Designing Your Own Cover

I spend almost as much of my time on cover design as I do writing. And I enjoy it nearly as much. The design for the cover of Child of an Elfin Sea began when I ran across a watercolor mermaid by the same artist who did the watercolor that appeared on my Short Story Outsider.

After thinking about ways to build a cover from the image, I decided that the image was too busy as it was. So, I extracted the mermaid from the background.

For a background, I look for an image that can cover the entire book. That way, I’m not left with a line on either edge of the spine.

But first, I format the interior well enough to get an idea of page count. Then I go to bookow to generate a template. I generally use 6″ x 9″.

I add guides at 0.5 inches from the crop lines and 0.5 inches from the spine. They help me position images more easily.

For a background, I chose a blue water color to go with the watercolor mermaid. It was too dark and too saturated, so I altered it a bit.

I like object book covers, and they tend to be popular in Fantasy. There’s another reason, though, I think. Object covers are a little easier to build because you generally don’t have to overcome busy areas where you want to place title and author text.

To focus better on the area where I would add the mermaid, I added two layers. The first was a circular watercolor, the second a watercolor that looked a bit like coral. Then I added more watercolor details to the top and bottom of the image.


For me, cover design isn’t a linear process. I went through several iterations for the mermaid object and the field around her. For now, I want to look at what I did to add text.

Child of an Elfin Sea is Fae Fantasy. Although the title may convey that, the genre tends to use more fanciful fonts that you might see on a Mystery. I use Yana quite a bit. It’s versatile and has a wide variety of embellished characters.

Finding the individual characters, sizes, and offsets that I wanted took me weeks. One of the few shortcomings of the Yana font is that not all of the embellished characters are the size that you might expect. So it takes some adjustment.

The title looks okay in black, but I wanted it to appear as though it’s in the sea mist. Yeah. That. So I added a layer to add texture to the font.

Last of all, I wanted to add a little more depth by having some of the swashes appear to go in front of the rest of the character. Or behind it. I added those by painting a mask that allowed parts of the background to show through. Note that the blue guides help keep the text centered on the front cover and equidistant from the edges.

When I’m working on a cover, it’s easy for a layer to become lost in the stack. So I group those that I can–Background, Title, Author, Spine, etc. The exceptions are the single layers that I need to position individually.

After adding the mermaid, I adjusted its brightness and color saturation to better coordinate with the background. And I adjusted the background color to fit the mermaid’s colors.

I decided to place the mermaid in front (or on top) of the title text. To add a little conflict. Then, since I also added a lightning strike, I added it in front of the title text but behind the mermaid.

On the back cover, I generally add an additional subtitle above the blurb. Then the size of the blurb, along with the usual publisher information (press, genre, isbn barcode) determines what else I’ll add to the back cover. In this case, I wanted to add a little more whimsy.

The blurb can be as difficult to get right as the rest of the book. Then you have to blend the text and whatever back cover image(s) you use. I ended up adjusting the image size, the text character size, and the layout quite a few times before it felt balanced.

The back cover object image of the girl in the wind was easier to mask than the mermaid because of the relative simplicity of the image’s background. It didn’t require building a second file. Fortunately, the back cover object image didn’t require any color adjustments.

To get from paperback cover to ebook cover, I clip the image to 6.25″ x 9.25″, keeping the rightmost area. Note that part of the spine text remains.

Then I resize the image so that the height is 2560 pixels, the preferred ebook cover height. That results in an image width of 1730. The preferred width is 1600, so I crop to that width. That removes the spine text and leaves the front cover image centered.

It would be nice if I could design a book cover without quite so many iterations. The process I just described was the result of months of image selection and manipulation, and text sizing and placement. I even changed the title to see how that might work out.

If you create your own covers, don’t be afraid to experiment and to keep trying out different methods and ideas. Even if it takes forever, you’ll likely have fun doing it.

A Proper Young Lady

US and UK codes #audiobook #newadult #intersex #sweetromance

I have free audiobook codes for my second novel. The Scottish narrator did an outstanding job. If you’d like a free code, all I ask is that you leave an honest review.

A woman with the complete form of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome might never discover that she has testes in her abdomen rather than ovaries and uterus.

Danièle knows, and she grieves that she can never have her own children. She has a partial form of AIS that left her with ambiguous genitals, a steady stream of doctors and psychologists, and parents determined to see her happy as a girl.

After Melanie agrees to have a baby for her, Danièle learns that the clinic can extract sperm from her own gonadal biopsies, and she becomes the biological father herself.

Ethan adores the graceful young woman named Danièle, while Melanie imagines a life with the father of her children.

