Trucks rumble—the hustle and the hum Of gears gas engine exhaust choke POTHOLE and there’s a cut on the forehead, Red over the white frightened eyes in the dark. She bends down over POTHOLE her baby And she knows what’s coming next but it hasn’t happened yet, So she cradles and coos and tries not to think About the kennel they’ll put her son in, With the chainlink door and the concrete floor and the ugly foil blanket made for... Read more
Part One; Part Two; Part Three Quick reminder: I am not trans, and there are trans authors you can read all over the place. They are, naturally, more authoritative sources on trans identity and experience. I’m reminded of this especially in this post, because I’m going to do something that makes me a little nervous: advance of a theory of where trans identities come from. I’m nervous about this for a couple reasons. One is that, if my speculations are... Read more
In just under three weeks, an unofficial sort of season starts in the Church’s calendar for the Ordinariates. (1) (This is one of the ways that the Anglican Use (2) resembles the calendars of the East, alternating between fasting and feasting pretty regularly.) The upcoming season, which begins on the day after Assumption and runs through the vigil of Michaelmas, is known as St Michael’s Lent. It doesn’t have official status—there are no special readings at Mass, and the liturgical... Read more
Part One; Part Two A lot of discussions that I’ve seen of trans identities—chiefly, but not only, from unfriendly sources—assume that gender identity needs some kind of body-based rationale. Men are men, women are women, it’s not hard! It’s right there, literally in the flesh! And facts, I am informed, don’t care about your feelings. I do sincerely think that intersex bodies are something of a wrench in the works for this. If neither physical appearance, nor gonads, nor chromosomes... Read more
Part One So! God made man male and female, and that’s normally straightforward enough, but in a small minority of cases people are intersex, with male and female characteristics mixed. What does that have to do with trans people? They aren’t intersex. Well, hang on. The salient characteristic of intersexuality is a mixture of female and male traits. Isn’t self-concept as female or male—i.e., gender identity—one of the things that’s a gendered trait? It isn’t the same thing as a... Read more
Due to Reasons™, the most scalding hot-button issue of the kulturkampf seems to have moved from gay issues to trans issues. Most Catholics understand transgender issues even more poorly than gay ones—an unenviable accomplishment—so I feel it’s worthwhile to try and do a little mansplaining. Before I begin, I should make a couple of disclaimers. One is that I submit everything I write to the final judgment of the Catholic Church. I contend, pretty strongly, that the Church has not... Read more
Con su mano serena En mi cuello hería, Y todos mis sentidos suspendía. With his gentle hand He wounded my neck, And all my senses were suspended. – St John of the Cross, En una Noche Oscura (The Dark Night of the Soul) I met the Bride of Christ, the bruised beauty: Her eye had a purple halo, and along her cheek There ran a scarlet cord. She sat on the end of my kitchen table, smoking a cigarette, And... Read more
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