The Cleveland Diocese’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Policy Is Filled with Judgmental Ideology [COMMENTARY]

Draconian, fear-inducing, un-Christian. These are only a few of the words that came to mind as I read the Diocese of Cleveland’s Parish & School Policy on Issues of Sexuality and Gender Identity. 

Catholic Diocese of Cleveland issues official policy barring LGBTQ+ expression in parishes and schools

The policy, promulgated in the diocese on August 30, 2023, bears striking similarities to Ohio House Bill 8—the so called “Parents’ Bill of Rights”—which was passed by the Ohio House before the General Assembly’s summer recess and will likely be considered by the Senate this fall. 

Yet, the diocese’s policy goes even further than HB8 and takes aim at the very ways in which students, faculty and staff of Catholic institutions express their gender identities. 

While Catholic institutions are private and can set their own policies, the Catholic intellectual tradition is rich with inquiry in often difficult and controversial arenas including workers’ rights (Dorothy Day and Catholic Workers Movement), science (Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics, was a Catholic monk), and the liberation of the poor (Archbishop Oscar Romeo). To simply shut down discussions and expressions of alternative views is at best suspect and at worse, counter to an intellectual history that has seen Catholic scientists, philosophers and theologians on the front lines of debates regarding faith, science and morality. 

The policy prohibits several specific areas of conduct, including the use of “preferred” pronouns or the designation of one’s pronouns in any space including emails and the use of restroom facilities not corresponding to one’s sex assigned at birth. The policy contains vague references to the manner in which people must dress and how dress must be consistent with sex assigned at birth, but offers no further word as to what that would mean. 

Equally vague is the section on conduct and a prohibition on “displaying symbols such as ‘LGBTQ pride’ rainbows or ‘LGBTQ pride’ flags or other symbols that can be construed as being opposed to Church teaching,” particularly when those displays are at public events in which a school or parish is participating. 

However, there are two parts of the policy that deserve greater scrutiny. First, the policy states that “A person experiencing gender dysphoria or confusion [sic] will not be denied admission to an institution or be excluded from an institution’s life and activities simply because he or she is experiencing gender dysphoria or confusion [sic] or same-sex attraction.” However, it contradicts itself with regard to single-sex schools and most single-sex events, saying, “A person may only be admitted to an institution that is designated as single-sex consistent with his or her God-given biological sex.” With regards to single-sex institutions, of which the Diocese of Cleveland has several, admission would be denied on the basis of sex. 

Second, calling it “particular law for the Diocese of Cleveland,” the policy requires parental notification if and when students come out, unless there is concrete proof of the possibility that the notification will cause physical abuse. The policy adds that, “Furthermore, the fact that a parent or guardian might refuse to utilize preferred pronouns at odds with their child’s God-given biological sex or to otherwise refuse to treat their child in any manner inconsistent with their God-given biological sex is not abuse,” (emphasis added). 

For an institution so mired in the abuse of children and entangled in a web of cover-ups to assume the moral high ground and attempt to delineate what is and is not abuse is at best hubris.

Pope Francis recently called on American Catholics to recognize where ideology replaces faith or “true tradition.” The Diocese of Cleveland is allowing anti-LGBTQIA+ ideology to replace the intellectual tradition of the Catholic Church as it implements this new policy. Please join us in calling on the diocese and its administration to welcome all people, just as Jesus calls each of us to do. 🔥