behind faith.

Bigotry disguised as religion is harmful to the individuals it targets, disgraceful for tolerant and accepting religious people, and deserves to be condemned and called out in whatever forms it manifests itself.

A perfect example of bigotry disguised as religion is the new book “God and the Transgender Debate” by Andrew T. Walker, director of policy studies for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission does the policy bidding of the ideological juggernaut Southern Baptist Convention, the largest non-Catholic Christian denomination in the United States. The inclusion of the word “Southern” in the group’s name dates back to its split with northern Baptists over slavery.

Just as Christianity was used to justify slavery and racism in the United States, today it is weaponized by right-wing ideologues to justify homophobia, transphobia, and hate for the LGBT community.

Walker’s anti-trans manifesto recycles the same bigoted argument disguised as well-intentioned faith that has been used for decades to de-legitimize and demonize homosexuality.

The argument is best summed up as “hate the sin, love the sinner,” a platitude that paradoxically allows one to claim tolerance without accepting the differences of others.

Just as many religious bigots have made the argument that same-sex attraction is natural but acting on it is a sin, Walker puts forward the thesis that while gender dysphoria is a legitimate phenomenon deserving of empathy and understanding, transition itself is a sin.

Just as bigoted Christians used to argue that god created different races to signify their inherent value and any claim they were equal was a rebellion against his will, Walker claims that god created two distinct genders and to attempt to change one’s gender or exist somewhere in between this binary is to rebel against his divine will.

Though the bible does not directly address the issue of trans identities, Walker’s argument appears to be based on his assumptions about god’s will based on the gender binary described in Genesis.

A particularly dishonest feature of Walker’s book is his logic argument that trans people are better off not transitioning. He writes:

“It is a little-reported fact that people who undergo sex re-assignment surgery do not, statistically, report higher levels of happiness after the surgery. That is, acting on the desire to live as the opposite gender to the one that accords with biological sex does not bring peace to a heart.”

While persuasive, this claim is entirely false as it is based on misinterpreted data from a single study that compared suicide rates of trans people after undergoing gender confirmation surgery to the general population, instead of trans people who had yet to undergo surgery.

Walker’s argument is so baseless that the author of the study he and other anti-trans authors frequently cite, Cecilia Dhejne, has specifically clarified that her work should not be interpreted to mean gender confirmation surgery does not improve the lives of trans people.

She said, “if we look at the literature, we find that several recent studies conclude that [World Professional Association for Transgender Health] Standards of Care-compliant treatment decrease[s] gender dysphoria and improves mental health.”

Not only are Walker’s claims verifiably false and largely unoriginal given the long history of Christians using faith to justify bigotry before him, they will have tangible, negative effects on the lives of trans people.

Walker has a not-insignificant following, and it’s likely that his book will sell quite well, with countless Christians digesting his guide on how to use faith and specious logic to delegitimize trans identities.

One can only speculate how many parents will use Walker’s advice to deny the identities of their trans children, or how many trans people struggling to accept their identity will use it to further repress their own dysphoria.

What is almost certain is that with the high rates of suicide in the trans community, much of which is due to family rejection, Walker will have the blood of trans people on his hands once his bigoted book is published tomorrow.

I would say that only god can judge him, but he seems to disagree, so fuck you Andrew Walker.