Gender Identity, Pronouns, and Queen of Angels

• Posted on 10 December 2023
• By Queen of Angels
• Posted in Gender Identity
• 0

There is much confusion about gender identity and what the position of the Catholic Church is regarding this. We at Queen of Angels Catholic Bookstore hope to give you a better understanding of Catholic teaching and how our store handles these issues. Simply put, we serve customers of all gender identities, but we address all our customers based on their biological sex, as our Catholic beliefs require.

The Catholic Church bases its beliefs about human sexuality on Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and Natural Law, all of which reveal the reality of biology. Everyone is created in the image and likeness of God, male or female as stated in Canon 1602 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In addition, as Pope Francis said, “The acceptance of our bodies as God’s gift is vital for welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father and ... valuing one’s own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognize myself in an encounter with someone who is different.”

Catholics must be compassionate and loving to those struggling to live consistent with their sex, and we should point them back to the truth of God’s plan that each person should “acknowledge and accept his sexual identity.” (Canon 2333 Catechism of the Catholic Church). As Amoris Laetitia ¶ 285 states, “The young need to be helped to accept their own body as it was created.” It is a beautiful plan which God has purposefully designed for males and females to be different, one from the other in order to develop a flourishing and fruitful family life.

Based on these teachings, Queen of Angels Catholic Bookstore recognizes the biological differences between males and females and their equal dignity. Thus, our bookstore will only use pronouns and titles that accurately reflect someone’s biological sex. We cannot use pronouns or titles based purely on how an individual chooses to identify his or her gender. We do not therefore, affirm the idea that men and women should reject their biological sex. That would force us to say something we believe is false, which is itself sinful, as Fr. Carter Griffin explained in his article, Stand Fast on Pronouns, https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/stand- fast-on-the-pronouns.

If asked to use pronouns or titles that do not reflect a customer’s biological sex, Queen of Angels’ employees will politely and respectfully decline and use a form of address that does not contradict the customer’s sex, such as the customer’s name. Under no circumstances will we call a male customer “she,” “they,” “Ms.,” “Mx.,” or a female customer “he,” “they,” “Mr.,” Mx.,” or any other form of address that does not reflect their biological sex.

Thank you for understanding and for supporting our store. If anyone would like to learn more about the Catholic Church’s teaching about sexuality, gender identity, and God’s beautiful design for men and women, I recommend the following resources (available in store or can be ordered!):

John Bursch's Loving God's Chirldren: The Church and Gender Ideology: https://www.qoa.life/loving-gods-children-the-church-and-gender-ideolog.html.

Mary Eberstadt’s Adam and Eve after the Pill, Revisited: https://www.qoa.life/adam-and-eve-after-the-pill-revisited.html.

Leila Miller & Trent Horn’s Made This Way: How to Prepare Kids to Face Today’s Tough Moral Issues: https://www.qoa.life/made-this-way-how-to-prepare-kids-to-face-todays-t.html.

Christopher West’s Word Made Flesh: https://www.qoa.life/copy-of-word-made-flesh-a-companion-to-th-32104100.html.

Andrew Comiskey’s Rediscovering Our Lost Fullness: a Guide to Sexual Integration: https://www.qoa.life/rediscovering-our-lost-fullness-a-guide-to-sexual.html.

Catholic Answer’s Inseparable: Five Perspectives on Sex, Life, and Love in Defense of Humanae Vitae: https://www.qoa.life/inseparable-five-perspectives-on-sex-life-and-love.html.