The Church and the Transgender Person

What accounts for the Catholic Church's recent focus on transgender people? Several US dioceses have recently issued documents on how Catholic institutions should respond to transgender people in parishes, schools and other institutions.  These include the Dioceses of Arlington, VA.; Springfield, Il; Milwaukee, WI; Fairbanks, AL; Lansing, MI; Salina, KS; Little Rock, AR; Indianapolis, IN; Denver, CO; and the Bishops of Minnesota, with the Diocese of Marquette, MI stating that transgender people cannot receive the sacraments unless they "repent." Last year one US bishop claimed, "No one 'is' transgender." Another bishop called the very idea of transgender people a "fundamental" mistake. Recently, a US bishop told me that one of his brother bishops believed that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' "highest priority" regarding church doctrine should be issuing a policy on transgender people.