Max Kuzma

@maxwellkuzma

Transgender man, lifelong Catholic, NCR Columnist, Board Member DignityUSA, Host of Whiplash Podcast Subscribe to my newsletter for a weekly podcast episode on Monday and an essay on Wednesday: www.maxwellkuzma.substack.com/

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Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir maxwellkuzma.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· 27d

This guy is more obsessed with gender than trans ppl

Screenshot of a headline that reads: HEGSETH ANNOUNCES NEW POLICY TO TEST TROOPS FOR LOW TESTOSTERONE.

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Jul 6

the new york times calling them "rebel Catholics" makes them seem way more cool than they actually are, lol. Oooh the latin mass, so rebellious...

Image of the Society of St Pius X processing in Switzerland, which is promoting a New york times article called "Rebel Catholics Defy Vatican's calls to return to mainstream church."

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Jul 3

This piece touches on what the science actually says about transgender athletes—and why Catholics should approach this conversation through the lens of human dignity rather than fear. www.newwaysministry.org/2026/07/03/h...

Typography design with trans flag in background. The words say "The disconnect between the big emotions surrounding this issue and the extraordinarily small number of transgender athletes reveals that this debate has never really been just about sports."

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Jul 1

The SSPX went ahead and consecrated new bishops in defiance of Pope Leo. All I can say is:

poorly drawn gold star with the text “your did it”

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Jun 29

A clip from my wonderful conversation with Alessandra Harris

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Jun 24

Chilling.

Screenshot showing a headline from the guardian: 'This is injustice': how leftist zines were used to sentence anti-ICE protesters to decades in prison
Advocates sound alarm after zines were used as evidence to convict protesters of terrorism charges tied to 2025 protest at Texas ICE facility

After a three-week trial, a jury found eight of nine protesters guilty of "providing material support to terrorists", among other crimes.
For the Sotos, this "material support" included owning a "printing press" used to print anarchist zines and being part of a leftist book club, the federal government argued.
The couple had already left the scene by the time guns were drawn. All eight of the defendants sentenced so far have received unusually harsh sentences - 30 to 100 years - essentially life in prison.

Their attorneys announced their
intention to appeal, but many supporters are doubtful that anything short of a presidential pardon from a future administration would free them.

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Jun 18

A bernie sanders “I am once again asking” meme with the text “this pride month I am once again asking the cis-het catholics to realize the gays already know church teaching”

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Jun 16

@nicoleteburbach.bsky.social and @themagnificast.bsky.social sighting in my latest column 👀

From my NCR column: It reminds me of something transgender theologian Dr. Nicolete Burbach said recently. on "The Magnificast" podcast:
The church .... it's like the body of Christ. You are saved corporally through incorporation into this body.
This body is like a kind of mystical or sacramental unity which unites you with other bodies in the church in a very kind of physical way.
Hearing a trans theologian speak so powerfully about embodied incorporation into the body of Christ is deeply moving to me, especially because it reframes queer and trans existence not as alien to Catholic life, but as already participating in the sacred communion at the heart of the church itself.

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Jun 16

Catholic discourse every June: “Stop making it about LGBTQ people.” *proceeds to make it about LGBTQ people*

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Jun 14

Wanna learn more about my work? Check out my website for recent published articles, clips from speaking events, and recent coverage in the press including interviews: maxwellkuzma.com

Screenshot of Max’s website with the text: MAX KUZMA
WRITER.
SPEAKER.
ADVOCATE.
Max is a Transgender Catholic man and advocate for LGBTQ inclusion
in the church. He's written extensively on the topic and has been quoted in major media outlets, including a notable meeting with Pope Francis in 2024
where he introduced himself as a transgender man.
He is the first openly trans columnist at The National Catholic Reporter,
has spoken at the Outreach conference, an
LGBTQ Catholic ministry,
is a board member of Dignity USA, and has done webinars with New Ways Ministry.
He is also a podcast host of the show
"Whiplash with Maxwell Kuzma."

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Jun 3

Some thoughts from my latest on Pope Leo’s encyclical

Some Catholics have been drawn to the Church precisely because they imagine it as totally fixed and unchanging — a fortress against modernity where doctrine simply drops from heaven, untouched by history or development. With this encyclical, Pope Leo pushes directly against that romanticized narrative. He repeatedly
shows that Catholic Social Doctrine has developed through discernment across generations, with prior Popes responding to the crises of their own eras. And critically, Leo
shows that the Church has been wrong - in his apology for the Church's role in slavery and in calling just-war theory "outdated."

Across the global Church, there are already rich traditions — liberation theology, Black theology, womanist and feminist theology, queer theology, disability theology, and others - that have been reading the Gospel through the lived realities of poverty, racial injustice, gendered violence, ecological crisis, and exclusion. These movements have often done their work in local
communities and grassroots settings, shaping pastoral practice and theological reflection in
ways that often move ahead of formal magisterial articulation.

