̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - sexuality

USA sexually ‘teased’ its troops in WWI to make them fight harder

ta385 — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 09:00:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��United States Government sought to sexually stimulate then frustrate its soldiers to prepare them for an unpopular conflict in Europe, a Cambridge historian argues.

Autistic individuals are more likely to be LGBTQ+

cjb250 — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 14:32:56 +0000

̽��ֱ��findings have important implications for the healthcare and support of autistic individuals. ̽��ֱ��results are published in the journal Autism Research.

For many years it was wrongly assumed that autistic individuals are uninterested in sexual or romantic relationships, but this is not the case. In recent years, small studies have suggested that autistic individuals are more likely to experience a wider diversity of sexual orientations and are less likely to have sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, the existing evidence has been limited in size and scope.

In the largest study to date on these topics, the team at the Autism Research Centre used an anonymous, self-report survey to study the sexual activity, sexual orientation, and sexual health of autistic adults. Overall, 1,183 autistic and 1,203 non-autistic adolescents and adults (aged 16-90 years) provided information about their sexual activity, sexual orientation, and medical history of STIs.

̽��ֱ��results showed that the majority of autistic adults (70% of autistic males and 76% of autistic females) engage in sexual activity—although they do so to a lesser degree than their non-autistic peers (89% of both non-autistic males and females report engaging in sexual activity). In contrast to previous findings, the results also found that there were no differences in likelihood of ever contracting an STI, or the age at which participants first engaged in sexual activity, between autistic and non-autistic individuals.

In addition, the study found that autistic adults and adolescents are approximately eight times more likely to identify as asexual and ‘other’ sexuality than their non-autistic peers. And there were sex differences in sexual orientation: autistic males are 3.5 times more likely to identify as bisexual than non-autistic males, whereas autistic females are three times more likely to identify as homosexual than non-autistic females.

When comparing autistic females and males directly, autistic females were more likely to be sexually active; more likely to identify as asexual, bisexual, and ‘other’ sexuality; and were less likely to identify as heterosexual.

Elizabeth Weir, a PhD candidate at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge, and the lead researcher of the study, said: “Understanding the intersectional identities of autistic individuals who are asexual, bisexual, homosexual, or ‘other’ sexuality is key. It is particularly important that healthcare providers and educators use language that is affirming and accepting of all sexual orientations and gender identities when providing sexual education and sexual health screening checks to autistic and non-autistic people alike.”

Dr Carrie Allison, Director of Strategy at the Autism Research Centre and a member of the team, said: “We must ensure that autistic individuals are receiving equal access to healthcare and support in their choices in their personal lives, to enjoy fulfilling lives and good mental health.”

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the Autism Research Centre and a member of the team, said: “This new study is an important example of applied health research with policy relevance for health and social care services.”

Reference
Weir, E., Allison, C., & Baron-Cohen, S. ̽��ֱ��sexual health, orientation, and activity of autistic adolescents and adults. Autism Research (2021). DOI: 10.1002/aur.2604

New research from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge suggests that autistic individuals are less likely to identify as heterosexual and more likely to identify with a diverse range of sexual orientations than non-autistic individuals.

Cecilie Johnsen via Unsplash

Pride flag

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Secret recordings reveal the sexual struggles of Fifties Britain

ta385 — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 07:00:00 +0000

A new study of pioneering counselling sessions explores how women sought to overcome sexual difficulties at a pivotal moment in Britain’s sex history.

Let’s celebrate Pride – and let our young people be proud, too

cjb250 — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 07:49:51 +0000

Tomorrow, tens of thousands of people will descend on London to celebrate Pride, the annual march through the streets of the city to celebrate lesbians, gays, people who are bisexual and transgender and those who belong to other sexual minorities – the LGBT+ community.

Where last year’s parade was swelled by people marching in solidarity with those tragically killed in the terrible shooting at Orlando earlier that month, this year’s may well be boosted by a positive celebration: fifty years since the decriminalisation of gay sex.

Anyone old enough to remember this point in history, or even the eighties, when the spectre of AIDS hung over the gay community and the Thatcher government introduced Section 28 to prohibit local authorities from "promoting" homosexuality, will realise how far we have come since then. In 2017 the rights of our LGBT friends in our community are protected in law, and same sex marriage is broadly accepted.

