US Catholic Bishop Elections Signal Continued Targeting
of Gay, Transgender People
Statement of Equally Blessed, November 16, 2010
The leaders of Equally Blessed, a coalition of Catholics working for justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, have issued a statement expressing deep concern over the outcome of the election of new leaders for the US Catholic Bishops Conference.
"The election of New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Louisville, Kentucky Archbishop Joseph Kurtz as President and Vice-President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sends an ominous message to LGBT Catholics and our families," said Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director of New Ways Ministry and an Equally Blessed member. "Both men have made strong statements against gay and transgender people. Indeed, for the past two years, Archbishop Kurtz has led the US Bishops' nationwide campaign against marriage for gay couples."
"It is ominous because the bishops broke with tradition and did not elect this past year's vice-president, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, as president, someone known to be more moderate on LGBT issues and signals that the bishops are targeting families with loved ones who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender," said Nicole Sotelo, Program and Communications Director at Call To Action.
Marianne Duddy-Burke of DignityUSA, another Equally Blessed spokesperson added, "The selection of these two men as leaders of the US Bishops' Conference means it is more important than ever for Catholics who want our Church and world to be more welcoming and just for LGBT people to speak out and to act for justice. The majority of Catholics in the pews are supportive of LGBT people and issues, so this election is another example of how the hierarchy is out of step with the faith experience and ideas of Catholic people."
"At a time when Catholics and the larger society have become so painfully aware of how anti-LGBT religious messages and personalities have contributed to youth suicide, we wish the bishops would have elected leaders whose records were not so damaging," said Casey Lopata, Co-Founder of Fortunate Families. "As father of a gay son and as Catholics, we choose to tell our youth about Jesus' unconditional love for them."
Equally Blessed is a coalition of faithful Catholics who support full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people both in the church and in civil society. Equally Blessed includes four organizations that have spent a combined 112 years working on behalf of LGBT people and their families: Call to Action, DignityUSA, Fortunate Families, and New Ways Ministry.
New Funding for Discredited Catholic "Gay Therapy" Group Poses Broader Questions for American Catholics and the Nation
Courage Apostolate's Discredited Premises
Used to Influence National and State Public Policy
WASHINGTON - Catholics for Equality, a national political group of Catholics who support full civil equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, today voices concern over recent funding from the Dioceses of Oakland, CA and Colorado Springs, CO for the establishment of chapters of the Courage Apostolate, a discredited reparative therapy program. The funding and endorsement of the discredited program reveals the disturbing trend of some bishops to align themselves more closely with anti-gay extremists than American Catholics and the American public.
The Courage Apostolate's misuse of the 12-step program holds the premise that same-sex attraction is a disease, similar to alcoholism, and should be "controlled." Its underlying intrinsic disorder philosophy mirrors the "reparative therapy" programs developed through Evangelical ministries - all of which have been discredited by both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association.
Recently, the Courage Apostolate's framing of homosexuality was used by Archbishop Timothy Broglio, Archbishop for the Military Services in the United States of America Services, in opposition to allowing gay and lesbian solders to serve openly in the military.
"As American Catholics we are embarrassed that leaders of our church would embrace such outdated and discredited theories about human sexuality and the human condition," says Catholics for Equality Executive Director Phil Attey. "We are further embarrassed and frustrated when these arguments are made in public and used to influence civil law in America. Many American Catholics feel like we're back in the days of Copernicus when we hear our bishops making erroneous statements like these on behalf of the Catholic community."
"That more dioceses are funding these programs should be alarming for every Catholic in America," says Joseph Palacios, Director of the Catholics for Equality Foundation. "It signals that our institutional church is further being taken over by the Catholic fundamentalist movement which is working to return the Roman Catholic Church to the pre-Vatican II attitudes that separated Catholics from the modern world. We fear that if American Catholics do not speak out against these trends and this restorationist movement succeeds, our church will no longer be a home for American Catholic families seeking to be faithful Catholics as well as Americans committed to inclusion and equality for all citizens."
Catholics for Equality calls on pro-equality Catholics nationwide to ask their pastors if their weekly offerings are being channeled into local Courage Apostolate programs. We also ask every American Catholic to contact their state legislators and members of Congress to counter the harmful influences that the Conference of Bishops, the Courage Apostolate and other discredited reparative therapy programs are having on American public policy regarding legal equality for all Americans.
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