In a short few months, I will pass a milestone and move into my sixth year of publicly living out my transgender identity. The years have indeed brought external changes—a deepened voice, new growth of facial hair, and a visible confidence. But more importantly, I finally know true happiness and peace.
Every morning, I get to experience the blessing of waking up as my true self. I whisper a prayer of thanks for the day before I walk out to the barn to feed the horses and chickens, grateful for the beautiful simplicity around me.
Out here, the endless farmlands speak to the quiet, steady voice of God, which I could never hear as clearly before I transitioned. In the past, despite my lifelong Catholic faith, I never fully felt close to God. I simply followed a checklist of rules and repressed any hint of my real identity. Now, I hear the voice of God more clearly than ever: I have received the graces and fruits of the spiritual journey of transition that many other transgender Christians and Catholics have experienced, too.
The world beyond the farm is not always so kind. In August, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced that federal health plans will no longer cover gender-affirming care for transgender adults and youth, while still requiring coverage of counseling services for “possible or diagnosed gender dysphoria”—a category that the memo notes may include “faith-based counseling,” which transgender journalist Erin Reed points out can mean conversion therapy. When we misconstrue transgender people as a threat or representative of an ideology, we’re not just making a theological error, we’re shaping laws that endanger lives.
Despite the clear reality of transgender lives, faith leaders and public speakers continue to spread dangerous myths about who we are. When I encounter Catholic teaching or speakers who promote falsehoods by implying that transgender people are, at best, confused and, at worst, predatory, I take exception. These types of speakers often peddle imaginary anecdotes and intentionally spread misinformation that ultimately harms transgender people, whether that is their intention or not.
Just over a year ago, in July 2024, Catholic author and chastity advocate Jason Evert gave a talk entitled “This is my body: A Catholic Approach to Gender Dysphoria,” at the National Eucharistic Congress. Although the title may sound heady, the talk was severely lacking in its level of rigor. Indeed, the talk is riddled with many of the most common misconceptions, stereotypes, and myths about transgender people. (For a careful examination and critique of Evert’s talk, check out this episode from the Disordered podcast.)
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At the center of Evert’s talking points is his critique of what he calls “gender theory,” which he describes as an overly rigid response to gender stereotypes and points to “some” people who regret or detransition. In my view, this critique aligns with a broader discourse that frames transgender lives as a set of beliefs rather than lived realities—what many refer to as “gender ideology.” Gender ideology is a term often deployed in Catholic and secular contexts to disparage contemporary understandings of sex and gender, typically used to defend outdated, rigid, and essentialist views of the human person while opposing LGBTQ+ rights and experiences. Its meaning is ambiguous, but in practice it signals a conservative agenda rather than a coherent scholarly framework.
From my experience, Catholics who are antagonistic toward transgender inclusion often make two errors that, when exposed, cause this whole argument to collapse like a house of cards: First, they assume that transgender people represent a singular belief system, as described by critics of gender ideology; and second, they suggest that regret is the typical outcome for those who transition. But nothing could be further from the truth on both points.
The idea that all transgender people ascribe to one belief system that intends to destroy all traditional values (such as the nuclear, 1950s-era heterosexual family) is handily dispelled by the reality that transgender people’s values and beliefs are varied and diverse. Yet, the boogeyman of “gender ideology” remains. Why?
If “gender theory” is viewed as an ideology or belief system, then it becomes a competitor to Catholicism that must be defeated using theology. This framing allows anti-trans opponents to altogether sidestep science and history. Engaging the science and the history would actually require those who oppose “gender theory” and so-called “gender ideology” to see and acknowledge the reality of transgender lives. Engaging the science would mean recognizing that less than 1% of trans people who receive gender-affirming surgery regret it. To engage the history is to understand that we have always been here.
The reality is, there are already transgender people who are Catholic, living faithful lives. There are already gender diverse saints, not just gender non-conforming heroines like St. Joan of Arc, but other saints who lived beyond the gender binary and enjoyed a vibrant devotion in the medieval ages. These historical figures were not side characters within the Christian faith; they are of central importance for ordinary people of the time. The social expectations for each gender change over time, often developing differently in various cultures around the world. The idea that gender exists along a binary, or that transgender people cannot be Catholics, ultimately proves to be misinformed and dangerous.
We are seeing the consequences of such thinking in real time. We are living through a moment when distorted ideas about transgender people are being written directly into law—whether through restrictions on healthcare, coerced “counseling,” or attempts to restrict our rights and push us out of public life altogether. The OPM policy mentioned above is not only cruel but also deliberately attempts to coerce transgender people to detransition or abandon public service. It enshrines in law the same misconceptions that anti-trans opponents make when they talk about “gender theory”: Namely, that social and medical frameworks that affirm and support transgender lives are a kind of incorrect ideology or belief system, rather than a lived reality that deserves dignity, care, and respect. Policies like this are a stark reminder that when society treats transgender people as a monolithic group with a hegemonic ideology, the consequences are devastating.
We have seen this dynamic play out with tragic clarity in the recent Minneapolis shooting. Within hours of the news, commentators seized on the alleged trans identity of the assailant to indict an entire community, turning one individual’s act of evil into supposed proof that transgender people are inherently unstable or dangerous.
In reality, the vast majority of school shootings in this country are carried out by white males—a demographic that does not receive the same collective suspicion as minority groups. Their violence is individualized, while ours is collectivized. This double standard fuels retaliation, accelerates legislative rollbacks, and deepens the mental health toll on marginalized people living under constant suspicion. Accepting that one act of evil defines millions of lives is a terrible distortion of reality.
Without a high regret rate and without a scary ideology to fight against, all that remains are empty, reductive anecdotes and stereotypes that reveal just how rudimentary this type of prejudice is.
Both scientific research and historical evidence affirm that transgender identities are real, have long existed across cultures, and deserve equal dignity and respect. To put a finer point on it: Excluding groups of people from civil rights tends to be merely the first step to ever stricter exclusionary practices. Human beings may be prone to jockeying for position, but there’s no need to take it to such extremes. Transgender people need not be the canaries in the coal mine—the sacrificial victims that warn others of pressing danger.
Instead, we should be treated with dignity. We should be respected as community members who make concrete contributions to society. We should be welcomed in church to participate as our full selves in Sunday worship and other ministries. Transgender people are not an ideology, nor do we have a single ideology that we all share. We are not theoretical, but real human beings. We are here, and it is good that we are here.
Transgender people are not an ideology, nor do we have a single ideology that we all share. We are not theoretical, but real human beings.
Max Kuzma is a transgender man and lifelong Catholic who advocates for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church and writes about the unique gifts of queer people and the beauty of diversity in God’s creation.
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