Danièle? She’s happy with her intersex body—somewhere between princess and little boy. But in a black and white world, she must choose—once and for all—who she will be. And whom she will love.

If you’re interested, contact me at liannesimon AT yahoo DOT com.

Central To My Humanity?

A Christian friend recently suggested that being male or female is central to our humanity. He’s not the first one to do so.

God created mankind in His own image. Male and female He created us. Whether we’re male, female, or some combination of the two, we bear His image. A number of animal species are sexed in a way similar to humans and yet were not created in God’s image.

Adam and Eve sinned and were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. The result was disastrous for all of creation, but especially for us as fallen human beings. For Adam’s race—fallen humanity—the inability to do what we know is right is also central to our being. Our hearts are deceitfully wicked. Yet we still bear God’s image.

Jesus became like us. He took on our humanity. He became sin for us. He is not only our Redeemer, but our Kinsman. He died not for the angels, but to save those whom the Father had given Him. Us. Humans. That is surely more important to our humanity than the sex of our body. And we shall one day be more like Him. In bodies that do not reproduce.

This friend also suggested that intersex people are ‘already’ male or female, based on where God aimed His arrow, rather than where it struck. On what we might have been in the Garden of Eden, rather than on the body that God knit together in our mother’s womb.

My friend uses the potential for giving DNA or receiving DNA as God’s decree. Others say sperm or ova. Or the presence of a Y chromosome. Or the overall shape of the genitals at birth. In each case, they ignore the complexity of sex differentiation.

The result is often that we who are intersex are sometimes expected to be a sex that we’re not. No matter what the doctors do to my body, it’s not going to become male or female. Yes, I live as though my body were female. But I do so by God’s grace rather than by checking off all of the boxes.

Is intersex central to my identity? To my being? To my humanity? No. There is no special place or identity for intersex people in this country. Nor do I desire one. I’m content to live as a woman.

I write this—not because intersex is central to my humanity—but in response to one more Christian friend who thinks there can only be male and female, and isn’t shy about telling intersex people what their true sex ought to be based on.

The person I might have been had Adam never sinned doesn’t change the reality of my body or my gender. I am a part of the bride of Christ. I am a member of his body. As one who is being redeemed, Christ is central to who I am.

Yes, the Bible provides some distinct guidance based on our sex. And most people are born unambiguously male or female. It is good for a man and a woman to marry and produce Godly offspring. Not all can. And some choose otherwise for the sake of the Kingdom.

In the end, my Kinsman Redeemer will stand upon my grave. Mine. Even though my flesh has rotted away, I will see Him with my own eyes. Me and not another. Jesus knows me. I belong to Him.

My friend, I suggest to you that nothing matters more to our humanity than our relationship with the God who created us in His image. Nothing. Certainly not what sex we are.

Finding Your Voice

The audiobook for Outsider should be released later this year. The Short Story is set in an alternate-history world in which the Daoine-Sìth—the Fair Folk of Scottish lore—are reborn. Eilean nan Sìthean—the island of the fairy mounds—lies in the southwest of Scotland. It’s been under a strict military quarantine since a World War II biological weapon killed most of the humans but also resulted in the Fair Folk being born to the few women who survived.

My ancestry—according to genetic tests—is almost entirely northwestern European. Celts, Normans, Saxons, Vikings. My grandfather’s grandmother was born in Drumcoltran Tower near Kirkgunzeon in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. While doing genealogical research in the UK, I ran across an old book on family histories that said our sept of the Kirkpatricks were “thought to be fae.” Enchanted.

For Outsider, I did quite a bit of research on Scottish lore, family names, even some Scots Gaelic. While I took a number of liberties, I wanted the overall story to feel authentic. When it came time to produce an audiobook version, I wasn’t sure that I could find anyone with a Scottish accent that would also be clearly understood by American English speakers. And I wanted someone who could breathe life into my characters.

Katie Hart wasn’t the first person to audition, but as soon as I heard her version of little Peadar’s voice, I knew that she’d be perfect for the voiceovers. She would prove that Outsider was my best work.

Katie agreed to an interview. Without further ramblings on my part…

Lianne: So, Katie. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Katie: I’m a Scottish actor and voice over artist based in London, UK. I was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland and moved to London to pursue acting and attend drama school four years ago.

Lianne: Where did you train?

Katie: RADA for a year, then did my master’s at East 15 Acting School.

Lianne: How did you get started in voiceover?

Katie: As a kid, I was obsessed with stories. Before I could read, my Mum would read me the Beatrix Potter books which I quickly learned off by heart. One Christmas, my Dad dug out one of his old cassette tapes and recorded Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone off the radio for me so I could listen to the book at night. I was five or six at the time and had just learned to read. Listening to Stephen Fry’s narration did something to me. His characterisations, voices, tones; the way he brought the magic to life made it just that: magic. I soon begged my parents for more books and audiobooks to devour.

