Trans people commit suicide at very high rates compared to the general population, both before and after “gender affirmation” surgery. While this is a sad and regrettable reality, unfortunately, Christians are being blamed for this phenomenon.
People who say that those who disagree with transgender ideology are responsible for trans suicides are engaging in emotional blackmail. It is ridiculous to suggest that we must support and celebrate people’s delusions to prevent them from harming themselves. After all, who would suggest that we agree with anorexic people’s self-perception that they are fat and need liposuction to prevent them from killing themselves?
Besides, it’s not just Christians who oppose transgender ideology. Many sane people recognize that gender dysphoria is a mental disorder that is best addressed by fixing the mind, not the body.
Are we to believe that mere disagreement leads people to kill themselves? If so, then trans ideologues must be responsible for Christian suicides since they often disagree with and condemn Christians. Of course, Christians don’t kill themselves simply because non-Christians think we are wrong or hate us. In fact, no emotionally stable person kills themselves simply because others don’t approve of or accept them. The fact that many trans people do indicates that there are deeper emotional and psychological issues at hand. They are not committing suicide simply because people don’t accept the legitimacy of their professed identity, but because of the deeper psychological issues that are causing them to be confused about their gender to begin with. Even after they undergo a “sex change,” they still experience a super high suicide rate. The problem is within.
Thinking to Believe 
October 2, 2022 at 3:12 am
I don’t think most people consider Christians to be specifically at fault for causing trans (and other LGBTQ) suicides, but biblical fundamentalists clearly do contribute to the factors that cause them to commit suicide. After all, if an LGBTQ person comes out to their community, what usually happens? They get berated, they get threatened with hellfire, they get shunned from their support community, and sometimes they even get beaten up. It’s even common for their family to throw them out of their homes and refuse to acknowledge them as family anymore. Such trauma is virtually guaranteed to cause depression, anxiety and other mental disorders. In fact, studies have shown that religious discrimination is a significant contributing factor to mental health disorders among LGBTQ persons: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4706071/ (incidentally, the same problem can occur for people who lose their religious faith and become atheists).
“It is ridiculous to suggest that we must support and celebrate people’s delusions to prevent them from harming themselves.”
Well, people who live in glass houses…
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October 3, 2022 at 12:45 pm
On your reasoning, Leftist fundamentalists who hate Christians must be responsible for Christian suicides. But again, Christians aren’t committing suicide, even in places where the persecution against Christians is really bad (ostracized from family, ostracized from family, physical violence, prison, death). Why? Because people with normal mental health tolerate disagreement with their views and lifestyle. Trans people are committing suicide because of their mental health issues, not because of ideological disagreements between them and their fellow citizens. Blaming anyone who disagrees with transgender ideology – Christian or not – for trans people who commit suicide is both stupid and morally wrong.
Show me the data of people in our day who are getting beat up because they are gay or trans. They are celebrated in our culture. People have invented a myriad of identities so that they can identify as anything other than “cis.” They aren’t doing so because non-cis are a persecuted group, but because non-cis is a celebrated group.
That’s not to say there are no negative social impacts. There are. I’m sure some people are kicked out of their homes or not liked by their family because of their choices. But so are Christians. I’ve known a whole bunch of people whose parents, family, or friends turned on them the moment they became a Christian or conservative. That’s just the way things are. That’s not what is causing trans suicides. It’s a much deeper problem.
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October 4, 2022 at 5:40 am
“On your reasoning, Leftist fundamentalists who hate Christians must be responsible for Christian suicides.”
I’m not sure where you got that at all. What I said was that being cut off from one’s social support structure is the major cause of depression and anxiety, and since Christians often cut a person out of their support structures for being LGBTQ do bear some responsibility for the depression and anxiety that result. What “leftist fundamentalists” are guilty of that? Leftists are generally strong supporters of freedom of and from religion, and cutting people off from their support structures just for following a religion is anathema to that.
“But again, Christians aren’t committing suicide, even in places where the persecution against Christians is really bad (ostracized from family, ostracized from family, physical violence, prison, death).”
WHAT persecution are you talking about? While there certainly are a few countries where religious minorities—including Christians—are persecuted, but you can’t say that about the US. Our country is still overwhelmingly majority Christian, and that includes the government, military and all other institutions of power. Christians here are not persecuted.
I think this is a case of when you’re used to privilege, equality looks like persecution. If you want to see persecution, have a look at the history of atheists. As a Christian youth pastor once said, “There is nothing we can do to stop the spread of atheism but pray that they treat us better than we have treated them.”
“Trans people are committing suicide because of their mental health issues, not because of ideological disagreements between them and their fellow citizens.”
I’m afraid the science disagrees with you. As noted here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-the-science-on-gender-affirming-care-for-transgender-kids-really-shows/ “The truth is that data from more than a dozen studies of more than 30,000 transgender and gender-diverse young people consistently show that access to gender-affirming care is associated with better mental health outcomes—and that lack of access to such care is associated with higher rates of suicidality, depression and self-harming behavior.”
And: “Major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Endocrine Society, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association, have published policy statements and guidelines on how to provide age-appropriate gender-affirming care. All of those medical societies find such care to be evidence-based and medically necessary.”
When pretty much every major medical organization accepts the science on this issue, perhaps you should reconsider your stance?
“Blaming anyone who disagrees with transgender ideology – Christian or not – for trans people who commit suicide is both stupid and morally wrong.”
No, what’s morally wrong is socially ostracizing people just because they were born different. Their gender orientation isn’t their fault and shouldn’t be treated as a reason to shun somebody.
“Show me the data of people in our day who are getting beat up because they are gay or trans.”
I can easily provide you with dozens of examples, but it seems when I post too many links here my posts never appear. But here’s a page from the US Dept. of Justice listing hate crimes: https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/hate-crimes-case-examples. Search for “gay” and you’ll see five examples there alone. This is what happens when people are exposed to anti-LGBTQ hate rhetoric.
“I’m sure some people are kicked out of their homes or not liked by their family because of their choices.”
Being LGBTQ is not a choice. Nobody “chooses” to be gay or straight, just as they can’t choose to be a theist or an atheist.
“I’ve known a whole bunch of people whose parents, family, or friends turned on them the moment they became a Christian or conservative.”
From my experience befriending and interacting with literally thousands of atheists, it’s extremely common for those who came from religious families to have been cut off when their family members found out they were atheists. But among my many Christian friends? Literally none were ever shunned for their religion. If they were shunned, it was always because they tried pushing their religion (or extreme conservatism) on other family members. But it wasn’t for being Christians. Almost nobody cares about that one way or the other. Most of my current friends and family members are Christians, but we get along fine because nobody pushes their beliefs on anyone else.
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October 5, 2022 at 2:44 am
BTW, this video from the Atheist Experience highlights the dynamic I’m talking about, where Christians often cut non-believers out of their lives but not the other way around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCQNpq1j0pI
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