B
Barricade
Guest
I know the Church’s position on people who identify or claim to be transgender is that no such transition (from male to female or female to male) is possible (even science tells us this) and that it is wrong for a person to mutilate themselves in a vain attempt to “become” the opposite sex or gender.
My question concerns how we as Catholics should treat such people. I have encountered very few people who identify as transgender, but I avoid using any pronouns at all when talking to or about them to avoid both any conflict and the potential for me to appear like I accept their “transition” as authentic which I do not.
**But does the Church provide any guidance on this issue since it can potentially be very serious? For example, refusing to call someone by their preferred pronouns or preferred new name for their “new” gender could wind up getting you into legal trouble or fired if it is deemed to constitute workplace harassment, or bullying or discrimination if you work as a teacher and have a student that identifies as transgender. I ask this as someone who in the field of education could one day face this situation of having a student in my classroom that “identifies” as the opposite sex, how should I treat such students? **
I believe this whole transgender phenomenon is essentially a mental disorder where such people assume the problem is their external appearance rather than their internal sense of their own identity. At the same time however I certainly believe such people deserve our help and compassion, especially considering such people are at higher risk of suicide and having emotional problems from this internal angst they have within themselves.
So is it absolutely wrong to indulge the use of such peoples’ preferred pronouns or preferred names in all cases? One of my concerns is of course possibly losing a job over this if the employer deems this discrimination, harassment, bullying, contrary to correct position I believe I occupy.
I’m also taking into consideration the effects taking this sort of stand might have with the person who identifies as trans; by continuing to use a name they no longer go by, and pronouns they no longer apply to themselves, I could be causing them tremendous emotional pain that could lead to self-harm or worse, despite my good intentions.
I think a similar situation might be indulging or humoring a different sort of delusion to prevent any further harm being done to a person suffering from such a delusion. Imagine the case of a schizophrenic who has such an attachment to a hallucinated person that if you were to openly deny their existence it might cause them to descend into a manic episode that just destroyed them emotionally. In such a case as this as with the transgender case, is it permissible to humor people dealing with such mental disorders or play along with their delusions to prevent any harm or outside conflict?
Thoughts appreciated.
My question concerns how we as Catholics should treat such people. I have encountered very few people who identify as transgender, but I avoid using any pronouns at all when talking to or about them to avoid both any conflict and the potential for me to appear like I accept their “transition” as authentic which I do not.
**But does the Church provide any guidance on this issue since it can potentially be very serious? For example, refusing to call someone by their preferred pronouns or preferred new name for their “new” gender could wind up getting you into legal trouble or fired if it is deemed to constitute workplace harassment, or bullying or discrimination if you work as a teacher and have a student that identifies as transgender. I ask this as someone who in the field of education could one day face this situation of having a student in my classroom that “identifies” as the opposite sex, how should I treat such students? **
I believe this whole transgender phenomenon is essentially a mental disorder where such people assume the problem is their external appearance rather than their internal sense of their own identity. At the same time however I certainly believe such people deserve our help and compassion, especially considering such people are at higher risk of suicide and having emotional problems from this internal angst they have within themselves.
So is it absolutely wrong to indulge the use of such peoples’ preferred pronouns or preferred names in all cases? One of my concerns is of course possibly losing a job over this if the employer deems this discrimination, harassment, bullying, contrary to correct position I believe I occupy.
I’m also taking into consideration the effects taking this sort of stand might have with the person who identifies as trans; by continuing to use a name they no longer go by, and pronouns they no longer apply to themselves, I could be causing them tremendous emotional pain that could lead to self-harm or worse, despite my good intentions.
I think a similar situation might be indulging or humoring a different sort of delusion to prevent any further harm being done to a person suffering from such a delusion. Imagine the case of a schizophrenic who has such an attachment to a hallucinated person that if you were to openly deny their existence it might cause them to descend into a manic episode that just destroyed them emotionally. In such a case as this as with the transgender case, is it permissible to humor people dealing with such mental disorders or play along with their delusions to prevent any harm or outside conflict?
Thoughts appreciated.
