Pope, in LGBT meeting, urged to reverse Church's ban on gender-affirming care

The Manila Times

Pope, in LGBT meeting, urged to reverse Church's ban on gender-affirming care  Pope Francis faced calls to overturn the Catholic Church's ban on gender-affirming care for transgender people on Saturday, October 12, when he held talks with LGBTQ activists at the Vatican.  The 80-minute meeting, held privately at the guesthouse where the pope lives, included a Catholic sister who works with LGBTQ people, a member of the transgender community, and a U.S. medical doctor who helps run a clinic providing gender-affirming hormonal care for adults.  The unusual encounter was not listed on the Vatican's official agenda of the pope's meetings for the day.  REUTERS / NEW WAYS MINISTRY VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes  #worldnews  #popefrancis  #lgbt

Transcript

00:00I'm just joking.

00:07Thank you very much.

00:12As a transgender Catholic, I really wanted to share my story with Pope Francis,

00:18because he's so pastoral, and let him know, really illustrate that our stories are all different,

00:27and give him another perspective to consider when the church is talking about transgender people and gender.

00:36The one message I really wanted to share with Pope Francis was about the joy that I have being a transgender Catholic person,

00:44and the joy that I get from hormone replacement therapy and the surgeries that I've had that make me feel comfortable in my body.

00:53He was very pastoral, very interested in my story, and it was just a very welcoming atmosphere,

00:59and I felt that he wanted to hear everything I had to say.

01:02I never imagined I would be here.

01:08It means the world to me.

01:10My faith is so important to me, and even though at times I feel so unwelcome,

01:17Pope Francis has always made me feel that I do belong in this church, and that I am part of the Catholic faith.

01:24And so meeting him, it really means the world to me, and it makes me grateful to be a Catholic.

01:31Yes, I think the message really is that we need to listen to the experiences of transgender people,

01:41their families, their friends, their loved ones.

01:45We need to get inside of other people's shoes.

01:48It was a wonderful meeting.

01:50I shared with the Pope my experience as a health care provider providing care to transgender individuals.

01:58I expressed that gender identity is not a choice.

02:02Thinking about it as, you know, we don't choose whether we're right or left-handed.

02:07We also don't choose our gender.

02:09The Pope was very receptive.

02:12He listened very empathetically, and he also shared that he always wants to focus on the person,

02:25the well-being of the person.

02:27He always stands with those that have been discriminated against,

02:30and he really feels very strongly that we need to support the person.

02:42For more information visit www.fema.gov

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