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CPCSM - Related News
Twin Cities Justice and Peace Groups Honor Bishop Gumbleton
with Lifetime Achievement Award
|
 Lifetime Achievement Award for Justice and Peace (A close-up of the text of the award can be viewed here.) |
Internationally renowned advocate for peace and justice, Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton, former auxiliary bishop of Detroit, now retired, was honored on June 29th by 100 justice and peace activists representing organizations from the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. Convened by the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM)--an independent Catholic lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pastoral ministry and human rights advocacy group, the consortium included Call To Action Minnesota, Dignity Twin Cities, the Justice Commission of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and Consociates, Inclusive Catholics, Twin Cities Peace Campaign – Focus on Iraq, Pax Christi Twin Cities, and the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). Some of the groups are also affiliated with larger nationwide organizations.
Gumbleton had been invited by CPCSM for a book reading the previous evening at St. Martin’s Table, a Minneapolis bookstore, where, along with a group of writers who had contributed to the group’s newly published training manual for Catholic high school educators on creating safe environments for LGBT students, he had read his foreword to the book. Gumbleton’s visit to the Twin Cities proved also to be an opportunity for the presentation of the local peace and justice community’s award, given to him as a guest at a “Prayer Breakfast for Hope and Justice” (led by lay ministers at the Carondelet Center in St. Paul) the following morning.
Local progressive Catholics expressed the anger and sadness, shared by peace and justice activists throughout the world, over the unjust and unkind treatment Gumbleton had received in early 2006 from Vatican officials and from Cardinal Maida, the Archbishop of Detroit and his immediate superior. Although church law sets a mandatory retirement age of 75 for all bishops, exceptions are routinely made for those who are healthy enough to continue their ministries. Therefore, upon reaching his 75th birthday in 2005, Bishop Gumbleton did not submit a letter of resignation to the Vatican but instead wrote a letter asking to continue his work. Not only did the Vatican authorities refuse his request, but they demanded that he immediately retire voluntarily or face removal from his office. Additionally, Cardinal Maida announced his removal from his 23-year position as pastor of St. Leo’s, an impoverished inner-city Detroit parish, giving Gumbleton only one week's notice to bid farewell to his loyal and loving parishioners.
In the eyes of most progressive Catholics, the Vatican officials not only failed to acknowledge and express their gratitude for Gumbleton’s life-long commitment to the Church and to the Gospel, they chastened and humiliated this internationally renowned ambassador of peace and justice. Therefore, the organizers of the local award ceremony felt compelled to honor Bishop Gumbleton with a Lifelong Achievement Award for Justice and Peace. The award acknowledged Gumbleton for “his unwavering loyalty to our nonviolent God”; his “vision of a world free of poverty and hunger, war and oppression”; his “courageous recognition of the equality and human dignity of all persons, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other status”; and for his “life-long heroic commitment to bringing about peace by promoting justice”.
Also well known for his public support of LGBT persons’ human rights and pastoral needs in both the church and society, Gumbleton became one of the first members of the Catholic hierarchy to publicly denounce homophobia and discrimination towards LGBT persons. Despite pressure from the hierarchy, he has continued, in his writing and speaking, to call upon the hierarchy to fully embrace LGBT persons and their families and to acknowledge their giftedness. Gumbleton has acknowledged that stance on LGBT persons was the direct result of his brother Dan revealing his gayness to the family and his mother’s subsequent question about the brother’s spiritual salvation, which prompted Gumbleton to reexamine his pre-Vatican seminary training on LGBT persons.
In media reports Bishop Gumbleton has said that he believes the harsh treatment he received from the Vatican was primarily in retaliation for the lobbying he had done before the Ohio legislature in January 2006 in favor of a bill to extend the statute of limitations which would allow victims of sexual abuse to sue the church many years after they had been abused. In his testimony, Gumbleton revealed, for the first time, that he himself had been abused by a priest as a teenage seminarian and knew how hard it was to speak publicly even decades later. In spite of the Vatican's reaction to him, Gumbleton said that he does not regret his lobbying efforts "because it was the right thing to do".
