![\"Nerinx](\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Nerinx-Hall-St-Louis-Missouri.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nStudents at the all-girls<\/a> Nerinx Hall Catholic High School<\/a> had asked school leadership to start a gay<\/a>-straight alliance club. They did not receive permission to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n When a former student heard about this, she questioned school President John Gabriel who replied that the archdiocese had requested that no Catholic school allow such a club unless it followed \u201ca carefully charted course of action that includes conversion therapy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>However, Gabriel later claimed that he used the term \u201cconversion therapy\u201d in error.<\/span><\/p>\n Nerinx Hall’s president falsely claimed a LGBT student club would require conversion therapy. t.co\/5gIbfgKDPA<\/a> via @stltoday<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kristen Taketa (@Kristen_Taketa) February 15, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n When asked for comment, Gabriel provided a list of Nerinx Hall\u2019s initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion such as training for teachers on ministry to LGBT individuals and diversity forums for students.<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>St Louis Post-Dispatch<\/b><\/a><\/em> reports that in February 2016, the archdiocese published a document called \u201cHope and Holiness\u201d outlining guidance for ministry to LGBT people.<\/span><\/p>\n The document states that Catholic schools should not establish LGBT support clubs without consulting the archdiocese.\u00a0<\/span>It also says that although LGBT support groups can provide emotional support to individuals, there is also a \u201cdanger\u201d in such groups\u2019 encouraging the labeling of sexuality and gender identity. \u201cAdolescents.\u201d it notes \u201care apt to suffer in a particular way from labeling themselves as gay<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n LGBTQ students and faculty, the alumni stand with you. We will not let you fight this alone. @NerinxHall<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Becca Eisenreich (@beisenreich2011) February 15, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Archdiocese spokesman Gabe Jones said:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBeing the archdiocese, the archbishop has pastoral responsibility for every Catholic in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. And so that applies to everyone who goes to a Catholic church, any parishioner, and these students who attend Catholic schools.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to Catholic teaching, the archdiocese is the arbiter of what is Catholic and what is not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Former students say this isn\u2019t the first time efforts have been made to form a LGBT club at Nerinx Hall.<\/span><\/p>\n 2001 graduate Beth Schumacher said Gabriel\u2019s letter portrayed a different school than the one she attended 16 years ago. She remembered Nerinx Hall as a progressive and \u201cextremely open-minded\u201d school.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of alumnae out there who are really, really disappointed both with the decision and with the direction it might be going in right now,\u201d Schumacher said. \u201cThere are young people at risk. If someone is asking for a club of that nature, then there are definitely individuals who can use that level of support.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Nerinx Hall states that it has three main goals: that every student \u201cknow herself and her world,\u201d receive a \u201cloving community of faith\u201d and \u201cdeliberate Christian action.\u201d<\/span> (Nerinx Hall logo via Twitter<\/a>)<\/p>\n The post St. Louis Catholic HS Denies Gay-Straight Alliance Was Banned For Not Supporting Conversion Therapy<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a>A Catholic high school in St Louis, Missouri has denied it banned a LGBT gay<\/a>-straight alliance club for excluding\u00a0conversion therapy from its action plan.<\/span><\/p>\nRELATED:\u00a0NC Gay Man Sues Catholic School For Firing Him After He Announced His Wedding<\/em><\/a><\/h2>\n
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