Trangender identity/language

[Clare Brigid]

​Can I ask what religion you are? I'm curious to know if you're Catholic, how do you reconcile the Church's teachings on transexuality with your life or what do you think of those teachings in general? If you're not, well what do you think of Her position on transgenderism? Just wondering- if you'd prefer to answer by pm or not at all that's fine.  

​Thanks for this question.  I am a Catholic.  In fact, I attend the traditional Latin Mass.  These days, I most often attend an FSSP parish in North Jersey.

It surprises people to learn that the Catholic Church has no defined teaching on transsexualism.  In other words, there is no defined teaching yet on the moral permissibility of medical treatment, including hormones and surgery, for transsexuals.  Rather, there are general teachings, for example on mutilation or the the existence of only two sexes, which many bishops, priests and theologians apply to these circumstances, doing the best they can to determine the permissibility of such treatment.  However, to conclude that there is mutilation in any given case is to assume that there is no medical necessity.  But that is precisely what the Church has not pronounced on.

Similarly, a person's sex is determined by a number of factors:  the chromosomes, the sexual phenotype (how the genitals and body appear), and so on.  Scientists are coming to understand that the brain is also sexually determined in utero, and that the "sex" of the brain may not match the phenotype or chromosomes if, in the case of male to female transsexuals for instance, the androgen bath that is supposed to occur later in the pregnancy does not occur or is impeded.  In that case, the brain remains partially or completely its default sex:  female.  The brain is a critical part of the body, just like the genitals are.  No, more so.  It determines behaviors, feelings and attitudes.

The question remains open, despite what most people mistakenly believe.  In the meantime, people like me need to make decisions.  I was literally dying until I transitioned.  It was the best decision I ever made.  

Edited June 5, 2015 by Clare Brigid

[Gabriela]

I dont think it is absurd. Its your job to do what you can to teach as well as foster a comfortable environment in which the children can learn. The last thing they need is their teacher taking a political stance on a issue that is so personal to their identity. I have had teachers in the past proclaim their political or otherwise controversial views in class to the students and it is always a source for stress which is inappropriate.
I have had teachers in school who teach 1 class of 100+ students and they learn the names. They are very positive and energetic people who LOVE what they do and strive to get to know the students as best they can. We would make note cards with our names and some fun facts along with a picture so our teacher to go over them.

If you accidentally call a student by the wrong pronoun, I am sure they will correct you and that incident will likely stick in your mind and you wont forget again. I wouldnt expect them to be upset if you didnt know if the first place, but I would avoid adopting an attitude of giving up as a first resort.

​I don't work with children. I teach college students. And I see some of them only once a week. No way am I going to remember all their names in one semester.

I think part of college education is being open about one's political stances, so that students can decide whether something I teach them might be biased by my own commitments. My students all know that I'm a (faithful) Catholic and a Libertarian.

I've never had a student ask me to call him/her by a different pronoun than the one that corresponds to his/her physical sex. If one did, I'd then disclose my "political" feelings about language: You don't get to decide which pronouns refer to you. The meaning of words depends not on a single individual but on the agreement of a language-using community. We don't agree—at present—that "she" refers to males. So I'm not going with it.

Hopefully, when I finish my degree, I'll be able to teach at a Catholic institution where we will NEVER agree that "she" can refer to males. And then I can stand by the community assignment of meaning until I retire. I'm sure that won't be possible much longer at the state universities.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Gabriela

[Gabriela]

I would call the person in question by their chosen name so as not to be douchy when speaking to them, but I would avoid saying he/her, because I wouldn't want to at least seemingly support their gender identify confusion. Names are very interchangeable, and there are many names that we use now for women that used to be for men, and vice-versa. However, calling a man a woman and a woman a man is a different matter entirely. Gender identifying words are not interchangeable like names are, so there is a different gravity to it. 

​I agree with this.

[KnightofChrist]

I would call the person in question by their chosen name so as not to be douchy when speaking to them, but I would avoid saying he/her, because I wouldn't want to at least seemingly support their gender identify confusion. Names are very interchangeable, and there are many names that we use now for women that used to be for men, and vice-versa. However, calling a man a woman and a woman a man is a different matter entirely. Gender identifying words are not interchangeable like names are, so there is a different gravity to it. 

