Denying Children cause Parents are Lesbians

[AtLast]

Related media info about this I have seen includes other parents at this school supporting this woman and her right to send her child to a Catholic school. I think this is positive in letting that diocese know that this is flat out discrimination.

As I said earlier, many people, including lesbians and gays (and this queer) do want their kids in religious schools due to the strength of their education. Religious schools are filled with kids that are not even of the faith they represent. It is not a requirement that a student be Catholic to attend a Catholic school. Same goes for other religious schools. In fact, parents can request that their child not be in specific religious doctrine classes in Catholic schools (Catechism) I am acquainted with. I guess the various diocese have different rules, I don't know.

In all of this, I do feel this child's civil rights are being violated especially when you consider that the school is doing this because a parent is lesbian. I also respect the mother's feelings if she indeed, does want her child to have religious teaching. No, in terms of how anti-gay the Catholic church is, this doesn't make sense, but, I certainly had experiences within Dignity (lesbian-gay Catholic offshoot) as well as Newman Centers in college that I felt comfortable within as a lesbian. Just making the point that this isn't a black & white issue in terms of the homophobia in the Catholic church. I have friends and relatives that still practice Catholicism, but attend mass, etc. in more liberal parishes in which the priests do admonish the anti-gay stance of the church. Kind of like how many other organized religions have rebel parishes and priets, etc. that go against the grain.

[Soon]

Originally Posted by Bit

If that school does not accept federal funds, then it is not required to abide by federal nondiscrimination policies.

Quite honestly, I believe the girl has been done a HUGE favor. No matter where she goes to school now, she will know that some places are not trustworthy. I wish I had known that as a child, yanno?

But, even if they did accept federal funds, currently there is no Federal Non-Discrimination Act that covers gays, lesbians and trans folks, so why would they be proteced?

Maybe I am mistaken with the law.
----

In the Catholic schools in my (Ontario) area (which are entirely publicly funded), there are Muslim and Jewish (among other denominations) students, students and teachers who are divorced; students with parents who are gay; and teachers who are living with their partners. I don't know of an Out gay teacher as of yet, however.

There is also talk of GSA's (Gay/Straight Alliances) being formed in Catholic schools in my area (a handful of public schools have them already).

Interesting thread.

[Bit]

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

But, even if they did accept federal funds, currently there is no Federal Non-Discrimination Act that covers gays, lesbians and trans folks, so why would they be proteced?

I don't know the law exactly, but I'm pretty sure no public school in the US can expel a student for being gay--or for their parents' being gay.

Does anyone else know?

[Lusciousblondefemme]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lesbian_prom_date

Ok i came accross this one now .. What the hell is wrong with this world..

Constance McMillen didn't believe her Mississippi school district would really call off her senior prom rather than allow her to show up with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.

Holy hell why the hell can't she bring who she wants to the prom she is paying for her tickets right...

[Diva]

I believe Medusa has invited her to our Big Gay Prom in August! I hope she attends!

[Soon]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be0Ln5xMHYU&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube- Catholic School's Decision that Children of Lesbian Parents Cannot Attend[/ame]

[Soon]

It's Time for Gays to Start Discriminating Against the Catholic Church

In beautiful Boulder, Colorado, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School is expelling a pre-schooler because the kid's parents are lesbians. The school's authorities said that the parents have to abide by the policies of the school and the church. A statement posted by the Denver Archdiocese said that the gay parents were "living in open discord with Catholic teaching." It is a religious school, after all.

The protesters were out in force with signs that reminded us that God loves all. I understand their anger and emotional display, but I think they are wasting their time.

I think it was a mistake for the lesbian couple to place their child in this school in the first place. I think they should get their child out of the school as quickly as they can and never look back. I think all gay people who are in this faith should renounce it right now and find a new place to worship. They are obviously not wanted. I think the Catholic Church should be left alone to be what it is without anyone in the church having to make any apologies or waste time beating around the bush about how they conduct themselves. First Amendment!

Let the record speak for itself. The Catholic Church does not approve of homosexuality; their position on pedophilia, however, is not as clear. I am sure most Catholics do not approve of pedophilia, but the executive branch of Catholicism seems to have difficulty convincing some of us that they are willing to do what is necessary to make sure that the members of their staff who are active sexual predators are brought to justice. I can't see any sane person not wanting someone who harms innocent children taken out of circulation as soon as possible. Relocating them is tantamount to enabling them further. Maybe there should be a television show called To Catch A Priest. I'll watch.

I think the expulsion of this child from the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School is the best break the parents could have hoped for. Children should be raised in an environment of kindness and encouragement, not discrimination and ignorance.

(Good comments post-article)

[Random]

Originally Posted by dreadgeek

Oh I can think of one off the top of my head: if it's a Jesuit run school the kids WILL get a good education. Will their heads be filled with a lot of religious flimflam? Yes. However, the parts that are *not* a muddle of hogwash and mumbo jumbo will be top-shelf, first class, education.

There are times I WISH I had gone to a Jesuitical school as a kid--not for the theology, of course, but because the kids I knew who did were very well educated. The Jesuits have been at the business of educating youth since, what, the Middle Ages and are very, very good at what they do.

