Yes, this was a question I had as well. I believe that if the Church were to come around and acknowledge that physical gender does not always match the internal gender from birth, that morally you can’t have it both ways. If you marry a woman as a man in the Church, and later surgically and legally change to a woman (which is presumably what you were all along), the Church may do one of two things: grant an annulment and/or advise you and your spouse to live as sisters. (I’m aware that the Church currently does not recognize that re-assignment as grounds for annulment, I’m just supposing). If you are re-assigned before marriage, and you are attracted to and desire to marry a man, then the Church would presumably grant permission for this (although it’s extremely unlikely this will be done on anything less than a case by case basis). In other words, Church teaching would be the same for you as “new” women in relationships with women as it would be for homosexuals who were the same sex, outer and inner, from birth.
I think you should be encouraged that the letter to which you refer was “secret”. This means that someone, perhaps some powerful someone(s), was not in agreement with what it contained. Someone else thought that it was necessary given the fact that it is a pastoral reality that has to be dealt with, so yes it was sent. *But a secret letter cannot in any way be construed as established doctrine. * It’s simply a guideline.
I agree with you about the word “transsexual”. I wonder if Zoe has any thoughts on this?
Let’s see, how can we complicate our lives a bit more??
At any rate, my spouse was advised that the church will grant an annulment if it can be shown that the condition existed pre-marriage. It did!
Heck, my best friend in high school, got an annulment from his first wife. Both were catholic and that was after two children. She left him and the church and he is a strong catholic and so is wife #2. It took about a year and $. They able to have a really nice church wedding.
And you’re right, we can’t have it both ways. Imagine if I wanted to play the game, I could get an annulment and find a woman and in the eyes of the church, legaly marry her!! ( in secret I’m sure )
The problem is, outside the church I’m legally a woman and same sex marriage is not recognized.
Catch 22
In the meantime, we continue to be condemned and persecuted by our own church. Pastors and parish priests still qoute from McHugh’s defamation of TS women.
A quote from “FIRST THINGS The Journal of Religion, Culture and Public Life” in an article “Surgical Sex” by Paul McHugh. The article came out in 2004 and was used as if it was new news.
“…The post-surgical subjects struck me as caricatures of women. They wore high heels, copious makeup, and flamboyant clothing; they spoke about how they found themselves able to give vent to their natural inclinations for peace, domesticity, and gentleness—but their large hands, prominent Adam’s apples, and thick facial features were incongruous (and would become more so as they aged)…”
He wrote this in the late “70s”, about 50 TS women. These women did not have access to the proceduers that are available today and the internet was not available.
However, there were many women, Renee Richards for one, who McHugh couldn’t have picked out from a mixed group of TS and natal woman.
The above quote is still being used!
We are lesbians!!??