But him is a name for referring to man and her is a name for referring woman. Why not refer to a man as her if he wants you to refer to him by a woman's name? Your position is a contradiction. Calling a man by a woman's is really no different that referring to him as her.  It is God who makes a man a man and a woman a woman. I would rather be thought the biggest d-bag in the world than to play a part in 'denying what Maker Himself has ordained and strip man of his dignity as God created him.' We should respect God more than man. Respect of God and how He intended His creation is of far more importance than being thought of by the world as d-y. It would be better to refer to the person by their last name if their actual name is unknown. This avoids any cooperation in 'destroying the very essence of the human creature created by God'.

[KnightofChrist]

The Church does not support changing ones sex, the Church is against this.

"The Chief Rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, has shown in a very detailed and profoundly moving study that the attack we are currently experiencing on the true structure of the family, made up of father, mother, and child, goes much deeper. While up to now we regarded a false understanding of the nature of human freedom as one cause of the crisis of the family, it is now becoming clear that the very notion of being – of what being human really means – is being called into question. He quotes the famous saying of Simone de Beauvoir: “one is not born a woman, one becomes so” (on ne naît pas femme, on le devient). These words lay the foundation for what is put forward today under the term “gender” as a new philosophy of sexuality. According to this philosophy, sex is no longer a given element of nature, that man has to accept and personally make sense of: it is a social role that we choose for ourselves, while in the past it was chosen for us by society. The profound falsehood of this theory and of the anthropological revolution contained within it is obvious. People dispute the idea that they have a nature, given by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being. They deny their nature and decide that it is not something previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves. According to the biblical creation account, being created by God as male and female pertains to the essence of the human creature. This duality is an essential aspect of what being human is all about, as ordained by God. This very duality as something previously given is what is now disputed. The words of the creation account: “male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27) no longer apply. No, what applies now is this: it was not God who created them male and female – hitherto society did this, now we decide for ourselves. Man and woman as created realities, as the nature of the human being, no longer exist. Man calls his nature into question. From now on he is merely spirit and will. The manipulation of nature, which we deplore today where our environment is concerned, now becomes man’s fundamental choice where he himself is concerned. From now on there is only the abstract human being, who chooses for himself what his nature is to be. Man and woman in their created state as complementary versions of what it means to be human are disputed. But if there is no pre-ordained duality of man and woman in creation, then neither is the family any longer a reality established by creation. Likewise, the child has lost the place he had occupied hitherto and the dignity pertaining to him. Bernheim shows that now, perforce, from being a subject of rights, the child has become an object to which people have a right and which they have a right to obtain. When the freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God, as the image of God at the core of his being. The defence of the family is about man himself. And it becomes clear that when God is denied, human dignity also disappears. Whoever defends God is defending man." - Pope Benedict XVI, Friday, 21 December 2012

Edited June 5, 2015 by KnightofChrist

[Clare Brigid]

Knight of Christ, Pope Benedict's comments refer to those who believe that one's gender is malleable and a matter of choice.  This is why the umbrella term, "transgenderism," is not always helpful.  It includes those who do in fact engage in cross-gender behaviors for reasons of ideology, preference or fetish.

Transsexualism is something distinct.  A transsexual is a transsexual precisely because the person believes that gender is indelible.  The question in such a case is what the best match for the person is, giving due attention to the brain sex as well as other factors.

The Catholic Church has not yet provided definitive guidance on the medical necessity of treatment in such cases.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Clare Brigid

[KnightofChrist]

Knight of Christ, Pope Benedict's comments refer to those who believe that one's gender is malleable and a matter of choice.  This is why the umbrella term, "transgenderism," is not always helpful.  It includes those who do in fact engage in cross-gender behaviors for reasons of ideology, preference or fetish.

Transsexualism is something distinct.  A transsexual is a transsexual precisely because the person believes that gender is indelible.  The question in such a case is what the best match for the person is, giving due attention to the brain sex as well as other factors.

​I'm sorry but they also refer to those persons such as yourself as well. You've have cast away what God ordained.

