A Catholic school district in Massachusetts has ruled that its 5,000 students must use the names and pronouns they used at birth. This is the latest clash between the church and radical gender ideology.
The Diocese of Worcester’s decision, approved by Bishop Robert McManus, is expected to affect 21 schools in and around the central Massachusetts city and will go into effect when students return to classes in the fall semester.
Under the new guidelines, students must behave in a manner that is “appropriate to their biological sex”, including the toilets they use and the sports teams they compete in.
David Perda, superintendent of the diocese’s Catholic schools, said some schools had already introduced rules, but “individual situations” had “underscored the need for a single policy that clearly spelled out church instruction.”
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Allowing students to change their names or identities in class has become a hot topic, dividing progressives and conservatives. Massachusetts and other left-leaning states were far more tolerant of gender fluctuation.
According to the new guidelines, released August 15, any bullying, harassment or violence against students based on their sex, sexual orientation or gender identity will “not be tolerated”.
But, they continue, a student’s sex takes precedence over their chosen identity.
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This includes “school athletics; school sponsored dances; dress and uniform guidelines; the use of changing rooms, showers, changing rooms and bathrooms, titles, names and pronouns; and official school documents.’
For names and pronouns, there may be “rare exceptions only to a limited extent and on a case-by-case basis” to be decided by the school principal.
The rules also call for “modesty in speech, appearance, dress and demeanor” and also prohibit expressions of same-sex attraction that cause “confusion or distraction” at school.
The policy is linked to Pope Francis, who has repeatedly spoken out about the dangers of the new gender ideology and how it blurs the distinction between men and women.
It refers to statements by the Pope that we “should not accept ideologies that seek to destroy inseparable aspects of reality”.
The Pope also said that children who identify as transgender should be helped “to accept their own bodies as they were created”.
The diocese published its new policy online this month
“We must always respect the sacred dignity of each individual, but that does not mean that the Church must accept the confused notions of secular gender ideology,” the diocesan statement said.
The policy comes at a time when the Roman Catholic Church’s stance on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights has confused some observers.
Pope Francis has said homosexuality is “not a crime” but also a “sin”.
LGBT groups in Worcester have criticized the bishop’s move.
Joshua Croke, head of the non-profit organization Love Your Labels, called it “harmful”, encouraging students to “keep hidden” and be ashamed.
Croke told the New York Times that he had a “long history of anti-LGBTQ.” practices and positions.’
Last year, Bishop McManus caused controversy when he ordered a predominantly black Catholic middle school in Worcester to take down its Black Lives Matter and Pride flags.
The Cathedral of Saint Paul in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts
When the school refused, Bishop McManus stated that the school was no longer Catholic.
The dispute in Massachusetts comes before the start of another school year in which teachers, parents and students on the front lines of America’s culture war between liberals and conservatives must manage gender, identity and sexuality in the schools.
Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming have passed new laws barring transgender girls from playing on girls’ teams in their K-12 schools.
A Missouri law will go into effect later this month, bringing the number of states with restrictions to 23.
North Carolina could enact a ban later this month, and Ohio could follow in the fall.
Some laws, including in Arizona and West Virginia, are on hold due to federal lawsuits.
They are part of a larger wave of US legislation aimed at curtailing transgender rights amid fears of increasing numbers of young people, particularly girls, coming out as transgender, with some turning to cross-gender hormones and even surgery.