Students would have been required to use bathrooms and locker rooms “that correspond with their biological sex” and would not have been permitted to attend school-sponsored dances with a date of the same sex. In addition, students’ eligibility to participate in sports would have been based on their biological sex. Under the guidelines, failure to abide by the policy could result in possible termination for employees and possible dismissal for the student.
The policy would not have denied school admission to those experiencing gender dysphoria, as long as the student and parents agreed to abide by school policies. The policy prohibited bullying or discrimination against students who experience gender dysphoria and referred to the school’s policy for bullying and harassment for such cases.
The policy also covered parents and prospective students. If a parent “resists the school’s instruction to the child in the Catholic tenets respecting the human person and human sexuality,” their child could be dismissed or refused enrollment. The policy said that a student can be dismissed or refused enrollment if the student’s expression of gender, sexual identity, or sexuality should cause confusion, disrupt the educational integrity of the Catholic education program, or cause scandal.”
Lucas noted in his letter that Catholic schools serve as an extension of the Church’s mission to bring people to Jesus Christ, and if parents ask the school to cooperate in situations that do not comport with God’s plan for gender, “the school-parent partnership suffers, thus requiring discernment about the appropriateness of the family’s place in the school.”
“In our schools, we communicate to our students the love of God in Jesus Christ. We want them to be confident that God loves them as they are and that he offers them gifts so they can grow. Growing up is challenging, and we try to communicate the presence and the mercy of Jesus, especially at challenging moments,” he wrote.
“The thought that gender can be a matter of personal choice threatens the well-being of children and young people. It threatens the relationship between parents and their children established by God. It is a rejection of the place of God as the author of life and the object of true worship, as expressed in the First Commandment. It is incompatible with our Catholic faith and the mission of Jesus,” he wrote.