I knew from that point that I wanted to tell stories; I wanted to bring colossal tales to life for adults and kids alike. I guess that’s when my interest in voiceover began.

Lianne: What’s your favorite thing about it?

Katie: For me, it’s providing stories in another format. For kids who aren’t yet able to read or for those who struggle with reading, having another narrative to turn to just does it for me. That and voicing all the characters!

Lianne: Who’s your favourite character to voice in this book?

Katie: Well, I don’t want to give too much away, but I love voicing mythical characters. There’s so much fun you can have with their voices!

Lianne: That must be fun! Speaking of which, how did you find that Outsider dealt with Scottish lore?

Katie: You really captured the essence of our culture. Celtic culture places a lot of emphasis on water creatures. There are loads of tales of kelpies, sprites, selkies which spring to mind and of course, Nessie (the Loch Ness Monster) who everyone already knows.

Lianne: Kelpies and what…?

Katie: (Laughs) Kelpies are water shapeshifters which usually take on the form of horses. Sprites are devilish water pixies, and selkies are ‘seal folk’; like mermaids but they change from human to seal-form by shedding their skin.

Lianne: Sounds magical!

Katie: Don’t be fooled. They may sound enchanting but ‘faeries’ in our culture are often wee devils and prone to mischief!

Lianne: Maybe I’ll give them a miss then… So, what other work do you have coming up?

Katie: I’ve recently received funding to develop and devise a new play about mental health which I’m hoping to get on stage next year (depending on COVID-19, of course). I’m also writing a comedic short film about therapy which is due to start shooting in the new year. All in all, there’s loads of exciting things coming up!

Lianne: Thank you for the interview. I love your work and can’t wait to hear the completed audiobook.

If you’re an author in search of an excellent voiceover artist, be sure to consider Katie Hart!

You can find out more about Katie’s work here.

You’re Invited!

You’re invited to a screening of the documentary Stories of Intersex and Faith on October 26th, which is Intersex Awareness Day. The time? 7:00PM CDT.

The eye-opening documentary explores the unique medical, religious, and social barriers that intersex people continue to face today. Through sharing the stories of five intersex people, Stories of Intersex and Faith ultimately helps viewers enter a more constructive conversation on one of the most divisive issues facing not only faith communities, but society as a whole.

While the medical community seeks to “fix” intersex children, many religious communities struggle to understand how intersex people fit into their male/female binary. Yet, these five remarkable stories reveal how some intersex people find healing and hope in their religious faith.

Together they insist, “It’s society that needs to be healed, not us.”

The screening will be followed byStories of Intersex and Faith followed by a panel discussion with Megan Shannon DeFranza, Lianne Simon, Marissa Adams, and Arlene B. Baratz.

Date: OCTOBER 26, 2020, Time: 7:00 p.m. CDT

Reserve your seat: REGISTER HERE

Join us on Intersex Awareness Day for a free, virtual screening of Stories of Intersex and Faith followed by a panel discussion with Megan Shannon DeFranza, Lianne Simon, Marissa Adams, and Arlene B. Baratz.

This event is sponsored by:

  • Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality at Vanderbilt Divinity School
  • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Life at Vanderbilt University
  • Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture at Vanderbilt Divinity School
  • Vanderbilt LGBT Policy Lab
  • Vanderbilt School of Nursing.

Stories of Intersex and Faith is a partner project that CMAC Research Associate Megan Shannon DeFranza spear-headed while working on the Sex Differences project.

Watercolor Memories

My third novel, Watercolor Memories, is being released this week. Although not quite the same genre as Outsider, it’s set in the same alternate-history Scotland.

Toward the end of World War II, a biological weapon meant for London veered off course and struck Eilean nan Sìthean. Within forty-eight hours, the ensuing plague killed all of the men and most of the women on the island. Six months later, the survivors gave birth to children of the plague–the Fair Folk reborn.

Anya’s a fifteen-year-old foster girl, living in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. In the past year, she’s gone from petite blonde to tall and muscular redhead. She doesn’t understand what’s happening to her body or her gender, but she knows she doesn’t want the doctors fixing her.

Watercolor Memories looks at gender and sexuality. It explores the boundary between friend and lover. What happens to you if your memories flow like the paint running down your artwork? If the world shifts, and everything changes, will your best friend still be there or will you die alone?

Silver Dagger Book Tours is conducting a blog tour for both Watercolor Memories and Outsider. Hop on over to their site for a schedule and some giveaways.

