Rescind Harmful Anti-Child School Policies at the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland!

Starting on September 1st, 2023, the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland put in place a policy applying to all offices, parishes, parish schools, and diocesan schools, as well as their employees, personnel, volunteers, students, and youth participating in parish or institutional faith formation. Bishop Edward C. Malesic and Chancellor Vincent Gardiner signed off on the “Parish and School Policy on Issues of Sexuality and Gender Identity” on August 30th, 2023, just a day prior to its implementation.

Considering how much we know about the support of trans people - especially youth - leading to lower rates of suicide and better overall mental health outcomes, this step by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland is dangerous and cruel. It is also out of line with the Pope's increasingly affirming language around the LGBTQ+ community in the past year. While the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland may state that "all are welcome here," this action sends the exact opposite message. Moreover, the policy's discriminatory stance of banning trans girls from participating in girls' sports while allowing for the possibility of trans boys playing on boys' sports teams reinforces the inaccurate view that people assigned male at birth have an inherent and immutable advantage over those assigned female at birth.

Finally, this policy will make it harder for schools to attract and retain high-quality teachers. This shows a lack of compassion in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland's administrators, and it also a shortsightedness that serves no one, and particularly not the Diocese itself.

Read the full policy here: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23945123-parish-and-school-policy-on-issues-of-sexuality-and-gender-identity?responsive=1&title=1