St. X lesson on gays protested
Some parents, alumni slate vigil Wednesday, April 8, 1998BY JULIE IRWIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A long-simmering debate on how to teach about homosexuality at St. Xavier High School became public Tuesday, with parents, alumni, students and activists debating the issue in a field across from the school.
A small group of parents and alumni protested a talk scheduled for today by Marian Weage, a local member of the support group Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). This is the sixth year Mrs. Weage has spoken to the "Social Justice - Morality" class that all the Finneytown Catholic school's juniors take.
According to the group, the presentation contradicts Roman Catholic teaching, which condemns sexual activity outside marriage. The parents plan a prayer vigil today at 9 a.m. to show their concern about the presentation.
"St. Xavier is one of the best schools in Cincinnati. I couldn't ask for a better school," said Suzanne Arnold, a Mount Lookout resident who planned to keep her junior son home from the all-boys school today. "It just disappoints me that they chose this group to speak to students. Catholic teaching says that sex outside of marriage is a sin, and that includes the homosexual lifestyle." Another mother at the news conference, Mary Lou Schihl, said she decided not to re-enroll her son at St. Xavier next year because of the controversy. School officials sent a letter recently to parents, in response to concerns, that outlines Mrs. Weage's presentation and the class it is given in.
"The class seeks to help juniors form the conviction that discrimination is never justified," wrote Principal David B. Mueller and the Rev. William L. Verbryke, the school's president. "Our teachers have decided to frame this lesson in terms of discrimination against homosexual men and women because it is this form of discrimination that seems most common among our students."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church holds that homosexual orientation is not chosen but that homosexual activity is "intrinsically disordered." It also condemns discrimination.
Mrs. Weage, a mother of four, said she tells the story of her children and challenges the students to guess which one is gay.
"I tell them about the coming-out process and how I felt, and then I usually say to them: "This is a hard time for you guys,' " Mrs. Weage said. "I say, "There's a proportionate number of American society that's gay, and you're not immune from that here.' "
As St. Xavier let out students for lunch, a few seniors crossed the street to defend the class they took last year.
"I personally don't understand why anyone would have a problem with the PFLAG message of love and acceptance," senior Kyle Seifried said. "I think it's St. X's obligation to present a message of love and acceptance. That's what Catholicism calls us to."
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