One of Tom Gumbleton's first public speaking events on behalf of LGBT persons came in 1994 when CPCSM, organizing a consortium of progressive groups and parishes, invited him to the Twin Cities where he spoke at 5 different venues (College of St. Catherine, Pax Christi, St. Joan of Arc, St. Stephens of Anoka, and the Basilica). The high point of that trip was presiding at a liturgy of reconciliation at the Basilica, specifically for the local LGBT community. With a very large crowd in attendance, Bishop Gumbleton not only processed to the sanctuary wearing a "gay" miter decorated with a cross, a pink triangle, and rainbow colors (a gift to him from CPCSM in recognition of his ministry with LGBT persons), he remained for about two hours after the liturgy responding to those in attendance during an open-mike question-and-answer session.
In 1996, Bishop Gumbleton once again inspired us in the midst of our safe staff training efforts with local Catholic schools, when he was the keynote speaker at a prayer breakfast at the retreat center at Totino-Grace High School for local Catholic education administrators, teachers, and other school staff. In 1997, CPCSM
named an award after him -- the Bishop Gumbleton Peace and Justice Award -- which is given periodically by the Board of CPCSM to a special person or group whose work on behalf of GLBT persons and their families reflects the same commitment to the Gospel call for peace and justice as exemplified by Bishop Gumbleton.
For more information about Tom Gumbleton's biography, his work with CPCSM, and the award named after him, see our web site link at: www.cpcsm.org/AboutUs_Awards.htm.
For more information about the Vatican's recent mistreatment of Bishop Gumbleton, see our CPCSM website at: www.cpcsm.org/news.htm#GumbletonRemoved.
Finally, for a sense of how much his parishioners at St. Leo's loved him and how much his work among them meant to him, check out the heart-warming, but saddening, 5-minute video at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0j0PSIbXp0.
CPCSM'S ANNUAL COMMUNITY MEETING FEATURES
READINGS FROM NEW PUBLICATION AND AWARDS
 |
Theresa O’Brien, CSJ; Bishop Thomas Gumbleton; and Myrna and Ron Ohmann were among the guests at CPCSM’s 2007 Annual Community Meeting, which took place on Thursday, June 28, at St. Martin’s Table Bookstore and Restaurant in Minneapolis. |
Beginning with a wine and cheese reception, this year's CPCSM annual community meeting served as the official launching and celebration for CPCSM's recent publication, Creating Safe Environments for LGBT Students: A Catholic Schools Perspective, edited by Executive Coordinator Michael Bayly. To highlight the book, individuals who had contributed testimonials and reflections to the book were invited to read their own contributions.
Among the readers was retired Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, who shared with the forty people in attendance the foreword that he had penned for the book. Other readers included Darlene White, the mother of a lesbian, Craig Barrett, a young gay man who had been part of the group of safe staff trainers whose work the new publication highlights, Jerry Kolbinger, a retired teacher from St. Bernard's High School in St. Paul who had completed the safe staff training prior to his retirement.
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A compilation of the resources used by CPCSM in its safe-staff training with most of the Catholic high schools in the Twin Cities area, the manual is the first of its kind and represents CPCSM's primary work during the late 1990s. |
Part of Bishop Gumbleton’s foreword reads as follows: “Prophetic words and deeds shine through this text. And like all prophetic words they speak of justice, inclusiveness, and a vision of the world that is bigger, more encompassing than the one we may be prepared to embrace. Yet the call remains. It rings forth from these pages – offering a catalyst for transformation.”
This year’s CPCSM Father Henry LeMay Pastoral Ministry Award was given to Catholic Rainbow Parents Myrna and Ron Ohmann for their “faithful, courageous, and loving efforts in promoting the full civil and ecclesial rights of LGBT persons.” For example, Myrna and Ron played a crucial role in the recent establishment of a support group for Catholic parents of LGBT persons in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Unfortunately, the 2007 recipient of CPCSM’s Bishop Gumbleton Peace and Justice Award was not able to be present at our Annual Community Meeting to receive his award. His identity will remain secret, as we hope to “surprise” him with his award at some point in the near future! Let’s hope it won’t take over a year to present him with his award – as was the case with Mike and Paula! (See fourth photo and commentary above.)
