Zoe Coulahan reflects on the fraught relationship between Catholic schools and queerness.
As the principal’s voice boomed out over the intercom system, I felt my stomach drop. The comments poured in as the announcement of the LGBTQ+ week was enunciated. “Why do they get a whole week?” “Why should we celebrate something that’s wrong?” Glancing over to the only other queer student in the class, we locked eyes in that knowing way that the comments were hurting exactly who they were meant to hurt.
During this particular LGBTQ+ week in my secondary school, often referred to as “alphabet week” by class comedians, an older student decided to make his feelings about this week public. This particular Friday, was meant to be a “no-uniform day”, but he decided to protest the week by wearing his uniform anyway. Of course, it was not envisageable for the school to punish him for respecting the dress-code. But when his homophobic motive was brought to light, he walked away without any repercussions because his religious beliefs were not to be punished. Catholicism, once again, in my school, conflated unjustified hatred and bigotry with religious beliefs.
Catholicism, once again, in my school, conflated unjustified hatred and bigotry with religious beliefs.
Growing up as a member of the LGBTQ+ community while attending a Catholic school is an incredibly difficult feat. Although significant strides have been made in terms of understanding gender and sexuality as belonging to their respective spectrums, schools still appear to be slow in their integration of these ideas into everyday life, let alone their curriculum.
The Catholic church’s doctrine has formatted many people’s thoughts on queerness and in doing so, radically affected Irish society, starting with the education system. Strides in the separation between Church and state eventually led to the passing of the Marriage Equality Act in 2015 which allowed same-sex marriage in Ireland. While the passing of this law reveals a societal willingness to question negative connotations imposed on queerness, the education system remains a consistently difficult and often traumatic environment for LGBTQ+ students.
Constantly hearing the word ‘gay’ used as a synonym of ‘bad’ or ‘weird’ is a common part of the primary school experience. A study into Irish primary schools found that 70% of the respondents had heard homophobic language be used to describe another student's behaviour. This figure shows that children are exposed to homophobic ideologies and negative language associated with the LGBTQ+ community as early as four years old.
Constantly hearing the word ‘gay’ used as a synonym of ‘bad’ or ‘weird’ is a common part of the primary school experience.
These findings resonate with another study involving second level SPHE teachers. Of these teachers, 79% stated that they were aware of homophobic bullying. The levels of homophobic bullying and comments are absurdly high both in primary and secondary schools in Ireland. This bullying may not manifest in the form of physical altercations but through sly comments and homophobic remarks are all too common.
The same study also questioned the teachers about the topic of LGBT issues being addressed in their SPHE classes; only 52% claimed these issues were addressed. This finding begs the question of how children who engage in homophobic behaviour and bullying are meant to be educated if almost half of schools are decidedly ignoring the topic of LGBT issues claiming the topic to not be “age appropriate”.
Relationships and Sexual Education (RSE) is introduced in primary schools as young as junior infants and continues right up into secondary school. When discussing the topic of sexual relationships in RSE, same-sex relationships are rarely, if at all, mentioned. Sex is taught in an entirely phallocentric and heteronormative way - with procreation as the only envisageable end goal. Pleasure during sex or alternative forms of sexual intercourse are categorically ignored. While the debate surrounding the timing of when sexual health ought to be introduced in classrooms is a valid one, it is worthy of note that same-sex relationships are not mentioned in the Resource Material for Sexual and Relationships Education elaborated by the Professional Development Service for Teachers. Teachers are advised to take care when discussing “differing family patterns” - including when mentioning children who are in the foster care system and need to take into consideration various religious beliefs that could be found in their classrooms.
Sex is taught in an entirely phallocentric and heteronormative way - with procreation as the only envisageable end goal.
Today, statistics continue to show high rates of homophobic bullying and low rates of LGBTQ+ discussions in Catholic schools leading to heightened feelings of loneliness compared to their straight counterparts (in 2022, 58% of queer identifying students in Ireland reported feeling lonely at school, as opposed to 14% for straight students according to the 2022 School Climate Survey). Based on the available data and testimonies, it is clear that reform or change is needed within the system.
We have to allow young people to feel comfortable and happy to express who they are and who they love regardless of how they choose to identify. The heteronormative society we live in is constantly evolving, and the approach and resources for students from our schools should follow suit.