The Transgender Question: Theological and Legal Considerations [PHOTOS & VIDEO]

On Monday, March 9, 2020 the Saint Benedict Institute hosted theologian, Theresa Farnan, and lawyer, John Bursch, to speak on "The Transgender Question: Theological and Legal Considerations." The event was an effort to shed light, rather than heat, on one of the most controversial issues of our time.

In the past two years, the transgender movement has accelerated at a dramatic speed. What once seemed like a marginal movement has claimed the mantle of civil rights and moved to the center of local and national debates.  At stake in these debates are deep and perplexing questions: What does it mean to be human? Are male and female true human categories or cultural constructs? What is sex and gender? Are these fixed or fluid? Is our biology something we can change? What are the legal consequences for granting or not granting rights based on gender identity?  Many people are understandably confused about what to think or do in light of these complicated questions.

In this event, theologian Theresa Farnan offered a Catholic theological and pastoral perspective on the transgender question.  Lawyer John Bursch shared thoughts on what legal ramifications we have already seen and can expect to see.  Each speaker offered a brief reflection followed by an extensive Question and Answer period.

John Bursch is Vice President of Appellate Advocacy for Alliance Defending Freedom, America’s largest public-interest law firm defending every individual’s right to freely live and speak out about their faith. He also owns Bursch Law PLLC, a Michigan appellate boutique. Over the past dozen years, John has argued 12 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and 30 in the Michigan Supreme Court. These cases include many of the most important legal issues of our time, including Michigan’s right to define marriage (Obergefell v. Hodges) and whether federal courts should redefine the meaning of “sex” in federal law (Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC). Michigan Super Lawyers has recognized John as one of Michigan’s Top 10 lawyers, and a recent survey concluded that among frequent U.S. Supreme Court advocates who do not work for the federal government, John was the 3rd-most successful lawyer in the nation at winning Justices’ votes for his position. John is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.

Dr. Theresa Farnan is an author and moral philosopher who specializes in virtue ethics, moral education, philosophy of the person, sexual difference and identity, and ethical issues facing the family.  She is a founding member of the Person and Identity Project, which provides theological and pastoral resources about the Church’s teaching on gender ideology to Catholic educators and diocesan personnel.  She has taught at St. Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh, Franciscan University and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, and has worked with the diaconate formation programs in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.  She served as a consultant to the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth and is a member of the Catholic Women’s Forum Advisory Council.  She co-authored the books Get out Now:  Why You Should Pull Your Child from Public School Before It’s Too Late and Where Did I Come From? Where Am I Going?  How Do I Get There? as well as articles in Our Sunday Visitor and First Things.  She and her husband Michael have ten children ranging in age from 27 to 8.