In Mormonism the belief in a Pre-Mortal Existence is paramount and is one of the most supreme tenants of a Mormon's faith. It is the Pre-Mortal Existence that solidifies the beliefs in Family, Gender, Satan, Creation, Divine Potential, Mortal Trials, Pro-Creation, Choice/Agency, Afterlife, etc.
The LDS Church, and by extension LDS Missionaries, frequently cites a wide array of scriptures to confirm the existence of this Pre-Mortal Life and its meanings for humanity but a good summary for this doctrine can be found in a semi-cannon Church publication titled: The Family, A Proclamation to the World:
In part, this Proclamation says:
ALL HUMAN BEINGS—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.
IN THE PREMORTAL REALM, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.It is very clear in Mormon doctrines and creeds that Gender is a characteristic that was first designated in the Pre-Mortal Existence and is a fundamental part of a person's identity. So if Gender is so important and is something that belongs more to the Spirit than to the Body then why are Mormons so resistant to the idea that a person would be troubled by the feeling that their individual Spirit has a Gender that does not match the Gender of their temporary mortal body?
Let's assume for a moment that the Mormon narrative of a Pre-Mortal Spiritual Existence is true, we have a the wonderful Spirit of a female Child of God in Heaven waiting to be born, but somehow during her journey to mortality something goes wrong and she is born into a male mortal body. Does the Gender of her Spirit suddenly change to fit the mold of a temporary mortal body? According to LDS doctrines the Spirit's Gender cannot change, so the answer would be: No, this Daughter of God would not suddenly become a Son of God simply because some chromosomes were rearranged during pregnancy resulting in a male body. So we would be left with a child who has the Spirit of a female but the body of a male, in her future this child may feel constantly at odds with her identity (regardless of her appearance) and may wish to pursue surgical options as a Transgender Human Being in order to fix the constant struggle in her life. This woman is not trying to change from a Man into a Woman but is instead a Woman trying to be a Woman.
The very fact that there are Transgender Men and Women proves that Gender is a matter of Spirit and exists prior to a person's mortal birth. Whereas if Gender was determined at birth (I.E. without a Pre-Mortal Life, or if the Human Spirit does not have a Gender by itself) then it would be impossible for a person, male or female, to feel like their Spirit was in the wrong body. So, I'll say it again, Transgender Human Beings are proof that the Spirit exists before this Mortal Life and that the Spirit has its Gender assigned before Birth.
The Gender of the Mortal Body is decided during Pregnancy not in Heaven.
Surprisingly I find myself among the minority of Mormons who holds this doctrinal viewpoint. But the reason I've repeatedly heard from Mormons to justify their opposition towards the Transgender reality is perhaps one of the most arrogant rationalizations I've ever heard. This is what I've heard: "God simply wouldn't allow a woman to be born in a man's body (or vice-versa)". The hubris of that statement boggles my mind! These people have the nerve to tell God what he will or will not do, for no other reason than because of their opinion.
But let's look at this "justification" objectively for a moment. Does God interfere with human lives to prevent all pain, suffering or injustice? No, but God sometimes does interfere in that way but his interference is very irregular and unpredictable. There is no single category in human life or human society that God has chosen to interfere with 100% of the time. Why should Transgender Souls be treated any differently? God has chosen to not interfere with mass-murder, murder, rape, molestation, war, illness, disease, hunger, still births, birth defects, death etc. on so many occasions that we lose count after 30 seconds. There is no pattern in observable life or in the scriptures to suggest that God would simply NEVER ALLOW any particular event to happen on Earth, no matter what that event might be.
God did not prevent the Holocaust. God did not prevent World Wars I or II. God did not prevent the Hebrews from becoming slaves in Egypt. God did not prevent the Black Death from killing 1/3 the population of Europe in the Middle Ages. God did not prevent Hurricane Katrina from killing over 1,000 people in Louisiana and Mississippi. God did not prevent Cancer from developing and killing people. God does not prevent more than 24,000 babies from being Still Born in the U.S. each year. If God would refuse to interfere 100% of the time in such dire circumstances like these, why would anyone expect that God would interfere 100% of the time policing pregnancies to ensure proper gender distribution?
Don't misunderstand me, I do not blame God for any of these calamities or saddening events. Most of the events I listed are resulted from Human Choices but some of them, like Diseases or Natural Disasters, had nothing to do with Human Choices but were still not directly interfered with by God. God, for whatever reasons, makes a point to stay out of a lot of major and minor issues on Earth. Specific individuals will claim that God got involved in their lives, either for good or bad, but these examples of God's involvement are not guaranteed from one event or person to the next. In fact you could say that God's interventions are more like the exception to the rule than the rule itself. In all cases, it is God himself who decides whether or not to get involved in anyone's life or circumstances, we do not decide for God what He will or will not do on Earth or in Heaven.
The way I see it, claiming that God will prevent 100% of Spirits from being born in inappropriately gendered bodies is to suggest that being Transgender is so much worse than any crime or sin or calamity on Earth that God would simply be too disgusted by the idea to ever let it happen to anyone. And that suggestion is absolutely disgusting in and of itself, and anyone who believes that should be ashamed to look God in the face at the last Judgement Day.
People of all walks of life need to start slowing down, start taking a deep breath, and start looking what their words and beliefs actually say and mean.
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