OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Following a controversy over the summer, when an earlier draft of its Catholic schools' gender guidelines was released, the Archdiocese of Omaha made public a revised gender policy for schools on Friday.
The one-page policy was accompanied by a news release from Deacon Tim McNeil. It said that 150 individuals of diverse backgrounds contributed to the revision of the policy. In August, the archdiocese faced resistance from some parishioners and Catholic educators over its proposed gender identity guidelines.
In one example from the original policy statement: "One's gender is determined by one's biological sex, there can be no separation between the two."
An article in The Catholic Voice says the policy draft was released prematurely and Archbishop George Lucas addressed the controversy in a letter to parishioners.
"After listening to recent feedback and questions from school administrators and members of school communities we are delaying the implementation of the policy,” wrote Lucas at the time.
The revised version of the policy released on Friday uses somewhat different language than the policy released over the summer: “biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender) can be distinguished but not separated.”
The policy also states that the "biological" or "God-given" sex of the child will apply to "all policies and procedures in relation to that student."
It says students will not be denied admission to Catholic schools if they are, as the policy puts it, "based solely on a student’s experience of gender dysphoria."
"If a student experiences gender dysphoria and/or incongruence, school leaders and pastors shall partner with parents to establish an accompaniment plan," the policy continues. "This plan must follow the teachings of the Catholic faith."
A group called Catholic Families for Love, which seeks to support and affirm LGBTQIA+ Catholic students emailed a statement in reaction to the revised policy on Friday afternoon.
"Catholic Families for Love (CFL) remains deeply concerned about the Archdiocese of Omaha’s newly revised policy with respect to gender in Catholic schools.
While we are grateful the archdiocese revised the policy from an earlier, farther-reaching version, we fear without further understanding of the proposed implementation, training and resources, the new policy has the potential to further stigmatize transgender and non-binary children, push them out of their school communities, and cause them harm."
The group also raised questions about the decision-making process and the qualifications of the people who contributed to the policy.
Read the entire statement from CFL here.
Archdiocese of Omaha policy:
The Archdiocese also release an FAQ document about the new policy:
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