California Catholic high school denies it registered for homosexual curriculum

Sep 24, 2009 / 01:38 am

Notre Dame High school in Belmont, California has responded to reports it had been registered to show films and use school materials produced by a homosexual activist group. The school says it has not shown such films, has not used related materials and has also requested it be removed from the group’s website and database.

Youth in Motion, a partnership between the Gay-Straight Alliance Network and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media group Frameline, claimed on its website that over 200 California high schools and middle schools had signed up to show and discuss its films.

In one film, a boy “comes out” by wearing his mother’s bikini. In another, Native American spirituality is used to depict LGBT people as being “two-spirited.”

Notre Dame High School, a Catholic girl’s school sponsored by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, was on the list of schools registered for the Youth in Motion curriculum.

“Notre Dame High School, Belmont has not shown films and has not used school materials from Youth in Motion and requested and received confirmation of removal from its website and database on September 21, 2009,” a September 22 statement from the school said.

“As a Catholic High School with a four year Religious Studies Requirement, Notre Dame’s faculty and administration faithfully adhere to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church in curriculum and instruction, policies, and programs,” the statement continued.

The school said it is “privileged to serve the Church” in its mission to “promote justice and peace and to develop responsible young women of active faith, strong intellect and Christian leadership in an environment of academic excellence and mutual respect.”

Parts of the Youth In Motion discussion materials encourage students to question whether religious and cultural celebrations such as bar mitzvahs wrongly discourage homosexual and transgender lifestyles, the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) reported.

The PJI said it was not clear whether the films were being shown predominantly during class time or in meetings of LGBT student clubs at the schools which Youth In Motion claimed to be registered.