You know you’re in for a bad day when the Pope, spiritual leader of millions of Catholics, declares that your life is as destructive to society as global warming.
I am of course talking about Pope Benedict’s annual Christmas message in which he compared transsexuality to the human induced destruction that is ravaging the planet. Never mind the fact that global warming contributes to increased desertification, mass extinctions, devastating floods, droughts, mass migrations and the possible eventual submersion of hundreds of costal cities.
I never realized that transsexuals like me possess such rapture like powers. 
Despite the popular belief espoused by Pope Benedict, gender is actually very complicated topic and is not something that breaks down so neatly into male and female categories.
According to the Intersex Society of North America nearly one percent of all lives births experience some form of gender ambiguity. In many cases sex chromosomes offer no help at all. There are over a dozen different recognized medical conditions such as Klinefelter Syndrome where an individual may possess an XXY phenotype or Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome which causes a male fetus with XY chromosomes to develop in uteri as a female. 
While many transsexuals do not have genetic or physical abnormalities they often are aware that their gender identity is different from their body in some cases as early as two years of age. Studies conducted by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism that suggest that transsexuality is an inborn trait. The study revealed that trans-women have brain structures similar to that of genetic females, resulting from the brain failing to masculinize during fetal development.
If transsexuality is a naturally occurring trait one has to wonder why Pope Benedict would take special time to condemn it. Given the state of the world, it is certainly not hard to find causes that he could champion. Genocide in Dafur, AIDS, the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe and the drug wars in Latin America are certainly more pressing of Papal attention then what’s between my legs.
What is tragic about Pope Benedict’s Christmas message is that it improves the lives of nobody. Like most of the Benedict’s sermons dealing with the subject homosexuality the heart of his message revolves around the protection of the family values and hetero normative gender roles. However, the result is that it creates a society that is hostile to people who do not fit the male/female dichotomy, often leading to self-repression among transgendered individuals.
I know because I spent most of my early life trying to deny that I was really a girl for fear of becoming a social and familial outcast. Pretending to be a normal male caused me overwhelming grief, which manifested into depression, suicidal thoughts and alcohol abuse. It caused me to the fantastic mistake of marrying a woman hoping that in the end everyone would think I was normal.
Hiding who I was didn’t work and it caused a large amount of heartache, not only for my spouse, but also my family and friends, who had to contend that I was not the person they thought I was. All of this could have been avoided if human beings could recognize the diversity and beauty of God’s creation and allow people to be their true selves without fear or stigmatization.
In the end it is disheartening that Pope Benedict chose to make his Christmas message not about promoting peace on Earth or good will toward men, but to signal out that transsexuals (already one of the worlds most marginalized communities) are not worthy of respect and human compassion.
  

***Aime J. Wichtendahl is a graduate from Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, IA. She is a political activist with the Stonewall Democrats and the author of the forthcoming novel Emily. ***