Transcript SEXUALITY: What’s it all about?

A Catholic Understanding
of Sexuality
Presented by
Sr. Jane Meyer, O.P.
St. Agnes Academy
[email protected]
The functions of a Catholic education
The Gospel demands that we affirm
the dignity and respond to the needs
of all God’s people.
The Light of Faith
“From the first moment that a student
sets foot in a Catholic school, he or she
ought to have the impression of
entering a new environment, one
illuminated by the light of faith, having
its own unique characteristics.”
Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education
Welcoming attitude
The Vatican Congregation for
Catholic Education instructs those
working in Catholic education that
they must welcome gay and lesbian
students (1982)
Face It
“Educationally, homosexuality cannot
and ought not to be skirted or
ignored. The topic must be faced in
all objectivity by the pupil and the
educator when the case presents
itself.” Vatican Congregation for
Catholic Education, 1983
Catholic High Schools
•Do they present the whole message of
the Church regarding the dignity and
worth of gay and lesbian people?
•Do they present any message at all, or
are they silent on the topic?
Our awakening at St. Agnes
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Film clip #1
Drafting a Sexuality Statement
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Not a single issue.
Rooted in Church Teachings on human
sexuality.
Based on the demands of the Gospel to
affirm the dignity and respond to the needs of
all God’s people.
CHASTITY
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The virtue of living out one’s
sexuality according to God’s will
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According to vocational lifestyle or
sexual orientation, chastity is lived
out differently
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All are called to be chaste
Areas of Concern
Public display of affection (PDA)
 Students identifying themselves
openly as lesbians
 Potential of other non-lesbian
students being drawn into the lesbian
orientation
 The potential problem of the lesbian
issue having a negative impact on the
school
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SAA Policies/Catholic Teaching
 Respect
 It’s
all people.
okay to disclose gay
orientation in an appropriate
manner. Seek guidance first.
 It’s
okay to claim symbols
related to gay orientation
because the orientation is not
sinful.
 It’s not okay to use symbols
or slogans to promote
immoral behavior or to act
contrary to Church teaching.
Facts about Gay Youth
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80% of gay/lesbian/bisexual youth report verbal
abuse almost daily
44% report threats of attack
17% have been assaulted
97% of the time, teachers do not correct anti-gay
slurs
30% of all successful suicides
Film clip from The Truth About Jane (clip #2)
Always Our Children
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Parents should be honest in dealing with
their own feelings
A homosexual orientation is not chosen,
thus, not immoral
Homosexuality is a fundamental dimension
of one’s personality
Parents should love their children as they are
MATTHEW SHEPARD
What is it in our society that
perpetuates the attitudes that
engenders this violence?
Could the young men who
committed this crime view
Matthew Shepard as a fellow
human being?
Two women, girlfriends of the
perpetrators, stood and watched.
Have you ever stood by and watched
someone be harassed or insulted or
hurt?
Why didn’t these women get
involved?
We need a strong, safe
culture. . .
The culture of the school
greatly affects how gay and
lesbian students integrate
with the school.
Educating the Faculty
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Church’s teaching on gay sexuality
How gay youth come to know and deal
with their orientation
Resources available to help gay students
Resources available to help all people
understand the issue
Resources for Faculty In-Services
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Straight from the Heart
It’s Elementary (film clip #3)
Building a Culture of Safety
“First and foremost, we support
modeling and teaching respect for
every human person, regardless of
sexual orientation.”
USCC, 1991
Integrating the Curriculum
Morality instruction in Health classes
and in Theology classes on sexuality.
 Encouragement of teachers across the
curriculum to address issues related to
gay and lesbian people.
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Maintaining a Safe Teacher program
The Safe Teacher program is founded on
the idea that any institution whose
mission is to educate young people
should have a group of adults available
to whom these young people can come
when they are facing a crisis. The
primary areas of crises we identify in
the Safe Teacher program are those
areas that target youth for their minority
status or their outsider status, such as
their ethnicity, their sexual minority
status, and their status as girls.
Sponsoring a Diversity club
The Diversity Club is dedicated to
cultivating a diversity of consciousness
among the St. Agnes student body. We
define diversity of consciousness as a
mindset that embraces cultural diversity
in all its forms. We focus particularly on
healing racism and homophobia
projects.
Organizing a Faculty
Solidarity Committee
Mission: To devise ways to enhance the
diversity of SAA in its organization, its
curriculum, and its activities. Diversity,
in our context, means doing work on
healing racism, sexism, and
homophobia, as well as building a
general ethos of acceptance,
compassion and empathy with those
who are different from the norm.
Diversity Week
• Video: A Place at the Table
(Southern Poverty Law Center)
• Mikey Fowlin
• Breakout Sessions … choices for two sessions
• Multicultural entertainment
• Prayer and commissioning
Organizing Activities to Raise
Awareness of Gay Sexuality Issues
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National Coming Out Day (October 11)
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Day of Silence (April 22)
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A commemoration of Matthew Shepard’s death and all hate
crimes against gays.
A day to show the silence experienced by gay youth.
Ally Week (October 15-21)
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Included a day devoted to the theme “That’s so Gay is Not
Okay!” with posters around the school.
Included buttons that student wore with the slogan above,
also “Ally Week” and also “Straight, Not Narrow”
All posters and flyers included the full Church Teaching on
gay sexuality.
The things we have
learned . . .
Diversity Calendar
An integrated approach
 Inclusion of several key social justice
issues
 Community will learn key ideas that
transfer from one issue to the next.
 Ongoing communication with all
elements of the community.
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Always Deliberate
What is the project’s
purpose?
Will it hurt or help the cause?
Raising Awareness: Concepts
In building a culture of safety, we
must constantly educate
ourselves about the complexity
of homophobia and sexuality.
Sexuality…
is about who you are.
Sexual Activity…
is about what you
CHOOSE to do.
STEREOTYPES
 Gay
persons are attracted to ALL
same-sex persons.
 Gay
persons are sexually
promiscuous or pedophiles.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
Not chosen … discovered.
 Refers to one’s predominant
emotional and sexual attraction
 Three orientations:
– Heterosexualto opposite gender
– Homosexual to same gender
– Bisexual to both
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SEXUAL ORIENTATION . . .
Not fundamentally or primarily a
tendency toward acts
 Psychosexual attraction toward
particular persons
 A dimension of one’s personality
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Orientation
versus
Inclination or Preference
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With these definitions in mind, it’s clear that
sexual orientation is a far different word from
the words that were used in the past—
inclination or preference.
The American Psychological Association has
ruled that sexual orientation is not changed
by psycho-therapy and that therapies
intended to change it are usually detrimental
to the psychological health of the youth.
Sexuality as a Continuum
Heterosexual
Gay Sexuality
Gay Sexuality
A
person who sustains a
PREDOMINANT, PERSISTENT,
psychosexual, physical, and
emotional attraction to the same
sex.
Gender Straight-Jacketing
A community defines rigid gender
norms and punishes those who
don’t conform to them with ridicule,
bullying, and ostracism.
Phobic Blackmail
Phobic blackmail forces people into
the gender straightjacket with the
threat of their being included in the
category of gay or lesbian.
Film clip #4
SEXUAL INTEGRATION
Integrating sexuality into the
totality of who we are
Friendships and relationships
are important.
Ways to Address Sexual Orientation
in the Classroom
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Break the silence! Don’t be afraid to use
the words gay, lesbian, and bisexual.
Assume that 4–10% of your students are
gay/lesbian – 1 to 3 in a class of 30.
Challenge put-downs and homophobia.
Be prepared for the teachable moments.
Draw on current events.
Gay Faculty Members
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Model how to follow church teachings for gay
students.
Provide valuable inside sources of
information for leaders who want to improve
the safety of the school environment.
Must be provided with clear guidelines for
behavior and talk with student about their
own sexual orientation.
Must feel safe. (film clip #5)
Are all students safe in
your school?
Students and parents are counting
on us to do something to protect
all children in our schools.
(film clip #6)
GLBT students need allies
and count on them to
address harassment at
school.
RESOURCES YOU DON’T WANT
TO MISS . . .
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www.glsen.org
A Place at the Table, (video) Southern Poverty
Law Center
Homosexuality, Catholic Teaching and Pastoral
Practice, Gerald D. Coleman, S.S.
Being Gay and Lesbian in a Catholic High
School, Beyond the Uniform, Michael Maher Jr.,
PhD
RESOURCES CONTINUED
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Free Your Mind, Ellen Bass, Kate Haufman
Straight from the Heart, (video)
It’s Elementary, (video)
www.st-agnes.org, click “About SAA,” click
“Sexuality Program”
Creating Safe Environments for LGBT Students:
A Catholic Schools Perspective, Ed. Michael J.
Bayly, 2007.
www.Michaelfowlin.com