Catholic school more concerned about being transgender ‘positive’ than following Church teaching

A school in the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) appears to be more concerned about playing the part of a “positive and respectful community” on "transgender issues" than following Catholic teaching, according to an exchange of emails between a principal and teachers obtained through a Freedom of Information request. 

The information reveals that during the 2015 school year, the principal of St. Michael School, Corkery — located near Carp, Ontario — sent an email to OCSB superintendent Stephen McCabe and communications director Mardi de Kemp highlighting a link to an interview mentioning the OCSB given by a mom who has a biological boy who attends an OCSB school dressed like a girl. 

“I think we appear to be shown as a positive and respectful community,” writes Principal Martha Palmer in the Sept. 12 email. 

The interview referred to was conducted by the Ottawa pop radio station Hot 89.9. The station has used its public platform to mainstream the sexual revolt, what it calls the “new normal.” In 2005, the station hosted a gay ‘marriage’ in a live on-air ceremony. In 2011, the station hosted a “win a baby” contest in which a $35,000 prize was awarded for conceiving a baby through the process of in vitro fertilization (IVF). Last year, the station hosted a contest that awarded $40,000 to a man to help him pay for surgery so he would look more like a woman. 

It was during this transgender contest that the mom, named Melissa, phoned into the station to speak about her transgender child and the family’s experience in an OCSB school. She mentioned that she lives in Carp, Ontario, a neighborhood served by St. Michael School, Corkery. 

The Catholic school “embraced us,” she said, adding that the “school and everybody has now started referring to her [son] as ‘she.’” 

“A week before school started, we called the principal and said: ‘She’s coming to school as a girl,’” she said. 

The mom said her boy outwardly transitioned to a girl at age 6 while he was in Grade 1. In a 2014 Facebook post commemorating the event, the mom posted: “It's official Warner can officially pee in the girls [sic] bathroom at school and her school records say female.” 

The Freedom of Information request also reveals that during that same year, children in St. Michael School, Corkery were made to watch a video that gave a positive portrayal of a boy ‘transitioning’ into a girl. 

Janet Whyte, a Grade 2 teacher at the school, sent an email on March 26 to Principal Palmer in which she highlighted how her class talked about “transgender issues” after watching a YouTube video that gave a positive portrayal of switching genders. The four-minute video titled HollySiz- The light — the link was provided by the teacher in the email — tells the story of a biological boy who finds happiness once his parents, teachers, and class learn to accept him as a girl. 

“I thought it was excellent,” wrote the teacher in the email. “You might want to share it with the staff … or the whole school board :)”

Principal Palmer responded to the teacher just four minutes after receiving the email: “Thanks Janet, it looks wonderful. I will.”

Nine minutes later, Principal Palmer sent the following email to teachers and staff: “Here is a short video that is extremely thought-provoking on the issues surrounding transgender- both from a home, family and school perspective. It does give one pause to think, which is the most important aspect of how we make our decisions.”

The Catholic Intelligence blog, which originally posted the material from the freedom of information request, stated that instead of OCSB schools striving to teach the faith when it comes to gender theory, they have “bowed to Caesar and worship the dollars that come from Premier (Kathleen) Wynne.”

The emails show that this school in the OCSB has “fully bought into the transgender agenda,” the blogger wrote, adding that school administration seem “much more concerned about looking good on Hot 899 (the ones who paid for so-called “sex change” for a man), than to follow Catholic teachings.”

LifeSiteNews contacted the OCSB to ask if it allows children who present themselves as a member of the opposite sex to make use of opposite sex facilities, such as bathrooms, change rooms, and shower rooms.

De Kemp responded that the board’s approach to accommodating children who present themselves in school as a member of the opposite sex is "guided by theOntario Human Rights Code, our Catholic values and a commitment to respecting differences" (italics in original).

“Accommodations are made respecting the needs of the student and the wishes of the family," she said. “Many of our schools have accessible gender neutral washrooms for public and student use. Our priority remains the safety and well being of each student.”

The Catholic Church holds that God created people as “male and female” and that body and soul together form such a unity that one's sexual identity can never be separated from one's biological sex as male and female. Pope Francis has condemned gender ideology on numerous occasions, calling it an “error of the human mind that leads to so much confusion.” 

Dr. Michelle Cretella, president of the American College of Pediatricians, stated in an interview earlier this month that while it is possible to impersonate the opposite sex, it is impossible to change one’s sex. 

Cretella said individuals who are experiencing trouble in identifying with their biological sex need psychotherapy. 

“This is mental illness. In children it may merely be confusion or emotional disturbance, but when you reach the adult stage, this is mental illness.”

“Thinking that is not in line with physical reality is disordered. You do not treat a thought disorder with mutilating surgery and hormones. To do this, to teach this in schools … this is cooperating with mental illness,” she said in an interview with EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo.