New guidelines for “sexual diversity” at Catholic schools have been released by the Catholic Bishops of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Aroha and Diversity in Catholic Schools was drafted by the National Centre for Religious Studies after consulting with bishops, principals, religious education leaders and young people.
The guidelines advise teachers and school communities on how to treat students from the LGBTQIA+ community.
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Catholic Bishops of New Zealand have released a set of guidelines on how LGBTQIA+ students should be treated at Catholic schools.
Bishop of Auckland Stephen Lowe said the guidelines will help schools make decisions on the support of rangatahi who are “grappling with issues around sexual diversity”.
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“Our identities as adults take time to form, and vulnerable young people should not feel pushed or coerced to make decisions about themselves too soon,” he said.
“Young people today do not live in a bubble. They are aware, and inform themselves of the range of social, scientific, ideological and religious stances regarding this issue, and there is a lot of pressure and rhetoric about this issue,” he said.
The guidelines state Catholic schools need to consider that there are many voices in the conversation regarding LGBTQIA+ issues.
It instructs Catholic school staff to not use homophobic or transphobic language, and that no young person should be referred to a programme or organisation that supports any kind of conversion therapy practises.
However, the guidelines state marriage between same-sex couples are not recognised by the Catholic Church.
It states young people may have concerns regarding LGBTQIA+ issues that are valid and need to be addressed with sensitivity by the community.
The guidelines advise that if an activity seems “borderline”, it can be renamed or refocused.
It suggests a proposed Pride Day could be oriented towards the inclusion of everyone to avoid causing “fear or concern” within parts of the Catholic school community, and a Pink Shirt Day could be refocused on bullying rather than specifically homophobic bullying.
It suggests calling an LGBTQIA+ support group a wellness group or diversity group rather than using the term rainbow as it is “something that is associated with an ideology that has no association with the Catholic character of the school”.
There are 235 Catholic schools across New Zealand with around 66,000 students.
Adhikaar Aotearoa is an advocacy group for LGBTQIA+ people of colour.
Spokesman Vinod Bal (he/him) said while there are some positive steps taken, such as disavowing conversion practices, the guidelines are disappointing in that they still retain beliefs that perpetuate the erasure of LGBTQIA+ identity.
“This is the opposite of what LGBTQIA+ students need. They need care, understanding, compassion and an affirmation of their identity, their whole identity,” he said.
“The Catholic Bishops of New Zealand had a chance to undo the harm that their interpretation of religious dogma has done to LGBTQIA+ individuals. They did not take it.”
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