Emerging Gender Identities: Understanding the Diverse Experiences of Today's Youth - Paperback

by Mark Yarhouse (Author), Julia Sadusky (Author)

"This inviting text provides a useful framework for Christians to use in approaching what can be difficult conversations around gender identity."--Publishers Weekly

This book offers a measured Christian response to the diverse gender identities that are being embraced by an increasing number of adolescents. Mark Yarhouse and Julia Sadusky offer an honest, scientifically informed, compassionate, and nuanced treatment for all readers who care about or work with gender-diverse youth: pastors, church leaders, parents, family members, youth workers, and counselors.

Yarhouse and Sadusky help readers distinguish between current mental health concerns, such as gender dysphoria, and the emerging gender identities that some young people turn to for a sense of identity and community. Based on the authors' significant clinical and ministry experience, this book casts a vision for practically engaging and ministering to teens navigating diverse gender-identity concerns. It also equips readers to critically engage gender theory based on a Christian view of sex and gender.

Back Jacket

Emerging Gender Identities offers a measured Christian response to gender identity, transgender experiences, and the diverse gender identities that are being embraced by an increasing number of adolescents.

"A much-needed book. Mark and Julia have spent countless hours listening to and loving the very people they're writing about. They have helped us see that this topic is not just about issues; it's about people."
--Preston Sprinkle, author of Embodied: Transgender Identities, the Church, and What the Bible Has to Say

"This book is a page-turner. Why? It takes the important topic of gender identities and treats it with courage, truthfulness, and respect. Yarhouse and Sadusky challenge men and women of faith who work with children, young adults, and others who are experiencing gender identity issues to seriously grapple with the complexities so that they will be known as people who tackle difficult problems in such a way that the people of God will feel beloved."
--Shirley V. Hoogstra, president, Council for Christian Colleges & Universities

"This book will be a gift to pastors, youth pastors, parents, and friends of transgender and gender expansive individuals. My only disappointment is that I've only read the book once, so far!"
--Jenell Paris, Messiah College

"This book is a treasure that I have been awaiting for years. It is a faithful guide for anyone who wants to navigate the tangled forest of emerging gender identities and find there the rays of sunshine that help us to see with the eyes of Christ."
--Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB, Institute for Ministry Formation, Saint Vincent Seminary

"A welcome resource and a much-needed tool for ministering to today's youth. I wish every youth pastor, children's pastor, senior pastor, student-ministry volunteer, and parent could read this book."
--Caleb Kaltenbach, pastor and author of Messy Grace

"We are faced with a dizzying ongoing evolution in cultural understanding of and recommended responses to a kaleidoscope of emerging gender identities. This book offers richly informed and thoughtful Christian analysis of these phenomena, along with compassionate and challenging recommendations for ministry."
--Stanton L. Jones, Wheaton College (emeritus); coauthor of the God's Design for Sex family sex-education book series

"Yarhouse and Sadusky are unafraid of exploring the overlap of Christianity, psychology, and cultures, and equally unafraid of reaching out in peace. I admire such a version of Christianity. I have read every page of this book. I disagree with the authors' concept of suffering, but that is a minor point. I found myself nodding my head in agreement over and over. I endorse this book for ministers, parents, and gender-exploring youth."
--Caryn LeMur, a male-to-female transsexual and a follower of the words and life of Jesus

Author Biography

Mark Yarhouse (PsyD, Wheaton College), a licensed clinical psychologist, is the Dr. Arthur P. Rech and Mrs. Jean May Rech Chair of Psychology in the School of Psychology, Counseling, and Family Therapy at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, where he leads the Sexual & Gender Identity Institute. Yarhouse has authored or coauthored several books, including the well-received Understanding Gender Dysphoria.

Julia Sadusky (PsyD, Regent University) works as a clinical psychologist in Denver, Colorado. She also serves as a youth and ministry educator, offering trainings and consultations on the intersection of sexuality, gender, and theology. Her research experiences and clinical training have focused on the study of sexual and gender identity, including providing individual, family, couples, and group therapy for those navigating sexual- and gender-identity concerns. She is an advisor for the Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender.