Every speaker at last night's joint school council meeting called for changes to the draft Catholic schools' policy on sexual orientation and homosexuality.

About 30 people gathered at Holy Family Elementary School to voice their opinions. The numbers were in sharp contrast to the hundreds who attended last November's school council meeting at Vanier Catholic Secondary School.

Regardless of the empty chairs, a breadth of opinions were represented.

Following the meeting, Val Royle, the deputy minister of Education, said they thought they'd reached a balance between promoting inclusivity and tolerance, and respect for the Catholic teachings in the draft policy.

"But clearly we're hearing that there's still certainly some variation of opinions so maybe we haven't struck that balance,” she said.

"What we're trying to do is find a policy, and I still believe it's possible, that serves all needs.”

The feedback gathered last night, as well as the feedback gathered through the online consultation, will be reviewed by the school councils, the department, and Bishop Gary Gordon, Royle said.

Although invitations had been extended to Gordon to attend, he was not at last night's meeting.

The consultation period on the policy closes Oct. 11. After that, the feedback will be reviewed by the three parties and a document summarizing the feedback will be released to the public.

Royle couldn't give a conclusive date for when a decision about the policy will be made, but said she'd "like to have this done.”

"It's been a divisive factor at the school. It's taken the focus off what's really important, which is educating kids in a safe, caring, warm environment,” she said.

The majority of speakers last night asked for the inclusion of Catholic teachings on homosexuality in the policy be reduced further still, and that the bishop's veto over subject matter discussed in school groups, such as a gay-straight alliance, be removed.

Many called for the separate policy to be eliminated entirely and for the Catholic schools to be governed by the same Department of Education policy as the other public schools in the territory.

But there were a few speakers who argued that the draft policy did not fully represent the Catholic teachings on homosexuality as it should.

Leah White was the first to speak last night, as she was at the meeting last November.

White's daughter, Shara Layne, was bullied last year at Vanier because she is a lesbian.

A derogatory term for a gay person was etched into her locker and it took the school administration at least two weeks to address it.

It was an incident that sparked widespread controversy in the community over the school's policy.

While White said she sees improvements in the draft policy in that it has removed some of the most offensive language present in the previous iteration, it's still marginalizing a group of people.

Cynthia Matichak echoed White's sentiments that the wording may have improved but called for the policy to be removed entirely.

"The wording of the new policy may have been cleaned up and is less offensive but it still has the same implications and that is concerning to me. There are a lot of good things about the Catholic teachings in our school but I don't see why they can't keep controversial issues out of the schools and kept in the home and church,” she said.

Tjitske van der Eide voiced concerns about the format of the meeting itself, saying it was not a dialogue.

"We as parents, as the public, as taxpayers can have our say and state our questions, but when will we get answers?” she asked.

She went on to ask who will make the final decision on whether this policy is implemented.

"One Heart (the policy) to me is an example of homophobia in the name of religion,” she said, calling it morally reprehensible in 2013.

"I find it archaic and deceiving. It refers in its footnotes to church doctrine and dogma in which our homosexual brothers and sisters are being referred to as intrinsically evil.

"How legal is that in our publicly funded schools?” she questioned.

Judy Douglas was one of the first to share an opposing point of view.

"This whole policy should have a higher standard. It should have God's standard in it, I don't believe it has that. It talks a lot about honour and dignity and respect for people with same-sex attraction, which I believe in. I believe all human beings should be valued and honoured and respected, however, it's very unbalanced because it doesn't talk about the sin of it. It doesn't talk about the fact that it's immoral, it's unclean,” she said.

"There's a lot of rights for the same-sex attraction students, but there's really no rights for the straight students. The children that aren't a part of this. They don't have any protection, we need to protect our children. If they see things going on that are defiling it's going to be traumatizing for them. There needs to be rights for the other students too.”

Colleen Segriff was concerned that some of the more traditionally-minded Catholics felt they could speak for all followers of the faith.

"I was raised by a mother who spent 10 years in a convent and I was raised to be a loving, generous, non-judgmental person. And I see what's happening here and it makes me really, really sad because I know a lot of people in my family and my community outside of Whitehorse that embrace the world and the changes that have happened and don't judge other people the way that I see some of the Luddites in this community doing,” she said.

Gail Francis suggested parents who don't like what's being taught at the Catholic schools could take their children elsewhere.

She was not the only speaker to suggest this. But the fact that Vanier and the other two Catholic schools are funded by public tax dollars was not forgotten.

During her second stint at the mic, White asked for the policy to be eliminated.

"Take the policy out, allow the one policy to guide the schools, and if not, please tell me how I get my money back, because this is a publicly funded school,” she said.

Another speaker, a parishioner at the Sacred Heart Cathedral, responded that Catholics pay taxes too, before echoing Francis' comment.

A Vanier grad, Jeremiah Kitchen, voiced his concerns about the policy, suggesting it's preventing the school's "amazing staff” from serving the students the way they deserve.

"When I graduated from Vanier Catholic in 2006, it was a very community-minded school. Everyone one was welcome, it was ecumenical. (Former principal Rosemary) Ms. Burns had created and developed over the years a beautiful, warm, learning place where everyone was accepted,” he said.

Community members can provide feedback on the policy online at oneheartfeedback.weebly.com.