In part one of this discussion, we looked at the history of the male homosexual, or “gay,” movement and the lesbian movement in the 20th century, considering how they started out in opposition to each other and were pushed into a political alliance on the basic theory that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. In part two, we looked at how bisexuals and transgenderism do not fit with gays or lesbians and how the notion of Queering is trying to overturn all categories. Now we will look at how the ever-expanding categories actually make the whole movement meaningless.
Two Spirit
This is a curious gender definition that seems to be more popular in Canada than in the US; it comes out of native American, or First Nations, traditions. Because Canadian culture is more sensitive to First Nations traditions, it should be of no surprise that the Two Spirits definition is more common in Canada.
“Two Spirit” was the traditional way that some native American nations described someone who did not fit traditional gender roles. So, a woman who was more adept at hunting or a man who was more comfortable around the camp working with the women was declared to have two spirits. The person was said to have two spirits because they were still either a man or a woman but would fulfill some of the other gender’s roles.
What is curious about this designation is that it really does not fit the whole LGBTQ+ idea. In fact, a Two Spirit man might do “women’s work,” but he was still a man and would have a male sexual life, marrying a woman, etc. Likewise, a Two Spirit woman might hunt and fight alongside the men, but she would still marry a man and bear children.
The identification of this as a “gender” is aimed less at sexuality than it is at trying to find historical legitimacy. The argument goes that these older, and assumed more enlightened, cultures had this as a third category besides men and women. This move allows them to both claim historical precedent as well as give them ammunition to accuse Christianity and the West as being inherently oppressive.
However, this assertion does not withstand scrutiny. If anything, the historic Two Spirit designation seems to be a critique of the narrowing of gender roles that we have seen in the recent past. What we would have historically called a tomboy, they would have said is a girl with two spirits.
In much the same way, the same concept has been drawn from other cultures as well, providing terms like Fakaleiti from Polynesia and Hijra from areas in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.
Alphabet Soup
Since the start of the 21st century, there has been an explosion of genders. It soon reached the point that people gave up on trying to account for them all and most have just added the “+” making the movement the LGBTQ+ movement. Within this, you can define yourself however you want, and there is no clear definition of what anything means. Some of these are even curious because they are not really new, just a new way of defining oneself.
For instance, some young people are now defining themselves as asexual. This means that, at least at the moment, they have no particular sexual interest. This is not new, as throughout the centuries there have been countless people who do not feel a strong sexual urge and often never engage in sexual activity. One can even think of this definition as a hip way of defining monks and nuns! More often, a young person who defines themself like this really means that they are not dating or particularly interested in dating at the moment, which is not a new phenomenon by any stretch of the imagination. The only thing that is new is the feeling that they need to publicly define their sexuality. Once you realize this, you see that this is not so much as self-identification as it is actually being pressured to fit into the movement.
Demonic genders
This may sound like a rather extreme statement; however, there are several genders that hail from different cultures that can best be understood as demonically inspired. Alyha and Hwame of the Mohave, the Ashtime of Maale and Ethiopia, the Burrnesha of Albania, and the Femminiello of Italy are all forms of different genders that are believed to have special spiritual powers. The Chuckchi Ne’uchika Shamans of Siberia believe that they were ordered to undergo a gender transformation by a spirit. The Acault of Myanmar are even believed to be males that are possessed by a female goddess who imparts female characteristics to them.[1]
From a biblical perspective, all of these appear to be confusions under demonic control. The most obvious are the Acault, but every one of these is a form of spiritual powers that are trying to control and mislead these individuals into rejecting the way that they were created by the true God. Here it is helpful to keep in mind that one of the unique things about the true God of the Bible is that He is the creator. (See, for instance Jonah 1:9-10 – the fact that Jonah describes the LORD as “the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” is what really gets the sailors worried because none of their local gods could claim this.)
Throughout this, it must be said that this whole attack on God’s created order must, ultimately, come from a demonic origin. Satan clearly wants to destroy God’s good creation, and therefore anything that leads to a rejection of this creation is his work. This applies to so much of the gender madness that is around us today. Can it be anything but demonic that would lead people to want to surgically remove healthy organs from children and prevent them from being able to reproduce more people who were made in the image of God?
This also means, however, that we must rightly understand the nature of what is going on, as well as who the Enemy is. The Bible is clear that our ultimate and true enemy is the devil (Matt 13:24-30, Luke 10:18-19, and 1 Peter 5:8). We should, therefore, look upon those who are caught up in this lifestyle not as our enemies, but as those who have been captured by and are being used by the true enemy. Therefore, while most today do not see it as such, this really is a spiritual battle.
[1] Chris Drew (PhD), “81 Types of Genders & Gender Identities (A to Z List) (2024),” 26 March 2022, https://helpfulprofessor.com/types-of-genders-list/.