GOD MADE BOYS AND GIRLS

Apparently, transgender people don’t exist.

After an author’s note stating that “You might be able to change the clothes you wear, but nothing can change your God-given, biological sexual identity,” this picture-book screed opens with a boy teasing a girl: “If you keep playing with the boys, you will turn into a boy!” Their teacher uses this as a springboard to explain that gender is “God’s good gift.” Chromosomes are “a code that says you are a boy and a code that says you are a girl,” and “God is the one who chooses your code.” The leadenly expository text whirls through original sin and the crucifixion, citing select bits of Scripture, lecturing that “God gave us our gender as a special gift, and God never makes mistakes.” There’s mention about how gender stereotypes are misguided, but only as a means of dismissing transgender identities. Backmatter references intersex conditions, claiming, horrifyingly, that “Because of the fall, a very small percentage of people are born with genetic disorders. Some of those disorders would affect a person’s sexual characteristics.” Crude, unartful, apparently computer-generated illustrations show a multiracial cast, including brown Bible characters. The admonition to love people despite their so-called gender confusion could possibly be considered harm reduction, but while the text does not advocate for violence or exclusion, it remains an attack on a marginalized population.

Clumsy propaganda for those already in the target audience.