If God made us in his image, why do so many Christians seem to hate gays and transgender people?

The Bible is clear in calling out homosexual acts as detestable (Leviticus 20:13). It is even made more clear in Romans 1:27 how God views homosexuality, “men committed shameful acts with other men, and received and themselves the due penalty for their sin….so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so they do what ought not to be done.”

That said, God’s word in Matthew 7:11 warns Christians not to judge others lest they be judged. Perhaps you have heard the expression, “hate the sin but not the sinner.”  Christians are not supposed to hate anyone including gay or transgender people. That kind of hate is actually a sin from which one needs to repent and seek God’s forgiveness. (Galatians 5:19-21) Christians should be caring and compassionate taking every opportunity to share the gospel message of love, repentance, forgiveness and salvation.

With respect to the subject of gender, in Genesis we read that God created man and woman or male and female. A person who declares him or herself as transgender goes against God’s design for humanity and his wisdom in creating beings that can be joined together in marriage, have children and create families. That is God’s design for the basic structure of a loving and compassionate society.  Here again, a Christian should not hate but reach out to everyone with the truth of God’s word in a loving never hateful way.