But while I don’t want to rain on everyone’s parade, we – LGBT and straight alike – shouldn’t be too complacent. There is still a lot of work to be done.

Last week, the charity Stonewall, which campaigns for equality for LGBT people in all walks of life, published a report looking at the experiences of LGBT pupils at our schools. ̽��ֱ��research behind this report was led by Dr Vasanti Jadva from Cambridge’s Centre for Family Research and was a follow up to its two previous studies, published in 2007 and 2012.

̽��ֱ��findings of the study give us cautious optimism – but I want to stress that word, cautious. Compared to the previous studies, it found that pupils at our schools encounter less bullying based on their sexual or gender identity, are less likely to hear casual homophobic language such as “faggot” or “lezza” and are more likely to be taught about LGBT issues at school. But that does not mean that these problems have gone away. And for one group in particular – those pupils who define themselves as transgender – their experiences are far from positive.

More than 3,700 LGBT young people aged 11-19 across Britain took part in the study, completing an online questionnaire asking about their experiences at school, online and at home.

̽��ֱ��top line finding of this important report is very positive: homophobic and biphobic bullying has fallen by a third over ten years. But this masks the fact that 45% of our pupils are still bullied because they are LGBT. And if you are trans, more likely than not you will have been bullied – 64% of trans pupils report being bullied. Even more horrifying, nearly one in ten trans pupils have been subjected to death threats at school.

Half of LGBT pupils frequently hear homophobic language at school. ̽��ֱ��phrase “that’s so gay” – used infamously by DJ Chris Moyles during his spell on Radio 1 – is still used very commonly, with 86% of pupils regularly hearing this or similar phrases at school.

What happens when teachers witness the bullying or hear such offensive language at school? Not enough, it seems. Fewer than a third of LGBT pupils say their teachers intervened when they were present during the bullying, and seven in ten say teachers only ‘sometimes’ or ‘never’ challenge homophobic, biphobic or transphobic language when they hear it.

There have been improvements, though: the number of schools that tell their pupils homophobic bullying is wrong is up from a shameful 25% when our researchers first did their study to 68% this time round. Faith schools are most likely to let their pupils down – just 57% tell their pupils that homophobic bullying is wrong, and only 29% tell them transphobic bullying is wrong.

Schools are more likely to teach their pupils about LGBT issues now, too. In 2007, 70% of pupils had never been taught about such matters, but this is down to 40% now. But again, if you’re trans, your experience is much worse – three in four LGBT pupils have never learnt about gender identity and what ‘trans’ means at schools (and in fact, this is a similar figure for bisexuality).

We know that positive role models can help pupils as they grow up, and it’s perhaps a reflection of the changing environment in which gays and lesbians can marry and are more visible that means that 27% of LGBT pupils known of an openly gay member of staff and 22% of an openly lesbian member of staff. But the stigma surrounding bisexuality and transgender is reflected in that only a tiny minority know staff in these groups (4% and 3% respectively).

So what does all this mean for a pupil’s development? We know that mental health issues among young people are becoming an increasing concern, and this is particularly reflected among LGBT pupils. An alarming 61% of LGBT pupils have deliberately harmed themselves, and more than one in five (22%) have attempted to take their own lives, a figure barely changed since 2012. This is just not acceptable.

Stonewall has rightly used the findings of the report to make a number of recommendations to improve the experiences of LGBT pupils across the country. Ruth Hunt, chief executive of Stonewall, described the report as “a wake-up call for schools, government and politicians on just how far we still have to go."

While some of the recommendations are aimed at ensuring that staff are empowered to offer appropriate support to their LGBT pupils, many are aimed at showing their pupils that it’s okay to be LGBT. If this report tells us one thing, it’s the importance of allowing people to celebrate who they are, no matter their sexuality or gender identity. It’s what we strive for at Cambridge, to be a university to which any student can aspire to come and not only engage in great scholarship, but to also be free, happy, and proud of their individuality and sexuality.

