The Original Gender Bender

On September 23rd, 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley, then President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" in a talk he gave in the General Relief Society Meeting. It was written by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as a warning to the world about the consequences of the disintegration of the family, both religiously and as a society. That document, written almost 20 years ago now, has proven to be prophetic in every sense of that word.

As you read the Proclamation you get the feeling of wading waist deep in truth. Every line is loaded from one end to the other with the Lord's teachings about His plan for the human family. It's like being in a hyperbaric chamber of pure doctrine, refreshing and saturating our souls with the principles of happiness. In the Proclamation there is one statement that often doesn't get as much attention as some of the others. It states, "Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." I would just like to say a few words about this topic.

As an integral part of his war against mankind (Revelation 12), Satan is attacking the family with as much fury and hatred as ever. He does so because he knows the family is at the very heart of God's plan for the happiness and eternal progress of His children. Gender sits squarely in Satan's cross-hairs as he fights to disassemble the family. Satan understands that if he can blur the lines between the genders for people, he will dramatically reduce the likelihood of them forming righteous and strong family relationships, and thus dramatically increasing their likelihood of misery (2 Nephi 2:27).

How does Satan, the original gender bender, blur the gender lines? Well, there is the obvious way of trying to confuse people about which gender they are. Now, God alone knows fully the truth of what each person experiences in this life, and I am confident that a perfectly just and merciful Jesus will iron out all of the mortal wrinkles set in the souls of men and women at no fault of their own. But until such time as we can see through clearer eyes, I will view gender confusion as being a product of the great Deceiver. In no way does it decrease the worth of the person struggling with their identity, nor does it impact their right to being accepted and loved by anyone who claims to follow Jesus.

A second and much more widespread blurring of gender lines is found in trying to convince people that gender is meaningless. There is a great force in society today trying to sell people on the idea that men and women are essentially the same, and therefore have no real need for each other. Thus, there is no role that one gender can play that the other can't do, and maybe even do better. Relationships with the other gender then become all about meeting one's selfish desires, with no thought nor care about the other person really, since each will just return back to their totally independent life, devoid of any need for the other beyond satisfying appetites.

Image obtained from lds.org

The truth, however, is that we need each other, desperately. We are not the same. God always intended for men and women to be together, for "it is not good that the man [or the woman] should be alone" (Gen 2:18, Moses 3:18, Abraham 5:14) It is a vital part of God's plan that we work together to love, shape, and lift each other in ways neither gender could do alone. The Proclamation even teaches about the need for each gender, if at all possible, to fulfill traditional roles in the family. This is by design, not because one gender isn't strong enough, smart enough, sensitive enough, or anything else enough to be able to carry out the responsibilities of the other, but rather because those specific roles help each gender to become their best and eternal selves. They are designed to help us acquire the attributes of our Heavenly Parents, to which happiness is inextricably tied.

We are not the same. We never have been and we never will be. Lehi taught that there needs to be "an opposition in all things." If not, "all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead...Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose to the end of [their] creation' (2 Nephi 2:11-12). This is everlastingly true for men and women, masculine in opposition to feminine. Both are invaluable, and each can only be exalted in the company of the other (1 Cor 11:11, D&C 131:2).