Wow! Did You Feel That?

Did the earth move?

Catholic Bishops had something nice to say about us…

British Bishops Write Positively on Gender Transition and Civil Unions
Bondings 2.0
Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

In the first instance, the CBCEW [Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales] issued a draft of a directive to Catholic institutions about how to respond to the UK’s 201 Equality Act, which added many strong protections to minority categories, including sexual orientation and gender identity.  The directive is intended to give advice to Catholic institutions and organizations about how they can comply with the law.  In the section on “Gender Re-Assignment,” they state:

    ‘Transsexual people face many difficulties before, during and after transitioning to another gender. As such it is recommended to seek guidance on how to make the transitional process as easy as possible. This could include training for co-workers, as well as reference to medical and social advice.”

This may be the most positive and pastoral statement about transgender people to come from the Catholic hierarchy.  (If anyone knows anything equally or more positive, please let us know about it in the “Comments” section of this post.)  Let’s hope that it remains in place through the drafting process.

However, they still said that we cannot be hired in certain positions, that they can exclude us, gays, and lesbians in religious jobs. So don't expect that we all will be singing Kumbaya anytime soon.