"May the connections this encyclical builds to traditions long pushed to the edges of Catholic life prove fruitful, transformative, and impossible to ignore"
Max Kuzma
New Encyclical Strengthens Church's Social Doctrine

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· May 27

Screenshot from Dune part 1 by Denis Villenueve of the character Stilgar saying “lisan al-gaib,” or “voice from the outer world,” essentially a messiah prophecy planted by religious devotees.

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· May 25

Here’s a bit of what we cover:

In this conversation, we discuss how queer theology does far more than simply advocate for LGBTQ inclusion or engage in LGBTQ apologetics. Queer theology "queers" theology by using the term queer as a verb: disrupting, inverting, and dismantling rigid or heteronormative interpretations of Christian doctrine. We talk about what it means to look at the world from a perspective on the margins (a queer perspective) rather than centralizing the magisterium.

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· May 24

Happy pentecost! I had the honor of producing the audio for a new scripture reflection series from New Ways Ministry that starts today. The first reflection is by Bishop John Stowe: www.newwaysministry.org/2026/05/22/t...

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· May 21

Options if you're considering a move off Google products in light of their increased commitment and investment to AI, particularly as it relates to search functionality

Screenshot from NBC news: "More AI in search and shopping
At last year’s conference, the most talked-about development was the introduction and rollout of “AI mode” on Google’s search engine. The feature gives users a more conversational answer to their query before providing relevant links, building on previously implemented changed how users experience and interact with the platform.

AI mode queries have more than doubled every quarter since its launch last year, and the tool recently surpassed 1 billion monthly users, according to Liz Reid, Google’s head of search."

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· May 17

Some more birding adventures today (plus chipmunks!)

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· May 16

My birding hobby (preciously just bird feeders in our yard) just got an upgrade! Binoculars with a phone mount

Photo of a red bellied woodpecker at a bird feeder

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· May 16

I’ve done this before 😂 especially because when you plug my rice cooker in, it immediately turns on a light, so it’s easy to forget to click the button for “cook”

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· May 11

Sister Luisa Derouen is an amazing Catholic who has spent years getting to know transgender people — check out this clip from my podcast, Whiplash with Maxwell Kuzma

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· May 6

“Human Dignity” is going to be the next “Sin of Empathy” for rigid fundamentalists who don’t really understand the whole “loving example of Jesus” thing.

Screenshot of a First Things post from Facebook. The text says "Catholic Bishops’ Empty Moralizing
“Rather than frame a cogent moral argument, too many Catholic leaders, including popes, use ‘human dignity’ as an all-purpose warrant for their favored policies. I fear that, over time, this rhetorical posture, deployed to support positions that are self-evidently illogical, will discredit the concept of human dignity itself.”
— R. R. Reno"

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Apr 26

Continuing my read of the excellent “New Ways and Next Steps: Developing Parish LGBTQ+ Ministry” by Francis DeBernardo

Photo of a page from the book mentioned in the post.
“…Christian faith and their Catholic heritage. They seek an understanding Church, a community where they can be accepted as men and women who are Catholic and who also happen to be homosexual. They look to the Church as a community of faith, a place where they may responsibly and sensitively understand the interplay between their religious faith and their human sexuality, and to live the sacramental life of the Church in all of its rich meanings”

This advice suggests that, for the most part, LGBTQ+ pastoral care should not be very different from other forms of ministry. LGBTO+ people want the same things from the church as heterosexual and cisgender people want. They are seeking a place to share struggles, joys, needs, and gifts, as well as to share the same that others bring to the com-munity. The more a parish provides those opportunities for LGBTO+ people, the more it is truly offering a welcoming place.

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Apr 22

I was honored to participate in a recent meeting with Bishops facilitated by New Ways Ministry to share about my trans experience

Headline in the National Catholic Reporter:
“In conversation, US bishops are learning new insights on LGBTQ+ Catholics”
OPINION
BY FRANCIS DEBERNARDO

Quote by Maxwell Kuzma: “This was Catholicism at its best: rigorous intellectual discussion among experts, with plenty of genuine fraternal interest to go around.”

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Apr 22

There’s a version of Catholicism online that treats theology like a debate sport—and right now, it’s shaping how people justify war, power, and exclusion.

Zooming Out
The bigger picture of religion and politics in the US is full of contradictions: while our
contemporary understanding of Christian nationalism often involves the alliance of
the evangelical right with Catholics, in reality it was only ever a temporary coalition long enough to gain the reins of power. American Anti-Catholicism has a long history, ranging from 19th-century mob violence and "No Irish Need Apply" signs to 20th-century KKK activity (burning crosses in the yards of Catholic families), political opposition to Catholic candidates such as John F. Kennedy, and modern vandalism at Catholic churches. Photo of a sign that reads:
HELP WANTED
NO IRISH NEED APPLY
Small text reads "Boston Sign Co, Sept 11, 1919"

Max Kuzma@maxwellkuzma· Mar 23

Using Timothée Chalamet and the idea of “twink death” as a starting point, this episode explores how homosocial status dynamics shape masculinity — and why healthier models are possible.