̽��ֱ��Stonewall report encourages us to celebrate difference and make the diversity of LGBT people visible. This is what Pride is all about – and you can see the impact it can have by listening to those who have been fortunate enough to attend. Lauren, a 16 year old pupil in the East Midlands, who contributed to the study put it so clearly when saying that: “After I went to Pride, I felt much more confident and able to come out because of how well bisexuality was accepted there. Going to Pride helped me to gain confidence in myself and to come out.”

So go out there tomorrow, enjoy yourself. Be proud. And let our children and teenagers see that they, too, have so much to be proud about.

If you are an LGBT+ young person in or around looking for help and support, you can contact ̽��ֱ��Kite Trust, which offers free support for LGBT+ people under the age of 25.

̽��ֱ��opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author.

At the end of June, the charity Stonewall produced a report along with Cambridge’s Centre for Family Research into the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pupils at our schools. On the eve of Pride London, Dr Nick Bampos, one of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s Equality and Diversity Champions looks at the findings.

We – LGBT and straight alike – shouldn’t be too complacent. There is still a lot of work to be done

Nick Bampos

Nicky Rowbottom

Pride London Parade, July 2011

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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Leading theologians urge the Church of England to celebrate same-sex relationships

tdk25 — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 08:03:33 +0000

A new book written by Cambridge theologians aims to set the agenda for sexuality conversations being held at the Church of England’s General Synod in July by urging the Church towards acceptance and affirmation of committed same-sex relationships. ̽��ֱ��study warns that a failure to adopt such a stance would be “suicidal”.

Amazing Love, edited by Andrew Davison, Starbridge Lecturer in Theology and Natural Sciences at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, sets out a case for the Church to bless stable gay and lesbian relationships, arguing that such a position is entirely consistent with the Christian tradition of ethical reflection.

̽��ֱ��book is deliberately timed to reach members of the General Synod, the “parliament” of the Church of England, who will take part in discussions about sexuality from 10-12 July. These conversations aim to build “good disagreement” on same-sex relationships and will set the framework for a debate in 2017 on changes to the Church’s stance.

To date, the Church of England has failed to comment positively on faithful and committed same-sex relationships and the book argues that the time has come for change.

Amazing Love is the result of a workshop held earlier in the year at St John’s College, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. It aims to show that the celebration of gay and lesbian relationships is consistent with authentic Christian belief by tackling the issues on a number of fronts.

Traditional arguments that reject same-sex relationships have often identified passages in the Bible which appear to prohibit homosexuality, but the book argues that there is no evidence that these passages refer to the strong, loving and stable same-sex relationships that are under discussion.

Duncan Dormor, Dean of Chapel at St John’s College, Cambridge, and a contributor to the book said: “ ̽��ֱ��story of Sodom and Gomorrah is often seen as a passage in the Bible which condemns homosexuality. ̽��ֱ��story is more likely to be about the abuse of hospitality, but if it does refer to sex, it is about an attempted sexually motivated attack by a mob rather than committed gay and lesbian relationships.”

“Whatever your view on these passages in the Bible, these are not the only sentences that matter in this conversation. Interpretation of the Bible can never be totally objective - different readings depend on factors such as the age, culture and experience of the reader. ̽��ֱ��big picture of the Bible’s Christian message should trump the details of interpretation.”

̽��ֱ��book cites examples of matters which at one time seemed to be supported by the Bible on which Christian teaching has now changed. For example, it can safely be assumed that modern Christians are overwhelmingly of the view that slavery is wrong, but in the Bible it is an accepted institution, with Job, the model of the righteous person, described as a “just” man because he treats his slaves fairly rather than setting them free.

During their campaign, 18th-Century Abolitionists faced strong opposition from fellow Christians on “Biblical” grounds and similar things can be said historically about issues like contraception and lending money with interest, demonstrating how new insights lead Christians to apply scripture to a particular issue in a new way.

̽��ֱ��second chapter of Amazing Love draws upon advances in science and how our scientific understanding of homosexuality has evolved. ̽��ֱ��book argues that grasping scientific facts should be important to members of the Synod and all Christians as they have a responsibility to examine the full range of information available and understand the issues that they are discussing from as rounded a perspective as possible.

Human sexuality is complex, but scientific evidence is conclusive on the following points: Sexuality occurs on a diverse spectrum, it is not consciously chosen and for the vast majority it is not easily changed. ̽��ֱ��book states that there is clear, robust evidence that for some people, same-sex attraction is “natural, inevitable and beyond their conscious control”.