They also happen to be superb at indoctrination but just the emphasis on casuistry (case-based moral reasoning) is, to my mind, worth the risk because it teaches people how to think about reasoning.

Cheers
Aj

Nods, Nods...

My son went to a catholic hs run by Jesuits... They knew he was agnostic, they knew his parents were lesbians... He was allowed to bring his male best friend as his date to the prom..(His best friend went to public school) He was required to attend high masses, but did not have to attend daily mass. He was required to take the standard catholic history/tenents class as well as world religion classes.

They taught him how to think.. They didn't just prep him for the next test, but taught him how to learn...

[dreadgeek]

Originally Posted by Ms Cyn

Nods, Nods...

My son went to a catholic hs run by Jesuits... They knew he was agnostic, they knew his parents were lesbians... He was allowed to bring his male best friend as his date to the prom..(His best friend went to public school) He was required to attend high masses, but did not have to attend daily mass. He was required to take the standard catholic history/tenents class as well as world religion classes.

They taught him how to think.. They didn't just prep him for the next test, but taught him how to learn...

Precisely right. I wish, oh how I wish, that the public schools were dedicated to the idea that the job of the teacher isn't to prep students for the next test, it's to teach people how to learn and how to be citizens and not just consumers. If we learned about citizenship, what it entails, why it matters, I think we would be a different and better nation.

Both the left and the right in America miss the boat, I think with the issues of education and citizenship. The left has, at best, an ambiguous relationship to promoting the idea that one is a citizen and that this is something meaningful. The right believes in citizenship but what is meant by the right is more along the lines of nationalism than what I have in mind.

Cheers
Aj

[Random]

Originally Posted by dreadgeek

Precisely right. I wish, oh how I wish, that the public schools were dedicated to the idea that the job of the teacher isn't to prep students for the next test, it's to teach people how to learn and how to be citizens and not just consumers. If we learned about citizenship, what it entails, why it matters, I think we would be a different and better nation.

Both the left and the right in America miss the boat, I think with the issues of education and citizenship. The left has, at best, an ambiguous relationship to promoting the idea that one is a citizen and that this is something meaningful. The right believes in citizenship but what is meant by the right is more along the lines of nationalism than what I have in mind.

Cheers
Aj

Nods.. Creighton Preps moto is.. *Building Men for Others who serve and seek justice in our local, national, and international communities*

The entire public school system needs a complete over haul.. No child left behind has failed on such a massive level.. Forget about learning.. Teach only what the kid needs to pass the next test... Forget about actually preparing a child to think and live.. When Annie was in the states, she was horrified at the way teachers were expected to teach..

[dreadgeek]

Originally Posted by Ms Cyn

Nods.. Creighton Preps moto is.. *Building Men for Others who serve and seek justice in our local, national, and international communities*

The entire public school system needs a complete over haul.. No child left behind has failed on such a massive level.. Forget about learning.. Teach only what the kid needs to pass the next test... Forget about actually preparing a child to think and live.. When Annie was in the states, she was horrified at the way teachers were expected to teach..

My father, before he died 10 years ago, spent 40 years of his life in education. Ten of it as a secondary school teacher, ten more as a Vice principal and 20 more as a professor of teacher education. I remember listening to he and my mother (also a college professor) talk about schools, their students and how education was changing and not for the better. Growing up in that environment I became an adult with an outlook on education that might justifiably be called romantic. I believe, deep in my bones, that education is the key to liberation. By education, I mean something far beyond knowing facts and figures. It's *how* to think about things, how to know the contents of one's own mind and a grounding in both basic science literacy and basic cultural literacy (art, music, poetry, theatre). This was what my parents saw their mission was: not to fill their students heads with facts for regurgitation but with a thirst for knowledge and understanding that was voracious. All the rest was details.

Cheers
Aj

[Random]

Originally Posted by dreadgeek

My father, before he died 10 years ago, spent 40 years of his life in education. Ten of it as a secondary school teacher, ten more as a Vice principal and 20 more as a professor of teacher education. I remember listening to he and my mother (also a college professor) talk about schools, their students and how education was changing and not for the better. Growing up in that environment I became an adult with an outlook on education that might justifiably be called romantic. I believe, deep in my bones, that education is the key to liberation. By education, I mean something far beyond knowing facts and figures. It's *how* to think about things, how to know the contents of one's own mind and a grounding in both basic science literacy and basic cultural literacy (art, music, poetry, theatre). This was what my parents saw their mission was: not to fill their students heads with facts for regurgitation but with a thirst for knowledge and understanding that was voracious. All the rest was details.

Cheers
Aj

Exactly...

My son spent most of last summer in Baltimore with his sister.. She wanted to expose him to the *world of thought* (She is in her Dr. program at Johns Hopkins in Nuclear Physics) before he went into the military.. Lol.. I was hoping that by spending time with her he might change his mind and go to college.. I think that a envirment that encourages that thirst and hunger for knowledge is absolutly an essential part of living... Sigh.. trying to make my son live my dream...

Sigh.. to me.. that would be paradise..

[Soon]

Yet Another Catholic School Rejects Student Because Of Lezmos