5 August 2016

Salon: Pope Francis’ trans-rights fail: For progressive Catholics, the cycle of joy and grief continues

In his remarks, the pontiff said, “In Europe, America, Latin America, Africa, and in some countries of Asia, there are genuine forms of ideological colonization taking place. And one of these — I will call it clearly by its name — is [the ideology of] ‘gender.’ Today children – children! – are taught in school that everyone can choose his or her sex. Why are they teaching this? Because the books are provided by the persons and institutions that give you money. These forms of ideological colonization are also supported by influential countries. And this terrible!”

Just a quick reminder here: That’s not how gender works. No one is asking kids to “choose” a gender anywhere. That’s not a thing. In fact, progress means accepting that gender identity is not actually a checkbox item. Francis added that he been in conversation with his predecessor Pope Benedict, who agrees that “God created man and woman; God created the world in a certain way… and we are doing the exact opposite.” From the people who were wrong about the rotation of the earth!

Understandably, the pope’s remarks were, as The New York Times put mildly, “a disappointment.” Marianne Duddy-Burke of the LGBT Catholic organization Dignity condemned the pope’s “dangerous ignorance” and said, “It’s very troubling that the pope would say this. It also shows that the pope doesn’t understand the danger that his words can mean for gender-nonconforming people, particularly those who live in countries with laws or cultural pressures that put these people at risk for violence.” And of course, hateful commentators like Allen West were quick to applaud, saying, “Liberals seem to forget that the Pope is Catholic.” No, we remember. We just have some feedback here.

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