In the recently released Vatican publication, 'Male and Female He Created Them: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education', the Catholic Congregation for Education claims to be 'listening'. But I wonder who they are listening to.
There isn't one LGBTQI+ voice in the document's 31 pages, which is made clear in how it talks about LGBTQI+ people rather than to us. Nor do any LGBTQI+ Catholic aligned advocates seem to have had a say in this, as many of them have spoken out against the document.
Instead, the contents work mostly within the Catholic theological framework in trying to refute gender theory. It doesn't say much that is new, mainly referencing the speeches and interviews of Popes and other Catechism documents. While it is nominally for Catholic educators, it's hard to see how this serves the Catholic teachers who work with a diverse range of students and staff and who would likely already know the Church's position on these issues.
I won't go through every point the document makes, but needless to say, I am unconvinced by any argument that disregards the identities of gender diverse people as 'momentary desires' rather than as lived realities deserving of respect.
In regards to recommending surgery for intersex people — a stance the Global Rainbow Network of Catholics has spoken out against — the Congregation could take note of how gender theorist Judith Butler discusses the complications of defining the materiality of sex in her speech 'Why Bodies Matter'. She states that when there is a significant number of people who don't fall neatly into what is considered to be one sexed category, continuing to insist on two sexes as a universal experience is essentially 'a form of cruelty'.
As I read the Vatican document over and over again to write this article, it's hard not to feel exhausted at how much the institutional Catholic Church will not let queer people exist in their worldview. The fact that this document was written in February but released in June, which is Pride Month for many countries around the world, further undermines the worth of the advocacy and lives of LGBTQI+ people, and in particular, LGBTQI+ Catholics.
In fact, the only thing I really took away from this document is how it embodies, at least to me, one of my main issues with the official Church position on LGBTQI+ issues. The Vatican may not advocate