Catholic school supporting student's choice to become transgender

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michali
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I don’t understand the worry. The school isn’t going to hold an assembly and make every student line up and declare that Ellen is now Eli and he is a boy. They just don’t want kids to be cruel on the playground.

It seems to me sinners are the ones who most need a Catholic education. How is taking that away helpful? I thought shunning was more a Protestant thing.
 
Last edited:
I think if you’re uncomfortable with it, then pulling your kids out of the school and sending them to another school is the way to go. There is likely a lot going on in this particular case that people other than the school and the parents of the affected child are not aware of. I would imagine the school may be concerned about the mental health of the child, in addition to having to comply with applicable laws and avoiding any lawsuits by the child or her parents.

I personally agree that it sounds like the school is just trying to make sure other kids are kind and ward off bullying. I also agree with the not discussing it at school. No doubt the school also wanted to make all the parents aware of the situation so they wouldn’t be hearing about it second hand, and no doubt the school figured that some parents might choose to withdraw their children from school.

If I were the parent here, I would see this as a good teachable moment to talk to my own kids about this issue and then pray for the person and leave them to God. I probably wouldn’t withdraw my child from the school under the circumstances you state, but I understand where some other parent might.
 
Last edited:
BornInMarch said:
Another student being transgender doesn’t adversely affect you or your child in any way. Calling someone by the name they want to be called by doesn’t hurt your son. Teaching him that transgender people are to be feared, however, is likely to cause harm to his moral character.
Click to expand...
I agree with all of this.

However, I can see where a parent who is paying tuition to send their child to a school that purports to advocate Catholic teaching would be put off when the school, for whatever reason, diverges from that by having students and/or teachers who are openly in conflict with Catholic teaching. Basically it’s a case of not getting what you expected and paid for.
 
Last edited:
A sickeningly sinful choice by the parents and school alike. God will judge - not kindly.
 
The parent is not transgender.
The parent is supposed to be teaching the kid to be kind and accepting to people who are not like himself, including those who don’t follow the same religion or moral code.

The kid is going to have to learn to be kind to and work with transgender people as they live in the world. You don’t drop out of college, quit your job at a large employer, or move because you have a transgender classmate, colleague or neighbor.

If you can’t handle the fact that there are people in society who are transgender, or LGBTQ+, without expressing your disapproval of them all day long, you better just move to one of those isolated Christian communities and not go out much.

My parents didn’t think it was okay to be gay, and they themselves weren’t gay, but they were friendly to people they met who happened to be gay, and treated them as they would treat anyone else.

P.S. I’m not going to reply any further on this topic as I think what I’ve said is sufficient, and I’ve seen how other threads on gay or trans topics go when people want to argue. Have a nice day.
 
Last edited:
Exactly. Unfortunately, there is an epidemic of “doormat Catholicism” rampant today, wherein every perverse and unholy behavior is to just be “accepted” in the name of a false idea of kindness and compassion. Every day in this culture needs to be seen as a battle against evil. Abortion, contraception, euthanasia, transgenderism, sodomy, cutthroat greed, materialism, paganism, feminism, and communism are all disgusting and sinful currents running through the culture today.
 
I don’t think the school, but not condemning this one current student, is condoning the transgender lifestyle with a new open door policy for future applicants. I’m sure there are underlying issues that only the administration are aware of, and this solution is in the best interest of this one child. Maybe the priest feels it’s better to guide and council this one child instead of using him as an example of the Church’s resistance to the “battle against evil” in society as a whole.
 
This just sends a message to the other children in the school: you can do whatever you want; no adult has authority over you - not your parents, not your school; in fact, not even God. The message is: yes! it’s ok to make this choice for yourself; God was wrong, He did not put the correct gender in your body. Our culture has been so desensitized by pop culture and the media, thinking all of this is good and harmless, just another “choice” among others in our rampant consumer culture.
 
If one example of someone not living in a Church approved way is capable of shattering a student’s belief or their value system then I’d question their entire faith formation process.
 
