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Recently, a Catholic school in Rhode Island decided that there was no place in their school for trans children<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket, Rhode Island has issued a policy banning transgender students from the school, according to the Parent and Students Handbook.<\/p>\n The 2015-2016 edition, the Philosophy of Admissions\u2019 section of the handbook states, \u201cMount Saint Charles Academy is unable to make accommodations for transgender students. Therefore, MSC does not accept transgender students nor is MSC able to continue to enroll students who identify as transgender.\u201d<\/p>\n …<\/p>\n According to the schools mission statement, \u201cEach and every student is known, valued, treasured and taught in partnership with the family.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Hm. Apparently, they achieve that goal by selecting only certain students to know, value, treasure and teach.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not Christian, but I\u2019ve read much of the Bible, and on seeing this headline, the first thing which occurred to me was Mark 10:13-10:16:<\/p>\n And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and\u00a0his\u00a0disciples rebuked those that brought\u00a0them.\u00a0But when\u00a0Jesus saw\u00a0it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, \u201cSuffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such\u00a0is the kingdom of God.\u00a0Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter\u00a0therein.\u201d\u00a0And he took them up in his arms, put\u00a0his\u00a0hands upon them, and blessed them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The picture above is apparently of the front of the school, where we see a statue of Jesus standing with his arms outstretched. That sculpture is not uncommon in Catholic settings, and I\u2019ve always seen it as a welcoming gesture. In this context, it suddenly looked to me like Jesus with his arms outstretched to bar the gates.<\/p>\n Because God forbid that the trans children should swarm the gates and make it to the bathrooms or the locker rooms. Almost certainly, that is the accommodation which MSC proactively decided they could not figure out how to make, which necessitated rejecting an entire category of children.<\/p>\n The alumni, however, reacted in a manner probably not expected by the school, with a petition<\/a>, currently at 1649 signatures, or about twice the size of the student body, demanding that the school admit trans children.<\/p>\n That\u2019s got the attention of the school, which has released a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Statement Regarding Transgender Students at MSC<\/b><\/p>\n 3\/4\/2016 As a Catholic school, Mount Saint Charles recognizes its call to serve all children who desire a Catholic education, but it also recognizes that it is not a comprehensive high school with the ability to serve all students. Some students may not be academically qualified. Others may have learning plans which the school cannot accommodate. And in some cases, our facilities may not be adequate to service some students.<\/p>\n Although the school has not been approached with any requests to admit transgender students, Mount Saint Charles Academy\u2019s administration has been exploring ways in which it might provide reasonable accommodations for transgender students and fulfill its mission. <\/p>\n While Mount Saint Charles can respect that some may find our current policy somewhat inconsistent and intolerant, please try to understand the reason for its existence. This is certainly not our intent. Please know that we would very much like to address the issue, and your prayers and kind assistance would go a long way in allowing us achieve that goal. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n Oh, well that\u2019s<\/i> good. They didn\u2019t mean<\/i> to be inconsistent and intolerant. That\u2019s a relief. Their intent<\/a> will wrap its eldritch tendrils around their trans students and protect them from harm. (Warning for profanity and sarcasm in that link.)<\/p>\n The actual good part is that now that they\u2019ve realized that their discrimination won\u2019t get a pass, they say that they\u2019re trying to figure out how they can teach trans students, although they apparently don\u2019t think they have any trans students or trans applicants.<\/p>\n Which would be touching and adorable, if we ignored the consequences. The lives of trans people feed that kind of meat grinder. The US Military tried really hard for a long time not to have trans members, but they had them anyway. We turn up everywhere; that\u2019s what you get in a system which creates incentives for trans people to hide, which punishes us when we don\u2019t. There is no doubt that MSCA has trans alums, and they probably have closeted trans students right now. The best survey data we\u2019ve seen yet puts the trans population at about 700,000 in the US. At about 320 million for the total population, that\u2019s about one in 450 people. Even with some selection bias, which is pretty plain in this case, there\u2019s a decent chance of a single current trans student.<\/p>\n I wish trans kids didn\u2019t have to go through this. But, apparently, they do. And it\u2019s been an eye-opener for a lot of people, I think, what some people are willing to say about children, are willing to do to them, if those children are trans.<\/p>\n Stop beating up on children, you people. If the inhumanity of it doesn\u2019t stop you, then for heaven\u2019s sake let expedience stop you. Think about how it makes you look. You may think it makes you look principled, like you\u2019re having to make hard choices and sacrifices in order to hold a moral line. And if you were making the sacrifice yourselves, maybe that\u2019s what it would look like. But you\u2019re not; you\u2019re selecting others to make the sacrifices, which means that it looks like what it is.<\/p>\n It looks like you\u2019re sacrificing children.<\/p>\n Suffer them to come unto you, instead.<\/p>\n Grace<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently, a Catholic school in Rhode Island decided that there was no place in their school for trans children. Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket, Rhode Island has issued a policy banning transgender students from the school, according to the … Continue reading
\nMount Saint Charles Academy deeply regrets the unintended hurt feelings at and seeming insensitivity of our policy regarding the acceptance of transgendered young people. The policy that currently appears in the Mount Saint Charles Student Handbook is not intended to be discriminatory toward transgendered students nor is Mount Saint Charles Academy\u2019s intent or desire to exclude transgender students. The policy was put in place for the simple reason that Mount Saint Charles feels that its facilities do not presently provide the school with the ability to accommodate transgender students.<\/p>\n