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“The Ruth Institute congratulates the Catholic Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, for siding with nature and science against ideology,” said Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., founder and president of the Ruth Institute.

On January 15, the Lansing diocese launched a policy on gender identity based on the Congregation for Catholic Education’s 2019 document, “Male and Female He Created Them.” The document rejects “any ‘gender theory’ that denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman.”

“Finally, an institution is willing to stand up to the gender ideology, which is sweeping government and our schools,” said Morse.

“The diocese’s policy provides that students and parents be addressed with pronouns in accordance with their biological sex. Students will participate in sports and use bathrooms, showers, and changing rooms on the same basis.

“This is consistent with respect for the biological reality of male and female. The diocesan policy also reflects Catholic teaching that the differences between male and female are part of God’s design and gifts to be accepted and cherished.”

The diocesan policy recognises that gender dysphoria “is a real psychological condition which causes real human suffering that has to be met with genuine compassion, rooted in truth and love, and accompanied by the highest standards of pastoral care.”

Morse noted that studies have shown that the vast majority of young people with gender dysphoria diagnoses who are supported in their biological sex, eventually become comfortable with their bodies.

“No one is ‘born in the wrong body.’ The diocesan policy is authentic compassion,” Morse said.

She contrasted the Lansing Diocese with the Virginia Department of Education, which claims that male and female are merely “labels” that are “typically assigned at birth.”

Virginia’s policies require that students be allowed to use the bathroom, etc. of their choice. Teachers and administrators are not allowed to question the action. Not using a student’s preferred pronoun is considered a form of harassment to be met with disciplinary action.

Morse stated,

“For the Commonwealth of Virginia, modesty is irrelevant. Girls will not be allowed to object to the presence of boys in places where their bodies are exposed. Virginia’s policies encourage voyeurism and punish those who protest this gross invasion of privacy. Under Virginia’s policies, to refuse to endorse a student’s fantasy is an offense to be equated with racial or religious discrimination.

“There’s nothing compassionate about subscribing to an individual’s fantasy world and punishing those who refuse to endorse their delusions. Men who say they are women are the legal equivalent of humans with women’s bodies. There is certainly nothing ‘pro-woman’ about saying that women’s bodies are irrelevant. The State of Virginia is erasing womanhood. Those of us who believe in eternal truth must oppose the folly of our times.”