Vanier school drafts new gay policy

The Catholic Episcopal Corporation in Yukon has drafted a new policy governing homosexual students that drops some of the controversial language that the government had ordered removed earlier this year.

The Corporation has come up with a new studentpolicy which now needs to be approved.

Gone is the reference to homosexuality as an 'intrinsic disorder' that is 'morally evil.' Instead, the draft stresses the 'scrourge of bullying in education' must be resisted in Catholic schools, and notes that students with 'same-sex attraction' are at higher risk of being bullied.

It says Catholic schools won't tolerate derogatory remarks or harassment and significantly, says the schools will have 'zero tolerance for discrimination as outlined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'.

It says schools can create a support group, one which must contain the term 'one heart' but can also use the term 'gay/straight allies.'

Thepolicy does, however,give Whitehorse bishop Gary Gordon the right to disband the group if it deviates from the teachings of the Church.

The policy follows Church teachings, refusing to identify someone as homosexual. But it does say if students call themselves gay, staff must follow their lead.

Yukon government lawyers have given the draft the legal thumbs up, saying it adheres to the Yukon Human Rights Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Now, the policy goes to the Catholic school community for review.