100+ Cleveland schools reject gender ideology
Over 100 Catholic schools in Cleveland, Ohio will no longer tolerate gender disorientation or same-sex behavior, the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland has announced.
Effective this month, students, employees, volunteers or personnel in Catholic schools “who choose to openly express disagreement with Church teaching on matters of sex, sexuality, and/or gender in an inappropriate or scandalous way, or who act in ways contrary to the teachings of the Church” may face expulsion or “disciplinary action.”
In a school policy memo published August 31st, the Cleveland Diocese acknowledged that gender disorientation can be “incredibly burdensome and painful.” The notion that gender and sex are independent of each other, however, “is contrary to the divinely revealed reality of our true, God-given human nature.”
Those experiencing same-sex attraction or gender disorientation will not be denied admission to Catholic schools, but they should not expect their confusions to be indulged. This includes a ban on rainbow symbols, expressions of “LGBTQ pride,” and “preferred pronouns.”
“No person may designate a ‘preferred pronoun’ in speech or in writing, and no institution shall permit such designation by any person on institutional email, correspondence, or other communications,” says the new policy.
Catholic schools will also now notify parents if their children exhibit signs of gender disorientation or same-sex attraction. Students are prohibited from facilities, programs and activities designated for the opposite sex. An exception may be made for females who wish to join male athletic activities, if deemed appropriate by the institution’s leadership.
Students may not attend a dance with a date of the same sex or publicly express attraction for anyone else of the same sex. They must adhere to a sex-specific dress code and otherwise “conduct themselves in a manner consistent with their God-given biological sex.”
In an accompanying cover letter, Cleveland Bishop Edward Malesic called for parish members to show “compassion, mercy, and dignity” towards those experiencing same-sex attraction or gender disorientation “so that we may lovingly help them navigate the confusion and arrive at the truth.”
“One’s maleness or femaleness is pivotal to how one sees himself or herself and lives his or her life,” the bishop added.
Last week Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb slammed the policy as “a shocking betrayal of the Church teachings” and warned that the policy “doesn’t go unnoticed.”
“[T]he new policy forces LGBTQ+ kids to hide their authentic selves and attend school in fear of persecution of who they really are,” Bibb said in a statement.