Fae Fantasy, Sweet Romance, Intersex OwnVoice

A Letter to my PCA Pastor

pcans

#NashvilleStatement #PCAGA

Rob,

Last night, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America passed Overture 4, by which they endorsed the Nashville Statement, a document written by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

Article VI of the Nashville Statement says that those born with a “physical disorder of sex development” (i.e. intersex),

“should embrace their biological sex insofar as it may be known.”

Article V states, in part,

“We deny that physical anomalies or psychological conditions nullify the God-appointed link between biological sex and self-conception as male or female.”

If self-conception (i.e. gender identity) can play no role, then how does one determine which sex an intersex person is to embrace?

Dr. Denny Burk, the president of CBMW, and one of the primary authors of the Nashville Statement, reduces sex to the presence or absence of a Y chromosome,

dennyBurk1

dennyBurkAIS

An infant with Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome is born with female external genitalia and has testes in her abdomen, which, if left in place, will give her a feminizing puberty. She could live her entire life without knowing she has XY chromosomes. How is it Biblical to consider her male rather than a barren woman?

Medical studies suggest that the most reliable way of determining the gender of an intersex child is to wait until they’re old enough to speak and then ask them. Historically, the Church expected intersex people, when old enough, to choose either male or female. That’s what I did. My body’s intersex. I have Mixed Gonadal Dysgenesis. I was born with a mix of ovarian and testicular tissue. But some of my cells have a Y chromosome, so Dr. Burk, CBMW, the Nashville Statement—and perhaps now the PCA—would consider me male.

I’ve met hundreds of people with differences of sex development. Understand this—your Nashville Statement drives intersex people away from the Gospel. Historically, doctors have castrated us, surgically assigned us a sex, given us hormones, told us lies, kept secrets from us, and caused us to live in shame—all in the name of your precious binary vision of sex. When you say that we should embrace our sex insofar as it may be known, what we hear is that you approve of the things being done to us to coerce our bodies and our genders.

The PCA General Assembly also passed Overture 42, which establishes a study committee on sexuality. The PCA could clarify their stand on intersex and distance themselves from the approach taken by CBMW. It is rare, however, for Christians who issue pronouncements regarding intersex to actually listen to us before they speak.

If you discover that the reason your teenage daughter hasn’t gotten her period yet is that she has testes in her abdomen rather than ovaries and uterus, will your church insist that she’s really male? Often, the most serious issue for parents isn’t having a child whose sex is ambiguous; it’s maintaining a relationship with a church that doesn’t understand the issues they face.

Intersex and Faith’s mission is to help communities of faith minister to those born with a body outside the male-female binary. Our documentary, Stories of Intersex and Faith addresses how some people reconcile their faith with having a body that’s not entirely male or female. Our small-group curriculum is in beta test.

What if the doctors aren’t sure whether your newborn is male or female? Then contact us. We’ll help you find other parents of similar faith who also have an intersex child.

Rather than suggesting that an intersex child’s sex or gender be coerced based on the presence or absence of a Y chromosome, why not join us in helping those with a difference of sex development to thrive within the PCA?

I’m female in the eyes of God’s law. I hope to remain in good standing with Faith Presbyterian and the PCA.

Thank you,

Lianne Simon

Intersex in Christ: Interview with Jenny Cox

jciic

I recently reviewed the book Intersex in Christ: Ambiguous Biology and the Gospel. The author, Jennifer Anne Cox, PhD, teaches systematic theology as an Adjunct Faculty Member at Tabor College in Perth, Western Australia. She was nice enough to sit down with me and talk about her book.

Lianne: How did you become interested in intersex?

Jennifer: I am a theologian (although it is difficult to do this professionally, mostly because there is no money in it). In late 2013 I was at a women’s Bible study group and someone (who was once a nurse) asked me what my opinion was about intersex. I did not have an answer at that time because I was unwilling to make a statement when I knew pretty close to nothing at all about the subject.

Lianne: How did that interest develop into the book?

Jennifer: When I was asked the question, I was in the middle of a PhD (the topic of that is severe autism and human personhood). I did not have time to pursue the intersex question. At first I thought that I could do some research and write a short article. But once I began researching the topic, I realised that a short article would not be able to cover all the issues involved.

So I decided to write a book. But I had to finish the PhD first. So I asked my supervisor how fast I could finish my PhD because I really wanted to get on with the intersex research. I worked as hard as I could and I finished early. After I submitted the PhD I took one week off and then got straight into serious research about intersex.

Lianne: Can you share a bit about the intersex people you’ve met? Or corresponded with?

