I’m Your G-G-G-G-G-G Gender Bomb!

CN: TRANSPHOBIA, REFERENCES TO NUCLEAR WEAPONS, SUICIDE, VIOLENCE

(Apologies to The Runaways for borrowing one of their lyrics)

Once again, Pope Francis proves he’s not the progressive people think he is. According to Gay Star News, the Pope recently compared transgender people to nuclear weapons in a book published in Italy called This Economy Kills. While the title sounds like a great read for socialists like myself, there’s a section where the Pope compares trans people to “Herods” who “disfigure the face of man and woman, destroying creation.” He further adds:

Let’s think of the nuclear arms, of the possibility to annihilate in a few instants a very high number of human beings . . . Let’s think also of genetic manipulation, of the manipulation of life, or of the gender theory, that does not recognize the order of creation. With this attitude, man commits a new sin, that against God the Creator.

In other words, “God doesn’t make mistakes.”

We all know that gender is a social construct, but for many conservative Christians (yes, Catholics, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses count), gender is determined by biology only. Not only that, but God has specific roles people with penises and people with vaginas must play. According to the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, “Distinctions in masculine and feminine roles are ordained by God as part of the created order, and should find an echo in every human heart (Gen 2:18, 21-24; 1 Cor 11:7-9; 1 Tim 2:12-14).” Ken Ham’s Answers in Genesis says, “God created man [sic] male and female—Adam and Eve—and He made males and females different physically and distinct in their roles.” And then there’s good ol’ Mark Driscoll, who once said stay-at-home dads are worse than unbelievers. Because Jesus, that’s why!

If anyone’s going to get hurt, it’s not creation; it’s us trans folks. We’re the ones who are being murdered. We’re the ones who are being harassed when we’re just trying to use public bathrooms. We’re the ones committing suicide because our parents can’t accept us for who we are. How can we be nuclear bombs bent on destroying civilization when we’re the ones who are suffering the most?

Having said that, though, I wonder if there’s a hint of truth to the Pope’s comments.

We face discrimination because people see us as threats to their perceptions of gender. Our very lives challenge preconceived notions of gender roles. People don’t like having their perfect little worldviews turned upside down, so they try to silence us. The more people try to stop us, though, the stronger we get.

So yes, I am a nuclear weapon, ready to obliterate hatred in a single blast, leaving nothing but ashes in its place.