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Washington D.C., Mar 6, 2017 / 10:43 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Supreme Court will not hear the case of a transgender student’s demand to access public school single-sex bathrooms, instead sending it back to the lower courts for reconsideration.

Announced Monday, the decision to send the case back to a lower court was based on the Trump administration’s recent announcement that it was withdrawing the Obama-era guidance which had stated that students should have access to the facilities of their self-perceived gender identification.

“The first duty of school districts is to protect the bodily privacy rights of all of the students who attend their schools and to respect the rights of parents who understandably don’t want their children exposed in intimate changing areas like locker rooms and showers,” Kerri Kupec, legal counsel for the group Alliance Defending Freedom, stated in response to the Court’s decision.

The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled last April that Gavin Grimm, a transgender student in Virginia’s Gloucester County School District, must be allowed access to public school single-sex male facilities. Grimm was born a girl but currently identifies as a boy, receiving hormone therapy and a name change.

The school district board had decided to allow Gavin access to a unisex bathroom facility at school, after proposing that students in the district had to use locker room and restroom facilities according to their birth gender.  

Grimm’s lawyers rejected this policy, saying it would “make him feel even more stigmatized” and that “being required to use separate restrooms sets him apart from his peers, and serves as a daily reminder that the school views him as ‘different.’”

The case was about how transgender persons can “participate in public life” through access to public facilities, Chase Strangio, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT & HIV Project, stated in a Feb. 23 conference call with reporters.

Grimm asked for an injunction on the policy, but that was denied by a district court. The Fourth Circuit overruled that decision and sent it back to the lower court, which eventually ruled in Grimm’s favor. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed in October to hear the case.

The Obama administration last year stated that public schools should allow transgender students access to single-sex facilities – like locker rooms and restrooms – of their current gender identity.

However, after a federal court ruled against this guidance, the administration of President Donald Trump refused to challenge that decision, and eventually withdrew the guidance. Based on this action, the Supreme Court sent Grimm’s case back to the Fourth Circuit for reconsideration.

“The Fourth Circuit Court, which will now rehear the case, should allow local schools to find solutions that benefit everyone's safety and privacy,” said Ryan Anderson, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

Kupec praised the Trump administration for rejecting “the faulty directive.”

Furthermore, she added, federal Title IX law doesn’t mandate such access to single-sex facilities for transgender students, as the Fourth Circuit had previously decided. Rather, it “protects boys’ and girls’ privacy in locker rooms, showers, and restrooms.”

“School officials should be free to protect their students’ privacy, safety, and dignity without federal government interference,” she said.

 

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By Dennis Sadowski

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- This summer's convocation of American Catholic leaders will give the 3,000 participants a better understanding of what it means to be missionary disciples who evangelize in every facet of their lives.

Representatives of sponsoring organizations preparing for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops-led, invitation-only "Convocation of Catholic Leaders: The Joy of the Gospel in America" July 1-4 in Orlando, Florida, said they are drawing from key papal documents and long-standing church teaching to develop a program that inspires attendees to act joyfully in bringing mercy to a 21st-century world.

Pope Francis, following in the footsteps of his predecessors since the Second Vatican Council, has focused his papacy on the meaning of missionary discipleship and the importance of reaching to the margins of the world, said Pallotine Father Frank S. Donio, director of the Catholic Apostolate Center.

"The term 'missionary discipleship' is saying that we're a follower (of Jesus), but we're being sent," Father Donio explained.

The call to be sent means people are invited to evangelize, he said.

"What does that look like in the domestic church of the home, the workplace, as a student, in the public square, in peace and justice work? It's bringing all of these different people together and (to) discuss and understand how it plays out in your parish in worship, faith formation, for others in terms of care for neighbor and charity and justice," Father Donio told Catholic News Service.

Blessed Paul VI outlined the church's call in his 1975 apostolic exhortation, "Evangelii Nuntiandi" ("Evangelization in the Modern World"). The document emerged a year after the 1974 Synod of Bishops, which re-emphasized the essential missionary character of the church and the duty of each member to bear witness to Christ in the world.

In his exhortation, one of the most authoritative categories of papal document, Blessed Paul wrote that each member of the church is called to evangelize the world because "the presentation of the Gospel message is not an optional contribution for the church."

