A transgender pastor from Texas created quite a stir when he declared that "God is transgender."
The Rev. S. David Wynn, a senior pastor from Agape Metropolitan Community Church in Fort Worth, Texas, made the highly provocative statement in response to people using God as an argument in supporting a bathroom bill in the state that would require individuals to use public restrooms based on "biological sex," The Huffington Post reported.
Speaking before a huge crowd of LGBTQ supporters on Tuesday in Austin, Wynn slammed Senate Bill 6, which would also pre-empt and nullify all local nondiscrimination ordinances that allow transgender people in Texas to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity, according to The Texas Tribune.
Paraphrasing a part of a verse in Genesis, Wynn said, "In the beginning, God created humankind in God's image. ... So God is transgender."
As the crowd roared in approval, Wynn added, "We're all created in the image of what is holy and divine and sacred, and we should all be treated that way."
However, Wynn skipped that part in Genesis that clearly mentions the creation of only two different genders—male and female. This is Genesis 1:27, which states, "So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."
During Tuesday's hearing in the Texas Senate, one Democratic state senator, Eddie Lucio Jr., joined Republican supporters of the bill, saying that "God's creation" was one reason he supports the legislation.
"God created everything as far as I'm concerned, but especially man and woman," Lucio said.
But this argument appeared to have riled up Wynn, who countered by saying that people should "stop using God as an excuse to hate people."
The pastor then paraphrased author Anne Lamott, saying, "If God hates all the same people you do, then you've created God in your image."
The controversial bill has drawn mixed reactions in Texas and all over the U.S. Critics claim it will discriminate against transgender people while advocates of the bill say it will enhance privacy and safety and keep men out of women's bathrooms.
