The Vatican denounces gender theory, and gender-affirming surgery

The Vatican has criticized gender-affirming medical procedures and surrogacy as grave human dignity breaches, which defy God's design for human existence.

The Vatican warned on Monday that gender-affirming medical procedures and surrogacy are serious breaches of human dignity, on par with euthanasia and abortion, as actions that defy God's design for human existence. "Infinite Dignity," a 20-page proclamation that had been in the works for five years, was released by the Vatican's doctrinal office. On March 25, after months of thorough revisions, Pope Francis approved it and gave the go-ahead for publication. For a pope who has made reaching out to the LGBTQ+ community a cornerstone of his pontificate, trans Catholics saw the document as an anticipated setback.

Its message, however, was also in line with the long-held Argentine Jesuit view that, although transgender people need to be accepted in the church, so-called "gender ideologies" ought not. The Vatican has rejected the "gender theory" and emphasized that humans are physiologically distinct creatures, not created to "make themselves God." It differentiated between "genital abnormalities" present from birth or develop later and procedures that promote gender identity, rejecting these. The Vatican also stated that certain anomalies can be resolved with medical assistance.

The text faced criticism from LGBTQ+ Catholicism supporters, who viewed it as outdated and contradictory to the declaration of infinite dignity for all children, posing concerns about its potential impact on transgender individuals and potentially fostering prejudice and violence.