[PhuturePriest]

But him is a name for referring to man and her is a name for referring woman. Why not refer to a man as her if he wants you to refer to him by a woman's name? Your position is a contradiction. Calling a man by a woman's is really no different that referring to him as her.  It is God who makes a man a man and a woman a woman. I would rather be thought the biggest d-bag in the world than to play a part in 'denying what Maker Himself has ordained and strip man of his dignity as God created him.' We should respect God more than man. Respect of God and how He intended His creation is of far more importance than being thought of by the world as d-y. It would be better to refer to the person by their last name if their actual name is unknown. This avoids any cooperation in 'destroying the very essence of the human creature created by God'.

​As I said, man and woman are distinct words that are not interchangeable. A person can say 2+2=5 all they want, but it doesn't. However, names really are interchangeable. For instance, the names Meredith, Jocelyn, Vivan, and Shannon, all used to be almost exclusively used for men. However, today, those are all considered girl names and if you named a man that he would be bullied into suicide at school.

[NadaTeTurbe]

Knight of Christ, Pope Benedict's comments refer to those who believe that one's gender is malleable and a matter of choice.  This is why the umbrella term, "transgenderism," is not always helpful.  It includes those who do in fact engage in cross-gender behaviors for reasons of ideology, preference or fetish.

Transsexualism is something distinct.  A transsexual is a transsexual precisely because the person believes that gender is indelible.  The question in such a case is what the best match for the person is, giving due attention to the brain sex as well as other factors.

The Catholic Church has not yet provided definitive guidance on the medical necessity of treatment in such cases.

​If I understand you well, Transexual have body dysphoria, and transgender have not ? 

Thank you for answering our questions. It's courageous. Did you speak about your transition with priest, sisters, religious, etc... ? (you are free to answer here or by p.m :)) 

[CrossCuT]

​If I understand you well, Transexual have body dysphoria, and transgender have not ? 

Thank you for answering our questions. It's courageous. Did you speak about your transition with priest, sisters, religious, etc... ? (you are free to answer here or by p.m :)) 

​I tried sending CB a pm but it wouldnt let me. Dunno why

 

Edited June 5, 2015 by CrossCuT

[NadaTeTurbe]

I did not see it, sorry ! 

[Clare Brigid]

​If I understand you well, Transexual have body dysphoria, and transgender have not ? 

Thank you for answering our questions. It's courageous. Did you speak about your transition with priest, sisters, religious, etc... ? (you are free to answer here or by p.m :)) 

​Transsexuals find it necessary to change their bodies, yes.

I consulted the National Catholic Bioethics Center in January 2012 about resuming estrogen therapy given my particular circumstances.  I received a private opinion that it was permissible, and even necessary.  That is when I began my retransition.  (I initially transitioned years before, but stopped.)  

[Clare Brigid]

​I tried sending CB a pm but it wouldnt let me. Dunno why

 

​CrossCut, my email is clare.b.mulligan@gmail.com.  Feel free to email me directly.

[Amppax]

Not here to debate, just to share a couple things that I found rather helpful for my own thinking on these matters recently. The first is an article by Msgr. Pope on his blog. Another is a blog post by Peter Leithart over at First Things.   

[KnightofChrist]

The Church does not approve sex changes

 

Straight Answers: The Morality of 'Sex Change' Operations

By Fr. William P. SaundersHerald Columnist (From the issue of 10/20/05)

I know a man who had a "sex change" operation and is now a "woman." What moral teaching does the Church give on this subject? ? A reader in Roseville, California

Before addressing the morality of "sex change" operations, or what is more formally termed "sexual reassignment," we need to first call to mind the fundamental moral foundation governing this issue. Each person is a precious human being made in God's image and likeness with both a body and a soul. Vatican II's "Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World" asserted, "Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself the elements of the material world. Through him they are thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day" (No. 14). St. Paul also reminds us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19), and therefore we should not degrade our bodily dignity by allowing the body to participate in the act of sin. Moreover, such sin hurts the body of the Church. For this reason, the Church teaches, "Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reason, directly intended amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations performed on innocent persons are against the moral law" (Catechism, No. 2297).