Teaching them that transgender people are to be “feared”? I don’t teach my children that they are to be feared. That has absolutely nothing to do with this situation. I don’t want my children being taught that this is okay and something to be accepted. I would still want this child to be treated respectfully as all humans deserve, but that does not include special privileges. My child will not be forced to go against his convictions on how God created people male and female and lie about which gender this child is in order to support and make this child’s fantasy world more comfortable for them.
 
You’re totally missing the point. This isn’t just one example. There are many examples of this in the world today, but forcing the other children to accept their immoral choices and lie about what gender they are WITH what appears to be church approval, since they are in a Catholic school, is confusing to a young child still learning their faith.
 
humbleseeker said:
If one example of someone not living in a Church approved way is capable of shattering a student’s belief or their value system then I’d question their entire faith formation process.
Click to expand...
This is a case not just of someone who doesn’t live an authentic Christian life (a person that we all meet in our lives), but an example of an institution meant to teach and promote the Catholic Faith not doing so. Affirming this decision is an act of scandal on the part of the school, and scandal certainly does cause the little ones to stumble.
 
So if someone wanted to be called a four letter word, it would be kind and charitable to do so?
 
Yes. I am of the belief to call people whatever they want to be called. Doesn’t bother me in the slightest. But that is just me.
 
Last edited:
Michali said:
I’m checking on transferring my children to another Catholic school and will be informing the Archdiocese of this situation. I don’t know what else to do really.
Click to expand...
The Archdiocese governs all of its Catholic schools, so what’s allowed at one will be allowed at another. Perhaps get your Archbishop’s opinion and proceed from there.
 
QwertyGirl said:
Yes. I am of the belief to call people whatever they want to be called. Doesn’t bother me in the slightest. But that is just me.
Click to expand...
That’s fine. But insisting that others refer to you as something which they cannot believe you to be will bother some people. For Catholics, being instructed to refer to a man as a woman instead is extremely troubling, and does, in fact, bother many of us, and we would hope that a supposedly Catholic institution would know what to do in such a situation when someone- even a child- asks for this.
 
You have a pretty broad definition of what a lie is, then.

Calling someone their preferred name is not a lie in any way, shape, or form.

Calling someone their preferred name is respectful. Those who see it differently, I believe, are attaching more to it than what it is, usually because they are more concerned about their own agenda than they are the comfort of the other person.

Just my thoughts on the matter. Not interested in debating it. You are free to carry on however you wish.
 
But don’t you think there might be a middle way between shunning and celebrating?
 
I can’t imagine what diocese or archdiocese would condone this kind of blasphemy.
 
Last edited:
Tis_Bearself said:
However, I can see where a parent who is paying tuition to send their child to a school that purports to advocate Catholic teaching would be put off when the school, for whatever reason, diverges from that by having students and/or teachers who are openly in conflict with Catholic teaching. Basically it’s a case of not getting what you expected and paid for.
Click to expand...
But is this really in conflict with church teachings? They never said to accept the transgender student as a boy or to believe gender is malleable, they only said to call the student what he wants to be called - that sounds like basic dignity to me, which all humans are entitled to.

If that wasn’t right, what would be preferable? Expelling the transgender child? That would push the child away from the church and possibly away from Christ altogether. Force the child to live as a girl? Modern psychological science shows that can cause mental problems.
Michali said:
Teaching them that transgender people are to be “feared”? I don’t teach my children that they are to be feared. That has absolutely nothing to do with this situation.
Click to expand...
If the only reason you take your child out of a school is because he might have an openly transgender classmate then the most likely lesson he’ll learn is “Transgender people are dangerous and to be avoided”. Whether we like it our not, our actions send messages.

On your second point, it’s not about accepting a gender belief as it is about accepting basic human dignity. Even if you don’t agree with a person’s view of himself, if he tells you something is his name then you should call him that as his name. If someone says “My name is John”, and you insist on calling him “Beth” regardless of the fact that it upsets him greatly then you’re not “upholding truth” or “defending the truth”, you’re just being a bully. What if at the next school your son goes to there are people with different religions? Are you going to move him again because you don’t want to teach him not to call a Baptist classmate “heretic!” to his face?
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top