Another highpoint of the annual meeting was the presentation by CPCSM Board President Mary Lynn Murphy of the findings from the survey that she designed and distributed to members of the Catholic Rainbow Parents group who then passed the survey on to their LGBT children for completion.
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Michael Bayly, CPCSM's Executive Coordinator, was the emcee for the evening, and walked the audience through CPCSM's new publication, introducing each person who did a reading from the book. (Ron Ohmann is also shown seated in the background.)
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Mary Lynn Murphy, CPCSM President and mother of a gay son, who summarized findings from a survey that she had developed for young LGBT adults whose parents are members of the Catholic Rainbow Parents group; she alos read excerpts from the most articulate of the survey's respondents.
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Darlene White and Paul Fleege, CPCSM's Treasurer, talk as they enjoy the evenings snacks and refreshments
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Michael Bayly, the book's editor, autographs a copy for the Catholic woman priest Rev. Regina Nicolosi
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Those Who Read Selections from CPCSM's Safe-Staff Training Manual
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Craig Barrett , a former student of Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul who is gay and who was part of CPCSM's safe-staff training team. |
Darlene White, the mother of a lesbian who attended Benilde-St. Margaret's in St. Louis Park, who along with husband Tom has been a very active member of CPCSM and many other progressive Catholic organizations and causes. The Whites have been excellent role models of grandparents of the children of LGBT persons, frequently babysitting their lesbian daughter's two children.
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Jeanne Cornish, a staunch supporter of LGBT persons and a member of the leadership of Dignity Twin Cities |
Jerry Kolbinger, a retired teacher from St. Bernard's High School in St. Paul, who received CPCSM's safe-staff training on his own time when the school's president refused to allow the training at St. Bernard's. Jerry read the letter, included in the manual, that he and another teacher at St. Bernard's wrote to their colleagues at the school, pointing out the need for the school to develop a safe-staff program and a safe environment for its LGBT students
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CPCSM treasurer Paul Fleege (left) stands with CPCSM members Michael Douglas and Rick Notch at CPCSM’s Annual Community Meeting |
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The audience of CPCSM members and supporters, including Jeanne Cornish of Dignity Twin Cities in the foreground, at the annual meeting listen to the reading of selections from Creating Safe Environments
for LGBT Students:
A Catholic Schools Perspective. |
Some Further Reflections About the Book
“A courageous document.” That’s how Kristen Gunckel and Adam Greteman of Michigan State University describe Creating Safe Environments for LGBT Students: A Catholic Schools Perspective (Harrington Park Press) – the long-awaited training guidebook for educators based on the groundbreaking work CPCSM accomplished in the late-1990s in a number of Twin Cities Catholic high schools.
More About the Book Including Reviews
___________________________________________________________________
About
St. Martin's Table
St. Martin's Table is an outreach ministry of the Community of St.Martin.
It is a bookstore and restaurant open to the general public. St.
Martin's Table strives to be a center for peacemaking and justice
seeking. This focus springs from the Community's faith, centered
in the life and teachings of Jesus, and so we seek to provide
hospitality to all people in their journeys toward peace, justice
and wholeness. To describe the Table, we use words Books, Food and
Conversation.
The resources in the bookstore are chosen to reflect the values of the Community and staff -- values such as inclusiveness, nonviolence, justice and intentional care of creation.The food served is a celebration of God's gifts to us. To that end, St. Martin's Table serves vegetarian meals with an emphasis on locally grown and organic food. Volunteer servers not only contribute their time, but also contribute their tips to programs that alleviate hunger in the global community.Conversation takes place not only around the table at noon, but also during evening programs centered on peacemaking, justice issues and community-building through the arts. St. Martin's Table is also available for study, worship, fellowship and special events for the wider community.
Hours: Bookstore & bakery counter: Monday-Saturday,
10am-4pm.
Lunch Served: Monday-Saturday 11:00am-2:30 pm.
Thank you, St. Martin's Table for offering our Twin Cities community such radical hospitality and for being an inspiring and faithful example of what it really means to be a follower of the man from Galilee... .
