During June 2019, the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education released a document titled “Male and Female He Created Them,” condemning so-called gender theory and reiterating that the Church teaches an essential difference between men and women, ordered in the natural law and essential to the family and human flourishing.
The Little Rock diocese’s statement to CNA noted that while a person’s biological sex cannot be changed, people who identify as LGBT should never be subject to bullying or harassment.
In February, Bishop Anthony Taylor of Little Rock was one of twelve U.S. Catholic bishops who signed onto a statement in opposition to “violence, bullying or harassment” directed at those who identify as LGBT.
The statement reads in part: “All people of goodwill should help, support, and defend LGBT youth; who attempt suicide at much higher rates than their straight counterparts; who are often homeless because of families who reject them; who are rejected, bullied and harassed; and who are the target of violent acts at alarming rates.”
“It is not inconsistent to oppose any form of bullying, harassment, and violence against LGBT youth...while simultaneously affirming the truths of our created biological sex,” the statement from the diocese concluded.
“As Catholics, we believe that eternal truths are ultimately for our good, even when we may personally struggle or disagree with them.”
The question of whether children should be allowed puberty-blocking drugs is being litigated in other countries as well.
In Dec. 2020, the UK high court ruled that children are unlikely to be mature enough to give informed consent to medical treatment involving drugs that delay puberty, with three senior judges saying that doctors may require court authorization to begin puberty-blocking treatment involving teenagers. In March this year, that ruling was effectively overturned.
Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer. He is based in St. Louis.