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Responding with compassion: Mary Hasson informs parents about gender ideology

Anna Harvey | Catholic Herald Staff Writer

Speaker Mary Hasson encourages listeners to act compassionately toward those who struggle with gender confusion at a talk at the St. Louis School gym March 20. (ANNA HARVEY | CATHOLIC HERALD)

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Attendees listen to Mary Hasson speak on “Gender Ideology: What Catholics Need to Know” at the St. Louis School gym in Alexandria March 20. (ANNA HARVEY | CATHOLIC HERALD)

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The tension over gender ideology today comes from the basic human desire to understand who we are, said Ethics and Public Policy Center fellow Mary Hasson. 

Hasson spoke to a crowd of more than 150 on “Gender Ideology: What Catholics Need to Know” at the St. Louis School gym in Alexandria March 20. As founder of EPPC’s Person and Identity Project, Hasson seeks to inform Catholics — and parents in particular — on the current trends in gender ideology. 

While Catholics and Christians view the human being as unified in body and soul, Hasson said, the transgender movement views the self and the body as two separate entities. “That is something our world is forgetting; our body is a part of who we are,” Hasson said.

This separation, she continued, comes from the transgender movement’s view of the human person, which denies a human nature endowed with dignity. Rather, according to gender ideology, a person’s dignity comes from external recognition and affirmation from culture. 

Hasson, a parishioner of St. Veronica Church in Chantilly, identified three influences that are primarily responsible for a growing trend in transgender self-identification — social media, the health care system and public school systems — all of which seek to impact the mindsets of children

“It’s easier to form the minds of children than to change the minds of people my age,” Hasson said. 

As social media use increases among children and teens, Hasson explained a growing number of influencers are encouraging young people to experiment with their gender identity and even distance themselves from their families. 

Health care professionals often are a part of the problem, she said. With an increased use of “gender screenings” in pediatrics, doctors privately ask children about their perceived gender identity or inclinations and have no responsibility to inform parents. 

In public school systems similar to Fairfax County Public Schools, Hasson said children not only are exposed to conflicting information about gender and sexuality but also experience pressure to show support for gender ideology.

“It’s the school culture that’s the problem,” Hasson said. “The problem is coming top-down, and from teachers’ unions, the special interest groups, the policies.” 

Hasson said where Catholics can intervene is by accompanying and being patient with those who may struggle with gender confusion, while identifying paths that could lead to further harm.

She urged parents to be proactive in improving relationships with children, to initiate conversations about potential influences, and to pray. 

Anne Dyke, principal of St. Louis School, arranged the talk to give parents instruction on the realities of gender ideology and how to approach the topic with children.

“In a post-pandemic world where our adolescents are experiencing growing challenges to their faith and to their identity through digital technology and societal pressures to conform, we felt it was important to provide information to our school and parish community in order to inform them and provide resources to help our families when talking with their children,” Dyke said. “Our adolescents are having questions about both topics and our parents aren’t sure where to go to get them the help they need.”

St. Louis parishioner Cecilia Franceski appreciated the clarity that Hasson brought to this issue, which shed “a light on the truth that enables people to navigate such a tricky issue.”

 

Find out more

For resources, go to personandidentity.com/.

Read Bishop Michael F. Burbidge’s “A Catechesis on the Human Person and Gender Ideology,” at bit.ly/DioceseGenderIdeology.

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