Jennifer: This is a tricky question. How many intersex people have I met? I have no idea because it is not a question that I ask people. As my friend who is a sexologist is fond of saying, “You don’t ask people what is in their undies.”

But as to people who I know are intersex, there are two, one of whom is Lianne. The other person I met at a sexuality and gender conference (secular) where I presented a paper in 2016. My paper was about intersex and the gospel (an openly Christian discussion in a secular conference). There a man spoke to me about his own intersex conditions (several genetic issues).

I have not corresponded with the man I met at the conference. I have had a bit of correspondence with Lianne prior to this interview. I did not write the book because I knew someone with an intersex condition. I am simply drawn to issues surrounding people on the margins I think.

I wanted to explore the issue, particularly because I was so ignorant about it. I thought that if I am this ignorant about something that is going on all around me (and I am an educated woman), then other Christians are probably ignorant as well.

Ignorance is dangerous for Christians (and not doubt for unbelievers too). If we think we know about something and we really don’t, then there is great potential for harming other people.

Most people I have spoken to about the book respond on the assumption that intersex equals transgender, which it does not, or they want me to comment on homosexuality. Theological questions about intersex are different to those about transgender or homosexuality. Ignorance does not help Christians to navigate the real issues.

Lianne: You seem to be of the school that allows intersex children to decide on a gender when they come of age. Quite a few Christians reduce sex to a single biological parameter. I’m thinking, for instance of Denny Burk of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, who appears to base sex entirely on the presence or absence of a Y chromosome. Would you comment on that?

Jennifer: In the course of researching the book I read some of Denny Burk’s book What is the Meaning of Sex? He does reduce sex to the presence or absence of a Y chromosome. In a way I can understand why he does this.

It would be so easy if the phenomenon of intersex could be understood in this way. All the hard questions would go away. In the beginning, and by this I mean the first few days of my research, I also thought that a simple solution to all the issues could be found.

Something like this is a nice, cut-and-dried way of avoiding the hard questions and the hard decisions that people (parents and intersex persons) have to make. It would also make Christian theology simple.

However, although I began naive and ignorant, I did not stay that way. Sometimes people face difficult decisions, like choosing a sex for their child when things are ambiguous.

Sometimes adults with intersex conditions choose to transition to a different sex to the one they were raised as. These are not trivial or easy choices that can be made with a DNA test. I have not had to make a decision like that, but I believe (based on the psychological research and simple human imagination) that it would be hard.

Since I don’t think that theology should avoid difficult questions, I tried to approach this matter by reading as much as I could of medical and psychological research and also sociology.

People’s stories of real pain, shame and even abuse made me want to produce some theology that took all this into account. Theology that is simplistic, which I think is the case with Denny Burk’s comment about Y chromosomes, does not help those who are actually trying to work through real life ambiguity.

For this reason, I have taken an approach that tries to balance the biblical view of humans as male and female with the reality that some people have ambiguous sexual biology. Surgery may well be a good idea, but many times it turns out that doctors and parents get this wrong for intersex children.

Sometimes the surgery is done to cover up the shame of producing a child who is not “normal”. God is not ashamed of intersex children or their bodies. So allowing a child to demonstrate through play and preferences which sex is most appropriate is less likely to result in adults that have to try to undo unwanted surgeries. Once you do the surgery it is hard to go back.

In saying this, I want to acknowledge that many parents have made hard choices about surgery for their children. In the past there has been little or no support for parents of intersex children. There was possibly even coercion in regard to surgeries. Christians need to give support to parents facing this, whether it happened in the past or is happening in the present. It is easy to make statements from a distance. However, having said this, I think that I would advise waiting rather than committing to surgery on children, unless something life-threatening is involved (which may be true for some intersex conditions).

Lianne: There’s not really a consensus among Christians on what constitutes intersex and what doesn’t. Preston Sprinkle, for instance, says that Turner Syndrome and Klinefelters aren’t intersex. Can you give us an idea where you think the lines should be drawn?

Jennifer: I know that there are a lot of issues in drawing a line in the sand. From one side, there is a matter of including as many people as possible under the intersex umbrella so that it does not seem rare or freakish. This is not really necessary because intersex, even as a rare phenomenon need not be considered freakish. Intersex people are people and are most certainly more than their genitals.

But including a lot of people under the intersex umbrella also serves an agenda that insists that sex and gender are fluid. Aside from the fact that I don’t believe that sex or gender is fluid, I am quite opposed to intersex people being used as pawns in any political agenda. If individual intersex people want to become political that is their decision, but co-opting intersex as a means to a political end is abusive.

On the other hand, including Turner’s or Klinefelters or hypospadias as intersex conditions makes some sense. From a theological perspective, there are a lot of similar issues surrounding these conditions.

