This is a setback for transgender people who had hoped Pope Francis might be setting the stage for a more welcoming approach from the Catholic Church.

World Religions

Around the world, major religions have diverse approaches to gender identity, and the inclusion or exclusion of transgender people.

Some examples:

Christianity

The Catholic Church's disapproving stance toward gender transition is shared by some other denominations.

For example, the Southern Baptist Convention - the largest Protestant denomination in the United States - adopted a resolution in 2014 stating that "God's design was the creation of two distinct and complementary sexes, male and female."

It asserts that gender identity "is determined by biological sex, not by one's self-perception"

However, numerous mainline Protestant denominations welcome trans people as members and as clergy.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America elected an openly transgender man as a bishop in 2021.

Islam

In Islam, there isn't a single central religious authority and policies can vary in different regions.

Abbas Shouman, secretary-general of Al-Azhar's Council of Senior Scholars in Cairo, said that "for us, … sex conversion is completely rejected.

"It is God who has determined the … sex of the fetus and intervening to change that is a change of God's creation, which is completely rejected," Shouman added.

In Iran, the Shiite theocracy's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a religious decree, or fatwa, decades ago, opening the way for official support for gender transition surgery.

Hinduism

In Hindu society in South Asia, while traditional roles were and are still prescribed for men and women, people of non-binary gender expression have been recognised for millennia and played important roles in holy texts.

Third gender people have been revered throughout South Asian history with many rising to significant positions of power under Hindu and Muslim rulers.

One survey in 2014 estimated that around 3 million third gender people live in India alone.

Sanskrit, the ancient language of Hindu scriptures, has the vocabulary to describe three genders - masculine, feminine and gender-neutral.

The most common group of third gender people in India are known as the "hijras." While some choose to undergo gender reassignment surgery, others are born intersex. Most consider themselves neither male or female.

Some Hindus believe third gender people have special powers and the ability to bless or curse, which has led to stereotyping causing the community to be feared and marginalised.

Many live in poverty without proper access to healthcare, housing and employment.

In 2014, India, Nepal and Bangladesh, which is a Muslim-majority country, officially recognised third gender people as citizens deserving of equal rights.

The Supreme Court of India stated that "it is the right of every human being to choose their gender," and that recognition of the group "is not a social or medical issue, but a human rights issue."

Buddhism

Buddhism has traditionally adhered to binary gender roles, particularly in its monastic traditions where men and women are segregated and assigned specific roles.

These beliefs remain strong in the Theravada tradition, as seen in the attempt of the Thai Sangha Council, the governing Buddhist body in Thailand, to ban ordinations of transgender people.

More recently, the Theravada tradition has somewhat eased restrictions against gender nonconforming people by ordaining them in their sex recorded at birth.

However, the Mahayana, and Vajrayana schools of Buddhism have allowed more exceptions while the Jodo Shinshu sect has been even more inclusive in ordaining transgender monks both in Japan and North America.

In Tibetan Buddhism, Tashi Choedup, an openly queer monk, was ordained after their teacher refrained from asking about their gender identity as prescribed by Buddhist doctrine.

Many Buddhist denominations, particularly in the West, are intentionally inclusive of transgender people in their sanghas or gatherings.

Judaism

Reform Judaism is accepting of transgender people and allows for the ordination of trans rabbis.

According to David J. Meyer, who served for many years as a rabbi in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Jewish traditional wisdom allowed possibilities of gender identity and expression that differed from those typically associated with the sex assigned at birth.

"Our mystical texts, the Kabbalah, address the notion of transitioning from one gender to another," he wrote on a Reform-affiliated website.

It's different, for the most part, in Orthodox Judaism.

"Most transgender people will find Orthodox communities extremely difficult to navigate," says the Human Rights Campaign, a major U.S. LGBTQ-rights advocacy group.

"Transgender people are further constrained by Orthodox Judaism's emphasis on binary gender and strict separation between men and women," the HRC says.

"For example, a transgender person who has not medically transitioned poses a challenge for a rabbi who must decide whether that person will sit with men or women during worship."

Rabbi Avi Shafran, spokesman for the Orthodox Jewish organization Agudath Israel of America, wrote a blog post last year after appearing on an Israeli television panel to discuss transgender-related issues.

"There can be no denying that there are people who are deeply conflicted about their gender identities.

"They deserve to be safe from harm and, facing challenges the rest of us don't, deserve empathy and compassion," Shafran wrote.

"But the Torah and its extension, halacha, or Jewish religious law, are unequivocal about the fact that being born in a male body requires living the life of a man, and being born female entails living as a woman."

"In Judaism, each gender has its particular life-role to play," he added.

