Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).
Franciscan University of Steubenville will continue to separate its housing, restrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams on the basis of biological sex — rather than self-asserted “gender identity” — despite recent federal changes to Title IX guidelines.
The announcement comes after President Joe Biden’s Department of Education issued a new interpretation of Title IX, which states that all prohibitions on sex discrimination will now apply to discrimination based on a person’s self-asserted “gender identity.”
Religious schools, such as the Catholic Franciscan University, are exempt from Title IX provisions that violate their faith.
Father Dave Pivonka, TOR, the president of Franciscan University, sent a letter to students that stated that the new interpretation of Title IX does not apply to the university because it is inconsistent with the Catholic Church’s teaching on sex. The university president referenced Franciscan’s compendium on human sexuality, which states that a person’s “sexual identity” is based on his or her biology.
“We believe in the inherent dignity of every human person,” Pivonka wrote in the email. “And as a passionately Catholic institution, we believe in and follow the teachings of the Catholic Church that consider ‘sex’ to refer to the objective reality of a human person as a man (male) or as a woman (female), grounded in and determined by a person’s biology.”
Per the university’s policy, neither employees nor students will be forced to refer to a person with pronouns that are inconsistent with the person’s biological sex. They will also not face any discipline for “holding views and beliefs” consistent with the university’s position on human sexuality, which is based on Catholic teaching.
In his letter, Pivonka noted that there is a difference between “behaviors that may be judged by our current cultural norms to be discriminatory,” such as explaining the Catholic teaching on sexuality, and “behaviors that, in fact, violate the dignity of a person,” such as harassment or violence.
“Violations of the dignity of a person will not be tolerated on this campus,” he said. “Presenting authentic Catholic teachings, which convey truth, beauty, liberty, and healing, uplift the human person in every respect. Teaching what the Church teaches is an act of charity and our duty as a Catholic university.”
The Biden administration implemented the new regulations late last week. According to the executive summary, the changes are meant to “clarify that sex discrimination includes discrimination on the basis of sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”
The new interpretation of Title IX has already created tension with states that have passed laws restricting women’s and girls’ athletic competitions and other private spaces to only biological women and girls. Public officials in at least two states, Oklahoma and Florida, have already said they would not comply with the new rules.
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It is good of course that sanity is being preserved in some places.
What stakes me in that gender madness (read “the denial of the reality”) is how anti-women it is. A group of men will not likely feel endangered by the presence of one or two biological females in their changing rooms/toilets/sports while women, forced to put up with a biological male in women-only spaces, will. This law spits on women – on who a woman is – and especially on those women who are victims of assaults/have a high level of anxiety.
Honestly, I do not know the Western law more misogynistic than this because it is not about who a woman can be i.e. profession restrictions or whatever but about who a woman is i.e. the most basic biology-determined need of women to have female-only spaces and feel safe. It is a level of a body which does not even need a religion to back it up.
Considering that roughly a half of humanity are females, the rights of 50% are thrown away for the sake of satisfying 1% (?) or less.
The sports side of this gets talked about a lot, and it should. It affects a lot of young girls, teens, and young women and puts them in the position of sacrificing either their safety and modesty, or their sport.
The women in prison who are forced to share a cell with a “transgender” convicted rapist don’t have even that option. Nearly 60% have been through sexual violence, while about 80% have been through domestic abuse. Misogyny at its finest. They act like that man’s feelings are more important than that woman’s right to not be raped.
“Mr. President – Bishop Gruss is on line one.”
Thanks to Fr. Pivonka for his clear, measured statement.
Let’s see if other Catholic universities are up to the challenge.
I agree that men and women should not compete against each other in most sports because men have the advantage. Sadly many sports seem to be ignoring the differences between the sexes and admitting all sexes to compete together on teams or against each other in singles sports (e.g., swimming), even though one sex often has a clear physical advantage.
BUT…there is one sport that I think has always been on a good track and hopefully will remain that way!
All my life, my family (Dad and Mom, and eventually husband and daughters) have been fans of and participants in the sport of figure skating. And if you don’t think it’s a real sport, then before reading the rest of this, please head down to your closest ice rink and give it a try. “Nuff said!”
My late husband was an ice dancer, and in one of the last competitions he participated in before he passed away (2020-COVID-R.I.P.), he told me that he was the only straight man in a locker room of 26 other men who identified as something other than “straight.”
And that’s OK. After he died, the largest number of cards and gifts to his memorial were from fellow skaters that had gotten to know him over the years. He always enjoyed being with other skaters and sexuality didn’t matter.
Sexuality truly doesn’t matter in the sport of figure skating. What matters is “Can you skate perfectly (or close to it) during your competitions?”
Straight men or women who have landed huge jumps for years can still bomb at a competition, and so can gay men and women, or anyone with any other sexual identity. It is NOT a kind, forgiving sport! You have one shot at competitions, and that “shot” lasts only a few minutes and then it’s over. No do-overs. No time-outs. No “Stop the Clock” so the physical therapist can massage the muscles. If you bomb, you have to wait until the next competition, often a year later, to try again.
