Conservative Catholic Bishops Seek to Impose Religious Gender Theory

In an open letter titled “Created Male and Female” and published December 15, a group of conservative Catholic bishops from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage condemned gender theory and denied the existence of transgender people. The letter calls it “against reason” for an individual to have or express a gender other than the one assigned to them at birth and asserts that “human beings are male or female.” Beyond identifying a particular religious stance on transgender issues, the signatories implore healthcare professionals to withhold gender-affirming care for children and assert that the state has a compelling interest in implementing policies that adhere to the conservative religious view of sexuality and gender identity presented in the letter. The letter resulted from an ecumenical meeting following the USCCB’s general assembly in Baltimore and presents a conservative view from several faith traditions. New Ways Ministry, a Catholic organization that advocates for LGBT equality in and out of the church, called the letter dangerous and misinformed and noted that the letter’s signatories represented “only a small handful” of religious perspectives in the United States.