U.S. Catholic Includes Transgender Woman’s Voice in Gender Equity Article

A Catholic publication has included a transgender woman and other LGBTQ+ advocates in an essay about whether church leaders are actually attentive to issues of gender, especially as the church undergoes the Synod on Synodality.

In U.S. Catholic, journalist Jenn Morson raises Catholic women’s voices from differing perspectives and on different issues, ranging from ordination to reproductive rights to anti-racism. One such voice is Stephanie Battaglino, a trans Catholic who left the church during her transition—and then returned as “an act of resistance.” Morson reported:

“A chance meeting with Sister Luisa Derouen, who ministers to transgender Catholics, initiated a return to Catholicism for Battaglino. ‘I went on retreat with Sister Luisa, and it was then I realized through her friendship that the Catholic Church was open to me,’ Battaglino says. ‘She’s been my spiritual director ever since.’

“Having spent most of her adult life as male-presenting, Battaglino has a unique perspective on the difference in how the church treats men and women. For example, while Battaglino obtained an annulment for her first marriage, the second was never annulled, and she continued to be an active member of her parish while in a third marriage as a lector and a leader in the local Knights of Columbus chapter. ‘I was never questioned about anything as a straight Catholic white guy,’ she says.

“Since transitioning, finding a Catholic parish home has proven difficult, although Battaglino credits Derouen for encouraging her to claim her place in the church. ‘If you’re a cisgender person who wants to worship, all you have to do is go online, find a parish, and pick one based on drive times,’ Battaglino says. ‘And if you don’t gel with that parish, you can pick the next one on the list. But it doesn’t work like that for transgender people, where there is a much deeper decision set.'”

Battaglino speaks highly of Pope Francis, while challenging him:

“‘You say you want to be open to a greater role for women in the church, but what does that mean?. . .What’s the plan of action? Is there one? Where is the tangible plan to get us from where we are now to where we would like to be?'”

Morson also interviews other Catholic LGBTQ+ advocates, such as theologian Emily Reimer-Barry, who focused her comments on reproductive justice, and writer Leslye Colvin. Colvin told Morson about the importance of being intersectional in gender advocacy:

“When you first recognize a single lie of oppression or injustice, compassion, curiosity, and courage, will, in time, compel you to question other accepted beliefs.”

The essay in U.S. Catholic is a worthwhile read, as it exposes the perspectives of not only Catholic women who support equality, but Catholic women who find themselves marginalized in that pro-equality movement at times—Black women, pro-choice women, and transgender women. Indeed, in a time when the institutional church and U.S. culture more broadly attempts to deny the existence of transgender women and affirm their identities as women, the choice to include Stephanie Battaglino’s story is noteworthy.

But, as another interviewee in the article, theologian Emily Kahm, stated, “Representation should be the baseline, not the ultimate goal.” As women advocate for equality in the church, it is critical that transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming people be included in this movement for gender equity.

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, February 24, 2024