Ancient Scriptures Acknowledge Gender Fluidity

This article is reposted from The Conversation:

Megan Bryson, University of Tennessee

State legislatures across the United States have introduced over 400 bills to limit transgender Americans' rights. Many of these bills' sponsors, such as the Christian nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom, cite Christian values as well as the values of the other Abrahamic faiths – Judaism and Islam – to justify their anti-trans positions.

The Alliance Defending Freedom claims that Christians, Jews and Muslims view gender as binary and defined only by biology, though these religions' diverse followers actually hold a range of views on LGBTQ+ issues. Historically, these religions were often more accepting of varied gender identities before colonialism imposed binary gender as a universal concept.

Religious values from multiple traditions have supported transgender identity. As a scholar of Buddhism and gender, I know that several Buddhist texts treat gender as fluid. One such text is the Lotus Sutra, one of the most popular Buddhist scriptures in East Asia. Its core message is that everyone, no matter their gender or status, has the potential to become a Buddha.

The Lotus Sutra conveys its message of universal Buddhahood in several stories that depict transformations between male and female bodies. For example, a dragon girl instantly transforms into the masculine body of a Buddha, proving that female bodies are not barriers to awakening.

Elsewhere, the Lotus Sutra describes how the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, known as Guanyin in Mandarin and Kannon in Japanese, takes on male or female forms depending on the needs of the audience.