Editor of “U.S. Catholic” Urges Faithful to Embrace and Love Transgender Youth

As Pride is celebrated this month, the LGBTQ+ community is facing new threats almost daily. The LGBTQ-negative activists are particularly focused against gender-diverse young people. Ahead of June, Emila Sanna, the managing editor of U.S. Catholic, wrote an essay urgently asking Catholics to recognize these youth as created and loved by God.

Sanna, who is also on the board of the Catholic Media Association, comments “Long before any pronouns or gendered interests, parents look forward to this well-loved person who is shortly to enter their lives.” She recounts how during her pregnancy she contemplated her expected child:  who would her child be, what would interest the child, and whether the infant would grow to be a good person. Many parents would share this experience of loving a child before knowing anything about the child’s assigned sex.

Sanna issues an urgent call for Catholics to embrace transgender and nonbinary youth in this same loving way, and opposing the anti-trans legislation that targets them. She writes:

“This legislation isn’t saving children. It is literally killing them. Gender-affirming care has been linked to a significantly lower risk of depression and suicide among trans people. Nearly half of trans teenagers have considered suicide over the past year. Trans people as a whole are more than four times more likely to be victims of a violent crime than cisgender people are. . .

“Every trans child and teenager struggling under these new laws was created and is beloved by God. Every single one was once a beloved baby, with parents who talked to them using both pronouns or no pronouns at all. If we can pray the psalms and truly believe that God made us all intentionally and with no mistakes, then we must stand up for these children’s lives, ensuring that they are given the tools they need to live as who God created them to be.”

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, June 7, 2023