we are concerned by the Sexuality Policy in our school’s handbook. The passage begins,“By creating the human being man and woman, God gives personal dignity equally to the one and the other. Each of them, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his/her sexual identity.” (‡ 2393, Catechism of the Catholic Church).Except within a valid marriage between a man and a woman (see, e.g. Sections 2360-2363, Catechism of the Catholic Church), Christ is the model of chastity, which all are called upon to emulate. See, e.g. Sections 2392-2397, Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

The statement above is reasonable and warranted as students in a Catholic institution should comply with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This statement is acceptable and that is not why we are concerned. What concerns us is the commentary that follows. If all students are expected to comply with the catechism, no students would be engaging in pre-maraital sex. Therefore, we are quite unsettled and have picked up on the not so subtle message contained there in. In truth, we believe that the statement singles out a particular faction of our school’s population. The passage reads as follows, “If a student’s expression of gender or sexual identity should cause confusion or disruption at the Catholic School, if it should mislead others, cause scandal or have the potential for causing scandal, then the matter will be discussed with the student and his/her parents. If not resolved to the satisfaction of the School, which is seeking to uphold Catholic principles, then the student will be expelled from the Catholic School after the parents are first given the option to immediately withdraw from the School.”

The passage above is accusatory and incriminating against those members in the LGBTQ+ community. In reality, it appears to single out one particular set of people and assumes that they are the only ones who can draw negative attention regarding sexuality. If all students at the Prep follow the catechism, no student, whether straight or gay, should be enaging in pre-marital sex. All students should be respectful of the church’s values.Therefore, the statement has no place in our school’s handbook because we are an inclusive school community. Hence, this statement is not only hurtful to members of the LGBTQ+ community, but it is also inconsistent with our school’s mission statement. In our school, we have students that are part of this community, and there are children and family of our faculty who are also part of the LGBTQ+ community. In short, God is Love, and He shares His love with all of His creation. Therefore, we feel compelled to request that you rephrase the passage to uphold our school’s value of acceptance for all of God’s creations. 

In reality, the Catholic Church has always been for equality of all peoples because the Lord loves us all very much. Further, Pope Francis supports a civil union for gay and lesbian peoples. Therefore, the idea that one’s gender or their identity should cause “scandal” insinuates that people who are beginning to grow in self-acceptance should not feel that their gender identity makes them “less than” others. As such, we believe that the passage above is inconsistent with the beliefs of the Catholic Church and  Seton Hall Prep’s mission statement of inclusiveness. Therefore, we respectfully ask for the following passage to be reworded or expunged from the school’s handbook. 

We would also love the opportunity to speak with you either in person or virtually. We have included our emails below.

We are also including an anecdotal story to illustrate why we feel so strongly about this cause.