The UK to Reject Gender Theory

“To redefine the definition of sex to include a person’s subjective, sexual behavioral predilection is so fundamentally flawed, it will undoubtedly lead to further confusion regarding the definitions of marriage and family, undermining the very foundation of civil society.”

― Dr. Steven White, Chair of CMA’s Health Policy Committee

Although it sometimes seems difficult to find good news in our increasingly insane culture, there is one area where it seems that the social radicals have pushed too far and are being met with a long overdue backlash: the topic of transgenderism.

In the past decade and a half or so, we have seen transgenderism go from something that was only thought about by a tiny minority of sexual revolutionaries to something that is commonly taught in our classrooms and is celebrated on billboards and in streets.

One of the worst consequences of this phenomenon is that so much of the work that was done in pursuit of an authentic feminism is being eradicated.

For decades, feminist campaigners campaigned for the right for women to feel safe in public spaces, and for abusers to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Now, we find ourselves in Alice’s Wonderland, where many of those same feminists are out in the streets clamoring for the right for biological men to have access, at will, to the most intimate female spaces.

As the mental disorder of gender dysphoria spreads, fed no doubt in part by the incessant drumbeat of propaganda in our schools and media, more and more stories are appearing of biological men waltzing into women’s changerooms and bathrooms, and declaring their “right” to do so unchallenged.

The Abuse in Transgenderism

One of the worst cases that comes to mind involves a shelter for rape victims in Vancouver, Canada. The City of Vancouver cut funding to this facility because of supposed “discrimination” due to their refusal to allow “transgender women” (i.e., biological men pretending to be women) into the facility.

Imagine, for a moment, being a woman who has been subjected to one of the most traumatic violations possible, at the hands of a man, and being forced to participate in therapy sessions, or actually share living quarters, with men!

There are many, many more stories like this. One genre, that leaves one shaking one’s head in disbelief, involves male prisoners claiming to be women so that they can be transferred to the more pleasant female prisons, where they proceed to abuse the women prisoners.

A Voice of Reason Herald From The UK

The good news is that more and more people of common sense are standing up and saying “enough!”

One case that recently went before the UK Supreme Court was brought forward by a group called For Women Scotland. They filed their complaint after the Scottish government mandated the inclusion of biological men who “identify” as women in female gender quotas for public sector boards.

Britain’s Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that transgender women can’t legally be considered women under the country’s equality laws https://t.co/lnoAXHLf20

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 16, 2025

The case eventually made it to the nation’s Supreme Court, which came down decisively in favor of the concerns of For Women Scotland. Even the BBC seemed surprised at how resoundingly the decision rebukes the transgender ideologues.

As the BBC reported, the decision “provides much greater clarity than many expected.” The BBC report continues:

The judges ruled that when the term “woman” is used in the Equality Act it means a biological woman, and “sex” means biological sex.

It also makes it clear that if a space or service is designated as women-only, a person who was born male but identifies as a woman does not have a right to use that space or service.

The Supreme Court justices argued this was the only consistent, coherent interpretation.

Indeed! It is important to note that the Equality Act is the same legislation that has been used to browbeat organizations into following the socially progressive ideology of our time. In this case, however, attempts by radicals to use the Act to push for transgenderism has been thoroughly rebuked.

A Battle Begins

Naturally, the transgender activists will not take this ruling sitting down. A UK judge, who identifies as transgender, has already filed an appeal to the case, which will go to the European Court of Human Rights.

Unfortunately, as we have seen in the past, the multi-national organizations, which are far removed from the jurisdictions they oversee, are often heavily populated by liberal activists. In the past, the European Court of Human Rights has not been shy about unilaterally overruling the pro-life and pro-family legislation of individual nations belonging to the EU. Let us hope and pray that in this case the court respects the UK Supreme Court’s decision.

In the meantime, it is good to hear The Guardian reporting that the decision “has sent shock waves through the UK’s transgender community and left many business and services unclear about what facilities they are expected to offer.”

The answer to that question is, of course, very clear: offer facilities the same way that businesses offered facilities for countless centuries, i.e. segregated by biological sex.

The Truth Must Prevail

It is very important that we understand what is going on with these attempts to push transgenderism into every corner of our society.

Perhaps you have heard the term “gaslighting.” It is a colloquial expression that refers to when somebody deliberately manipulates a person and tries to convince the other person that they are the one who is mentally unbalanced.

Transgenderism is one of the most successful efforts ever at gaslighting at a societal level. It is routine, for instance, to now read in the newspapers, in reports on certain crimes, the phrase (and please excuse the language), “her penis.” How any journalist or editors can write that without shame is difficult to grasp.

Transgenderism, ultimately, is an attack upon our capacity to understand reality as it really is. In many matters, determining the truth can be a difficult task. But when it comes to the matter of the nature of biological sex, this is not difficult at all. Biologists have always known that sex is binary. While there are a very tiny minority of cases in which a person’s sex is indeterminate due to chromosomal abnormalities, the other 99.99% of cases admit no uncertainty.

The science of biology resoundingly confirms the statement in The Book of Genesis that “male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27). “[To] think we have the power to become something that we were not created as — that I can become a woman, or a woman can become a man,” explains Archbishop Emeritus Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, “is something that God does, not something that we do.”

Sexual difference is not an accident or a flaw—it is a gift from God. To so twist one’s mind to the point that this most self-evident statement — that God created each person male or female — no longer seems self-evident is surely an extreme form of madness.

Pope Francis on Gender Ideology

It is tragic that modern man has somehow come to see the givenness of our biological sex not as a gift to be received with gratitude, but rather as a constraint, to be wholly rejected if one so wishes.

As Pope Francis so often affirmed in remarks on this topic, sexual differentiation is a source of much of what makes life good and interesting. In one talk, he referred to gender ideology as “[T]his ugly ideology of our time, which erases differences and makes everything the same.” He added that “to erase difference is to erase humanity.”

In a healthy world, he added, “Man and woman…stand in fruitful ‘tension’.”

The Holy Father also addressed this difficult topic in his encyclical Laudato Si, where he wrote:

“The acceptance of our bodies as God’s gift is vital for welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father and our common home, whereas thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation. Learning to accept our body, to care for it and to respect its fullest meaning, is an essential element of any genuine human ecology” (no. 155).

The Church as Pillar for Truth

In this time of confusion, the Church’s role is clear: She should help people discover their true identities as children of God, rather than supporting them in the disordered attempt to reject their undeniable biological identity.

Unfortunately, in our fallen world, we experience a sense of disintegration, involving inner tensions between our reason, our will, and our desires. Those who suffer from gender dysphoria must be approached with a profound compassion. For many of them, the experience of gender confusion is a source of great suffering.

Nevertheless, Catholic institutions and programs cannot endorse gender identity theory nor enable any form of gender transition. It should hardly need to be said, but chemical castration, sterilization, and bodily mutilation are not health care. The Church, therefore, must continue to speak the truth with charity.

Fortunately, there are many instances of Church leaders doing just that. As Catholics, there is no shortage of resources to help us address this complex topic.

 Several years ago, Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia (the diocese in which I currently reside), published a pastoral letter dedicated to this issue, which is well worth the read. I would also point you to the treatment of this issue published by the Catholic Medical Association, which does an excellent job of explaining the medical malpractice involved in so-called transgender “treatment.”

In the meantime, I am grateful that, like the UK Supreme Court, more and more individuals and institutions are recognizing the perennial wisdom which the Church has always taught, and are pushing back against the tide of gender ideology.