TV personality Piers Morgan has hit out at the Catholic Church over its stance on the issue of transgender.
The British journalist was responding on Twitter to a Washington Post report which suggested the Diocese of Marquette in Michigan would prevent transgender people from being baptised or taking communion unless they repent.
Expressing his own faith, Morgan said: "As a Catholic, I suggest my Church gets its own sinful house in order before being so bigoted against transgender people. They're not sinners."
The transgender debate continues to divide many in the Church.
The latest development at the Diocese of Marquette comes in the form of an official document which has been given to priests.
While other dioceses have released guidance, it's understood this is the first time that a document has specifically banned transgender people from baptism or communion.
The document states: "The experience of incongruence in one's sexual identity is not sinful if it does not arise from the person's free will, nor would it stand in the way of Christian Initiation.
"However, deliberate, freely chosen and manifest behaviors to redefine one's sex do constitute such an obstacle."
