Canon, Catechism, and Curriculum: GSAs and Student Mental Health in Ontario Catholic Schools
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/a.v3i1.3401Abstract
The permissibility of student GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance) clubs in Ontario has been heavily disputed, with Catholic schools showing particular resistance. With a history of opposing same-sex rights, Canada’s Catholic Church holds great social, economic, and political power. This institution-level power generates extensive structural stigma that harms the LGBTQ community, including adolescents. Stigmatization provokes emotional, cognitive, behavioural, and physiological responses that compound each other, altering one’s health. Through the use of accepted socio-epidemiological guidelines for establishing causal inference along with data from a Canadian report on homophobia and transphobia in both Catholic and public schools, it is evident that structural stigma, expressed through prejudice against GSAs in Ontario Catholic schools, is harmful to the health of LGBTQ students. LGBTQ students, who are structurally stigmatized in Ontario Catholic schools, experience inferior emotional health compared to their nonstigmatized cisgender and heterosexual peers. Literature reviewed demonstrates confidence in a causal relationship; due to the structural stigma that Catholic schools in Ontario perpetuate against the LGBTQ community, LGBTQ students attending these schools experience greater risks to their mental health. It is imperative that LGBTQ youth are protected in schools, and solutions must be considered to balance Catholic religious rights in education with the health and social needs of students.
References
Adelson, S. L., Reid, G., Miller, A. M., & Sandfort, T. G. M. (2021). Health Justice for LGBT Youths: Combining Public Health and Human Rights. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 60(7), 804–807. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2021.02.021
Arslan, G. (2018). Understanding the Association between School Belonging and Emotional Health in Adolescents. International Journal of Educational Psychology, 7(1), 21–41. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijep.2018.3117
Austen, I. (2022). Why Catholicism remains strong in Canada - The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/29/world/canada/pope-francis-canada-catholics.html
Callaghan, T. D. (2014). Law and disorder: Ontario catholic bishops’ opposition to gay-straight alliances. Paideusis, 22(1), 28–37. https://doi.org/10.7202/1071463ar
Callaghan, T. D. (2017). Homophobia in the hallways: Heterosexism and transphobia in Canadian Catholic schools. University of Toronto Press.
CBC News. (2015, May 25). TIMELINE | Same-sex rights in Canada. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/timeline-same-sex-rights-in-canada-1.1147516
Cook, J. E., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Meyer, I. H., & Busch, J. T. A. (2014). Intervening within and across levels: A multilevel approach to stigma and public health. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 103, 101–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.09.023
Goldstein, T., Lee Hicks, B., Salisbury, J., & Baer, P. (2019). Teaching Gender and Sexuality at School: Letters to Teachers (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429426421
Hatzenbuehler, M. L. (2014). Structural stigma and the health of Lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23(2), 127–132. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414523775
Hatzenbuehler, M. L. (2016). Structural Stigma: Research Evidence and Implications for Psychological Science. The American Psychologist, 71(8), 742–751. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000068
Hatzenbuehler, M. L., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2014). Structural stigma and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis reactivity in lesbian, gay, and bisexual young adults. Annals of behavioral medicine: a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 47(1), 39–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-013-9556-9
Hill, A. B. (1965). THE ENVIRONMENT AND DISEASE: ASSOCIATION OR CAUSATION? Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 58(5), 295–300.
Iskander, L., & Shabtay, A. (2018). Who runs the schools?: LGBTQ youth activism and Ontario’s Bill 13. Journal of LGBT Youth, 15(4), 339–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2018.1500508
Lapointe, A., & Crooks, C. (2018). GSA members’ experiences with a structured program to promote well-being. Journal of LGBT Youth, 15(4), 300–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2018.1479672
Link, B. G., & Phelan, J. C. (2001). Conceptualizing Stigma. Annual Review of Sociology, 27(1), 363–385. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.27.1.363
Loughlin, G. (2018). Catholic homophobia. Theology, 121(3), 188–196. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040571x17749147
Major, B., Dovidio, J. F., & Link, B. G. (2017). The Oxford handbook of stigma, discrimination, and health (B. Major, J. F. Dovidio, & B. G. Link, Eds.). Oxford University Press.
Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, Social Stress, and Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations: Conceptual Issues and Research Evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129(5), 674–697. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.5.674
McMullin, A. (2021, August 12). How rich is the Catholic Church in Canada? Charity Intelligence Canada. Retrieved from https://www.charityintelligence.ca/research-and-news/ci-views/43-charity-news/691-unfounded-vows-of-poverty-a-run-through-of-the-financial-wealth-of-the-canadian-catholic-church
Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops, Colterman-Fox, D., Cronin, J., Glavine, M., Kelly, J. P., McQueen, M., McKeever, S., Pautler, M., & Walsh, L., Pastoral Guidelines to Assist Students of Same-Sex Orientation (2004).
Ontario Human Rights Commission. (2021). Human Rights Code. (R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19). Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90h19
Peter, T., Campbell, C.P., & Taylor, C. (2021). Still in every class in every school: Final report on the second climate survey on homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in Canadian schools. Toronto, ON: Egale Canada Human Rights Trust.
Peters, F. (1998). Religion and schools in Canada. Journal of Catholic Education, 1(3). https://doi.org/10.15365/joce.0103042013
Poteat, V. P., Calzo, J. P., Yoshikawa, H., Lipkin, A., Ceccolini, C. J., Rosenbach, S. B., O'Brien, M. D., Marx, R. A., Murchison, G. R., & Burson, E. (2020). Greater Engagement in Gender-Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) and GSA Characteristics Predict Youth Empowerment and Reduced Mental Health Concerns. Child development, 91(5), 1509–1528. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13345
Taylor, C., & Peter, T. (2011). Every class in every school: Final report on homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in Canadian schools. Toronto, ON: Eagle Canada Human Rights Trust.
Toomey, R. B., & Russell, S. T. (2011). Gay-straight alliances, social justice involvement, and school victimization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and Queer Youth. Youth & Society, 45(4), 500–522. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118x11422546
Voisine, N., Allen Smith, T., & Choquette, R. (2022). Catholicism in Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/catholicism
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Aletheia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
All Rights Reserved