Medical treatments can sometimes be unwanted, surgery may be involved and have negative results, and there is shame attached to the naked photos taken for medical purposes. There can be identity issues for men with Klinefelters; some find themselves unsure of their own sexual identities because their sexual development is different to their peers.

Although no one claims that Turner’s or Klinefelters result in serious ambiguity of sex as such, they are unusual variations of sexual biology and a theology of intersex can fruitfully consider these conditions.

Lianne: Thank you so much for agreeing to an interview.

 

Intersex in Christ: A Review

Print

The Author:

Jennifer Anne Cox, PhD. teaches systematic theology as an Adjunct Faculty Member at Tabor College in Perth, Western Australia. Her newest book, Intersex in Christ: Ambiguous Biology and the Gospel was published recently by Cascade Books. I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer:

As a Christian with an intersex condition, I’m too close to this subject to give an entirely unbiased review. Please keep that in mind.

Introduction:

The author’s stated goal was to write an evangelical response to intersex, and to do so from a particular world view. Her words are directed at Christians.

“Yet an evangelical Christian response, which considers intersex through the lens of Christ, his person and work, is needed.” —page 2

Reaching Christians regarding intersex:

To the evangelical Christian, her message then is—the Gospel is as much for someone with an intersex condition as it is for you. Stop abusing these people.

Jennifer Cox addresses intersex from an evangelical point of view without reducing the complexity of human biology to the presence or absence of a Y chromosome. She doesn’t lecture intersex people about embracing the binary. Our bodies are fine the way they are.

A number of Christian scholars claim an intersex person’s ‘true’ sex can be determined from some indicator of God’s creational intent. So I was a bit surprised this author didn’t follow that well-trodden path.

Indeed, after discussing 1 Corinthians 7:17-24, she says:

“It is quite acceptable to live with the gender assigned at birth, and even possibly scribed into the flesh by surgery. God would not see this as a sin. The situation in which the intersex person finds himself or herself when coming to know Jesus as Lord is a situation in which that person may validly remain. However, it is not a sin to transition to the other gender. There is abundant grace in Christ. A decision about gender for the intersex person should be made according to grace and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The fact that this is difficult and may take some time to work through is not an insurmountable problem. Christians should recognize the grace of God in this matter and support the intersex person in the decision-making process.” —page 151

For that statement alone, I will be giving copies of this book to evangelical leaders and Christian friends willing to read it. I dearly wish those who signed the Nashville Statement would take the above quote to heart.

In her chapter on Sex, Gender, and Intersex, the author compares complementarian and egalitarian positions. For reference, most of the signatories to the Nashville Statement would claim to be complementarian. Jennifer Cox, is an egalitarian. As she says:

“I will advocate for a more egalitarian position, particularly in church. The egalitarian position would provide no hindrance to intersex persons taking up any role in church or society.” —page 78

She makes a strong case for her views and rightly associates the more extreme form of Complementarianism with Arianism, a heresy.

Although I have some areas of disagreement with her theology, I think she presents her case well.

So, yes, send a copy of this book to your Southern Baptist or Presbyterian Church in America friends.

About the Resurrection:

Although the author deals with a number of different subjects, I want to comment in more detail on her views of the Resurrection.

My mother once asked me whether I’d be male or female in Heaven. I told her that I didn’t know and wouldn’t care. My Redeemer loves me.

Jennifer Cox insists that our resurrected bodies will be binary—entirely male or female. Like many Christians, she dismisses the verses that speak about a lack of sex—or at least sexual function—in our new bodies. She says:

“Intersex bodies will be healed; intersex people will be restored according to God’s creative intent. This is not to say that identity will be in question, since identity is secured in Christ. However, which intersex person will be male and which female cannot be known in the present.” —page 127

So, rather than pointing to the presence or absence of a Y chromosome to determine ‘true’ sex, she maintains that only God knows, and He’ll make that clear at the Resurrection.

My fallen rational mind isn’t the measure of all things. But some of the statements evangelicals make about sex seem inconsistent to me.

There will be no marriage in Heaven. No sexual activity. No reproduction. The point of our resurrected bodies being sexed, according to Jennifer Cox is:

“Being male and female is a very significant part of being human, because this difference enables people to be ‘fellow humanity.’ Human sexual differentiation is part of our creaturehood. Therefore, we must expect that in the resurrection male and female sexual distinctions will remain.” —page 139

According to some evangelicals, being male or female is essential to our humanity. Yet being intersex is a disorder that can be healed without changing our identity. A binary sex is so central to our being that our resurrected bodies must be sexed. But intersex will be erased.

