Toward a Theology of Trans Opacity: Trans Studies’ Critique of Queer Theory in Conversation with Karl Barth’s Doctrine of Revelation

While it is generally known that the disciplinary origins of feminist and queer religious studies are enmeshed with the production of anti-trans feminisms, theological legacies of this historical entanglement remain largely unaddressed. Although later feminist and queer theologies might not explicitly take up these anti-trans positions, trans identity is still often instrumentalized in its incorporation into queer and feminist theological discourse for rhetorical and methodological gain without attention to the subjectivity and self-understanding of trans people themselves. This article argues that the theology of Karl Barth, when read with his feminist and queer critics, provides resources for critiquing this kind of trans instrumentalization in his doctrine of revelation and critique of natural theology. Moving beyond either reactionary dismissal or instrumentalized incorporation, this article instead argues for a right to opacity for trans people in Christian theology and practice resourced from Barth’s theology.