I have a Jewish friend (who is either Orthodox or Conservative, sorry I haven’t asked) who is also a MTF trans. She is a she for all intents and purposes, as far as I can see (I have never seen her naughty bits). She was utterly estranged from her mother for years. I assumed it was because of various Bad Things that happened before she got sober, but now I am not so sure. Her mother went to her grave without speaking to her or forgiving her for something major.
Is there something in Judaism that forbids sex changes, or frowns upon transsexualism? I am really curious. I haven’t asked her personally because I have never brought up her “birth sex accident” because it isn’t relevant to who she is now (and it’s really none of my business that she used to be a guy).
Judaism frowns on crossdressing and on unnecessary castration. I can’t think of the crossdressing passage at the moment. The unnecesary castration comes both from the command to be fruitful and multiply, and the exlpicit ban on eunuchs marrying Jewish women. I have no clue what the Orthodox view on transsexualism is. I’m guessing that the Conservative and Reform position is that transsexualism is a disorder, there is a recommended treatment, and that the person can now be viewed as their new gender.
I’ve seen Trembling Before G-d (which I highly recommend), which deals with homosexuality in Judaism in general and the Orthodox community in particular. But, I have never heard of any film or book dealing with Judaism and transsexuals. There are many questions. If an FTM is truly a man, than they count for a minyan and can be called to the Torah despite being born with a vagina. If an MTF is really a woman, they can no longer do these things.
And what if an MTF wants breast implants? Cosmetic surgery for the purposes of vanity is forbidden- a woman who feels her breasts are too small must learn to live with them. However, reconstructive surgery is allowed. A woman who has had a mastectomy may get implants and cosmetic surgey to restore her breasts. Is an MTF who is unhappy with the cup size the hormones have given them merely being vain by wanting implants or are they corrective surgery?
ETA Your friend did not “used to be a guy” she used to have a penis, but she was never a guy.
For gentiles- A get is a Jewish certificate of divorce. Frum means religious and observant.
For those who don’t wanna read the article- Reform Judaism generally recognizes people as their new gender. A Conservative body just issued a ruling that a person can be regnognized as their new gender only after full sexual reassignment surgery. Most Orthodox Jews will never accept a transsexual as other than the gender assigned at birth and view SRS as mutilation which violates the ban on castration/hysterectomies.
The last both surprises and doesn’t surprise me. Orthodox Judaism is very big on tradition (tra-dition!) and rigid gender roles. However, it is also very big on learning and science. Rabbis with microscopes determine whether a material is porous or non porous. They determine the exact temperature which must be reached for an oven to be cleansed and suitable for kosher baking. I’m surpised that a bunch of rabbis did not study the scientific facts (which strongly indicate that sex is a matter of brain structure, not genotype, or genitalia) and determine that maybe these people were not really their assigned gender to begin with.
Finally, the article gives me hope. If an Orthodox trannsexual can get dates, then surely I can too.
There’s also a general Jewish notion that altering your body is not a good thing, yes? I don’t know whether this derives from the sources given above, but it was transmitted very firmly even in my secular family. I don’t know of anyone in my extended family with a tattoo, a piercing other than ears, or cosmetic surgery.
It’s not as surprising as you’d think. We’re not talking about trying to find an appropriate category or law for a newly-created thing (e.g.,plastics), but a redefinition of something that seemed pretty obvious for ages.
That said, I realize that transsexuals have a disconnect of sorts between their brain structure and their genital structure, but what, in the objective sceintific sense, makes the brain more right than the genitals? How do you say that sex is a matter of brain structure and not genitalia? Surely, any organ that males and females differ in is an indicator of gender. If someone has a set that is not fully in agreement, then there’s obviously questions to be addressed, but how can you discard genitalia as a determiner?
I thought it was because of Auschwitz.
Saw a young woman at the Jewish food fair last year with a Chai tattooed at the base of her spine. Freaked me out for a couple of reasons.
Of course you’re right- frankly, I’m not used to making the distinction as part of my daily life!
Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the ignorance fought. As if the burden of being a sober alcoholic/addict AND a MTF trans wasn’t enough, she has this to deal with… I think at least her daughter is okay with it, though.
I used to hang out in a discussion group for transgendered Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish people. The consensus (supported by scholarship) was that sex-reassignment surgery per se is forbidden (cf. the prohibition of unnecessary castration and cosmetic surgery), BUT a biologically male person who has undergone sex-reassignment surgery should be regarded as female.
So, a male who is currently a practicing Orthodox Jew would have a hard time justifying SRS. However, if that person was not an Orthodox Jew at the time of surgery, and later became observant, that person would be entitled/expected to observe the mitzvot as they apply to women.
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