At a glance, my naked body’s female—wrinkles, sagging skin, and all. My gender wanders at times, but remains well within the bounds expected of a woman. That’s me.

If I rise from the dead with a completely female body, I won’t complain. It would seem odd to me, however, to suddenly have a functional reproductive system in a place where such will never be used.

If I rise from the dead with a completely male body, I won’t complain. But my gender would also need to change. Otherwise, I would become like the transgender people whom the author condemns because:

“their understanding of their own selves, is incongruous with their biological sex.” —page 38

In another chapter, the author says that:

“Identity is not primarily found in a physical attribute or the shape of our genitals.” —page 140

She also says,

“Human beings were created with bodies and we cannot disconnect ourselves from those bodies. In some sense we are our bodies.” —page 129

I agree that our bodies are an important part of our selves. In the Resurrection our bodies will still reflect our selves. If someone who lived most of her life as a woman—though intersex—is resurrected with a functional male reproductive system—how can that still be her self? And we shall surely be recognizable as ourselves in our new bodies.

Job said:

“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” —Job 19:25-27

Reaching those with an intersex condition:

What about my intersex friends who aren’t Christians? Will I recommend the book to them?

No. It’s not directed at non-Christians. But I hope enough evangelicals read Intersex in Christ that the attitudes of Christians toward intersex people change. From what I’ve read in this book, I suspect the author shares that same vision.

“We must love people as they are, while also considering what they will become.” —page 5

Some Christians have made a point of telling me that intersex is a result of the Fall. Okay. But if you tell a woman in labor that her pain is due to the fall of mankind into sin, she’ll never let you share the Gospel with her. Love her first. Help her through that pain. Show her you care.

When trying to reach someone who is intersex, you can’t start with a view that we’re physically broken. And be aware that words you consider ‘the truth in love’ can still injure us.

The author says:

“It is false to declare that everything that occurs naturally is intended by the Creator to be that way. Not everything that exists necessarily ought to exist.” —page 58

I took that as, “You should not exist.” Is that fair of me? Perhaps not. But don’t expect an intersex person who reads Intersex in Christ to respond well to such things.

Remember that I said I’m not unbiased. I interpret language through the context in which I live and my particular history as both a Christian and intersex.

I don’t believe the author meant anything untoward by any of her statements. It’s just my cPTSD kicking in. We who are intersex—at least my generation—live in a world altered by trauma. Not caused by our being intersex, but rather by how people react to our differences.

It’s not that unusual for Christians to try to erase intersex. By minimizing our numbers. By reducing sex to a single biological parameter.

By assuming that we’re unhappy with our bodies. That intersex is a medical disorder rather than a part of the diversity of God’s good creation. By telling us we need or want to be healed.

By looking for our ‘true’ sex. By objecting to the gender we choose.

It’s unfair to suggest that this book actually says any of those things. But a number of my intersex friends are understandably sensitive. So, no, I’m not likely to recommend the book to them, except as something to give their Christian friends.

Drawing from Intersex Experience:

Many of the quotes the author uses are from intersex people I know, or from doctors I’ve seen or scholars I’ve corresponded with.

Megan DeFranza is one of my closest friends. Susannah Cornwall is one of the most winsome people you’d ever want to meet.

I was a member of ISNA. I’ve been involved with or attended intersex support group meetings for nearly twenty years. I know quite a few of the intersex people the book quotes.

I’ve met Doctors Reiner and Migeon and Berkovitz and Creighton and Minto. I know what it’s like to spread my legs with more than just my own doctor present. I’ve had genital surgeries to repair previous failed ones.

I’m delighted that the author quotes so many intersex people. It shows that she did her homework. That she cares to listen to us. But I hope that she has taken or will take the time and effort to develop intimate friendships with enough intersex people to really understand us. I hope that the AIS-DSD support group will let her visit one of their annual meetings.

Ending on a Good Note:

To be fair, Jennifer Cox says a number of very positive things about intersex people:

“However a person is sexed—female, male, or intersex—the human body is very good.”—page 44

and

“this does not necessarily imply that people who are unambiguously sexed are closer to the image of God than those who are intersex.” —page 55

and

“To intersex believers, I want particularly to emphasize that you are acceptable to God without alteration, because you are created in his image, made because of love, and are valued and dignified as an intersex person.” —page 165

Intersex in Christ—give a copy to your Christian friends.

Intersex & Attraction

089
Earlier this week, someone suggested that my marriage of eighteen years to my husband constitutes a homosexual relationship. His reasoning was that God’s intent for a person’s sex is determined exclusively by the predominant genital shape at birth and is immutable.

