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This article is part of a paper on “The Roles of Mothers and Fathers” which Babette Francis was invited to present at the World Congress of Families V. Babette was unable to go to Amsterdam because of Charles’ illness, and her paper was read by Cindy Collins of Women for Life International, Inc.

This session on the roles of mothers and fathers is timely because in so-called “progressive” circles not only is there a denial that mothers and fathers have distinct roles, but the very concept of “mother” and “father” is under dispute: a cult of androgyny is being promoted. In social insurance forms from Ontario, Canada, instead of “father” and “mother” there is the option of listing “parent l” and “parent 2”, presumably in deference to homosexual couples.

The blurring of parental roles also relates to feminist gender theory which holds there is no fixed determination of sexual identity such as “male” and “female” but that we all belong on a rainbow spectrum including not only male and female but also asexual, bisexual, homosexual, hermaphrodite, transsexual and transgendered.

The category of ‘transgendered’ is further subdivided into those who have had no medical treatment, those who have had hormone treatment, those who have had hormones and surgery, and - most unhappy group of all - those who have had hormones and surgery, are dissatisfied and want to revert to their original gender, whatever that was. You may think I am joking but I have sat through UN conferences where serious problems of women and children in developing countries received less attention than necessary because the meetings were mired in debates about “how many genders are there?”

Sweden is often the cauldron for feminist social experiments and Hilary White of LifeSiteNews.com reported in June about a Swedish couple who, as a gender experiment, won’t tell their child if it is a boy or a girl:

“In an interview with newspaper Svenska Dagbladet in March, a Swedish couple said they are refusing to disclose whether their two-and-a-half-year-old child, called ‘Pop’ in the media, is a boy or a girl. They said their decision, made at the time of the child’s birth, was based on the feminist theory that ‘gender’ is a ‘cruel social construct’ that forces children into artificial roles.”

The child’s mother said: “We want Pop to grow up more freely and avoid being forced into a specific gender mould from the outset. It’s cruel to bring a child into the world with a blue or pink stamp on its forehead. I believe that the self-confidence and personality that Pop has shaped will remain for a lifetime.” The parents say they never use personal pronouns, referring to him or her only as ‘Pop’.

Instead of suggesting the parents be investigated for psychological abuse, Kristina Henkel, a “gender equality consultant” was quoted in the Swedish English-language paper The Local, as justifying the parents’ action, saying that if they are doing this “because they want to create a discussion with other adults about why gender is important, then I think they can make a point of it.” Her comments are reminiscent of meetings held by the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

It is not only in Sweden - years ago in 1975 in Australia a feminist-dominated ‘Royal Commission on Human Relationships’ recommended we no longer use the pronouns ‘he’ and ‘she’ or ‘him’ and ‘her’ but use “id” for both sexes - an idiotic suggestion if ever there was one. In fact the whole idea of a government inquiry on “Human Relationships” was absurd, and the Labor government which initiated it was voted out of office. But the push for androgyny continues - a Transgender Club at the University of Chicago has suggested that we use the non-sexist pronoun “ze” instead of “him” or “her”. Which brings to mind John Zmirak’s comment in his 22nd July 2009 Town hall column regarding Michael Jackson, that only in America can a poor but talented black boy grow up to be a rich white woman - or sort of.

There is a postscript to my paper at the World Congress of Families IV in which I mentioned the tragic case of Canadian boy David Reimer, whose parents had been convinced by Dr. John Money, “gender reassignment consultant” at John Hopkins University, to castrate him and raise him as a girl following damage done to him in a botched circumcision.

David tried to regain his male identity and his story became widely known after the publication of a book about his life titled “As Nature Made Him”. Courageously he appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show in order to prevent other such experiments, but tragically committed suicide at the age of 38 as did his twin brother a few years later. Neither recovered from the psychological damage inflicted on them by the “sex games” they were induced to play by Dr. Money.

Away from the misplaced ideologies of “gender theory” and “queer theory”, it is important for us to remind the world that mothers and fathers are indeed very important in the lives of their children, and that they have distinct roles.

Pope Benedict XVI has been highly critical of gender theory and has called for the development of an “ecology of man, based on respecting the nature of the person, and the two genders of masculine and feminine.” The Pope warned that radical feminist gender theory is a form of “contempt” for God that “will lead to the self destruction of humanity. It is not outmoded metaphysics when the Church speaks of the nature of the human being as man and woman, and demands this order of creation be respected.”

Cindy Collins reports that my paper was “very very well received, l00 - 150 people were present at the session and took copies. WCF V was an amazing time and many contacts were made”.