"For the Christian community is never closed in upon itself," he wrote. "The intimate life of this community -- the life of listening to the Word and the apostles' teaching, charity lived in a fraternal way, the sharing of bread, this intimate life only acquires its full meaning when it becomes a witness, when it evokes admiration and conversion, and when it becomes the preaching and proclamation of the good news. Thus it is the whole church that receives the mission to evangelize, and the work of each individual member is important for the whole."

Subsequently, Pope Francis in his 2013 apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium" ("The Joy of the Gospel") laid out his vision for an evangelical church, one that focuses on the poor and most vulnerable, particularly the aged and unborn.

Both documents are key components guiding the planning process, Father Donio said.

"It's recognizing that everybody has something that they're bringing and we're meant to go out and not stay within our comfortable confines," he said.

"The beautiful thing about the convocation, it's an opportunity where the official teachers, the bishops -- not Catholic celebrities, authors, theologians -- are the ones calling us together as church in the United States to be able to listen to one another, to dialogue with one another, to deepen our collaboration with one another when we're sometimes in our separate little worlds," Father Donio told CNS.

"It's the bishops collegially saying we need to come together because we can't be church in the 21st century in the United States addressing the multiplicity of concerns (unless we) live faith today in a joyful, vibrant, outward focused way and build up our faith," he added.

Representatives of other convocation sponsors see the call to evangelize as integral to their mission. For some the call also is a way to recruit new members to ensure that their outreach ministries have a rich future.

"Part of the way that we carry out our evangelization is by witnessing who we are and what we believe as disciples of Christ in the world so people see what it means to be joyful about being disciples of Christ," said Joan Rosenhauer, executive vice president of U.S. operations at Catholic Relief Services.

"So people who hear are excited and proud of what we do. That is a part of the evangelization: witness in our commitment bringing God's love and our love to people in need around the world, regardless of their creed or nationality and without expecting anything in return," she told CNS.

To illustrate the point, CRS is developing opportunities for convocation participants to learn what it is like to work with people in need and to be in solidarity with suffering people around the world. Specifics have yet to be worked out, Rosenhauer said.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is looking to raise awareness of its work. Although the agency has conferences in 4,400 U.S. parishes, said David Barringer, executive director, there are more than 13,000 more to reach.

The society is looking at ways to interest young people into its work of visiting families in need and, more recently, inmates in prison, he said. "When people find out what we do, they go, 'Wow, I'd like to know more about it,'" he explained to CNS.

"I think we can be a partial answer for people looking to re-engage with the church," Barringer added.

At the National Council of Catholic Women, Sheila Hopkins, president, also sees the convocation as a way to introduce the organization more broadly.

She said many parishioners and young people do not realize NCCW's members help victims of domestic violence, staff food banks and offer respite for caregivers among numerous other activities. She is hopeful that the convocation showcases those efforts as examples of modern-day evangelization.

"God calls us to do for others," Hopkins said. "We do a lot of work that we feel is one of our purposes as church."

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Follow Sadowski on Twitter: @DennisSadowski.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Jonathan Ernst, Reuters

By Jean Gonzalez

ORLANDO, Fla. (CNS) -- Marcus Millien stood patiently as a teacher of St. Andrew School straightened his black, yellow and white necktie.

She wanted to make sure he looked his best since he would be presenting his personal education story to the president of the United States.

As daunting a prospect that might be for a teen, truth be told the teacher looked more nervous than 16-year-old Millien, a junior at Bishop Moore High School in Orlando and a graduate of St. Andrew.

Flashing a confident smile, Millien knew what he wanted to say during a roundtable discussion about the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program to President Donald Trump.

On March 3, the president and other dignitaries toured the predominantly black school in which 70 percent of students benefit from the school choice scholarship program.

Trump was joined by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Florida Gov. Rick Scott in a tour of the school that started with a visit to a fourth-grade class. The visit, which was private, was dubbed as a listening session.

During a roundtable discussion, the president heard from parents, teachers and students, including Millien.

The son of a single mother who emigrated from Haiti as a refugee to the United States, Millien didn't use the forum to toot his own horn. Although his family does not have the financial resources for him to attend private school without a scholarship, the teen said he is a fortunate person.

"My mother struggled, but didn't want me to have to struggle," Millien said of the reasons his mother chose to put him through Catholic school. "Here at St. Andrew, I found a sense of community and people who cared for me and had my best interests at heart."

Artayia Wesley, 17, a fellow junior at Bishop Moore, agreed with Millien's assessment of St. Andrew. She also participated in the roundtable discussion and is a graduate of St. Andrew.

