August 30, 2016 – By Alice Heinzen
Recent excitement about North Carolina’s HB2 and Target’s decision to allow persons with transgender identities to use bathrooms that match their gender and not their biological sex has commanded a lot of media attention. In fact, gender identity and theory have become common topics for discussion in the past month. The Office for Marriage and Family Life has paid attention to the chatter and would like to remind people of the Catholic understanding of a person so that they can speak intelligently about this issue.
What is gender identity? The Catholic Church teaches that gender identity is the same as sexual identity; that each person’s “very essence” is revealed in the harmony of one’s body, mind and spirit. The body, mind and spirit are created by God as inseparable. Being created as either a male or female is to be acknowledged and accepted as good. Further, all are called to honor the unity of body and soul and in doing so, find authentic love.
Gender theorists would answer the question by saying that one’s body, mind and spirit can be separated. Biological sex and one’s identification with that sex is not a given. Everyone has a right (and perhaps an obligation) to decide if their sex matches or is mismatched with their gender.
What does transgender mean? Transgender is the term used to describe persons who separate their biological sex from their gender.
Why is “transgender” against God’s design? When one believes that the essence of a person can be dis-unified, the door is open to think of a person as a thing or a machine. Catholic teaching has always told us that each person possesses dignity because they are not “something” but “someone” who bears the image of God. (CCC #357)
“Experience teaches us: in order to know oneself well and develop harmoniously, a human being needs the reciprocity of man and woman… When that is lacking, one can see the consequences.”
— Pope Francis
Just before retiring, Pope Benedict addressed transgender issues by saying, “(gender identity is) destroying the very essence of the human creature through manipulating their God-given gender to suit their sexual choices.” Pope Benedict warned that “when 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.”
How many people in the United States consider themselves transgender? According to recent statistics, 0.3% of the population would call themselves transgendered. (Williams Institute, 2011)
This seems like a very small percentage. Why has this become such a big issue? One possible answer is that we live in a society that tolerates almost anything. People have been taught to accept the differences of others and not try to change them. It would be considered intolerant or out of place to call someone on a behavior or thought. A second answer, which is related to the first, is that we don’t want to make anyone feel unhappy or uncomfortable. In the name of “being charitable”, we don’t say anything. A final answer is that this issue is viewed as an equality issue that is just like the civil rights movement.
Can transgender or LGBT issues negatively impact the family? Pope Francis has voiced his concern that families are being deconstructed by the sexual ethics that underpin these movements. In March, 2015, Pope Francis told youth in Naples, Italy that, “Gender theory is an error of the human mind that leads to so much confusion.” Then, in April of the same year, he said this in his weekly audience. “Experience teaches us: in order to know oneself well and develop harmoniously, a human being needs the reciprocity of man and woman…When that is lacking, one can see the consequences.
“Those consequences fuel confusion and error,” the Pope continued. “For example, I ask myself, if the so-called gender theory is not, at the same time, an expression of frustration and resignation, which seeks to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it.”
What can we do to reclaim God’s plan for human sexuality? Dr. Helen Alvaré, law professor at George Mason University suggests several ways to return to sexual ethics that are pleasing to God. The first is to find interest in and appreciate the reality of the sexual difference. Men are different from women and vice versa. Instead of complaining about the distinctions, find the differences interesting; learn more about what how the opposite sex thinks and acts.
Dr. Alvaré also advocates that we work towards greater interdependence with each other rather than independence. Her recommendation stems from the long standing truth that God created us out of love for love. True love is found more readily in community where our gifts are shared then in living alone where one is isolated and often alienated.
Finally, Dr. Alvaré implores us to reconnect the natural outcomes of human sexual activity: human bonding and the creation of new life. She is convinced (as am I) that removing the natural outcome of pregnancy from the sexual act opened the door to unexpected outcomes that are deconstructing our families. The keystone to reconstructing the family and reversing the downward spiral of sexual ethics in the country is to unify the two purposes for the sexual act; bonding between the spouses and the procreation of life.