According to Mormon tradition, exaltation entails fundamental changes to the body which are actively anticipated as part of humanity’s divine future.
While the body is brought to peak performance as part of exaltation, it goes much further than this; the resurrected body is no longer governed by ordinary biology. Aging is eliminated, amputations are returned, scars erased, and sickness eliminated entirely. Food and water are no longer necessary, and eating becomes optional and is only consumed for pleasure. The skin becomes radiant, as it shines and glows. The veins have their blood removed and replaced with a spiritual substance, and the body and mind no longer experience fatigue. The exalted being also gains superhuman powers, such as the ability to perceive even the smallest particles and the ability to command and rearrange the elements at will.
Transitioning genders medically also entails changes to the body. For transgender people, these changes are just as exciting as what resurrection brings.
Hormone replacement therapy alters how the body expresses secondary sexual characteristics, leading to changes in facial and body hair patterns, the development of breasts, shifts in skin texture, and changes in voice. Fat will be redistributed in different places on the body, such as the hips, thighs, abdomen, and face, while muscle mass and strength may increase or decrease over time. Libido, emotional range, and sensory experience can also shift as hormones influence mood, energy, and how the body responds to touch. Genital size and function may change, and fertility can be altered or lost depending on the course of treatment.
With exaltation, the body undergoes enough changes that, in many respects, it is no longer recognizably human. In contrast, medically transitioning genders works on biological processes that the human body is already capable of; it’s just a slight tweak in which hormone your body has.
Mormons look forward to radical changes to their bodies through exaltation, and yet they often look down upon transgender people who undergo comparatively much smaller changes to their bodies. I believe that this is hypocritical.
Mormons don’t speak of resurrection and exaltation as vandalism or desecration; they speak of it as sacred renovation. I believe this is how we also need to approach transitioning, as it changes transgender peoples’ bodies to become more inhabitable, more peaceful, more like a true home for our souls – all a sacred part of having a body. If we can celebrate exaltation as the final, radiant reshaping of the body, we should celebrate transition as a microcosm of such a holy transition.