Targeting LGBTQ Centers at Catholic Universities

by Michael Jones · 2009-01-10 10:29:00 UTC
Topics:

Catholic LGBTDo religious conservatives at Georgetown University (and apparently columnists with the Washington Times) have a problem with GT's new LGBTQ Resource Center?

The backstory: In 2007, a gay Georgetown student was assaulted in a hate crime near campus that resulted in the arrest of a fellow 19-year-old GT student.  A month later, a second gay student was followed home from the library by a group of assailants, and pushed into a building while they yelled anti-gay slurs.  The two incidents emboldened LGBTQ activists (and straight allies) on campus, and as a result, the President of Georgetown established the LGBTQ Resource Center that opened in the Fall of 2008.

But now some conservative religious groups on campus, led by the Cardinal Newman Society, are complaining.

As a means of encouraging dialogue about LGBT issues on campus and to welcome the new Resource Center, Georgetown President John DeGioia sent a letter to several campus ministers asking them to host a joint event with the Center.  The event does not have to be an endorsement of anything LGBTQ-related; rather, the event just has to be an effort to dialogue, especially given the two hate crimes that happened last year on Georgetown's campus.

One might assume that the Catholic response would be to welcome this occasion to foster the safety and well-being of all Georgetown students, including the LGBTQ ones.  Instead, the Cardinal Newman Society is responding with accusations that the University is turning away from its Catholic identity.

“If Georgetown officials would once and for all stand up for the Catholic identity with which they are entrusted, rather than bowing to every politically correct mantra, they would be more concerned about The Vagina Monologues and pro-abortion activity on campus than bullying Protestant ministers," said Patrick J. Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society.

More concerned with the Vagina Monologues than addressing hate crimes committed on campus?  Is that really what a Catholic organization is suggesting?  It's just simply wrong for the Cardinal Newman Society to twist efforts to foster dialogue on LGBT issues into bullying.

In this press release, the Cardinal Newman Society also attacks Dignity USA, an LGBT Catholic organization.  Dignity USA, which serves as a forum for welcoming LGBT Catholics.  They call Dignity USA anti-Catholic for having the following mission statement: "Dignity USA envisions and works for a time when Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Catholics are affirmed and experience dignity through the integration of their spirituality with their sexuality, and as beloved persons of God participate fully in all aspects of life within the Church and Society."

I'm hard-pressed to find anything anti-Catholic about fostering affirmation and dignity.  I'm also hard-pressed to find anything "Catholic" about the Cardinal Newman Society's position on Georgetown's LGBTQ Resource Center, as well as their position that fighting heterosexism runs counter to Catholic teaching.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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