Given this foundation, we can address the issue of sexual reassignment, which is a type of reconstructive surgery whereby a male is altered anatomically to resemble a female, or vice versa. Transsexual surgery coupled with hormonal treatment and psychotherapy are used to treat the disorder transsexualism or gender dysphoria syndrome, "a condition in which there is apparent psychological and social identification with attributes of the opposite sex" (Meyer, "Psychiatric Consideration in the Sexual Reassignment of Non-Intersex Individuals" in Clinics in Plastic Surgery, 1974). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published under the auspices of the American Psychiatric Association, lists five symptoms of transsexualism: (1) a sense of discomfort and inappropriateness about one?s anatomical sex; (2) a wish to be rid of one?s own genitals and to live as a member of the other sex; (3) the disturbance had been continuous (not limited to periods of stress) for at least two years; (4) the absence of physical intersex or genetic abnormality; (5) and the lack of cause due to another mental disorder, such as schizophrenia. Without question, the causes of these symptoms and their diagnosis is extremely complex.

Nevertheless, once a person has made the decision to pursue a sexual reassignment, eventually radical surgery is performed which involves for a male, castration and the construction of a pseudo-vagina, and for a female, mastectomy and hysterectomy, and the construction of a non-functional pseudo-penis and testes (confer Colin Markland, "Transsexual Surgery" in Obstetrics & Gynecology Annual, 1975). Obviously, such procedures involve a radical and grotesque mutilation of the body.

No transsexual surgery will ever be able to duplicate completely the anatomy or the functioning of the opposite sex. A male transsexual will never be able to ovulate or conceive; and a female transsexual will never be able to germinate sperm. Transsexuals will need to use synthetic hormones continuously to sustain their change, which in turn runs the risk of cancer.

Another moral consideration is whether the condition of transsexualism justifies surgery. No biological cause of transsexualism has been identified. Rather, the cause appears to stem from psychological development, and thereby transsexualism should be treated with psychotherapy. Interestingly, even after surgery, transsexuals need at least some psychotherapeutic support.

Finally, a transsexual will never be able to enter validly into the sacrament of Matrimony. A man who undergoes sexual reassignment will never really be a woman, or vice versa; rather, a man will be a man (or a woman will be a woman), except with a mutilated body and profound psychological disordering. Moreover, a transsexual will never be able to consummate the marriage in the fullest expression of love of husband and wife, and never will there be a real openness to life and the creation of children.

To destroy organs purposefully that are healthy and functioning, and to try to create imitation organs which will never have the genuineness and functioning of authentic organs is gross and lacks charity. Such surgery which purposefully destroys the bodily integrity of the person must be condemned.

Nevertheless, individuals suffering from gender dysphoria syndrome must be treated with compassion. They need spiritual counseling which will help them realize the great love of God who loves them as individuals who have been created in His image and likeness. They need proper psychotherapy which will help them to face realistically their human situation and the world, and the consequences of their actions on themselves and their relationships with family and friends. Such counseling will also direct them to spiritual, intellectual and social pursuits to realize their self-worth and divert their preoccupation with sexual identity.

Just as an aside, the question posed for this article involved the following story: The reader is a retired family practice physician, who still works part-time at the community hospital. His grandchildren had a regular pediatrician. Once his daughter (the mother of the children) asked if he would take them for their appointment. He noticed that their pediatrician seemed distant, pre-occupied and cold. Several months later, he was eating lunch at the hospital cafeteria and a female physician approached who asked if she could join him. He said, "Yes." He then asked, "Do I know you?" The female physician paused and said, "Yes. I used to be so-and-so, your grandchildren?s pediatrician." After a pause, the retired doctor replied, "I have to say, ?You are looking well.?" What else could he say? When examining this moral issue, once must not simply focus on the gravity of the physical mutilation. Rather, one must also focus on the devastating impact this act has on loved ones ? parents, spouses, children ? as well as friends and the community at large. Couldn?t a child say in this story, "My father killed himself to be someone else?" Therein lies the tragedy of this heinous act.

Fr. Saunders is pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Potomac Falls and a professor of catechetics and theology at Christendom?s Notre Dame Graduate School in Alexandria.