SAINT MARTIN'S TABLE
2001 Riverside Avenue,
Minneapolis, MN 55454
612-339-3920
www.communityofstmartin.org/index.htm
CPCSM Coordinating Group for Inaugural
Prayer Breakfast
for Hope and Justice
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| The inaugural Prayer Breakfast for Hope and Justice – Friday, June 29, 2007, at the Carondelet Center. |
Moved by a growing concern about the protracted and ill-conceived war in Iraq and about the anticipated negative environment that incoming Archbishop John Nienstedt is likely to create for LGBT persons and other progressive Catholics in the archdiocese, CPCSM led a coalition of Twin Cities Catholic justice and peace groups – also including Call to Action Minnesota and Pax Christi Twin Cities – in organizing the first Prayer Breakfast for Hope and Justice on June 29th. The event brought together over 100 people in the Carondelet Center in St. Paul for a Eucharistic liturgy followed by a continental breakfast and a round-table discussion--the focus of which was on ways of finding and sustaining hope in the context of both the contemporary Catholic Church and wider society. Representatives from several Catholic parishes and organizations attended the Prayer Breakfast – an event which organizers hope in the future to offer three or four times a year to the Catholic community of St. Paul/Minneapolis.
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| One of those in attendance at the inaugural Prayer Breakfast for Hope and Justice was retired Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, who is pictured above offering his thoughts and insights during the round table discussion time of the event. |
At one point during the morning’s proceedings, Bishop Gumbleton was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Justice and Peace (see article above) by a coalition of groups, including CPCSM, Call To Action Minnesota, Dignity/Twin Cities, Justice Commission of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and Consociates, Inclusive Catholics, Twin Cities Peace Campaign: Focus on Iraq, Pax Christi Twin Cities, and the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
 |
Members of St. Stephen’s Catholic Church and with Bishop Tom Gumbleton (center, in black jacket) at the conclusion of the June 29 Prayer Breakfast for Hope and Justice. |
 |
In July 2005, CPCSM president Mary Lynn Murphy coordinated the gathering of members and friends of CPCSM who were also parents of GLBT persons, so as to form Catholic Rainbow Parents. The launching of this new group was accompanied by the release of the Catholic Rainbow Parents' Declaration - a pastoral statement of wisdom, love, and support for GLBT persons and their families. In 2006, the group released a second statement entitled Catholic Rainbow Parents for Constitutional Integrity. |
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| On October 12, 2005, Catholic Rainbow Parents held a "Ritual of Affirmation and Sending Forth" on the steps of the St. Paul Cathedral. The event culminated in the sending of copies of the Catholic Rainbow Parents' Declaration to both the Vatican and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. |
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| In October 2005, CPCSM and Catholic Rainbow Parents initiated efforts to protest the Pastors' Summit - an event aimed at encouraging religious leaders to support the proposed Minnesota marriage amendment banning same-gender marriage and all legal equivalents. We formed a coalition entitled People of Faith for Equal Civil Marriage Rights and organized a rally on November 10 outside the summit's venue, Grace Church in Eden Prairie. Our organizing efforts involved collaborating with an ecumenically diverse group of individuals and faith communities dedicated to defeating the proposed amendment. From this proactive and ecumenical dialogue and action emerged the Faith Family Fairness Alliance, of which CPCSM and Catholic Rainbow Parents are members. The TogetherMinnesota! campaign also cites the CPCSM-lead response to the Pastors' Summit as its official starting point. |
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Bill
Kummer with "Skipper" March 23, 1950 - January 29, 2006 |
| Many were saddened by the passing of CPCSM co-founder Bill Kummer on January 29. Bill was a compassionate and prophetic figure within the Catholic community and beyond. He was also a source of strength and inspiration for many. Bill always maintained that he would continue his work on the other side of this life. And many of us indeed believe this to be true. His spirit lives on among us. |
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| Gary Schoener, internationally renowned expert on clergy sexual abuse delivered an insightful presentation February 10, 2006, in which he emphasized seldom reported facts concerning the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal --including the range of victims, the different types of abusers, and the impact of the abuse on the victims and their families. Gary also explored the scape-goating of gay priests and the implications of the sex abuse scandal for the future of the institutional church. |
