America’s culture war heated up after Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, signed the Parental Rights Law, which prohibits the teaching of gender identity or sexual orientation to kids from kindergarten to third grade. The bill had broad support from parents, who believe teachers have no business talking to grade schoolers about sex. But some Disney employees staged a walkout to protest the bill, claiming it promotes hate.
The furor reached a boiling point when videos were leaked to the media of Disney executives discussing plans to promote the LGBTQ-plus agenda in children’s programming. One of those executives, Karey Burke, president of General Entertainment Content, vowed during a conference call that 50% of Disney characters will be either LGBTQ or racial minorities by the end of this year.
Latoya Raveneau, executive producer of Disney Television Animation, said on the Zoom call that she assumed Disney would keep LGBTQ-plus themes or characters out of children’s content, but she was pleasantly surprised they didn’t. Raveneau admitted to having a “not-at-all secret gay agenda.”
It wasn’t long ago that educators followed the science that there are only two genders, male and female. Most of us are sad when we hear that Hollywood actors encourage their young children to “choose” their gender, providing puberty-blocking drugs or surgery to “change” gender. Parents are understandably riled that teachers, school administrators and companies like Disney are seeking to indoctrinate kids.
I recently preached at a men’s event at River Church in Mobile, Alabama, and my primary text was from Deuteronomy 23:1 (NASB 1995), which strictly prohibits gender bending. It says: “No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.”
You have probably never heard that verse included in a church service. But I told those men we can’t afford to be prudish about these issues. Too much is at stake, especially when young children are at risk.
The Deuteronomy passage proves the transgender movement is not new. Ancient pagan cultures promoted transsexual behavior as part of their idol worship. Jezebel, the high priestess of Baal, convinced her prophets to be sexually neutered in order to serve as her eunuchs.
Ancient Baal worship included orgies, ritual prostitution (both gay and straight), transsexual behavior and child sacrifice. When you read about what really went on in a pagan temple, you understand why God commanded Israel to stay far away from those practices the Lord described as “abominations” (see Lev. 18:22).
God set up His moral barriers to lovingly protect His people, not to show hate. But it’s not popular today to talk about moral barriers. We’re supposed to nod and go along with any “progressive” agenda. If you muster the courage to question it, you risk being labeled a hatemonger.
Recently a video resurfaced of a sermon from Mark Robinson, now the lieutenant governor of North Carolina. The Black politician, who is a conservative Christian, made some bold comments about the transgender movement during his message at the Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, North Carolina, in August 2021.
Robinson said: “You can go to the doctor and get cut up, you can go down to the dress shop and get made up, you can go down there and get drugged up, but at the end of the day, you are just a drugged-up, dressed-up, made-up, cut-up man or woman.” Robinson continued in his sermon, “You ain’t changed what God put in you—that DNA. You can’t transcend God’s creation. I don’t care how hard you try.” Members of the predominantly Black church in Raleigh can be heard shouting amens in response. I say amen as well.
To question the concept of gender is to challenge God’s fixed order of creation. To question whether God made us in His image, male and female, is to arrogantly rail against God’s authority. And to groom innocent kids to embrace perversion should be called what it is—child abuse. May God deliver our country from this demonic conspiracy.