“Pre-1973, homosexuality was regarded as a mental illness, but the scientific consensus has changed – we now know that being gay or lesbian is not damaging to people, it is the assumption that it is 'unhealthy' that damages them. New discoveries can and should shift the background against which well-informed ethical thinking takes place,” added Dormor.

A key premise of the book is that the most fundamental feature of Christian life is following Jesus and that “loving your neighbour” involves listening to others and their experiences. ̽��ֱ��book warns of the damaging consequences of a Christian culture in which gay and lesbian people do not feel welcome, or are not able to speak about themselves.

̽��ֱ��book also notes a shift in contemporary sexual ethics away from acts and on to thinking about people, relationships and emotional intimacy. “What should concern Christians is not what x does with Y – this mirrors a reductive, materialistic approach to sexuality which Christians would rightly object to in the secular world. There is much more to sexual relationships than particular acts and Christians should be more concerned with the nature and integrity of relationships and their impact on wellbeing.”

̽��ֱ��book concludes that taking a hard line on the issue of same-sex relationships would be “suicidal” for the Church and involve “shooting ourselves in the foot in the worst possible way”. It notes that young people care deeply about relationships and marriage and are increasingly “baffled” by the Church’s decision to excluded committed same sex couples from these aspects of life.

“We urge the Church to make a positive and joyful affirmation of same-sex relationships or risk alienating the younger generation. Maintaining the current silence on this issue will only build a barrier preventing us from reaching young people on other important issues surrounding sexual and social ethics,” said Dormor.

Copies of Amazing Love have been sent to all members of the General Synod.

Amazing Love is published on Thursday 30 June by Darton, Longman and Todd. More information can be found via: http://www.darton-longman-todd.co.uk/titles/2181-9780232532654-amazing-love

Leading theologians have called on the Church of England to recognise and celebrate same-sex relationships at its forthcoming General Synod, warning that to take a hard line on the subject would be “suicidal”.

We urge the Church to make a positive and joyful affirmation of same-sex relationships or risk alienating the younger generation. Maintaining the current silence on this issue will only build a barrier preventing us from reaching young people on other important issues surrounding sexual and social ethics

Duncan Dormor

Glenn Lascuna, via Flickr

̽��ֱ��book advises the church to recognise, celebrate and bless same-sex relationships that are faithful, stable and permanent

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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Opinion: Losing your virginity: how we discovered that genes could play a part

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 08:13:05 +0000

As far as big life decisions go, choosing when to lose your virginity or the best time start a family are probably right up there for most people. It may seem that such decisions are mostly driven by social factors, such as whether you’ve met the right partner, social pressure or even your financial situation. But scientists are increasingly realising that such sexual milestones are also influenced by our genes.

In a new study of more than 125,000 people, published in Nature Genetics, we identified gene variants that affect when we start puberty, lose our virginity and have our first child. This is hugely important as the timing of these events affect educational achievements as well as physical and mental health.

Children can start puberty at any time between eight and 14-years-old. Yet it is only in recent years that we have begun to understand the biological reasons for this. Through studies of both animals and humans, we now know that there’s a complex molecular machinery in the brain that silences puberty hormones until the right time. At this point, chemical messengers secreted from the brain begin a cascade of events, leading to the production of sex hormones and reproductive maturity.

Human genetics studies have identified many genes that are linked to individual differences in the onset of puberty. There are broadly two approaches used to map such genes – studies of patients affected by rare disorders that affect puberty and large-scale population studies. ̽��ֱ��former is helpful because it can investigate gene variants that cause extremely early or delayed/absent puberty.

In previous research, we used population studies to survey a large number of individuals using questionnaires and then genome-wide association studies to scan these same participants for common genetic differences. We could then assess whether the participants' reported age at puberty was related to particular gene variants. In this way, we have in a number of studies identified more than 100 such variants, each modifying puberty timing by just a few weeks. However, together they contribute substantially.

We now understand that both nature and nurture play a roughly equal role in regulating the timing of puberty. For example, studies have consistently shown that obesity and excessive nutrition in children can cause an early onset of puberty.

