As to the blogger’s assertion Joseph was possibly transgender, the argument is deeply problematic. For starters, the author offers no evidence to support the odd claim that the translation of “coat of many colors” is questionable.

LGBTQ activists within the Church have long produced stories deliberately twisting the sexual orientation of biblical characters to fit their revisionist campaign. I thought I’d heard them all: David and Jonathan, Daniel and the palace master, and even Ruth and Naomi. But I hadn’t yet heard of a transgender character in the Bible. Have you?

So I was struck by a blog post published by the Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN), a major pro-LGBTQ coalition active in the United Methodist Church. A “genderqueer” RMN blogger presents an altered story of Joseph and the coat of many colors (as pictured above). In this new-fangled interpretation, Joseph’s coat is not a colorful robe, but a “princess dress,” possibly making him transgender. The blogger, Mac Buff, contends:

[W]e no longer know the precise meaning of the word usually translated “coat of many colors,” but the only other time it’s used is to describe the clothing of a king’s virginal daughter. A princess dress.

Which opens the possibility that Joseph could have been, instead of an arrogant little twerp spoiled by his father, a transgender kid just trying to survive in the family.

Read Genesis 37:1-36 for Scripture’s account of Joseph and his colorful robe.

As to the blogger’s assertion Joseph was possibly transgender, the argument is deeply problematic. For starters, the author offers no evidence to support the odd claim that the translation of “coat of many colors” is questionable. Second, Scripture tells us the garment was a gift from Joseph’s father. Would Jacob have given his beloved son a princess dress? Probably not. Scripture also tells us Joseph’s brothers were jealous of their father’s special affection for Joseph. It’s doubtful all the brothers coveted a gift from their father that encouraged cross-dressing.

None of these details really matter, as the author admits later on. The point is not whether or not the blogger’s exegesis holds true. There’s a bigger picture here we need to see.

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