Nothing in these pages is intended to indicate any hatred, dislike or rejection of any human being, no matter what the state of their life or soul. Actions, which are completely separate from souls, can be judged and corrected by friends and acquaintances…souls can only be judged by God. We are called to love one another no matter what the circumstance – that is the underlying philosophy of this blog – no judgement of any individual – all are welcome and encouraged to read, learn and love.

“Transphobia”, “Gender Dysphoria” & “Non-Binary”

Might as well jump right in with the current “biggie”! First off, let’s correct some of the terminology and point out how the narrative is being misrepresented and twisted.

(Since this is my first post here, some info on how I approach these posts – I will typically address Common Sense and Scientific positions first and then I will present the Catholic position at the end of the post.)

The term “phobia”, from the Greek φόβος (phόbos), is generally used as a suffix to indicate a morbid fear of something (e.g. Acrophobia is a fear of heights and claustrophobia is a fear of small spaces). While it can mean an “aversion” to something, it’s generally accepted to be much more acute and severe than that. Applying that suffix to the term “Trans” (which is, in itself a misuse – the correct usage would be transgenderphobia), this word implies a morbid fear of transgender individuals. I seriously doubt that this is the case – I can see a dislike, maybe even hatred, of “transgender” individuals, but not fear. Using a term like this causes people being accused of “transphobia” to be considered fearful and the “trans” person that is being feared is subconsciously elevated to a position of relative power – that is simply not the case.

Now let’s look at the term “transgender”. “Trans” means to change or move as in transform or transmit. The word seems to suggest that an individual can change his or her gender. This is prima facia (on the face of it) ridiculous. A person can transform their body to look like the other gender, but to change genders at a biological level is, simply put, scientifically impossible. No surgery or chemical process can transform a man into a woman or vice versa. Common sense also makes this abundantly clear to us. Removal or addition of body parts does not impart the inherent abilities of the opposite gender – in other words, cutting off a penis and testicles does not imbue a man with the ability to become pregnant. Nor does the chemical and or surgical enhancement of a man’s breasts provide him with the ability to breast feed a child. Likewise, attaching a “penis” to a female and cutting off her breasts does not give her the ability to impregnate another female.

Now let’s look at the word “dysphoria” – this is from the Greek δυσϕορία (dusphoria) which means “excessive pain”. True Gender Dysphoria is a medical condition – a VERY RARE medical condition. The term has been co-opted and applied to people who choose to be “gender fluid” or “gender diverse”. Understand that these are NOT medical conditions – they are merely cultural constructs. The same applies to the term “non-binary” – this is also a cultural construct and NOT a medical condition. Again, common sense and science are both crystal clear here – there are only 2 genders and gender assignment is decided at the moment of conception (except in the rare case of hermaphroditism where both genders are represented in a person – in these cases, fertility is extremely rare and the condition is considered abnormal). To see this for yourself, simply look at all mammalian life on this planet – there are males and females, nothing else. Across the animal kingdom, males provide sperm and females provide ova – this is an objectively provable fact. Scientifically, the difference between male and female is genetic (XY chromosomes = Male; XX chromosomes = Female) and this is easily determined in a genetics lab.

The Catholic Position

Now we get to the theological position. The Bible, way back in the very first chapter of Genesis, made it perfectly clear: “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27). This couldn’t possibly be clearer – God created man and woman. He did NOT leave it up to us to decide for ourselves (i.e. NO “gender fluidity). He did NOT create any other genders (i.e. NO “non-binary”). He did NOT provide the means or the ability to switch back and forth (i.e. gender is decided once and for all at the moment of conception). In the following verse of Genesis (Gen 1:28) God directs man and woman to: “be fruitful and multiply – fill the earth and subdue it”. Something that can ONLY take place when a man and a woman both participate. A little later in the book of Genesis, God also indicates how men and women are expected to fulfill His command to be fruitful and multiply: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” (Gen 2:24). This clearly establishes marriage as being between a man and a woman and also establishes the nuclear family as the environment in which to bring forth children into the world. Nowhere is this intentional interdependence between man and woman described more beautifully than in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC): “Creatures exist only in dependence on each other, to complete each other, in the service of each other.” (CCC:340).

Side bar: To dispel the argument that man and woman cannot both be created “in the image of God”, understand that God is pure spirit – he does not HAVE an image in the visual sense of the word, nor can he be assigned human gender. The phrase: “In the image of God” refers to man being not just something, but someone. “He is capable of self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons.” (CCC:357). In other words, he has free will.

Finally, in CCC:369: “Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. ‘Being man’ or ‘being woman’ is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity ‘in the image of God’. In their ‘being-man’ and ‘being-woman’, they reflect the Creator’s wisdom and goodness.”

Anything that denies, destroys or compromises this wisdom and goodness is NOT of God and is NOT good.