Given the religious groundings that support the practice of gender identity change efforts (GICE), we sought to explore the beliefs of Christian religious leaders about this practice and their understanding of marginalized gender identities. Nineteen religious leaders mainly from diverse Mainline Christian Protestant traditions were interviewed. Queer theory-informed thematic analysis revealed two themes related to participants' beliefs about transgender and nonbinary identities: (1) Transgender and nonbinary identities are normative and authentic and (2) God created gender diversity. The analyses also highlighted two themes reflecting the pastors' beliefs about GICE: (1) GICE is harmful and (2) Therapy should affirm transgender and nonbinary identities. Finally, the thematic analysis exploring participants' messages for couple and family therapists could be organized into two themes: (1) Christian religious beliefs do not justify the use of GICE and (2) Therapists should be helpful and not harmful. Implications for couple and family therapists are also discussed.

中文翻译：

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对基督教宗教领袖性别认同改变努力的“极其有毒和邪恶”的反思：对跨性别和非二元客户治疗的影响

鉴于支持性别认同改变努力（GICE）实践的宗教基础，我们试图探索基督教宗教领袖对这一实践的信念以及他们对边缘化性别认同的理解。主要来自不同主流基督教新教传统的 19 名宗教领袖接受了采访。基于酷儿理论的主题分析揭示了与参与者对跨性别和非二元身份的信念相关的两个主题：（1）跨性别和非二元身份是规范且真实的；（2）上帝创造了性别多样性。分析还强调了反映牧师对 GICE 信念的两个主题：（1）GICE 是有害的；（2）治疗应该肯定跨性别和非二元身份。最后，探讨参与者向夫妻和家庭治疗师传达的信息的主题分析可以分为两个主题：（1）基督教信仰并不能证明使用 GICE 是合理的；（2）治疗师应该是有帮助的而不是有害的。还讨论了对夫妻和家庭治疗师的影响。