GLAAD, NEW WAYS MINISTRY AND DIGNITYUSA RESPOND TO VATICAN DOCUMENT REGARDING TRANSGENDER PEOPLE

GLAAD: “Pope Francis’ ministry has been defined by putting people at the center, and he has met with and blessed transgender people, insisting that they are part of the Church and should be included and treated with respect. This document from the hardliners in the Vatican reveals the threat they feel from the Pope’s inclusion and acceptance…”

(Monday, April 8, 2024) This morning, the Vatican doctrine office released a 20-page declaration “Dignitas Infinita” (Infinite Dignity) declaring gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy as grave violations of human dignity. GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) media advocacy organization, alongside LGBTQ Catholic organizations New Ways Ministry and Dignity USA, are responding to the document. The AP reports the document was approved March 25 by Pope Francis, who ordered its publication.

Every major medical association supports health care for transgender people and youth as lifesaving and safe. Read 30+ statements here. The Vatican document rejects so-called “gender theory” and efforts to change sex assigned at birth, claiming people should not try to “make themselves God.” However, the document does support health care intervention to resolve genital differences like those present in intersex babies at birth or that develop later.

Pope Francis has repeatedly spoken up for LGBTQ people and has met with transgender people, calling for them to be included in Catholic Church rituals and celebrations including as witnesses in weddings and godparents in baptisms. The “Dignitas Infinita” marks a stark departure from his pastoral approach of opening the church. It demonstrates that the pervasive disinformation about transgender people that has fueled anti-transgender laws in the United States and attacks around the world, is also flowing through the Vatican.

GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis: “Pope Francis’ ministry has been defined by putting people at the center, and he has met with and blessed transgender people, insisting that they are part of the Church and should be included and treated with respect. This document from the hardliners in the Vatican reveals the threat they feel from the Pope’s inclusion and acceptance. People are not a ‘theory’ or ‘ideology’ and the church now risks further perpetuating harm against an already-marginalized population by denying their personhood.”

DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke: “It is very disappointing and hurtful that the Vatican has, once again, treated people who are transgender and nonbinary as a moral and sociological issue, rather than respecting their experience and growing scientific evidence about the complexity of sex and gender. It is also shocking to see gender affirmation treatments classified as the same kind of threats to human dignity as war, impoverishment, human trafficking, and sexual abuse. If people suffering from congenital heart or kidney disease can get medical treatment, why not those who suffer from gender dysphoria? If untreated, this can also be life-threatening.”

DignityUSA leader Maddie Marlett: “As a transwoman, I am told by this document I am playing God and misapplying my moral freedom. This is not the reality of my life. My journey to self-acceptance was through realizing my self-worth as God’s creation. My choice to transition and affirm my gender was rooted in my search for existential dignity and social dignity. This document classifies my identification as ‘determining one’s identity and future independently of others, without regard for one’s membership in the human community.’ This could be nothing further from my truth. I made one choice and that was to live. This choice has let me continue my membership in this living human community. For a document that condemns the death penalty, I can’t help but mourn the irony of church leaders wanting to doom me and others like me to a life headed toward a serious mental health crisis instead of affording me the moral dignity to find my truth as reflected in the diversity of love God’s image holds. I wish the Vatican would see my inalienable dignity and move with respect and love for us transgender and nonbinary folks.”

New Ways Ministry Executive Director Francis DeBernardo: “… the authors did not listen intently to the lived experience of people who have discovered, often after painful and torturous journeys, that God has naturally created them with a gender identity beyond social expectations, usually based on physical appearance. By simply dismissing this growing awareness of the realities of gender as ‘gender theory,’ the authors of this document abdicate their responsibility to uphold transgender and nonbinary people’s dignity…. the authors ignore the anthropological fact, documented by many scholars even before the current day, that cultures around the world and throughout history have acknowledged and celebrated gender identities beyond the church’s claims of male/female gender binary.”

Additional research:

Dignitas infinita reiterates Pope Francis’ condemnation of laws that criminalize, persecute, imprison, and even execute LGBTQ people, stating: “it should be denounced as contrary to human dignity the fact that, in some places, not a few people are imprisoned, tortured, and even deprived of the good of life solely because of their sexual orientation.”

“Gender theory” or “gender ideology” are terms nearly exclusively invoked by anti-LGBTQ extremists to delegitimize the real, lived-experiences of people in the LGBTQ community. Additional guidance on accurate and inclusive terminology in the GLAAD Media Reference Guide.

Dehumanizing language has a harmful impact on transgender people, who are facing unprecedented attacks. According to the Trans Murder Monitoring report, 321 trans and nonbinary people were reported murdered around the world between October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2023. Additionally, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post, 64 percent of trans adults say they have been verbally attacked because of their gender identity, gender expression or sexual identity, and 25 percent say they have been physically attacked.

Read DignityUSA’s full statement here and New Ways Ministry’s full statement here.

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About New Ways Ministry: New Ways Ministry is a 47-year old national Catholic ministry of justice and reconciliation for LGBTQ+ Catholics and the wider church community. For more information, visit www.NewWaysMinistry.org

About DignityUSA: DignityUSA works for respect and justice for people of all sexual orientations, genders, and gender identities—especially gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, asexual and intersex persons—in the Catholic Church and the world through education, advocacy, and support. https://www.dignityusa.org/