Transgender policy sparks raucous debate at Catholic board meeting

A raucous and emotional debate over a policy of gender identity and sexual orientation greweven more heated Tuesday night when a Catholic school trustee stated that transgender people were not part of God's plan.

Larry Kowalczykintroduced an amendment to the policystatingthat gender transitioning was contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Earlier in the eveningKowalczykargued there was no need for a policy fortransgenderchildren at all.

Advocatesattending the board meeting were aghast, whileother trustees clearly uncomfortable.

Last month Kowalczykset off a storm of criticism when he saidtransgender students should be considered as having a mental illness.

While theCatholic board is now a step closer to passing a policy to protect sexual minorities, many critics are saying the meeting is proofthe education minister needs to step in and either disband the Catholic board or initiate a province-wide policy.

New board chairMarilynBergstra, elected after the debate Wednesday,called the first readinga good step forward.

The board intends to hostconsultations before giving second reading to thepolicyscheduled forNov. 24.

The revised document becomes official policy after third reading, expected some time in December.