MEMORANDUM

 
7. Transgenderism: School Guidelines for Gender Identity
 
Rationale:
 
At the heart of a Catholic school’s unique educational charism is the integral formation of the whole human person. The Church instructs us:
 
Since true education must strive for complete formation of the human person that looks to his or her final end as well as to the common good of societies, children and youth are to be nurtured in such a way that they are able to develop their physical, moral, and intellectual talents harmoniously, acquire a more perfect sense of responsibility and right use of freedom, and are formed to participate actively in social life.^[1]
 
Because a child’s formation includes the integrity of body, spirit, and moral development, Catholic schools have a proper concern for each student’s behavior and development in the complex area of human sexuality. As a Catholic institution, we believe that human bodies are gifts from God and temples of the Holy Spirit.² All men and women are called to a life of chastity appropriate to their vocation as single, married, or consecrated religious.
 
All members of the school community are expected to strive to live a life of virtue guided by the teachings of the Catholic Church in all aspects of their lives. Our school’s pastoral and policy practices are written in fidelity to the moral guidance and teachings of the Catholic Church in all areas that touch on human flourishing. Our school establishes an environment of encouragement, mercy, healing, and love to accompany its members as we journey on the path toward holiness.
 
As such, the proper understanding of human sexuality requires personal integrity and full integration of body and soul as created male and female by God. According to the Church, “the chaste person maintains the integrity of the powers of life and love placed in him. This integrity ensures the unity of the person; it is opposed to any behavior that would impair it.”³
 
Guidelines
 

1. Behaviors that are contradictory to Catholic morality and the expectations of our schools includes expressing a gender that is discordant with one’s biological sex. Our school will interact with students, faculty, and staff according to their biological sex as based upon physical differences at birth. A member of the school community who wishes to express a gender other than his or her biological sex is understood as operating outside of the “reality deeply inscribed” within.^[2] Assisting the person in his or her disconnect with this reality, however sincerely experienced, by agreeing to participate in any efforts to change natural gender expression is contrary to the pursuit of truth. Authentic love, a gift of the self for the good of the other, requires that we compassionately dwell in the truth and assist those we love to do the same.

2. A Pastoral Response

• Our schools will identify where reasonable accommodations can or should be made as well as where they cannot for non-conforming persons and be willing to embrace the consequences for “non- compliance” (consistent with the advocacy/legal position and Catholic moral teaching).

• Our school acknowledges the need to address both the Church’s embrace of those who struggle with gender dysphoria and same-sex attraction while at the same time articulating ever more clearly a Christian anthropology of the human person. Our institution should be a place where people are “accompanied” in difficult situations while being led to live their lives in complete union with Christ.