Genetic factors

However, we know far less about the biological and genetic factors behind the ages that we first have sexual intercourse or have a first child. This is because previous research has focused more on environmental and family factors than genetics. But the launch of UK Biobank, a study with over half a million participants, has greatly helped to fill this lack of knowledge.

In our new study, we used this data to survey some 125,000 people in the same way as in the puberty studies. We found 38 gene variants associated with the age of first sexual intercourse. ̽��ֱ��genes that we identified fall broadly into two groups. One category is genes with known roles in other aspects of reproductive biology and pubertal development, such as the oestrogen receptors, a group of proteins found on cells in the reproductive tract and also in behaviour control centres of the brain.

If you went through puberty early you are more likely to have many children in life. Tom Adriaenssen/wikimedia, CC BY-SA

̽��ֱ��other group includes genes which play roles in brain development and personality. For example, the gene CADM2, which controls brain activity and also has strong effects on whether we regard ourselves to be risk-takers. We discovered that this gene was also associated with losing your virginity early and having a higher number of children throughout life. Similarly, the gene MSRA, linked to how irritable we are, was also associated with age at first sexual intercourse. Specifically, people who are more irritable typically have a later encounter. However, more research is needed to show exactly how these genes help regulate the timing of the reproductive milestones.

We were also able to quantify that around 25% of the variation in these milestones was due to genetic differences rather than other factors.

Implications for public health

An important reason why we study reproductive ageing is that these milestones impact reproductive outcomes and also broader health risks. Epidemiological studies show that individuals who go through puberty at younger ages have higher risks of many diseases of old age, such as diabetes, heart disease and breast cancer. Similarly, first sexual intercourse at an earlier age is linked to a number of adverse behavioural, educational and health outcomes.

Using a statistical genetics approach called Mendelian Randomisation, a technique that helps clarify the causal relationship between human characteristics, these studies can tell us whether such epidemiological associations are likely to be causal rather than just random associations. We managed to show that early puberty actually contributes to a higher likelihood of risk-taking behaviours, such as sexual intercourse at an earlier age. It was also linked to having children earlier, and having more children throughout life.

These findings, along with previous studies linking early puberty and loss of virginity to social and health risks, back the idea that future public health interventions should aim to help children avoid early puberty, for example by diet and physical activity and avoiding excess weight gain. Our findings predict that this would have benefits both on improving adolescent health and educational outcomes and also for future health at older ages.

John Perry, Senior Investigator Scientist, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and Ken Ong, Group Leader of the Development Programme at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

This article was originally published on ̽��ֱ��Conversation. Read the original article.

̽��ֱ��opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author(s) and do not represent the views of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

John Perry and Ken Ong (MRC Epidemiology Unit) discuss how sexual milestones are influenced by our genes and how this can impact on broader health risks.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

For image use please see separate credits above.

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Global Christian attitudes towards transgenderism “softening”, study suggests

tdk25 — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 00:01:29 +0000

A growing number of Christian denominations, particularly within Protestant traditions, are softening their stance on transgenderism and embracing trans people as congregants and ministers, a new study suggests.

While the Church in general has a reputation for intransigence on questions of gender and sexuality, the research, which mapped the official positions of different denominations around the world, points to “a slow, sometimes grudging, but growing momentum for change among Christians within Protestantism especially.”

̽��ֱ��Church of England, Lutheran denominations in Scandinavia, and numerous Churches in the United States are described as leading the shift towards a state of broad-based acceptance in which trans people are able to minister, teach and marry in their affirmed gender.

At the same time, the study acknowledges that the Catholic and Orthodox Churches remain officially opposed to transgenderism. “ ̽��ֱ��overwhelming majority of the 2.1 billion Christians in the world belong to Churches which are officially unsympathetic to the claims of transgender people,” it observes.

̽��ֱ��research was carried out by the Reverend Duncan Dormor, who is Dean of Chapel and Director of Studies for Theology at St John’s College, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. He undertook the study having been asked to outline Christian attitudes towards transgenderism for a book, ̽��ֱ��Legal Status of Transsexual and Transgender Persons.

̽��ֱ��mapping exercise assessed the official positions of as many major Christian denominations as possible, drawing in particular on any formal statements that these Churches had issued. These were then grouped together by type, in order to provide a sense of which dominant viewpoints currently define Christianity as a whole.