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| Timed to coincide with the World Marriage Day celebration, on February 12, 2006, close to 300 people (above) -- including former CPCSM treasurer Roger Urbanski (right) -- gathered on the steps of the St. Paul Cathedral to call upon Archbishop Flynn to withdraw his support of the Minnesota marriage amendment. (See below for more details about this rally.) |
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| On February 17-18, feminist theologian Mary Hunt shared her insights on a range of issues within the Catholic Church via two CPCSM-sponsored presentations at St. Joan of Arc Church. One of these had the relevant title of "Catholic Is As Catholic Does: Strategies for Being Church in Challenging Times." Pictured with Mary are Linda Taylor, CSJ, and Darlene White. |
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| Our March 20, 2006 event at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, entitled "Putting a Human Face to the Marriage Amendment Issue," drew a record crowd for a CPCSM educational event. Pictured from left: Bill Nolan (St. Thomas the Apostle); John Watkins and his partner Andrew Elfenben and their son, Dmitri; Carol Anderson and her partner Kathy Itzin; Michael Bayly (CPCSM executive coordinator); and Susan Lee (St. Thomas the Apostle). |
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| The
inaugural Bill Kummer Forum on April 28-29, 2006 featured
renowned theologian and author Daniel Helminiak, who offered
a two-part presentation entitled "Gay Body, Gay Soul: A Catholic
LGBTI Perspective on Sexuality, Spirituality and Marriage."
Pictured from left: Rev. Paul Tucker (All God's Children Metropolitan Community Church), Daniel Helminiak, Paul Fleege (CPCSM treasurer), David McCaffrey (CPCSM co-founder), and Michael Bayly (CPCSM executive coordinator) |
CPCSM's
Annual
Community Meeting
A Great Success
 |
Photo:
David J. McCaffrey |
Linda Taylor, CSJ, (left) and Jacob Reitan display the awards they received at this year's CPCSM Annual Community Meeting. Linda and Fr. Mike Tegeder (who was not able to be present), were the recipients of this year's Father Henry F. LeMay Award, while Jacob and Paula Ruddy (also unable to attend) received the 2006 Bishop Gumbleton Peace and Justice Award. See the following link to see copies of this years Gumbleton and LeMay Awards. |
On
May 8th, with about 50 people in attendance -- including a group
of about 10 young adults who have GLBT siblings, this year's CPCSM
Annual Community Meeting was a great success. The evening's high
point was a very impassioned keynote presentation, given by Jacob
Reitan, founder and co-director of the Soulforce
Equality Ride. Jacob spoke of the
history of the Ride and many of
its
highlights, Reminiscent of the Freedom Rides of the 1960s, the
Equality Ride was an inspiring event which earlier this year had
taken 32 young adults (including Jake) on a seven-week bus tour
from New York to Los Angeles to confront nineteen religious schools
and military academies that
ban the enrollment of GLBT students.
The Ride's journey was unique, as never before have young activists banded together to challenge homophobia at many of the major educational institutions responsible for much of today's GLBT discrimination - places where intolerance toward GLBT persons is taught to and nurtured among future generations of church and society's leaders.of which he was the founder and co-director.
Jacob and two other members of the Ride who were in attendance, including the other co-director, Haven Harrin, also spoke of the group's future hopes and responded to many questions from a very interested and inquistive audience.
Also known locally for his Faith In Action column in the Lavender magazine, Jake Reitan is an organizer with Soulforce, a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to liberating LGBT people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance as taught by Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
 |
Photo:
David J. McCaffrey |
| Pictured with awardees Linda Taylor, CSJ, and Jacob Reitan are the following: (Back row, l to r): Michael Bayly, CPCSM Executive Coordinator; Jarrett Lucas, Equality Rider; Bill Hunt, past CPCSM president; Haven Harrin, Equality Ride Co-Director; (In front, l to r): Mary Lynn Murphy, CPCSM Board President, and Lisa Nilles, CPCSM member. |
 |
Photo:
David J. McCaffrey |
| The 50 members and supporters who attended CPCSM's Annual Community Meeting on May 8, 2006, listen intently and with great interest as keynoter Jacob Reitan, at the podium, describes the highlights of the historic Soulforce Equality Ride, of which he was the founder and co-director. |
More
About Jacob Reitan
and the Soulforce Equality Ride
The
Equality Ride is featured on the cover of the May 9th issue
of The Advocate, with (l-r) Jacob Reitan and Haven Harrin,
co-directors of the ride, pictured in the foreground.
