Dear Parishioners,

This week, I am recommending a book for everyone to read about a topic that many people find hard to talk about. The book is called “Male, Female, Other? A Catholic Guide to Understanding Gender” by Jason Evert and it is about the confusion surrounding the transgender movement and how Catholics should engage with others who feel like they were born in the wrong gender.

I can understand why many avoid thinking about this topic. In our society, if you disagree with something they feel is true, you are seen as an unjust aggressor and being judgmental. If someone says that they are in pain and that they want your sympathy, most people are sympathetic enough to at least play along with what they are saying even if they don’t fully agree. This is especially true if they do not understand the topic or someone may commit suicide or do something terrible to themselves if people disagree with them. One of the great achievements of this book is that Evert goes to great lengths to talk about how to communicate with people who feel this way while not compromising on the truth.

The truth does matter. Whether or not you believe someone can change their gender greatly affects how you view the world. Either God made human beings male and female and the two complement each other in God’s loving plan for procreation and caring of children or there is no meaning beyond gender besides personal expression and gender. In this book, Evert challenges many of the myths people just assume about gender. Some topics he gets into include: whether or not gender is a social construction, whether sex is assigned, neuroscience of gender, the damage done by cross-sex hormones (and surgery), transition regret and whether transitioning actually saves lives.

I hope you do read this book especially if someone you love is transgender. But also, it provides a great background for anyone who might have a conversation about it. Knowledge is never the enemy and I hope this book will be a good step to understanding others and to help them on the path of truth.

God bless!

Fr. Carter