About

Hi there, I'm Kateryna. I hold an MLitt in Systematic and Historical Theology, and I've lived with gender dysphoria my entire life. Over the last few years, I've been talking with Christians about their understanding of ‘transgender’.

I wanted to find out where in the church I fit in, if at all. I wanted to know, when the Christians around me heard the word "trans", what was it they were hearing, and what did they understand about it? What did they know about gender dysphoria? Did they think I was taking part in a lifestyle? Where did they locate sin, if at all? Was it a sin to experience gender dysphoria, or a sin to transition to treat it? What were the Scripture references that supported their points of view?

In that time I read one or two or three books, and the picture became clear: Christians on the whole don't understand gender dysphoria, don't understand why someone would pursue transition-related treatments, and are suspicious of the whole "trans" thing. All the while, they're convinced they actually do understand— and that's why they quote Genesis 1:27!

I've also encountered Christians who experienced gender dysphoria themselves, but for whom it resolved without transition. Some of these Christians present their stories as testimony - but the subtext is clear: 'I chose Christ and was healed; you chose transition and are in sin.' This framing erases a fundamental reality: I, too, have received revelation from Christ. My dysphoria didn't lift - and transition has been part of my walk with Him. There is no single 'right' way God works in people's lives, and positioning one path as faithful obedience while dismissing another as rebellion requires presuming to know God's will for someone else's life better than they do themselves.

This place, Nascent Thinker, is where I intend to challenge the attitudes I've encountered. As someone who has both studied theology and navigated transition personally, I aim to put forward a conception of gender dysphoria and transition that offers an explanation and view of "trans" that the church can accept, engage with, and to see as thing-in-itself from someone who is herself Christian.

The content of this site is to the Church, and for the Church.