Mike Huckabee has failed his Christian duty to transgender people

How should Christians treat transgender people?

The answer seems obvious: With respect and love. Yet former governor Mike Huckabee, a favorite of Christian conservatives, took to mocking transgender people at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention as he criticized city ordinances that allow people to use public restrooms based on how they identify their gender.

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The website Buzzfeed unearthed a video of the February comments in which the former Baptist minister quipped, “Now I wish that someone told me that when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE. I’m pretty sure that I would have found my feminine side and said, ‘Coach, I think I’d rather shower with the girls today.’ ” As the presumably Christian audience clapped and giggled, Huckabee said, “You’re laughing because it sounds so ridiculous, doesn’t it?”

Yes, it does. But not for the reason they think. What’s ridiculous — and sad — is that Huckabee, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, and his audience appear to believe that transgender people are perpetrating some sort of hoax so they can gain access to public restrooms or locker rooms. Or that they’ve chosen to identify with a particular gender on a whim. This disregards the actual lives of transgender people, some of whom (though not all) have described feeling trapped in the wrong body from a young age. What’s so funny about that?

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