An equals sign is a useful tool in math. It tells us that two quantities have the same value and can be treated in the same way. An equals sign gives us important information. But it can also be used incorrectly. You can’t make two different quantities the same just by putting an equals sign between them.
Nothing will make “a” equal to “b” if “a” is 2 and “b” is 5. In that case, putting an equals sign between the two would be deceiving, and if you obeyed the equals sign and tried to treat the two unequal quantities as if they were the same, you would make mistakes.
Equality is not just a concept in mathematics. It is an important concept in social life, where it is often used as a synonym for social justice. But just as in mathematics, simply invoking the concept of equality in social life cannot make two different things the same, any more than putting an equals sign between two and five can make those quantities the same.
There is a bill currently before the U.S. Senate which uses the concept of “equality” in a mistaken way. It is called the Equality Act, and it would rewrite federal law to mandate that someone who identifies as male or female – regardless of their biological sex – must be treated as if they were biologically male or female in all areas of public life. This would impose a false equality between two unequal realities.
The law assumes that a person’s “gender identity,” or subjective belief about being male or female, can be entirely separated from – and even contradict – his or her biological sex. Such an idea requires a complete rejection of biology – a person’s true gender identity would have to be in conflict with the genetic code in every cell in his or her body. Medical experience illustrates the contradictions here – even those who undertake cosmetic surgeries to “transition” to the opposite sex must often take hormones for a lifetime to suppress their body’s natural function.
In contrast, the teachings of the Catholic faith are in harmony with scientific reason: the human person is an indissoluble unity of body and soul. Our souls and our bodies cannot be in conflict over something as essential to our personal identity as gender. The biological sex of the body has deep meaning for the person. As Pope Francis has written, “Valuing one’s own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognize myself in an encounter with someone who is different. In this way we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment” (Laudato Si’, 155).
The ideology that separates gender and biological sex makes both realities unintelligible. Having negated the biological basis of sex, the theory struggles to even define the concept of gender. It tends to absolutize superficial secondary behaviors as the true essence of sexual identity. In this way of thinking, a desire to play with dolls or an attraction to pink clothing in a young boy can be considered strong evidence that he identifies as female. A young girl’s interest in sports or roughhousing can be considered evidence that she identifies as male. Gender ideology thus reinforces reductive stereotypes about the personal and social meaning of being male or female, hindering our ability to accept and appreciate the opposite sex.
The Equality Act also promotes social injustice. There are good reasons that we make some social distinctions between men and women based on the differences of their bodies. One is the need for physical privacy. The bathroom, the locker room, and the dressing room are places where men and women need privacy so that they do not have to worry about their bodily differences being sexualized. The Equality Act explicitly removes the right to privacy in these spaces, opening their doors to anyone who subjectively identifies as the same sex. As there is no way to independently verify a person’s claim to be transgender, such standards will be ripe for abuse. The text of the law provides no way to determine a person’s true “gender identity” except by their own assertion.
Another area where biological differences make a difference is in sports. Under this law males will be allowed to compete in women’s sports, even when their different physical development would put them at an unfair advantage. Transgendered women who are biologically male have already begun to set records in women’s sports at various levels. This is another unjust violation of a social space where reasonable distinctions are made based on biological differences.
The Equality Act will have a profound effect on education. The law would effectively make gender ideology the public philosophy of the United States. Anyone who does not embrace the new standard will be subject to the same legal penalties under federal law that are applied to public racial discrimination. Schools will be affected if they receive any kind of federal aid, even for individual students. Parents will not only be deprived of the right to an educational environment which respects their beliefs but could even be at risk of being charged with civil rights violations and losing custody of their children for refusing to cooperate with a child’s desire to “transition.”
There are no exemptions for religious freedom in this legislation. Quite the contrary. The Equality Act explicitly says that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, a key federal law which protects the rights of Americans to live by their faith, shall not be a basis for exceptions to this new law.
This means that the authors of the Equality Act and those who vote for it are going out of their way to make sure that religious citizens are forced to leave behind their beliefs about gender and sexuality whenever they enter public life.
Medical professionals will not be able to opt out of participating in gender transitioning treatment and surgery. Faith-based charities such as adoption and foster care services and even women’s shelters would be forced to apply the standards of the law to their work or risk losing federal funding. This would directly impact the people they serve. The skeptical attitude of the law toward people who have religious convictions is clear. For instance, the bill explicitly calls the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman a “sex stereotype,” treating one of the long-held core beliefs of Christians, Jews and Muslims as if it were a bad sexist joke.
The Equality Act is an attempt to dramatically curtail the freedom of anyone who disagrees with gender ideology to continue to live according to their beliefs. But the law also fails to serve the very people it claims to protect. The bill promotes the falsehood that fulfillment and happiness can be found by rejecting the biological sex God made us and by rejecting God’s plan for sexual relations.
The Catholic Church recognizes that some people experience genuine discomfort with their biological sex. The Church does not deny or dismiss the experience or the distress of these people. They are not guilty of a sin simply because they experience these feelings. But the Church loves us enough to tell us the truth, and so the Church affirms that acting on a desire to “transition” to the opposite sex either socially or physically will not bring a person happiness or fulfillment. The elevated levels of psychological and social distress experienced by individuals with transgender feelings – distress which tends to persist even after attempts to “transition” – underscores this truth. Peace can only be found by accepting the order that God has put in creation, the order that God calls His creatures to live by.
The Equality Act is an attempt to impose a legal “equals sign” between two realities that are not the same – the reality of being biologically male or female and the subjective experience of identifying with the opposite sex. The bill makes no more sense than putting an equals sign between two and five. The gender theory behind this bill is purely ideological. It is not scientific. It is not realistic. It is not compassionate. It is not the truth. It cannot form the basis of a just society, and it must not be imposed on our country through federal law.
— Father Peter Ascik is parochial vicar of St. Matthew Church in Charlotte.
Truth about the Equality Act
The proposed Equality Act is well-intentioned but ultimately misguided. It discriminates against people of faith, threatens unborn life, and undermines the common good. Find out more from the USCCB and take action with your elected officials: https://www.usccb.org/equality-act.