Catholic School Staff, Parents, Students Protest Oakland Diocese’s Proposed Gender Policy

A Catholic school community in California is trying to stop a transgender-negative policy from being released by the diocese, saying the bishop and diocesan officials have failed to dialogue and engage real concerns.

News that the Diocese of Oakland was developing a gender policy broke earlier this year, though no policy has been released as of yet. The Oaklandside, a local news outlet, did a three-part series on how even the proposal of such a policy has shaken Catholic schools there with a focus on St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, Alameda.

Controversy first began at the school in March when school administrators, including the priest who oversees the parish which operates the school, met with educational staff. According to the first installment of The Oaklandside’s investigation, one teacher described the meeting as “heated.” Faculty questioned the pastor about whether LGBTQ-positive steps, like showing Pride flags and hosting an LGBTQ+ group, would be rescinded. The priest, Fr. Mario Rizzo, parochial administrator at St. Joseph Basilica, was noncommittal. At least one staff member has resigned so far because of the priest’s and diocese’s failure to support trans students.

At an April meeting with diocesan officials, parents were the next group to express concern. Eric Letourneau said parents uniformly objected to the diocese’s approach, which was “all about stigmatizing and denying the experience of the kids.” The Oaklandside’s third installment continued:

“Another parent, who asked not to be named because they’re concerned about their child being bullied, said the perspectives church leaders offered about gender and sexual identity were ‘shockingly primitive.’ . . .

“Mario Rizzo, St. Joseph’s head priest, avoided answering a question about whether or not trans and nonbinary kids could be expelled, parents said. Instead, Andrew Currier, the Oakland Catholic Diocese’s superintendent, asked parents upset about the potential changes to reconsider whether Catholic education is ‘the right form of education for your family.’ . . .

“At the April meeting between parents and church leaders, a grandmother of a St. Joseph’s student, Mary Simon, told the priests that they did not have the moral high ground to make decisions about people’s gender and sexuality because of the Catholic church’s failure for decades to stop the abuse of thousands of children by priests all over the world.

“‘This is a room of parents whose life is about raising healthy children and protecting them, and I think the church should take a few decades before they think they can speak to these kinds of issues about protecting children,’ Simon said at the meeting.”

Diocesan officials claim there has been an extensive “listening phase” that featured consultations with trans people and relevant experts. Parents rejected that claim, with one saying, “That was not a dialogue. And no one from the church was listening.” Some St. Joseph Notre Dame High School parents have already removed their children from the school, and more are considering doing so.

Students at St. Joseph’s Notre Dame also began speaking out. In The Oaklandside’s second installment, students said the school community is mostly welcoming. The news outlet reported:

“In mid-April, the school’s leaders, including Rizzo, held an information session for the students about the potential new guidance. At the meeting, several students read excerpts from the Vatican document ‘Male and Female He Created Them,’ that diocese leaders have been considering. The students asked Rizzo to reconcile parts of the document that appeared to them to be close-minded when compared to the broader messages of understanding they saw as being part of the Church and the teachings of Jesus Christ. . .

“‘I think the mindset should be that if you don’t fully understand nonbinary people and what that lived experience is, you can still respect it,’ one student said. They added that if someone asks to be referred to using a particular pronoun because it makes them feel more comfortable, everyone should respect that request. ‘But Father [Rizzo] thinks this isn’t right, and that is very upsetting,’ said the student.”

Protests by staff, parents, and students may not stop the diocese from releasing its policy, but these actions do seem to be making a difference. The Oaklandside reported that a school counselor focused on inclusion is initiating a “Parent Equity and Justice Coalition’ this fall to engage any negative policy that may be issued, and has rallied staff support for gender-diverse students, too. In addition:

“This past Monday, the new principal at St. Joseph’s, Father Steve Kim, who started the job this month, sent an email to parents seeking to ‘reassure’ them that St. Joseph’s ‘will continue to be a safe place for all of our students to feel comfortable being who they are.’ . . .He also apologized for what he described as the ‘signs of distress, discomfort, and unhappiness’ surrounding the meetings on new guidance.

“‘Our school will continue to adhere to best practices of non-discrimination while also upholding and offering a genuinely Catholic education as demonstrated by our commitment to and celebration of people and community members from all walks of life,’ Kim wrote.”

A transgender-negative policy from Oakland’s Bishop Michael Barber, SJ, is likely. Barber is on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, which earlier this year released a document seeking to stop gender-affirming care at Catholic hospitals. Previously, Barber enforced a “morality clause” in church workers’ contracts which explicitly targeted LGBTQ+ people and allies.

If a gender policy is released now, it will likely be seen as a failure of the diocese to listen to the faithful and dialogue respectfully, as the school community has claimed. One parent observed that it seems the diocese thinks students and families in Catholic schools are not actually well-formed in the faith. The parent told The Oaklandside:

“‘We are a Catholic family, and my teenager has a strong foundation in Catholic teachings and continues to celebrate weekly mass with us. In fact, it is mainly my child’s faith and education in Alameda’s stellar Catholic schools that makes me confident they have all the tools they need to successfully navigate this time of self-exploration, with introspection and critical-thinking skills, in a community of grace and mutual respect. I wish the Diocese had the same faith in their product that I do.'”

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, August 25, 2023