There have been women who can outskate a man in jumps, and there have long been men who skate with more “style” than a woman. Figure Skating skills have nothing to do with sexuality, although the biological men are generally stronger when it comes to over-the head lifts of a partner–but not always! And women are generally more flexible when it comes to ice dancing elements, spins, and other elements that require flexibility–but not always!
Recently the figure skating discipline of synchronized skating has allowed over the head-lifts–and in last year’s world championships, WOMEN LIFTED WOMEN over their heads–and most of these lifts were performed by women of roughly the same weight and height!
Amber Glenn won the U.S. Championships in the 2023-2024 season after years of competing and never winning. Only recently has Ms. Glenn “come out” as pan-sexual/bi-sexual. But everyone in the figure skating world knew. And it didn’t matter–what mattered was how she skated during competitions, and often, she didn’t skate well enough to win. Her sexual orientation had nothing to do with her skating performance during competitions.
Jason Brown is the only male figure skater in the world who does not land quadruple jumps in competition, yet at age 30, he placed 5th at Worlds in 2024. He’s incredibly good at all the other elements and has a style of skating that brings an audience to their feet every time. He’s gay, but…that doesn’t matter. (Everyone loves him–he is kind and mannerly to fans and fellow skaters.) I still remember the first time I ever saw him skate when he was just in middle school–I knew that he would be one of the greatest skaters ever (even though he was wearing a ponytail!).
The sexual orientation of the sport MIGHT have mattered back in the old “6.0” system (although it didn’t seem to matter at the time, as quite a few “gay” skaters won competitions–again, because of their skills, not their sexuality).
But now, the Code of Points system does not allow for political “gimmees.” Figure skaters in all the disciplines of the sport (Men’s and Ladies’ Singles, Pairs, Ice Dance, and Synchronized) earn points for each element completed based on how good the ELEMENT is, and although this system is incomprehensible to the public and to many figure skating fans as well, it is generally much more accurate than the old 6.0 system, in which a “pretty skater” could (and sometimes did) win even if the other skaters landed every jump, spin, and footwork sequence.
It’s a sport, not an “entertainment.” Many people who don’t follow the sport don’t believe that, but for those who train in the sport, it’s the absolute truth. Figure skaters have to pass difficult tests to be promoted to the different levels of competition (Preliminary, Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice, Junior, Senior), and many skaters spend years working on these tests, often failing them several times before passing. Most of the public doesn’t know this. It’s expensive, time-consuming, and often, practiced in the early morning hours because after school and work, public skating and hockey (and sometimes broomball) take over the ice rink.
My daughters were up at 4 a.m. on weekends to practice with their synchronized skating teams from 5:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. During the week, they got to sleep until 5:00 a.m. and were at the ice rink at 6:00 to practice a few hours before school.
One of the reasons why I love the sport of figure skating is that biological men and women still compete in the division that matches their biological sex. Men and women do NOT compete against each other in the Singles events, as the sexes, regardless of the orientation of the skater, possess physical attributes that make certain elements impossible or at best, extremely difficult. There are male skaters (Jason Brown)( who can perform a layback spin with as much flexibility as a woman, but most cannot. And there are women who can perform quadruple jumps–but most cannot, especially in the lower levels of the sport, which skaters must ascend before competing at the Senior level that we see on television.
And many men and women who excel in one aspect of the sport (e.g., jumps, spins, or footwork) do not have the same level of performance in other aspects of the sport (e.g., jumps, spins, footwork) to put together a program that demonstrates mastery of ALL the elements of the sport of figure skating. There’s no such thing in figure skating as a “3-point specialist” or a “pinch hitter.” You do it all, and you do it all well, and sexuality does not matter.
Yes, there are occasional competitions in which men and women compete against each other, but these are mainly “show” events, not real competitions, and they often are done as a fundraising event for a worthy charity. I think it’s highly unlikely that the International Skating Union will be merging the sexes in the competition arena anytime soon. other than in synchronized skating where men and women are on the same teams.
It’s interesting that in the U.S., the sport is often disregarded (or worse) by men–even if they watch the sport (to please their wives, girlfriends, or daughters), they would never participate in it, no way! But in many European and Asian countries, as well as Canada, the sport is just as popular for men as it is for women. It infuriates me and other figure skating families that boys and men who figure skate are often made fun of. Keep in mind that male Olympic figure skaters like Charlie White (U.S.A.) and Kurt Browning (Canada) competed in figure skating AND ice hockey while they were growing up!
I hope that some who read this will take a look at the sport of figure skating, which I think has, so far anyway, handled the sexuality issue fairly well. Basically, sexuality ISN’T an issue in figure skating–the “issue” is, “Can you skate well enough to hit all the elements in your chosen figure skating discipline, and hit them better than anyone else in your competition field?”
By the way, Adult figure skating (all disciplines) is becoming more popular, and U.S. Figure skating sponsors many competitions for adults, so if you’re looking for a sport, consider giving figure skating a try!
The sports side of this gets talked about a lot, and it should. It affects a lot of young girls, teens, and young women and puts them in the position of sacrificing either their safety and modesty, or their sport.
The women in prison who are forced to share a cell with a “transgender” convicted rapist don’t have even that option. Nearly 60% have been through sexual violence, while about 80% have been through domestic abuse. Misogyny at its finest. They act like that man’s feelings are more important than that woman’s right to not be raped.