Photos from "Go Light the World:
A Sending Forth of Minnesota's Equality Riders"
March 2, 2006
Westminister Presbyterian Church
Photos by David J. McCaffrey
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| With Jacob Reitan (left) and Haven Harrin (center), co-directors of the Soulforce Equality Ride, are (l-r) Rev. Donald Samuels, Minneapolis City Council Member and ordained Baptist minister, who was a guest speaker at the event; Brian Mogren, the very successful event's founder and coordinator; and CPCSM Executive Director, Michael Bayly. |
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| Jacob Reitan is flanked by his loving and supportive parents, Randi and Phil Reitan, who are also very dedicated GLBT activists in their own right. |
The Soulforce
Equality Riders - March 2006.
Visit www.equalityride.org for more images and stories from the ride.
[End of CPCSM's Year in Review 2005 - 2006]
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More CPCSM - Related News
175
Protesters Rally on Steps of Cathedral
to Demand Archbishop Cease
Support of Marriage Amendment
On World Marriage Day (WMD), following the Noon Mass on Sunday, February 12th, almost 200 Catholics who oppose the proposed "Marriage Amendment," expected to be considered at the upcoming session of the Minnesota State Legislature, braved near-0 degree-wind-chill temperatures to gather on the front steps of the St. Paul Cathedral to express their outrage to Archbishop Flynn and the other Minnesota bishops. The group's message to the bishops -- expressed in public statements, songs, and chants -- was clear: stop actively supporting the amendment and stop politicizing Minnesota's Hierarchy and violating the Constitution's guaranteed separation of church and state protections by urging parishioners to mail postcards, distributed in church, that urge their legislators to vote for the amendment. (See statement below.) [Photo Gallery]
The rally was organized and sponsored by Catholics for Equality, a newly formed group that is an ad hoc blending of a core group of concerned progressive Catholic lay persons active in a number of local parishes, with CPCSM, Catholic Rainbow Parents, and Dignity/Twin Cities, that was formed to express its outrage with the position and actions taken by the Minnesotal Catholic Bishops in actively endorsing and advocating the "Marriage Amendment" and to work against the amendment.
During the annual WMD liturgy that preceded the rally, another protest -- quieter and more subdued, which had been begun and reprised by Brian McNeill and his partner and some other Dignity/Twin City members over the past four years on WMD -- took place inside the Cathedral.
For this year's protest, pairs of same-sex relationship partners, who wore rainbow arm bands, also stood up when the Archbishop asked groups of opposite-sex married couples to stand up as he listed 5-year intervals of marriage (i.e., 0-5, 6-10 years,etc.), up to the longest married couples in attendance. Also, when the Archbishop asked the married opposite-sex couples to face each other and repeat their marriage vows aloud, the same-sex couples did the same.
The message of the liturgical protest -- that the Church must also make room at its table for Catholics in same-sex couples in committed relationships, if it is to be true to the Gospel -- was once again clearly sent at the Archbishop's annual Mass for married Catholics.
Some other protest moments took place during the distribution of Holy Communion when some of the ministers refused the Eucharist to anyone, GLBT or hetero supporters, wearing the rainbow arm bands while other ministers, including the Archbishop, did not refuse the Eucharist to the arm band wearers. A few harsh words were heard from one of the Eucharistic ministers to the protesters attempting to receive communion at the rear of the church.
An angry, middle-aged male parishioners, who used a disrepectful sexual epithet to address one of the mothers of a gay man who was wearing a rainbow arm band, was scolded by a lay member of the Cathedral staff, who apologized to the protester and asked her to call her at the church office to discuss the matter further if she felt the need.
