A girl who believes she’s a boy wants to wear a boy’s graduation robe at her Catholic school graduation. The school is refusing. Outrage ensues.
Oh my.
You see, at St. Pius High school in Albuquerque the girls wear white gowns and the boys wear black. She wants to wear black. But the school is saying that on her birth certificate she’s a girl so she’ll be wearing white.
She insists that she even went so far as to change her name from Brandi to Damian. But the school believes changing one’s name doesn’t actually change someone from a girl into a boy.
KRQE reports on the story:
“I just want to walk in my black robe, nice and proud and have that memory to look back on with my family and friends,” said Damian Garcia. “I would rather not walk than to embarrass myself by wearing a female robe.”
Damian Garcia was born Brandi Garcia, but identifies as a male even having a legal name-change last year.
Fellow students, teachers and faculty call Garcia “Damian” and so does Damian’s family.
“I look at him and I call him my son. That’s how he wishes to be acknowledged is as a male,” said father Luis Garcia.
The Saint Pius Superintendent tells KRQE News 13, Saint Pius goes by what the student’s birth certificate says if there’s any question on what gender-color they wear at graduation.
Despite the name change, Damian’s birth certificate says “female.”
Damian’s father calls the school’s decision heartbreaking.
“All you want in life is to see your kids happy and healthy. You never want to see them suffer or being ridiculed or be made fun of,” Luis said.
Look, I want kids to be happy on their graduation day. It’s a big day for them. But a Catholic school just can’t do this. Just can’t. I feel bad for the young woman. I do. But her confusion about herself isn’t a mandate for the rest of the world to ignore reality.
A gay advocacy faux Catholic group called New Ways Ministry has called the school’s decision “ignorant and insensitive” and added that we should follow the example of the girl’s father.
The school’s reasoning shows the problems that can occur when rules become more important than human beings and human reality. For officials to say that they cede all of their ability to make a judicious decision based on the birth certificate, and not the human and social reality with which they are faced, is ignorant and insensitive…
An important lesson to be learned from this story, too, is that parental love for a child can often lead the way for the rest of the church to learn how to love and accept transgender people and other sexual and gender minorities. The love of Damian’s parents, expressed by his father, is awe-inspiring, and reminds us of the unconditional love that God has for each of us. So often our Catholic faith reminds us that God loves each of us as a parent. It would be well for the officials at this Catholic school to learn a lesson from Damian’s parents on how to love and accept and treasure each student.
May 21, 2013 at 3:29 am
I am glad that the New Ways Ministry puts human and social reality before God's. God made this person a female for a reason and last time I looked, he did not make mistakes. The school is following his lead and not what society thinks is right. Too bad the New Ways Ministry does not do the same.
May 21, 2013 at 3:32 am
This student just wants to be the center of attention. Mission accomplished.
May 21, 2013 at 3:54 am
What about prom? The clothes? Who asks who?
May 21, 2013 at 6:04 am
Human reality is, this girl still has to sit down to pee. She's a girl.
May 21, 2013 at 6:18 am
…an open letter to the little miss,
Understanding the confusion of mixed messaging, but, there is really "no" such thing as biological gender reordering at the cellular level!
It is a "myth"! DNA IS DNA!
…and,
Your not going to be brought any closer in faith and find "God" through reconstructive cosmetic surgery, hormonal therapy, secular psycho-social babel, or gender reassignment! It is certainly not going to change the "fact" through primative biology, that you are "hard wired" with XX chromosomes!
Better to "pray" a little longer on it, before getting further caught up in a "hot" mess by encouraging doctrinal error and disobedience!
Trusting more in hope of heaven, with grace finding a better way, than what the the "secular" world offers!
May 21, 2013 at 5:06 pm
….man or woman may not "unravel" the yarn of God's creations!
….remembering He "knitted" us together!
A bold testimony to our uniqueness!
May 21, 2013 at 5:18 pm
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May 21, 2013 at 5:18 pm
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May 21, 2013 at 12:48 pm
Catholic schools have school boards, but like public schools no one seems to pay much attention, passively allowing popular culture (cough) to dominate.
May 21, 2013 at 1:39 pm
If "teachers and faculty" were calling her Damian, then they set this problem up for themselves a year or two ago. It should have been explained to her and her family then, that she was accepted into the school as a girl and would be allowed to continue as such.
May 21, 2013 at 3:56 pm
"human and social reality" Semantically null. At best, a statement of emotions trying to override logic and truth.
May 21, 2013 at 3:57 pm
There's a slight problem with the x and/or y thing and if her's are one then they can't be the other.
And parents and schools should not be thanked for increasing a child's confusion by following pop culture.
May 21, 2013 at 10:56 pm
"So often our Catholic faith reminds us that God loves each of us as a parent."
Loving your child doesn't mean you give them whatever they want, it means you do for them what is right. People confuse love with gratification.