#intersex #Revoice18

My bits were, indeed, masculine in shape, but small in size and incapable of penetration. I have Mixed Gonadal Dysgenesis. My body’s a combination of male and Turner Syndrome female. I had ovatestes that resulted in a failed puberty. I was born with the cute—and feminine—pixie face characteristic of Turner Syndrome. My body’s intersex. Not male.

I hadn’t planned on addressing gender again—or my own sexuality—but I’m scheduled to attend the Revoice conference this week.”

The Revoice conference is being hosted by a church in my denomination. It’s purpose is, “Supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can flourish while observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality.”

The conference has resulted in quite a bit of controversy, on Twitter and elsewhere. A number of people have expressed views on “same-sex attraction” and whether or not being tempted is, by itself, sin.

Though I try to remain clear of the culture wars, I did want to talk a little about attraction from the viewpoint of an intersex woman who was raised for a time as a boy.

1000
As a child, I expected to grow up to be a wife and a mother. I wanted to be pregnant with a baby, but had no idea what that involved beyond marrying a boy some day.

I was tiny and frail as a child, with spatial deficits that prevented me from learning dance or most sports. I have Ehlers Danlos—which meant floppy, hypermobile joints. I was uncoordinated. Most girls threw better than I did.

eyesMy father taught me to shoot and to fish and to hand him tools when he worked on the car. He took me riding with me sitting in front of him on the horse’s back. He was gentle with me. And good to me. Even though I wore dresses. And cried when he cut my hair.

Mom taught me to sew and cook and clean. And—as a nurse—kept me away from the doctors. For that I will be forever grateful. Too many intersex kids are traumatized at the hands of the medical profession.

I played softball. Well, sort of. With a brother and sister three years my junior. And the girls in the neighborhood. And, no, I wasn’t better at the game than they were.

1010
When I was nine, I was still small enough to squeeze into my six-year-old sister’s dresses. And did. Often. Though such things clearly saddened my parents, they never punished me for what they considered cross-gender behavior.

In fifth grade, a boy invited me to his house to listen to a group I’d never heard of before—the Beatles. While we sat on his bed, he strummed air guitar and sang love songs to me. “Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you…”

070
I wanted to marry him and have his babies. But it still wasn’t about sex. Nor did I consider myself gay. Jim loved me as a girl. Didn’t he? My father had told me that sometimes men had sex with other men, but it never occurred to me that I might be homosexual. Jim was, after all, a boy. And I wasn’t.

My family moved, so I never saw Jim again. Never got to say goodbye.

Jim flashing a peace sign?

Jim flashing a peace sign?


I ran across a photo of him last week. Not in fifth grade, but a junior in high school. Did I tell you he was really cute? All the old longings rushed back. I’m happily married now, but I wondered what it would have been like to date Jim when we were both in high school. But with me an intersex girl.

104
I had crushes at that age as well. Arms wrapped tight around Ron, I spent hours on the back of his motorcycle. I still dreamed of being a wife and a mother, but holding him was all I dared. I knew I’d never have anything more than that. Because I was incapable of vaginal intercourse. As a male or a female. And who’d marry someone like me?

My sin was desperately wanting something God had not granted me—a body capable of bearing children—a body clearly female. And, no, I could not have fathered a child, either. Nor even penetrated a woman.

240
Thankfully, my mother and my doctors did eventually figure out that I’d be better off living as a girl. With my face and demeanor. And my lack of masculine sexual development. My endocrinologist said I’d have no trouble being accepted as a girl. Well, yeah.

I’m in my late sixties. I’ve lived my entire adult life as a woman. My puberty came from a bottle. It was years later than is usual—but it was a feminine one. I have hips and breasts. They’re mine. I grew them.

The boys in my classes got muscles and facial hair. And raging sex drives. I didn’t.

Jim was cute. I would probably have let him kiss me. But my feelings for the boy weren’t sexual. Rather, they reflected a longing for my childhood dream of motherhood.

There are no easy answers to #intersex. If you reduce the biological diversity of sex to the presence or absence of a Y chromosome, you can contribute very little of value to the conversation. The same applies to those who reduce sex to any other single parameter—like what’s between the ears.

1080

As a child I was never confused about my gender. I knew that I wasn’t a boy. Or a girl. My body was different. I wanted one like all the other girls had. But I diligently prayed that God would make me a real boy. Because that’s what my parents wanted. And I assumed that, because He didn’t, that it must be because I still harbored the desire to bear children. Was that such a dreadful sin?

I learned to embrace God’s provision for my life. To accept my intersex body. I can’t be a man. And in your binary world, what does that leave?

It isn’t always about sex.