<p><strong>July 8 2020.</strong> DignityUSA has obtained a copy of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis Policy and Norms on Sexual Identity in School Ministrya document that was sent to key Archdiocesan staff in June 2020 but that was to be kept secret from the public.</p><p>We believe this policy needs to be exposed so parents families mental health professionals and the general public can understand the Archdioceses beliefs and approach to transgender nonbinary and gender non-conforming students. <strong>We believe that ideas and policies that Archdiocese outlines in this document are extremely dangerous and hurtful.</strong> It espouses a simplistic and outdated ideology of biological determinism that is out-of-step with modern science. As the trans community fights for survival and acceptance policies like these are a dangerous obstacle to progress.</p><p>The Archdioceses language is dismissive and invalidating of the lived experience of transgender and gender non-conforming people referring to so-called gender-identity and gender theory in the policy. The Archdiocese goes so far as to demand that the term gender is in general to be avoided in official documents stifling employees who may wish to support their trans students.</p><p>While the Archdiocese expresses its commitment to a culture of transparency and understanding the secrecy with which it guarded this document reveals both the Archdioceses hypocrisy and knowledge that these policies are out of step with what most Catholics believe. This document reveals that the Archdiocese is both unable and unwilling to support the trans children in its care seeing them only as potential sources of disruption and confusion. Please see <strong><a href=https://www.dignityusa.org/news/lgbtqi-catholic-group-denounces-%E2%80%9Cunspeakably-cruel%E2%80%9D-ban-transgender-students-indianapolis>DignityUSAs full response to this document</a>.</strong></p><p>The Archdioceses document references <a href=http://www.educatio.va/content/dam/cec/Documenti/19_0997_INGLESE.pdf><em>Male and Female He Created Them: Toward a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education</em></a> a similarly dangerous and uninformed document released by the Congregation for Catholic Education in 2019. <strong><a href=https://www.dignityusa.org/article/new-vatican-document-transgender-issues-deemed-%E2%80%9Cdangerous-deceptive-and-divisive%E2%80%9D-lgbtqi>Please see DignityUSAs response to this document as well.</a></strong></p> <iframe src=https://www.dignityusa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/Archdiocese of Indianapolis Policy-and-Norms-on-Sexual-Identity-in-School-Ministry.pdf width=100% height=500px></iframe>