CLEVELAND, Ohio – Catholics and members of the LGBTQ+ community are at odds over a new policy implemented by the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland that lists rules for churches and schools across Northeast Ohio for people who “experience gender dysphoria and/or gender confusion.”
Bishop Edward C. Malesic and Chancellor Vincent Gardiner signed off on the “Parish and School Policy on Issues of Sexuality and Gender Identity” on Aug. 30, with the new rules starting Sept. 1.
The policy bars students and staff from undergoing gender-affirming care and using pronouns different from those affiliated with a person’s biological sex. It also bans students from attending a school dance, mixer or similar event with a person of the same sex who is not a casual acquaintance. In addition, it requires church or school staff members to tell the parents of a child who may be transgender.
The number of schools directly affected by the policy includes 79 elementary schools. Five high schools are also directly impacted: Cleveland Central Catholic High School; Elyria Catholic High School; Holy Name High School; Lake Catholic High School; and Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School.
It does not include other schools, which are independent or run by religious orders. St. Ignatius High School, for instance, is run by the Jesuits.
This new policy comes as private schools that accept public funding – including schools in the Diocese of Cleveland – are about to receive a big boost in taxpayers’ money to educate students. Ohio lawmakers increased eligibility and the value of private school vouchers in the two-year state budget that it passed in late June.
Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reached out to each high school for comment regarding the policy.
(READ MORE: cleveland.com readers offer powerful, passionate responses to the new diocese policy.)
Charley Heintel, 25, of Avon Lake said he was happy the diocese issued the policy.
“I think that it’s important for everybody to be on the same page. And for people to know what the expectations are,” he said.
Heintel graduated from St. Ignatius High School in 2016. He is a dedicated Catholic who often leads a youth group in Avon Lake.
“It’s good to see that the diocese is making sure that they help guide all the Catholic institutions to adhere and stay true to our Catholic values and our Christian beliefs,” he said.
But other Catholics disagree.
A mother of a seventh-grade student at Holy Family Elementary School in Parma said the policy is making her question her faith and expects it will cause others to do the same.
She wished to remain anonymous because she was afraid of repercussions her child may face for speaking out. The 48-year-old mother has been Catholic her entire life, attending Holy Name Elementary School and graduating from Cleveland Central Catholic. She said she wants to raise her children with a Catholic upbringing.
Although she agrees with multiple directives, she said the policy is “rough” and could cause physical harm to children.
“What if their parents doesn’t know they are gay and (the parents) are totally against it? Then this child goes home and the next thing you know, this child is coming into school saying, ‘Well, thanks, guys. You all got me in trouble. Now my parents hate me and beat the crap out of me.’ ”
She added that she could see families leave the Catholic church and pull their children out of schools within the diocese because of the policy.
Aaron Demlow, a 25-year-old transgender man from Medina County, said policies like the one the diocese has implemented are violent and are the reason he and his family left the church when he was 13 after a priest told him being LGBTQ was a choice and a sin.
“I don’t think the church will ever change, but I hope it does,” he said. “It’s all unnecessary and ridiculous. … It really just polices gender expression. It’s a little bit wild to me and hypocritical to enforce these gender stereotypes when Jesus is always depicted with long hair and wearing long flowing robes. Why would you have any desire to stamp out these kids’ God-given identities and just police and enforce gender stereotypes? That seems really backward.”
The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland said the policy is a “massive setback” in creating an inclusive community in Northeast Ohio. In Cuyahoga County, 25 percent of all high school students identify as LGBTQ, according to the Youth Risk Behavior study from Case Western Reserve University.
“The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland is gravely disappointed in this continued harmful rhetoric towards the LGBTQ+ community put forth by our local diocese, which on some levels has seemed to contradict recent more accepting attitudes set forth by Pope Francis,” the center’s statement reads. “Again we find here the dangerous practice of outing students for their expression of self, subjecting youth to potential harmful situations.”
Heintel argued that the church’s job is to “teach the messages that Jesus taught us.”
“The fact that someone experiences same sex attraction, or that someone experiences gender dysphoria, is not something the Catholic Church views as sinful,” he said. “It’s not sinful to have an attraction to something. The only things that can be sinful are choices. … So, you know, people leaving the church because they disagree with Catholic teaching is not a new thing.”
Demlow said he still prays often, but he prays differently.
“Jesus would be kind of offended that his children that he created in his image are being stifled and that their colors are being grayed out and stamped out and forced to fit in these two rigid boxes,” he said. “I feel like this is a slap in the face to his creation.”