"This community helped us put our best foot forward," she said. "My father works very hard to provide for our family, but without the scholarship, I wouldn't have been able to go to St. Andrew. My academics and my behavior (about school) improved while I was here."

After high school graduation, both teens said they would attend college. Wesley has aspirations in law and possibly politics. Millien hopes to play college basketball while pursuing sports medicine or neurology. No matter what path they pursue, they know their Catholic education will put them on the right path.

"Always remember who helped you get where you are and who supported you ' and continue to offer the values and support they gave you," Millien said. "Remember you wouldn't be who you are without they support you had."

Those words are exactly what brought Stephanie Jean-Jacques to serve as a teacher at St. Andrew School for the past two years. The daughter of Haitian immigrants, she had her share of bumps in the road as she attended West Orange High School in Orlando and the University of South Florida in Tampa. She felt called to serve as the school, in the heart of a lower-income area of Orlando.

"I am a proud Haitian, and I make it my priority to share my history of who I am and where I came from," Jean-Jacques said, recalling a moment in her first year at St. Andrew when her students were surprised their teacher, a Haitian woman, went to college and found success "It was an important to share that with the children. That, yes, people just like them can succeed."

She said she witnesses firsthand the benefits of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program, which is utilized by so many of her students. But the opportunities don't stop with the financial funding. As a teacher, she does all she can to support her students and remind them two things: don't give up and remember where you came from. And the students abide by that understanding.

"I've learned these students are driven, lovable. They are dreamers and talented, and they have high hopes for success," she said. "They truly strive for the goals of college and heaven."

Those two goals are something that is plastered all over the school, which in 2015 started a partnership with the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, to become one of 14 Notre Dame ACE Academies. This partnership is designed to strengthen classroom instruction, enhance student enrollment practices and support optimal operations.

According to Theo Helm, director of communications for ACE, the Alliance for Catholic Education, one aspect that dictates how an academy is chosen is parental choice.

"We are so proud of our partnership with the Orlando Diocese and with this school," Helm said, adding that three other schools in the nine-county diocese are ACE academies. "It is so important that parents have a right to choose the best education for their child."

The success of the parental choice program prompted the Orlando Diocese to invite Trump to St. Andrew. With Secret Service on the premises, children had to process through a makeshift, temporary metal detector to get to their classrooms. Orlando Bishop John G. Noonan visited classes in the morning before the president's 1:30 p.m. arrival. Streets were closed off around the school some time before the visit.

The president's arrival was marked by an entourage of cars, including two stretch limo SUVs, regular SUVs and vans. A gaggle of some 20 members of the press huddled in the back of Jane Jones' fourth-grade classroom just before the door opened and Latrina Peters-Gipson, principal, escorted the president inside.

Two of the fourth-graders got up to greet the president and other dignitaries who arrived, including Scott, Rubio and DeVos. The president's daughter and son-in-law -- Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner - were also on hand.

The president only stayed a few minutes, and shook a couple of students' hands. He smiled, commented to a few of the girls how beautiful their hair was, and offered all the students the following advice: "You will all succeed because you all work very hard."

Along with the fourth-grade classroom, the president visited eighth graders before heading to the library for the roundtable discussion. Although the press was not invited to stay for the discussion, there were preliminary words heard while cameras flashed.

Henry Fortier, secretary for education and superintendent of Catholic schools for the Orlando Diocese, said the discussion about school choice was both an exciting and important opportunity.

"I know there is a lot of controversy about school choice, but I see it as a partnership because it's not a situation of us versus them but of a situation of all of us working to provide opportunities for all parents so they have a right to choose an education appropriate for their children," he said. "It shouldn't be just for the wealthy."

Fortier said 25 percent of students attending Catholic school in the diocese benefit from the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship.

Reiterating what he said many times on the campaign trail, Trump said in his remarks that school choice is "the new civil rights issue of our time."

James Herzog, associate for education for the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, also was in on the roundtable discussion, which lasted some 20 minutes. He said he hoped Congress will look to Florida as an example of how school choice vouchers benefit students, families, educators and schools.

"On a state level, we really appreciate the school choice programs because it makes Catholic education possible to low-income families," he said.

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Gonzalez is editorial and online director at the Florida Catholic, newspaper of the Diocese of Orlando.

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Copyright © 2017 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

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