CAL Reaffirms Commitment To All Youth

In the wake of the new Cleveland Catholic Diocese policy on issues on sexuality and gender identity, CAL submits this statement of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community of youth, students, artists, and educators that we serve and partner with.

CAL reaffirms our commitment to all youth of Northeast Ohio in that:

• We will continue to support the youth in our community, regardless of religious beliefs, race, or economic status.

• We remain committed to individual and communal youth development through the transformative power of the arts.

• We support the artistic self expression of all youth including those belonging to the LGBTQ+ community.

• We will continue to work with schools, educators, artists, families and communities to ensure safe, affirming, supportive environments for all youth.

• We will continue to conduct pre-programmatic meetings with school administrators and classroom educators to assure safe, inclusive and equitable environments during CAL residencies, workshops and classes for all youth.

• We will continue to follow Ohio Department of Education's standards for whole child development in cognitive, academic, social emotional and artistic benchmarks.

Our organization will continue to provide programs where youth can learn and discover artistic means of advocating for and expressing themselves. We affirm our commitment to equitable access for all youth to an education that includes the arts.

Respectfully,

The Center for Arts-Inspired Learning