"The bodies God gave us are indications of what we are and what we are not, and of how He wants us to live our lives."

• First published in Religion News Service
• David Crary is an author at Religion News Service. Mariam Fam and Deepa Bharath are reporters with The Associated Press' global religion team.

Dawkins is abandoning both to spread anti-transgender rhetoric embraced by religious conservatives.

During a recent episode of his podcast "The Poetry of Reality," Dawkins spoke with author Helen Joyce about the "influence of gender ideology on society."

There was no mention of how Joyce has previously said transgender people who have transitioned are "damaged" and "a huge problem to a sane world."

Nor did Dawkins bring up how she believes "reducing" the number of people who transition is a moral imperative.

Dawkins not only agreed with many of her points, he added that "sex really is binary" and that kids are choosing to be Trans under pressure from both their peers and teachers.

He also insisted that people like him were the real victims of abuse, wondering why "all the bullying (goes) one way."

(In fact, a study from 2021 found that trans people are four times more likely than cisgender people to "experience violent victimisation.")

The podcast episode dropped days after Dawkins wrote an essay for the British magazine The New Statesman answering the question, "What is a woman?"

Dawkins' reductive response boiled down to "A woman is an adult human female, free of Y chromosomes," as if the absence of a single chromosome answers the question.

That flies in the face of what many scientists have said about the subject.

"There are cisgender women who have XY sex chromosomes, and many other exceptions to binary sex.

"Around 1 in 1,000 people are intersex," said Jey McCreight, a science communicator with a Ph.D. in genomics who has consulted on trans inclusivity for biotech companies.

McCreight added in an email: "That's pretty common as far as biology goes.

"A study may treat sex as binary out of practicality, but scientists understand that reality is more nuanced."

Despite acknowledging those exceptions exist, Dawkins casually dismisses them, just as he dismisses the genetic influences many experts believe contribute to the development of trans identities.

Those exceptions and influences are reasons the American Medical Association and other major medical organisations have supported gender-affirming care.

Dawkins also rejects definitions of womanhood that extend beyond chromosomes.

In 2021, he went even further, comparing trans people to Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who famously (and controversially) identified as Black.

Suggesting trans people were making a similar choice, he tweeted, "Some men choose to identify as women, and some women choose to identify as men."

He insisted he wasn't disparaging trans people — most of whom say their gender identity is not a choice at all, but rather just who they are — and said he used their names and pronouns as a "courtesy."

But that didn't smooth things over.

The American Humanist Association, which gave Dawkins its 1996 Humanist of the Year award, rescinded the honour in response.

At a time when 76 percent of atheists accept the existence of trans people, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey, while only 38 percent of all American adults feel the same, it's jarring to see the world's most famous atheist use his massive platform to downplay or deny trans identities.

That's especially true when trans people in the U.S. are under attack from conservative media outlets and legislators eager to label them predators or "groomers."

The advocacy group GLAAD said 2023 was "on pace to be a record-setting year for state legislation targeting LGBTQ adults and youth," including laws banning or limiting trans individuals' access to health care and participation in sports.

For decades, the most vocal opponents of LGBTQ rights were religious conservatives making the argument that acceptance violated God's wishes.

Lately, though, as the lines between politics and religion have blurred, conservatives have been citing science, rather than religion, to justify their positions.

In response to a trans-supporting colleague, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene hung a sign outside her office saying "There are TWO genders … Trust The Science!"

A recent anti-trans film by conservative provocateur Matt Walsh attempted to make a scientific rather than religious case against trans people.

And author J.K. Rowling, whom Dawkins called "very brave" in his podcast, has couched her inflammatory rhetoric in biological terms.

What's most frustrating about Dawkins' shift in focus is that his otherwise excellent science writing is being tarnished by his bizarre obsession.

Much as fans of the Harry Potter series are now conflicted about the book and movie franchise and its creator, I can no longer recommend Dawkins' books to people who want to educate themselves about evolution.

It's also maddening because Dawkins remains the go-to atheist for reporters and media outlets.

There are more atheists who are LGBTQ, women and people of colour than ever before, yet it's Dawkins who often takes centre stage whenever there are public conversations about atheism.

That's not his fault, of course: He literally wrote the most popular book on the subject.

But it's irresponsible to use his platforms to spread ignorance on a topic that critics have repeatedly said he doesn't understand and often gets flat-out wrong.

His words also have the effect of further alienating LGBTQ people when they're already marginalised by many powerful religious leaders.

Why would they want to become atheists when supposedly "reasonable" people are spreading the same lies they hear in churches?

Trans people are currently subject to political attacks and dehumanising laws.

