Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities

Personal Statements from Catholic Rainbow Parents
Ritual of Affirmation and Sending Forth
October 12, 2005

[Mary Lynn Murphy:] I would like to speak in solidarity with all of the almost 100 Catholic parents of GLBT persons from around the country who signed our declaration and particularly for Patty Keane and the gang in Boston who are on the steps of the Boston Cathedral tonight in solidarity with us. So, here's to Patty and to all of our kids.

"I'm Beverly Barrett, and I know that my two gay sons follow in the footsteps of their [deacon] father, as they act justly, love tenderly, and humbly follow in the Lord's path - from Micah."

"My name is Jean Feeney and my son Matthew cannot be with me tonight, but I am proud to be here in his name, and I am just humbled and proud to be here."

"I'm Myrna Ohmann and my gay son lives in Tucson; so, he cannot be here. But I would love to acknowledge my step-son Jason who arrived [here] to stand with us."

"I'm Ron Ohmann. Our gay son and his partner have opened our family to a wonderful new world we would not have otherwise known. They and their relationship are a true gift to our entire family. We are grateful."

"I'm Darlene White. This poem is found on a Catholic Worker Movement poster, and it goes like this: 'When they come for the innocent without stepping over your body, cursed be your religion and your life.' I signed this declaration in the name of our innocent gay children, loved ones, and friends and in the name of all the children of the world. I signed it as a pledge that my body will always be in the midst of the struggle for truth and justice."

"My name is Tom White, and here in attendance are two of my grandsons, aged ten and five - beautiful -- who are the product of my daughter and her wonderful partner. We also have our son and his wife and our third grandson [here]. My hope for this declaration is that through the Holy Spirit, our Church leaders will recognize that all people, gifts of God's creation, deserve the dignity of being who they were created to be."

"My name is Mary Beckfeld. I am the mom of eight. My youngest son Joseph is gay. He was baptized in this Church 29 years ago. And at that time of his baptism there were no conditions put on that baptism. He was welcomed as a full member of this community. He did not need to qualify. I ask Pope Benedict and all the bishops to honor that baptism and to apply the slogan that they adopted in Dallas when they addressed the problem of priests' sexual abuse against children. And that slogan is 'a promise to protect and a promise to heal.' It is time for the bishops and Pope Benedict to include our precious GLBT children in that slogan. It's time to protect them. It's time to heal them. And it is past time to welcome them back."

"I'm Deb LeMay. Our children are our greatest gifts from God. They have taught us what it means to love in ways that we never could have imagined. When we said 'yes' to God's call to love, we received an invitation to embrace the LGBT community. Our family has grown, our love has grown, and our God has grown. These simple words of William Sloan Coffin express this very well: 'You cannot think straight with a heart full of fear; for fear seeks safety, not truth. A heart full of love, on the other hand, has a limbering effect on the mind.'"

"My name is Susan Kramp. I am here as the mother of three sons, two of whom happen to be gay. To bear witness to the truth, I know about my sons. I'm compelled to protest the current misinformed and dangerous rhetoric used by the Roman Catholic Church towards gay people, many of whom are only children. I have a question for anyone listening. If you believe in Jesus Christ, Our Lord, and what He taught us about how we should treat one another, and you believe we will all face our own judgment day, then when Our Lord asks you and what you did for one of the most despised and vulnerable groups on earth - many of whom were frightened children. If your answer is, 'I despised them, I discriminated against them, and contributed to the atmosphere of violence against them,' then I ask you, whose soul will be considered disordered and inclined towards evil then?"

"My name is Ward Brennan. My youngest son Brian is gay. And you know what, he's just the way God made him. For the Church to say that he is intrinsically disordered really ticks me off. It took them 500 years to figure out that Galileo was right. How long is it going to take them to figure out that they're wrong on this issue?"

"My name is Rich Kramp. I have three great sons also. I'm Susan's husband. I am here to stand up for their rights. I am also here because of personal experience. One of our sons is straight; two are gay. I know both. We know them intimately. We know how they are intrinsically built: they're built like their Creator. We know what values they have. We know that they are good. We know that because we know them. Anybody that makes a statement about my sons, our sons, -- all of our sons, our daughters, our friends, our neighbors, sisters, and brothers and say that they are something they are not, we know we have to stand up for them. We have to defend them. Nobody should say evil things about children who are so wonderful. That's being done. We're here, we're a small group. We're here for an important reason. We know what these people who are saying these bad things don't know. We need to teach them what they don't know. So, thank you very much."

"My name is Phyllis Nickels, and I have three children. My oldest daughter is a lesbian. She has a wonderful family. I think of all of my children as gifts from God, and I will cherish them forever. And I want everyone to know what wonderful people they are."

"I'm Alice Rice, and I am the mother of six children, one of whom is gay. I just believe that using the hateful and inappropriate language 'objectively disordered' and 'intrinsically evil' to describe our children is anti-Christ and anti-Gospel. It is time for our Church leaders to recognize every child of God as unique and special."

"And I am Chuck Rice, father of six children, one of whom is lesbian. She and her partner have a very good life together. They have been together about twelve years now. The simple message of Jesus Christ is that all people are welcome in His Church. It is time for the Church leaders to recognize that the word all includes all GLBT persons."

"I am Mary Mucko (name barely audible), and I have four children - three boys and a girl. My oldest son is gay. He has a wonderful partner, and they bring great joy to our family. But I think one thing I want to say that is kind of new about this group is that you know we all have watched with interest the gay movement. However, it's time we as family are getting together and gaining our footing and our strength. And there are a lot of families out there who are perhaps struggling and floundering -- some of them have been raised to be homophobic. And I think of all the children in high school that probably haven't come out yet and are very frightened of how they are going to be greeted into their family. So I think that is another point that is so wonderful about families getting together and gaining momentum."

"Hi, I'm Sue McDonald, and I'm here representing all three of our children, but our youngest son Keeya identifies as transgender and he has a wonderful husband, Grady. And what I would like to say is that Catholicism has been the faith of our fathers, our mothers, our grandmothers, grandfathers, our great-grandmothers, and our great-grandfathers. Catholicism has been part of our lives through the centuries. And if the Church was now representing Christ on earth, our son would be invited to the table, and he is not. "

"My name's Bob McDonald, and I have, like my wife, three children; and our youngest son is transgendered. As Sue said, our Irish great-grandparents were Catholic, our grandparents were Catholic, our parents were Catholic. And when I remember catechism in Catholic school at Incarnation on the south side of Minneapolis, we were taught that Jesus was a loving and peaceful guy. And I think it's time for the Church to remember that instead of Jesus being a hateful or a discriminating person. I think it's time for them to return to those very simple core principles of Jesus as a loving and peaceful guy. Thank you."

[Tom Murr:] "I'm here because I love my [gay] son, and my wife Gretchen would just give an arm or a leg to be here, but she's out of town and couldn't make it. I think a father's love for his son in a small way is like God's love, and God loves our GLBT family very, very much. And I'll fill in the blanks."

"And I'm Mike Murphy. I'm the husband of Mary Lynn and the proud father of a gay son, Ryan. I'm here tonight in solidarity with all of our other parent-signatories to our document and to those who aren't here from across America and now around the world - numbering close to 200 parents who have signed on to this document. I say to the Pope and to the Church hierarchy, I say 'no' to Church teachings that demean our children and dismiss their humanity. And not only that; these teachings provide a convenient inspiration for gay-hate-mongers worldwide. I say, 'enough.' Thank you."