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Huge controversy has been caused by a Kansas Catholic school which has rejected the application of a child whose parents are gay. The Catholic school refused to admit a child because the Catholic Church's teaching on sacramental marriage is offended by same-sex unions. This decision provoked a reaction by many concerned members of the community who signed a petition addressed to The St. Ann Catholic School, the school that refused the child, and to the Kansas City Diocese.
According to Pink News, community members stated in a letter to the Diocese that the Kansas City school decision “lacks the compassion and mercy of Christ’s message.” “Respectfully, we believe that the decision to deny a child of God access to such a wonderful community and education, based on the notion that his or her parent’s union is not in accordance with the Church’s teaching in Sacramental marriage, lacks the compassion and mercy of Christ’s message.”
This was just another example of the Church representatives grabbing an opportunity to discriminate same-sex couples and even making a move against a child who certainly did not deserve to be discriminated just because of having same-sex parents. There are children from other families that are not strictly in conformance with the Church's teachings, for example children from divorced parents, who are attending the Kansas Catholic School but a child from a same-sex couple is being denied. As Patheos reports, The St. Ann Catholic school Superintendant, Kathy O'Hara, said in a statement to The Star that “Church’s teaching on marriage is clear and is not altered by the laws of civil society.” Catholic doctrine recognizes marriage “as a sacrament entered into between a man and woman.” “The Church teaches that individuals with same sex attraction should be treated with dignity,” the statement read. Her statement goes on to say, “However, the challenge regarding same sex couples and our Catholic schools is that same sex parents cannot model behaviors and attitudes regarding marriage and sexual morality consistent with essential components of the Church’s teachings.”
The main point here is that the child is the one who has been denied and who is being deprived of his rights to attend the school. The child did not choose his or hers parents and is not responsible for their "sins" which are the main issue for the Catholic school. The school has used the fact that Kansas is one of 28 states lacking discrimination protection for LGBT+ people and discrimination against LGBT+ children, children of LGBT+ families and LGBT+ staff is permitted under the context of religious freedoms.
