4-05 Thinking Through the Ethics of the Transgender Question

Session 4: 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm

Catechist re-certification credits: Morality

As transgender narratives like Bruce Jenner’s continue to capture mainstream media attention, significant confusion arises in the wake of the publicity. In this presentation, Father Tad explores the claims and exposes some of the fault lines associated with the expanding pressure to encourage and support transgender medical procedures. He distinguishes between ambiguous genitalia/intersex and transgender. He discusses the misunderstandings and risks involved in the decision to transition, and the significant ethical concerns arising both for adults and children. He discusses the sense of unease arising from the forced imposition of transgender access to bathrooms, locker rooms and sports competitions within a society that maintains the reasonable expectation of unisex facilities and events.

Father Tad Pacholczyk, after earning a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Yale University, Fr. Tad did post-doctoral research at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He subsequently studied in Rome where he did advanced studies in theology and in bioethics.