Trans Man and Trans Woman Tie Knot in PH Catholic Church
Ronnie (seated) and Tish (standing) (Source: TishA Marie Amal Enderez’s Facebook page)
The ceremony was presided over by Rev. Msgr. John Warren B. Maratas, who expressed full support for the couple, stating that “love knows no boundaries.” The marriage process reportedly involved extensive consultations and compliance with both civil and ecclesiastical requirements before the wedding was approved and solemnized.
Guess Who Wore the Gown?
Tisha explained that they went through the normal registration process and attended the required seminar at the local government office before their wedding. He said there were no problems from the church leadership, though they were simply asked that Tisha wear the gown and Ronnie wear the barong.
Ronnie and Tisha did not hesitate to comply with the church's request. Ronnie, who is the more quiet on social media between the two, added that she actually wanted to see Tisha in a gown, so she was delighted when her spouse walked down the aisle in a wedding gown.
Translation? The transgender man wore the gown!
Tish and ROnnie’s wedding day (Source: TishA Marie Amal Enderez’s Facebook page)
The Couple
Tisha, a veteran of local lesbian pageants (That’s My Tomboy – TMT 2021 and 2024) is a barista in a local coffee shop while Ronnie does online work. Both admitted to having transitioned through their respective hormone therapies. The newlyweds met online through a common friend, maintaining their relationship for five years before getting married.
While Ronnie is officially the “husband” in the civil and church wedding documents, it is the other way around in their daily life. Tisha has taken Ronnie’s surname.
Tisha says both of them are devout Catholics and “leave it to the Lord” if blessed with children — not adopted, but their own.
Social Media Erupts
Predictably, social media erupted. Progressives hailed it as a revolutionary breakthrough. Traditionalists condemned it as proof that the Church had abandoned its doctrine. Both sides, however, may have been arguing against a version of events that never existed.
Contrary to the headlines and the online theatrics, this was not a same-sex marriage solemnized by the Catholic Church. Neither was it a dramatic rewriting of Canon law. It was, in fact, the application of the very rules that have governed Catholic marriage for centuries.
Tish and Ronnie (Source: TishA Marie Amal Enderez’s Facebook page)
The Church has consistently maintained that marriage is between one biological man and one biological woman. It does not recognize gender transition as changing a person’s sex for purposes of the sacrament. Philippine civil law likewise continues to define marriage in terms of a male and a female. Whether one agrees with those standards is beside the point. The law is the law, and Canon law is Canon law.
In this case, one spouse was biologically male and the other biologically female. That reality satisfied both civil law and Canon law. No legal loophole was exploited. No doctrine was suspended. No exception was invented simply to accommodate the couple. If anything, the Church authorities involved appear to have been meticulous in ensuring that the marriage complied with existing legal and canonical requirements.
What is remarkable is not the wedding itself but the public reaction to it. We have become so conditioned to viewing every issue through the lens of ideology that facts have become secondary. Some insisted the Church had finally embraced gender identity as determinative for marriage. Others proclaimed the Vatican had surrendered to modern culture. Neither claim withstands even a basic reading of the law governing Catholic marriage.
The loudest voices are often the least interested in precision. Outrage has become more fashionable than understanding. A viral post is given more weight than an informed explanation. The result is a public discourse driven less by truth than by tribal allegiance.
People are free to support or oppose the Church’s teachings. They are equally free to campaign for changes in Philippine marriage laws. But disagreement should begin with an accurate understanding of the facts—not with assumptions crafted to fit one’s preferred narrative.
This wedding did not rewrite Catholic doctrine. It did not redefine marriage. If anything, it reaffirmed that the Church continues to apply its longstanding understanding of marriage, even in cases that generate intense public attention.
Predictably, social media erupted. Progressives hailed it as a revolutionary breakthrough. Traditionalists condemned it as proof that the Church had abandoned its doctrine.
Before declaring victory or defeat in the culture wars, perhaps the wiser course is to understand the rules before arguing about them. In an era where symbolism often overshadows substance, the most important lesson from this wedding may be that facts, law, and doctrine still matter. For Tisha and Ronnie, their sanctioned marriage is but an affirmation of their love relationship and the unequivocable support both have received from their families and friends. No one who believes that marriage is only between one man and one woman can argue against what the couple decided to do in their life together. Rene Astudillo is a writer, book author and blogger and has recently retired from more than two decades of nonprofit community work in the Bay Area. He spends his time between California and the Philippines. More articles from Rene Astudillo
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