Editing Transphobia (section)

===In religion===
{{see also|Transgender people and religion}}

====In Christianity====
{{see also|Christianity and transgender people|Anti-gender movement}}
{{Unreliable sources|section|date=January 2018}}
In North America, organizations associated with the [[Christian right]], including the [[American Family Association]], [[Family Research Council]], [[Focus on the Family]], [[National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality]], believe that "[[wikt:transgenderism|transgenderism]]" is unnatural and that transgender people are and remain the sex they were assigned at birth. These organizations oppose laws and policies intended to accommodate transgender people, such as allowing them to change their legal sex, use the washroom corresponding to the gender with which they identify, or become ordained Christian ministers. It is their position that God created people's bodies as they are meant to be, that accepting transgender people would violate scripture and [[natural law]], and that the Bible refers to male and female only.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/transsexu9a.htm|title=Beliefs among religious conservatives about the causes & cures of transsexuality (Cont'd)|access-date=7 June 2015}}</ref>

According to the Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance website, under [[Pope John Paul II]], the [[Holy See]] first stated its opposition to reassignment surgery in 2000, although it was not made public until 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/transsexu15.htm|title=Catholic beliefs about the causes & cures of transsexuality|access-date=7 June 2015}}</ref>

Transgender people face particular challenges in attempting to integrate their faith with their gender identity. One author says "expectations [based on gender] are usually predicated upon our genitalia and begin from the moment of birth, continuing throughout our lives."<ref name="Sheridan2001">{{Cite book |last=Sheridan |first=Vanessa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UuQPAQAAIAAJ |title=Crossing Over: Liberating the Transgendered Christian |page=31 |date=2001 |publisher=Pilgrim Press |oclc=47126733 |isbn=9780829814460 }}</ref> Many Christian denominations use biblical notions of gender and gender roles to support their views. These include "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27) and "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are an abomination unto the Lord thy God" (Deuteronomy 22:5).<ref name="Denise L 2013">{{cite journal|last1=Levy|first1=Denise L.|title=Transgender, Transsexual, and Gender Queer Individuals with a Christian Upbringing: The Process of Resolving Conflict Between Gender Identity and Faith.|journal=Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought|date=15 February 2013|volume=32|issue=1|pages=60–83|doi=10.1080/15426432.2013.749079|s2cid=216087109 |url=http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/asu/f/Levy_Denise_2013_Transgender%20Transsexual%20and%20Gender%20Queer.pdf}}</ref>

Views of gender identity based on the Christian faith do not always coincide with the perspectives of transgender individuals.{{Clarification needed|reason=Sentence meaning is unclear and uncited|date=August 2023}} However, if they do not conform to these expectations, they may face rejection. Many transgender Christians seek out an "individualized relationship with God", often facing "a period of denial and struggle" as well as depression, disconnection, dissatisfaction, and spiritual difficulty before "discovering a sense of self that feels integral and true".<ref name=Sabia2018>{{Cite book |last=Sabia-Tanis |first=Justin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pkv7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 |title=Trans-Gender: Theology, Ministry, and Communities of Faith |page=38 |date=25 June 2018 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=9781725239005}}</ref> Many transgender individuals face barriers within the church, such as "fear and unfamiliarity on the part of the congregation, language issues, physical layout that separates people by gender, programs that exclude or separate by gender, pathologizing or designating trans issues as sinful, and overt hostility".<ref>Tanis, J. (2003). ''Trans-gendered: Theology, ministry, and communities of faith'', Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press. p.&nbsp;116.</ref><ref name="Denise L 2013"/>

====In Islam====
The Islamic faith has historically supported heteronormative, binary gender identification.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Alipour |first=M. |date=2 January 2017 |title=Islamic shari'a law, neotraditionalist Muslim scholars and transgender sex-reassignment surgery: A case study of Ayatollah Khomeini's and Sheikh al-Tantawi's fatwas |journal=International Journal of Transgenderism  |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=91–103 |doi=10.1080/15532739.2016.1250239 |s2cid=152120329 |issn=1553-2739|doi-access=free }}</ref> This support is reinforced by cultural norms and traditional readings of sacred texts which prohibit a wide range of identities. Despite this history, progressive Muslims have built arguments that support transgender Muslims on long-established doctrine,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zaharin|first1=A. A. M. |last2=Pallotta-Chiarolli|first2=M.|date=June 2020|title=Countering Islamic conservatism on being transgender: Clarifying Tantawi's and Khomeini's fatwas from the progressive Muslim standpoint|journal=International Journal of Transgender Health|volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=235–241 |doi=10.1080/26895269.2020.1778238|pmid=34993508 |pmc=8726683 |s2cid=225679841 }}</ref> and support for gender transition has even been found among influential conservative scholars.

In 1988, gender reassignment surgery was declared acceptable under Islamic law by scholars at Egypt's [[Al-Azhar University|Al-Azhar]], the world's oldest Islamic university. In Iran during 1987, [[Ruhollah Khomeini|Ayatollah Khomeini]], the supreme religious leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran at that time, also declared transgender surgical operations as acceptable (see [[transgender rights in Iran]]). The foundation for this accepting attitude in contrast to intolerance of homosexuality is the belief that a person is born transgender but chooses to be homosexual. Despite this acceptance among some conservative Muslim scholars and leaders, transgender individuals within the Muslim community still face particular challenges.

Today, there are some Muslim communities that explicitly welcome transgender Muslims, including some which have trans leadership. Masjid Al-Rabia, founded in 2017, is a trans-led, women-centred, LGBTQ+ affirming mosque based in Chicago, IL.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://masjidalrabia.org/about-masjidalrabia|title=About Masjid Al-Rabia|website=Masjid Al-Rabia|access-date=2 November 2021|archive-date=2 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102162626/https://masjidalrabia.org/about-masjidalrabia|url-status=dead}}</ref> In Northampton, Massachusetts, the Pioneer Valley Progressive Muslims (Masjid Al-Inshirah) was founded in 2010 by a transgender Muslim.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.advocate.com/politics/religion/2013/09/23/lgbt-muslims-make-progress-path-acceptance|title=LGBT Muslims Make Progress on the Path to Acceptance|website=The Advocate|date=23 September 2013|publisher=Pride Publishing, Inc.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Power |first=Tynan |author-link=Tynan Power|editor-last1=Goldberg|editor-first1=Abbie E.|editor-last2=Beemyn|editor-first2=Genny|date=2021 |chapter=Muslim People|title=The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies|location=United States|publisher=SAGE Publishing|pages=553–555|doi=10.4135/9781544393858.n188 |isbn=9781544393810|s2cid=242422061 }}</ref>  [[Muslims for Progressive Values]] has founded Unity Mosques in Atlanta, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; and Los Angeles, California; as well as outside the United States. The [[Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity]] hosts an annual retreat for LGBTQ+ Muslims in Pennsylvania each May.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrc.org/resources/stances-of-faiths-on-lgbt-issues-islam|title=Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ Issues: Islam – Sunni and Shi'a|website=Human Rights Campaign}}</ref> The Trans and Muslim Project of TransFaith is a project devoted specifically to the support of transgender Muslims.<ref>{{cite news
| last         = Holmes
| first        = Kristin E.
| date         = 19 January 2017
| title        = For transgender community, a search for faith and acceptance
| url          = https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/20170120_Faith_in_transition.html
| work         = The Philadelphia Inquirer
| location     = Philadelphia
| access-date  = 2 November 2021
}}</ref>