Dawkins should spend less time acting like this issue boils down to basic biology and more time advocating for LGBTQ people who have been harmed by religious — and now supposedly scientific — bigotry.

• Hemant Mehta is a writer, podcaster and atheist activist. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.
• First published in Religion News Service. Republished with permission.

A transgender Catholic, James Pignatella is one of the speakers in the three-part Zoom series which began last month. The next sessions are on 18 November and 15 December.

The series aims to educate Catholic priests on how to better serve their transgender parishioners.

The sessions are hosted by Stan Zerkowski, director of LGBT ministry for the Diocese of Lexington. He says these are geared toward priests to create a safe space for participants to ask questions and learn from speakers.

Over 30 priests are expected to attend.

"I'm really hoping that I'll … give them a face and a person to go with that identity," Pignatella says.

"I think that one of the bigger problems that exists is there's a lot of conversation about trans people, but not very many people know [anyone who is trans]."

He thinks Church leadership is slowly warming to LGBTQ rights.

Other speakers are Sr. Luisa Derouen, a member of the Dominican Sisters of Peace and Deacon Ray Dever of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Derouen hopes to help debunk beliefs about trans people Catholic leaders often spread. These include the idea that one's gender is fixed at birth or that transgender identity is an ideology or a mental illness.

She wants to help priests understand how important their words are to trans Catholics.

"One sentence that is negative and hurtful can move somebody a step closer to suicide.

"One positive sentence, one sentence that is affirming, can pull them back from the edge of suicide. It's that critical."

Over half of transgender youth and young adults have considered suicide, an LGBTQ suicide prevention organisation found.

Research suggests much of this is due to societal discrimination and family rejection.

Derouen, who has provided spiritual guidance to hundreds of trans peoples, says many want affirmation from a person of faith.

Some wondered if they would go to hell, if God could still love them and if they could live a faithful Catholic life as a trans person.

"The truth never leads us away from God — that's my mantra," Derouen says.

"So if you are living in the truth of who you are — and only you and God know that … That's what holiness looks like."

She says discerning their gender identity and transitioning can be a deeply spiritual experience. It's about asking the most fundamental question of all: "Who am I?"

"What I have witnessed over and over again, hundreds of times, is that when people claim their truth, as transgender, their relationship with God is much closer. We can only go to God as we are."

Most priests don't intend to harm trans people, Derouen says. She wants to be a resource for priests and Catholics who want to learn to support their trans community members.

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• Image:Bloomberg
  

It all started two weeks ago, when a trans woman asked Fr Andrea Conocchia for help.

He gave her food and basic supplies from the care packages.

The day after, the woman returned with a friend - then more and more people arrived.

As Conocchia's parish's resources were already stretched by the COVID-19 pandemic and two of the women are from Argentina, he urged them to write to Pope Francis about their situation and to ask for the money they needed to pay their rent.

Francis showed his support through the papal almoner Cardinal Konrad Krajewski (pictured on the bike), who administers the pope's charitable work.

Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, Krajewski has been driving around Rome distributing food and medical supplies to the poor.

He has also given them enough money to cover their rent and bills until the nationwide lockdown ends.

Krajewski responded to the women's plea for help by transferring money to the parish.

"What a great answer by the Holy Father!" Conocchia says.

"It gave us the chance to give concrete help for their needs."

He says he reached out to Francis knowing his concern for "the most in need, the smallest, the most fragile, who live in the margins, or as the pope says, the most discarded."

Krajewski says he is surprised at the media attention the Church's support for the trans women is getting.

"This is ordinary work for the Church, it's normal. This is how the Church is a field hospital."

"We follow the gospel."

He also pointed out that trans sex workers are probably undocumented, as the Mafia often confiscates their passports. This makes it difficult for them to seek help from Italian state welfare offices.

"Everything is closed. They don't have any resources. They went to the pastor. They could not have gone to a politician or a parliamentarian. And the pastor came to us."

Conocchia is defending his decision to ask the pope for help for the women.

"As a person, I am happy to meet them personally and listen to them personally, as I hope that any priest would do."

He says he's happy the Church was a point of reference for them, even though their lives are currently not in step with the Church's teachings.

"They know very well about their lives, they know very well," he notes.

He says when two of the individuals were drafting the letter that was sent to Krajewski, they were "crying like children," because they were ashamed, but they also encouraged one another to be honest.

"What was important to me was the open door of the parish church, and the possibility of welcoming, listening and accepting the person that I had truly and concretely in front of me," Conocchia says.

Source

• Crux
• Thomas Reuters Foundation
• Religion News Service
• Fox News
• Image: NewsBeezer