Are Catholic supposed to address transgendered people by their new sex?

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Are Catholics, conservative Christians and anyone else who tried to uphold a conservative religious belief supposed address transgendered people by their new sexual identity?
 
MainBrain said:
Are Catholics, conservative Christians and anyone else who tried to uphold a conservative religious belief supposed address transgendered people by their new sexual identity?
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If a guy wants to be called by a girl’s name, I don’t think it’s anti-Catholic to address the person by the name he wants to be called.

It is possible to deal with individuals differently vs. how we deal with the subject generally.
 
Well they do not have a new sex.

So no I will not.

Truth with charity.
 
MainBrain said:
Are Catholics, conservative Christians and anyone else who tried to uphold a conservative religious belief supposed address transgendered people by their new sexual identity?
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Prudential judgment.
 
Bookcat said:
Well they do not have a new sex.

So no I will not.

Truth with charity.
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That works only if people believe “your truth” to be the only truth, and I can practically guarantee that someone who identifies as transgender does not.
And does a better job of alienating people than actually helping them come to the truth.

I don’t see any charity at all in your approach.
 
It depends on whether you want to be on speaking terms with them in the future.

I wonder what Jesus would do?
 
As a Catholic, I don’t believe that the “Archbishop” of Canterbury is an actual archbishop since Anglican orders are not in the proper line of apostolic succession, making them null and void.

But out of respect for The Most Reverend Justin Welby and for the Anglican Communion more generally, I will always refer to him by his recognised ecclesial title. The same applies to “female bishops and priests” in Episcopalian churches.

I approach transgendered people in a similar way. No, I do not in principle believe that a person can biologically change gender. XX and XY chromosomes don’t lie. (Still - biological chromosomal or hormonal disorders/hermpaphoroditism does exist, about 1 in 20,000 men has no Y chromosome, instead having 2 Xs.The equivalent situation - females who have XY instead of XX chromosomes - can occur for a variety of reasons and overall is similar in frequency).

But out of respect for the individual and so as not to cause uneccessary hurt, public disgrace, embarrassment or disrespect, I will refer to them by the gendered term they see fit.

If asked about my actual opinion of transgenderism, I would unreservedly explain Catholic doctrine regarding sexual identity.
 
phil19034 said:
If a guy wants to be called by a girl’s name, I don’t think it’s anti-Catholic to address the person by the name he wants to be called.

It is possible to deal with individuals differently vs. how we deal with the subject generally.
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I tend to agree.
 
We can call people the name they request, out of courtesy. Those who have serious mental health issues deserve our sympathy and our empathy.
 
PaulfromIowa said:
We can call people the name they request, out of courtesy. Those who have serious mental health issues deserve our sympathy and our empathy.
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That is very well said.

If someone goes to the lengths of actually having surgery to remove body parts or add body parts and undergo hormone therapy so as to masculinize/feminize their body, they have obviously been suffering from intense mental pain and unhappiness, meaning that they deserve our full love, compassion and consideration - not our scorn, ridicule or hostility.
 
People can change their name, but they can’t change their sex. I am not going to change my view of reality to cater to peoples’ mental delusions. The disrespect is totally on the part of those who would force, harangue, hamstring and humiliate people to do so (c.f. Jordan Peterson). I wouldn’t go around claiming to be Napoleon and demanding people refer to me as L’Empereur and claiming it was “hate” if they didn’t.

I will refer to such people as their correct sex, although I will use their new name. Apparently this will be illegal soon in Canada (c.f. Bill c 16) so we’ll see how that goes.
 
Oh, I always refer to people by whatever pronouns they seem to prefer. It’s just simple, basic politeness and kindness. It’s always better to be gentle and decent, rather than to unnecessarily politicize everything. And of course that probably sounds like some heavy-duty virtue signalling on my part, but we’re basically anonymous here, and this can be kind of a confusing subject with people, so I think it’s okay to just frankly talk about it like this. Bottom line, it seems natural to just be kind to people, rather than confrontational. Underlining some stranger’s mental illness doesn’t do anyone any good.
 
Exiled_Child said:
Oh, I always refer to people by whatever pronouns they seem to prefer. It’s just simple, basic politeness and kindness. It’s always better to be gentle and decent, rather than to unnecessarily politicize everything. And of course that probably sounds like some heavy-duty virtue signalling on my part, but we’re basically anonymous here, and this can be kind of a confusing subject with people, so I think it’s okay to just frankly talk about it like this. Bottom line, it seems natural to just be kind to people, rather than confrontational. Underlining some stranger’s mental illness doesn’t do anyone any good.
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What if someone wants to be addressed as “Zir”?
 
Exiled_Child said:
Oh, I always refer to people by whatever pronouns they seem to prefer. It’s just simple, basic politeness and kindness. It’s always better to be gentle and decent, rather than to unnecessarily politicize everything. And of course that probably sounds like some heavy-duty virtue signalling on my part, but we’re basically anonymous here, and this can be kind of a confusing subject with people, so I think it’s okay to just frankly talk about it like this. Bottom line, it seems natural to just be kind to people, rather than confrontational. Underlining some stranger’s mental illness doesn’t do anyone any good.
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Indeed, “honey not vinegar” is the way Christians should conduct their speech towards others:

“Let your speech be always in grace seasoned with salt: that you may know how you ought to answer every man” * - Colossians 4:7*

And no, it does not come across as virtue signalling. Your right in what you say.

There is no sin in being polite and well-mannered.
 
Estevao said:
I wouldn’t go around claiming to be Napoleon and demanding people refer to me as L’Empereur and claiming it was “hate” if they didn’t.
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No, of course you wouldn’t because you are happily not suffering from some kind of psychogenic medical condition.

But if you think that people who are psychologically troubled, depressed or imbalanced in some same are bringing disrespect upon themselves for simply being that way, when mental illness is never actually the fault of the sufferer, then I must say that I personally find your approach harsh and uncharitable.

These people are to be empathised with - they are ill, do you really think that hurting them emotionally and offending their deeply-felt sensibilities over their sexual identity (however ‘deluded’) in social discourse is going to help them recover?

They deserve compassion, not opprobrium. If asked about your opinion of “sex changes”, you could kindly explain Catholic doctrine to them - but why needlessly insult them?
 
We do not tell people with severe eating disorders or sever depression to snap out of it, or disrespesct them by telling them their feelings are crazy. If you believe thats its a mental health issue you should still show courtesy and compassion to transgender indviduals and adress them as their preffered gender. We can talk about these issues more generally and how to fix them, but with the high rates of suicide in the transgender community (The same as jews during the holocaust) we need to be careful and sensitive on how we talk to them or else it cost a life.

John 3:16
 
I just think God is so wise, and I’m so thankful for what he has created. I just couldn’t bring myself to offend Him by knowing that He created someone as one sex but choosing to call them a different sex. I know that God made a perfect decision when He lovingly stitched this man or woman together in their mother’s womb. I wouldn’t want to offend that person, but I would have to choose between offending them or offending God.
 
LordHaveMercy said:
I just think God is so wise, and I’m so thankful for what he has created. I just couldn’t bring myself to offend Him by knowing that He created someone as one sex but choosing to call them a different sex. I know that God made a perfect decision when He lovingly stitched this man or woman together in their mother’s womb. I wouldn’t want to offend that person, but I would have to choose between offending them or offending God.
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You do not speak for God on this issue. You have no idea of his intentions when he created these trangender individuals. I would advise agaisnt speaking out for God in this way.
 
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