̽��ֱ��results suggest that many Churches have, within the last few years, become far less conservative on transgender issues than is traditionally assumed.

̽��ֱ��study adds: “ ̽��ֱ��ministry and marriage of transgender Christians has as often been grudgingly accepted as positively embraced, mostly within the last decade, and frequently in the face of significant unease of internal opposition. Nevertheless, there is growing momentum for change; for acceptance and welcoming of transgender Christians.”

̽��ֱ��challenge transgenderism poses to some Christian denominations is rooted in “theological anthropology” - in simple terms a faith-based understanding of the human condition and what the difference between the sexes means. Many conservative Christians believe that God created two distinct forms of human - male and female - and that these sexed differences are an essential characteristic of what it means to be human.

In response, during the latter half of 20th Century, various groups emerged on the fringes of mainstream Christianity that not only welcome and affirm transgender Christians, but actively campaign for their rights. These developed into pan-Christian activist groups.

̽��ֱ��new study suggests that ideas from these groups are now percolating through to moderate, mainstream Christianity as well. In particular, Protestant Churches, which focus heavily on pastoral responsibilities in the community and emphasise toleration of difference, are becoming increasingly open-minded towards trans people.

Much of the progress has taken place in the United States, where in 1996 the Presbyterian Church of Atlanta became the first mainstream Christian denomination to allow a religious leader, Erin (previously Eric) Svenson, to remain in post following surgery to change gender. Since then groups such as the Presbyterian Church USA (in 2010) and the Episcopal Church (in 2012) have followed suit, by welcoming the ordination of transgender clergy.

In Europe, change has come about not only from inside Christianity, but also from external legislation changes recognising transgender people, which has obliged Churches to adapt. Scandinavia, which incorporates some of the most progressive nations in the world in terms of the inclusion of LGBT people, also has some of the most inclusive churches, the study says.

̽��ֱ��research also singles out progress made within the Church of England. Even though a clear position on transgenderism has yet to be drawn up by its governing body, the General Synod, there are currently at least eight transgender priests serving within the Church, of whom six were ordained prior to transition.

Equally, while the Church secured an exemption under the Gender Recognition Act of 2004 for clergy who did not wish to solemnise the marriage of transgender people, the survey points out that it also protected the rights of transsexual parishioners to use their parish church.

Further, when the Act was debated in the House of Lords, a number of bishops from the Church of England played a vital role in preventing the progress of an amendment that would have given religious bodies greater power and autonomy to restrict the participation of transgender people in the Church.

“ ̽��ֱ��developing positions of these Churches illustrates that religion’s perspective on transgenderism is less monolithic than is sometimes believed,” Dormor said. “It is important to remember that it is plural and accommodates a diversity of views. It seems highly likely that the developments we have seen over the last decade or so will continue.”

̽��ֱ��report acknowledges that similar developments are unlikely to take place in the Catholic Church, which remains formally opposed to transgenderism. It does, however, suggest that unofficially the Church’s attitude towards trans people may soften under Pope Francis, compared with his two predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

“Gender is one area in which Pope Francis to some extent represents intellectual continuity with the previous two Popes, but unlike them he does not see gender in exclusively ideological terms,” Dormor added.

“People or communities who are marginalised or suffering are a priority for him. That means that while the Catholic Church will continue to fight the EU on gender legislation, it may simultaneously become more responsive to groups of people and individuals who need to be supported because of their marginalised status.”

̽��ֱ��study appears in ̽��ֱ��Legal Status of Transsexual and Transgender Persons, published by Intersentia.

A mapping exercise examining the positions of major Christian denominations on transgender identities suggests that a growing number of Churches around the world are taking an inclusive approach towards trans people and communities.

̽��ֱ��ministry and marriage of transgender Christians has as often been grudgingly accepted as positively embraced, mostly within the last decade, and frequently in the face of significant unease of internal opposition. Nevertheless, there is growing momentum for change.

Duncan Dormor

Image by Robert Couse-Baker, via Flickr

Sacramento Pride Parade, supporting the LGBT community, June 15 2013. ̽��ֱ��new study highlights the leadership of many Churches in the United States in shifting the balance of Christian attitudes towards trans people.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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