The radical ideology of gender and sexual fluidity and of transgenderism in the 21^st century has reached an absurd level.  Consider a recent ACLU objection to a sales tax on tampons and similar products:  “How can we recognize that barriers to menstrual access are a form of sex discrimination without erasing the lived experiences of trans men and non-binary people who menstruate, as well as women who don’t?”  Indeed, Colin M. Wright, evolutionary biologist at Penn State, and Emma Hilton, developmental biologist at the University of Manchester, suggest that “it’s one thing to claim that a man can ‘identify’ as a woman and vice versa.  Increasingly we see a dangerous and antiscientific trend toward the outright denial of biological sex.”  An important aspect of the “new ideology” is that sexual “categories” appear on a spectrum and are “therefore no more than social constructs.  If male and female are merely arbitrary groupings, it follows that everyone, regardless of genetics or anatomy should be free to choose to identify as male or female, or to reject sex entirely in favor of a new bespoke ‘gender identity.’”  Wright and Hilton conclude that “To characterize this line of reasoning as having no basis in reality would be an egregious understatement.  It is false at every conceivable scale of resolution.”  They continue: “In humans, reproductive anatomy is unambiguously male or female at birth more than 99.98% of the time.  The evolutionary function of these two anatomies is to aid in reproduction via the fusion of sperm and ova.  No third type of cell exists in humans, and therefore there is no sex ‘spectrum’ or additional sexes beyond male and female.  Sex is binary.”  Denying the reality of biological sex and supplanting it with some subjective “gender identity” is a radically eccentric academic theory.

Creative language, terms and phrases also constitute the language of the new sexual ideology.

• “Polyamory.” Romantic relationships aren’t always just between two people. Sometimes, these relationships may involve three or four — or even more people. This is known as polyamory. USA Today recently reported that an episode of HGTV’s “House Hunters” brought polyamory to the spotlight when a throuple —  a type of polyamorous relationship in which all three people are in a relationship with each other — sought to buy a house in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  “In short, polyamory is when people are ‘in consenting relationships with multiple people’. . .  Polyamory comes with its own set of guidelines and issues. And to be clear, people in the polyamory community say not everyone should pursue it, even if it sounds appealing.”  Preston Sprinkle and Branson Parler of Christianity Today add:  “Polyamory—from the Greek poly, meaning ‘many,’ and the Latin amor, meaning ‘love’—refers to ‘the practice of, or desire for, intimate relationships with more than one partner, with the consent of all partners involved.’ While these intimate relationships between three or more people are typically sexual, they don’t need to be. And they can take many different forms. For instance, vees (Vs) are poly relationships where one person is sexually engaged with two other people, while triads are relationships where all three are sexually involved with each other. Another defining element of polyamorous relationships is that they are honest and consensual—cheating and lying are frowned upon in the poly community.  Unlike polygamy, polyamory does not always involve a marriage commitment, and it is much more egalitarian. Polyamory is also different from swinging or open relationships, though they do overlap. Open relationships are polyamorous, but not every polyamorous relationship is an open relationship. Sex and relationship therapist Renee Divine says, ‘An open relationship is one where one or both partners have a desire for sexual relationships outside of each other, and polyamory is about having intimate, loving relationships with multiple people.’ Notice again that polyamory is not just about sex. It includes love, romance, and emotional commitment among three or more people.”
• What is a “throuple?” A throuple is a relationship in which all three people are involved with each other intimately.  “It’s a form of a triad, but not all triads are throuples . . .  Triads tend to be one person who is dating two people separately without the other two having a relationship with one another. There are also quads, which are similar to triads except they involve four people.”
• Is polyamory the same thing as polygamy? Polyamory and polygamy, which is illegal across the United States but is still in practice in some communities through “spiritual unions,” are vastly different.  Polygamy takes place when only one person is married to more than one partner, whereas polyamory tends to encompass a broader range of people involved with one another.  “Like with monogamous couples, (polyamorous relationships have) a sense of mutual interdependency and responsibility to each other,” she said. “That’s what distinguishes polyamory from other forms of consensual non-monogamy.”
• What’s a ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ partner? The primary partner, possibly a spouse or a long-term partner, is the one with whom you’re connected to in terms of marriage, co-parenting, or sharing finances.  The secondaries are other partners, who may not necessarily be as intimately linked to you as your primary partner, but fulfill a need, romantic, sexual or otherwise, in your life.

How prevalent is polyamory?  Christianity Today recently summarized the results of several studies on this growing cultural phenomenon:

• According to one estimate, “as many as 5 percent of Americans are currently in relationships involving consensual nonmonogamy,” which is about the same percentage as those who identify as LGBTQ.
• A recent study, published in a peer-reviewed journal, found that 20 percent of Americans have been in a consensual non-monogamous relationship at least once in their life.
• Another survey showed that nearly 70 percent of non-religious Americans between the ages of 24 and 35 believe that polyamory is okay, even if it’s not their cup of tea.
• And perhaps most shocking of all, according to sociologist Mark Regnerus in Cheap Sex, roughly 24 percent of church-going people believe that consensual polyamorous relationships are morally permissible.

But Scripture does clearly connect sex, marriage, and monogamy in ways that are violated in polyamorous relationships.  Therefore, a “healthy pastoral response will involve clear, proactive teaching. Rather than waiting for specific situations to arise before you address them, church leaders can educate themselves in a biblical view of marriage and sexual ethics and then pass that knowledge along to their congregations. It’s not uncommon for leaders to frantically scramble around scanning resources and shipping in speakers to address a raw situation that just flared up at their church. But instead of educating in ‘reaction mode,’ we can construct a positive vision for what God intends. Instead of preaching about polyamory directly from the pulpit, consider constructing a positive vision for monogamy. Instead of addressing homosexuality, educate your people on the meaning of marriage and sexual expression. Instead of doing a sermon series on transgender identities, talk about what it means to be created in God’s image as male and female. People are much more eager to follow a positive vision for marriage and sex than to adhere to a list of ‘don’ts.’”

See Joshua Bote, “What you need to know about polyamory — including throuples — but were too afraid to ask,” USA Today (14 February 2020); Preston Sprinkle and Branson Parler, “Polyamory: Pastors’ Next Sexual Frontier” www.Christianitytoday.com (18 February 2020); and Colin M. Wright an Emma N. Hilton in the Wall Street Journal (14 February 2020).