The policy was partially driven, sources told Scene, after priests in charge of many parish schools for kindergarten through eighth grade told diocesan leadership they were unsure how to respond to questions about sex, sexuality and gender identity from middle school students.
Teachers and adminstrators in diocesan schools added that a team had been crafting the policy and presenting ideas since the 2021-2022 school year, they didn’t know it would be announced and codified this year, just days before school began.
“We did not know that it was going to come at the beginning of the school year,” one employee told Scene on the condition of anonymity. “The day that it was released all the teachers in the diocesan high schools received an email from the principal and the president stating that there would be this release and it was buried so heavily in on the diocesan page…It was difficult for me to find it and I’m very familiar with the website.”
And whatever the policy from up-on-high, it remains clear not everyone in the community agrees.
“It’s not in line with what’s at the heart of many, many people who consider themselves Catholic,” the employee said. “I’m personally very upset about it. My reaction is not surprise.”
And enforcement will very much come down to the individual churches and schools. Issues may be handled differently at Lake Catholic or Holy Name compared to Villa-Angela St. Joseph, for example.
The policy takes a hard stance against affirming LGBTQ+ students, staff and community members, refusing to recognize the existence of sexual orientations or identities like lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and instead refers to people “experiencing gender dysphoria or gender confusion”.
“While I am not in a place where I want to stand up against this and lose my job, for protesting the piece of paper, I would 100% lose my job for supporting a child and for doing what’s best for a kid and for honoring the person in front of me,” the employee said. “I know that there are other people who agree with that sentiment. It’s possible that we’ll see some people who may have otherwise stayed at the school look for other employment at the end of the year.”
Under the policy, faculty and staff are required to out students to parents; ban preferred names, pronouns and bathroom usage; ban “‘LGBT pride’ rainbows or ‘LGBTQ pride’ flags”, ban social or medical transitions, ban attendance to institutional events with a date of the same sex and more.
One high school has already worked around the same-sex date prohibition by eliminating “dates” for its homecoming dance. Instead, all students simply bring “guests.” But regardless of policy enforcement by schools and teachers, the diocesan employee believes the policy is to the detriment of all students.
“I think that it impacts every single student regardless of who they are, even if they’re somebody who exhibits homophobic behavior…if that’s the situation, then they just got a super green light and confirmation that that their behavior is correct, that their way of thinking is correct and that this is supported by the highest level adults who are guiding them in our community,” they said.
They also expressed concern that the policy will contribute to a culture of secrecy surrounding sex in the Catholic Church.
“Often, for many queer students, the first person one comes out to is a teacher, is a school counselor, is a coach, is someone else in an educational setting,” said Dr. Ben Huelskamp, executive director of LOVEboldly, a nonprofit developing spaces where LGBTQ+ people can thrive in Christianity. “So first off, students are now going to have to really think about whether or not they can come out to a teacher, to a coach, whoever.”
Faculty and staff that want to affirm these kids now face the challenge of how to support them with the policy in place. Most teachers have contracts for one year, and they may have their contracts go unrenewed for any reason. Most administrators have no contract at all.
“For everyone, it sets another level of secrecy, and I would say that anything that has to do with secrecy and sexuality in the Catholic Church should be run away from, is horrific,” said the anonymous employee. “And so anyone who wants to behave as an ally, and…sort of save face, to do both of those things at the same time, again, has to do with secrecy.”
Last week, the diocese announced that Bishop Edward Malesic, who signed off on the policy, assigned priests as chaplains in each of the five diocesan high schools. The source that spoke to Scene said they weren’t sure but didn’t believe the move was related to the policy.
In the schools, the divisions of who supports the policy, who doesn’t and who publicly goes along with it but privately objects aren’t clear.
“I think that people don’t know who is ‘safe’. Who can I talk to? What will happen? And there’s always the question in the back of your mind and right now what the principals and presidents have been trying their best to do is to create an environment where we can’t discuss this at all,” said the source. “And that–shutting it down and making it a non-topic–is very harmful.”
Work in one of the schools or churches affected and want to weigh in? Email the author at mscott@clevescene.com.
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This article appears in Best of Cleveland 2023.