RC Bishops in Australia tell schools not to ‘affirm’ gender confusion

Roman Catholic schools in Australia should avoid promoting ‘medical transition’ for gender-confused children, the Church’s Bishops have said.

In a guide on gender and identity, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said school leaders should not cooperate with those who advocate ‘sex-swap’ drugs and surgery for gender confused children.

Over 785,000 Australian students — one in five — attend Roman Catholic schools.

Biological sex

The Bishops’ paper acknowledges that some young people “may experience confusion or distress about their gender”.

But states: “the biological fact of a person’s sex” is a “‘given’ foundation of their personhood, not an arbitrarily assigned category; absent an intersex condition”.

While school leaders are encouraged to establish a “trusting relationship” with students “with concerns about their identity”, they are advised not to ‘affirm and normalise’ their mistaken “self-belief”.

biological sex is not an arbitrarily assigned category

‘Unnecessary damage’

The Bishops questioned the use of “medically and ethically controversial” interventions such as “puberty blockers”, “cross sex hormones” and “gender reassignment surgery”.

They maintained that “health professionals should not disable or destroy healthy bodily organs or systems”.

Their paper added: “A school community has a responsibility to avoid cooperation with actions which risk unnecessary damage, or which limit a student’s future possibilities for healthy human growth and development.”

Victoria

The state of Victoria has recently introduced a ban on so-called conversion therapy. Under the ban, described as “draconian” by critics, it is an offence for parents to encourage their children to ‘pause and reflect’ before starting gender transition.

Delaying puberty-blocking drugs and seeking help other than ‘affirming’ services, even in another state, are also illegal.

One distraught mother told the media: “I’m fearful if we say the wrong thing someone could contact Child Protection Services and accuse us of abusing [our daughter] and remove her from our care.”

Another said that she was unable to find someone willing to address her daughter’s mental health and autism, rather than just affirm her gender dysphoria.