Edmonton Catholic school prepared to accommodate transgender students despite archdiocesan guidelines?

October 07, 2015

A Catholic school board in Edmonton, Alberta, may change its policies to accommodate transgender students, ignoring policy directives from the Edmonton archdiocese, the LifeSite News service reports.

The Edmonton Catholic School board drafted new policies after a parent filed a human-rights complaint because her son, who identifies himself as female, was not allowed to use the girls’ bathroom. The board’s proposed new policy will allow transgender students to be treated as members of the opposite sex. 

The Edmonton archdiocese, in confidential guidelines that have been leaked to the media during the public debate on school policies, reminds parochial-school administrations that attempt to re-define one’s gender are “contrary to the teachings  of the Catholic Church.” Students who identify with the opposite sex should be treated with compassion, the archdiocesan guidelines say, but the schools should not encourage attempts to reject one’s sexual identity.

Members of the Edmonton Catholic School board appear poised to reject the archdiocesan guidelines, as they prepare to vote on their new policy on October 15. One board member, Patricial Grell, told the Edmonton Journal: “I’ve had to search by conscience and decide which master I’m going to follow, and it’s the kids.” The board chair, Debbie Engel, said that the archdiocesan policies are “in no way binding.”

 

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Further information:

• Alberta Catholic school board prepares to pass extreme transgender policy, defying archbishop’s recommendations (LifeSiteNews)