Just to be clear, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reminded transgender members and others this week that temple rituals can be done only according to a person’s “biological sex at birth.”

That was already in the faith’s General Handbook, which spells out the church’s principles, policies and practices.

But if transgender members performed their temple ordinances as their new gender identity, rather than their birth sex, such ordinances would not be “valid,” according to a handbook update published Wednesday.

“If a person receives a temple ordinance for a gender that does not match his or her biological sex at birth, that ordinance is not valid,” the addition says. “When this occurs, the temple ordinance must be repeated so the person receives the correct ordinance. First Presidency approval is required before repeating the ordinance.”

To Laurie Lee Hall, a former temple architect and stake (regional) president who was excommunicated from the church for living as a woman, the update is “redundant since it would be nearly impossible to receive an ordinance contrary to one’s assigned sex at birth.”

This is a “doubling down that seems quite unnecessary,” she says. “This is specifically focusing on a very narrow exception to the point of vindictiveness, codifying the exception to the exception.”

Hall had trouble imagining a scenario in which this situation would arise.

Perhaps a person who transitioned meets the missionaries, she speculates, “and is baptized without disclosing their birth sex assignment.”

Temple ordinances follow, she says, and the issue later arises. Or maybe the member wants to transition back and believes the ordinance is still valid.

After all, members “who have taken steps to transition and then transition back to their biological sex at birth and are worthy and committed to keeping God’s commandments,” the handbook says, “may receive a temple recommend and temple ordinances.”

This aligns with the faith’s new approach to transgender members announced in 2024.

Under those guidelines, members who have transitioned in any way — whether surgically, medically or socially — cannot receive temple recommends, work with children, serve as teachers in their congregations or fill any gender-specific assignments, such as president of the women’s Relief Society.

They cannot stay at most youth camps overnight. And they are urged to use single-occupancy restrooms at church meetinghouses or station a “trusted person” outside to keep others from entering when they use a restroom that aligns with their personal gender identity.

The guidelines included the temple policy that all soul-saving rituals, including baptism and temple rites, must be received according to a person’s “biological sex at birth."