President Obama’s directive that all public schools are to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity has been described as deeply disturbing by the chairmen of two US Catholic bishops’ committees.
"The guidance fails to address a number of important concerns and contradicts a basic understanding of human formation so well expressed by Pope Francis: that 'the young need to be helped to accept their own body as it was created,'" said Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo, New York, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, and Archbishop George Lucas, chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Catholic Education.
The decree, issued by the Obama administration last Friday, is not legally binding, but schools that do not abide by the new guidance could face extra scrutiny. Education Secretary John King Jr said: “No student should ever have to go through the experience of feeling unwelcome at school or on a college campus.” In their statement Bishop Malone and Archbishop Lucas said that the Catholic Church consistently affirms the dignity of every human being, particularly the most vulnerable. "Especially at a young age and in schools, it is important that our children understand the depth of God's love for them and their intrinsic worth and beauty,” they said. “Children should always be and feel safe and secure and know they are loved," adding that transgender children deserve compassion, sensitivity and respect.
"All of these can be expressed without infringing on legitimate concerns about privacy and security on the part of the other young students and parents," the two prelates said, but pointed out that the guidance issued "does not even attempt to achieve this balance".
"It unfortunately does not respect the ongoing political discussion at the state and local levels and in Congress, or the broader cultural discussion, about how best to address these sensitive issues," they said. "Rather, the guidance short-circuits those discussions entirely."
The head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has said schools in Britain should consider introducing gender-neutral toilets to help transgender pupils feel more comfortable.
Sir Michael Wilshaw said he supported introducing new facilities for pupils who have changed gender as long as they are “well-policed and well-supervised,” while speaking on LBC radio in April.
His comments followed reports of single-sex schools accepting transgender pupils who switched to the opposite gender: in February, 13-year-old Jordan Morgan became the only boy at Gloucester High School for Girls after changing his gender.
Members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers union said in a statement last month that transgender students were ‘the issue du jour’ and many schools are now supporting those changing gender. Brighton College has recently removed distinctions between boys and girls uniforms.
In March, several parents at a village primary school took their children out of class in protest at a 'transgender day' for pupils as young as four.
The series of workshops, organised by St Mary the Virgin Church of England primary school in Hartfield, East Sussex, was aimed at helping children to gain a better understanding of the transgender community.
A spokesperson for the Catholic Education Service told The Tablet today that “the God-given dignity of every individual” was the centre of their work and that all children should be treated with the same dignity and respect “regardless of what gender they identify as”.
“The Gospels teach us the importance of love and respect regardless of an individual’s personal circumstances. In Catholic schools, this emphasis on compassion and tolerance is core, especially now during the Jubilee Year of Mercy,” the CES representative said.
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