Transcript: Lesson 29- A Third Sex?

Friends, welcome. In this unit we are thinking about intersex people and the family of God.  And in the last video we came to a better understanding a little bit of intersex people and  disorders of sex development and what that looks like in the lives of some folks. And so we  want to approach this topic with sensitivity with a recognition of the the struggle that many  folks have walked through because of walking this path of being intersex or were struggling  with a DSD. One of the questions we want to raise biblically and theologically is, is this  question is intersex, a third sex alongside male and female? And this is a question that some  folks have raised recently in biblical and theological circles saying, you know, Scripture talks  about Genesis 1:27, says male and female, He created them that in Galatians 3, Paul talks  about how we are male and female part of the body of Christ. And so is this part of the  question we're wrestling with? Here? Is this question does, or do intersex persons undermine  male and females? This is just something where, you know, we need to take account of this  data and say, maybe the Bible doesn't really give us a full picture, or does the Bible really  address intersex people? Is it? Is it trying to exclude them? Is it trying to set them apart? Or  are they not part of the body? How do we understand these questions? This is a question  raised by a scholar named Megan DeFranza in her book that's depicted here "Sex Difference  in Christian Theology." And so maybe it's the case. According to her that intersex people sort  of blur the lines, maybe maybe we can't really even fully talk about male and females being  separate or distinct, either. And some of these things that we maybe thought were more  separate, are just more blurred. And so maybe intersex people are third sex, or maybe it just  blurs the line completely, so that we can't really even talk about male and female anymore.  Another question here is do intersex persons undermine male female marriage? And so if  perhaps it's the case that for some people, their biological sex is ambiguous? What do you  say to a person like that? Do you say you can't get married? Or if it's difficult to say, if a  person is male or female, then then what do you say in terms of that person's marriage  status? It gets it gets tricky, because as we saw in the previous video, there are some people  who know chromosomally, we would say, well, they have the male chromosomes, XY. But in  terms of their development, things don't happen as they normally do. And so they would  present their external genitalia would appear to be female. And so how do we understand that if we say and reflect on what Scripture teaches about same sex marriage? How do we even  know if that person is male, female? And so does that just complicate all of these things?  Well, I think there are some, I think there's some good answers to this. I do think it's important to recognize that even intersex people themselves have largely rejected the idea that intersex is a third sex. And so for example, last video, I mentioned the Intersex Society of North  America. On their website, they specifically say you, we don't find it helpful to talk about  intersex people as a third sex. Well, why is that? Well, partly, it's because as we've seen,  there's actually a variety of disorders of sex development. And so to take everybody who  would fall into this, you know, under the same umbrella, and say they all represent this third  sex, that wouldn't really, it wouldn't really be biologically accurate. And it may not be  culturally helpful either. Because, again, as we've seen, there are a number of different ways  this could look in a person's biology. And so to say that all these people are the same.  biological sex doesn't seem scientifically accurate, and it doesn't seem culturally helpful.  Because as I noted last time, the vast majority of intersex people, actually it's, it's pretty clear whether they are male or female, and there's not too many obstacles in terms of culturally,  being able to identify with the their particular sex their particular gender. Scripture, I think,  also speaks to this in in some ways, one verse that is used by DeFranza and some others is  Matthew 19. And so I want to look briefly at that verse. It's one we've seen already in in this  course, in Matthew 19. Jesus This is talking about marriage. And he talks about how God's  vision for marriage is one man and one woman for life. That the kind of easy divorce that  some people were promoting in that culture, Jesus said, That's not what I'm calling you to I'm  calling you to marriage except in the case of sexual immorality, adultery. And Jesus's disciples in Matthew 19:10, say, Wow, this is, if that's how it is, then maybe it's better not to marry. And so Jesus replies in Matthew 19:11, not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way, there are eunuchs who  have been made eunuchs by others. And there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for 

the sake of the kingdom of heaven, the one who can accept this should accept it. Now, it's  important to recognize that in this text, Jesus refers to three different types of, of eunuchs, as  I mentioned earlier in this course, the eunuch is essentially someone who's male, but  somebody who's been castrated or who has had their external genitalia, in effect, cut off or  damaged. And so when we think about the three types of eunuchs, Jesus says, There eunuchs who were born that way, eunuchs, who'd been made eunuchs by others, and those who  choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Now, the one that's most  interesting for our purposes in this discussion of intersex people is the first, that there are  eunuchs who were born that way. In other words, part of what Jesus is acknowledging here is  that he's recognizing and affirming that, yeah, there are some in this case, he's referencing  men who are born with some kind of disorder of sex development in the in the sense that  their external genitalia, their ability to function, reproductively is not typical. And so, you  know, we have to recognize that this hopefully shows us that this is on the map of Jesus, it's,  it's in the scope of what Scripture speaks to, that there are some for whom there is this  disorder going on. And Jesus doesn't here speak negatively or derogatively toward them or, or talk about them as sort of less than human. But instead, he helps us understand that this is a  this is a category of people. So how do we connect Genesis 1:27, and Matthew 19:12. In other words, part of what I'm asking here is Genesis 1:27, speaks about male and female. And so  talks about male and female being made in the image of God is Matthew 19, saying, there's a  third category, there's male and female. And then there are eunuchs who are born that way.  That that's the argument that Megan DeFranza presents, as I mentioned, that the intersex  should be considered a a third sex here. But I think that's not quite accurate, especially when  we understand how this term is used, and how Jesus uses it here. Jesus is not using it here to  undermine the reality of male and female, but he is using here to recognize that there are  those who are born with some differences, that he doesn't say this means that these eunuchs  are not male. And I think by extension by implication, you know, he wouldn't say that, that  somebody who may be more typical of female, but maybe has a disorder of sex development  as well. He's not using it to say that, that those individuals constitute a third sex, but rather  he's saying that there are some who because they are born a certain way. He says in this  context, that what this means for them is singleness. Now, I'm not saying that all. I'm not  saying I actually don't think Scripture saying here that all intersex people are called to  singleness. But part of what Jesus is recognizing is that the way that you eunuchs did function in his culture largely, was that if there was this lack of procreative ability, or if there there was a clear effect on the external genitalia, that oftentimes those persons would remain single.  But he's he's not saying here, that they are a third sex, that I think it's better theologically, to  understand that for people who have a disorder of sex development, that they are in in some  way, shape, or form a blend of male and female, not that there's something totally other than  male and female, that there are still two sexes. And that part of what you see in intersex  people is is some kind of blend of those or or some kind of, again, disorder where things don't  develop quite as they should But I think I think it's actually not helpful again, by their own  testimony for intersex people to say that intersex constitutes a third sex. Now it does raise  some questions it does raise some some ethical questions, some questions of care and  treatment. And so in the next video we're going to we're going to pick that up if we say that,  that we want to be sure to affirm that intersex people are made in the image of God, that  they are beloved by Jesus, what does it mean to walk with them as the family of God and to  provide good care as we walk together trying to put the story of of who God is on display for  the world around us to see. So we'll pick that up next time and think about good care for  intersex people. So until then, blessings