Outside, prior to the Mass, a few parishioners entering the cathedral asked why the protesters were bringing politics into the Mass, to which protesters quickly replied that they were only there at the Mass in reaction to the Archbishop who first politicized his office and the local Archdiocese. This politicization began when Archbishop Flynn, along with the other bishops in the Minnesota Catholic Conference issued their statement on December 22, 2005, in support of the Marriage Amendment. In their statement, the Minnesota bishops also first announced the postcard campaign in which each parish would be encouraged to participate.
The Archbishop then followed up on the bishops' statement in his first column of the year in the Catholic Spirit, which began by displaying a copy of a postcard to be mailed to legislators. In addition, the official web site of the Archdiocese has numerous other pro-marriage-amendment resources for learning about the amendment and for taking actions in supporting it.
Postings Related to 2006 World Marriage Day Rally
Did you know . . . ?
In July 2004, the American Psychological Association issued two official resolutions, one in support of civil marriages for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) persons, and the other opposing discrimination against lesbian or gay parents, adoption, child custody and visitation, foster care, and reproductive health services.
In July 2005, the American Psychiatric Association also issued an official statement supporting civil marriages for GLBT persons. Within that document, they reiterated their support for same-sex parents raising children, stating that "no research has shown that the children raised by lesbians and gay men are less well adjusted than those reared within heterosexual relationships."
The same positive view of children raised by gay or lesbian parents was stated in 2002 in an article in Pediatrics (Vol. 109 No. 2 February 2002, pp. 341-344), the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The article, entitled "Technical Report: Co-parent or Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents," states that "A growing body of scientific literature demonstrates that children who grow up with one or two gay and/or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do children whose parents are heterosexual. Children's optimal development seems to be influenced more by the nature of the relationships and interactions within the family unit than by the particular structural form it takes."
Public
Statement at 2006 World Marriage Day Rally
On the Front Steps of the Cathedral of St. Paul
on Behalf of Catholics for Equality
by David J. McCaffrey, Cofounder of CPCSM
February 12,
2006
We, the members of Catholics for Equality, are outraged by the position and actions taken by the Minnesota Catholic Bishops in actively endorsing and advocating for the discriminatory and anti-Christian "Marriage Amendment" -- both from the pulpit and through official Catholic publications.
Not only do we believe that such actions violate the separation of Church and State guaranteed by the United States Constitution, we further hold that Minnesota Bishops' position and actions are diametrically opposed to their ordained roles as pastoral leaders who have been called by God to welcome, unite, and minister to all God's people -- not to ostracize, exclude, and spiritually abuse with their language those whom they do not understand or agree with.
Catholics for Equality are taking this and other proactive positions and actions to urge the Minnesota Bishops to withdraw their support of the Marriage Amendment and are using all avenues open to them as citizens and people of faith to oppose this amendment and urge all other Minnesota people of faith and citizens to do the same. This amendment, should it pass, would mark the first time in Minnesota history that discrimination would be enshrined in the Constitution, especially at the urging of the Catholic hierarchy.
We will not wait the 350 years that Galileo's descendants had to wait until the Vatican acknowledged that his life experiences and his science spoke the truth. When will the Vatican and other members of the Catholic hierarchy listen to the tens of thousands of stories of gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender (GLBT) persons and our families -- stories of love for our Church, stories of our wanting to do God's will in the only way that our consciences direct us - by being true to our God-created natures of same-gender sexual or affectional orientations - and seeking union with God through a committed relationship with another person of our same gender.
When will the Vatican and the Bishops of Minnesota listen to the tens of thousands of our stories of oppression at the hands of those who fear and misunderstand us, often urged by Church leaders who are violating their sworn public trust to minister to all God's children. Listen to the tens of thousands of our stories about our periods of depression, our suicide attempts, our stories of terror about being rejected by our parents and our friends, and our stories of harassment, assault, and sometimes even murder by those whom the Church has not done enough to educate or encourage to love us and accept us as brothers and sisters?
How long, Pope Benedict and Archbishop Flynn, will it take for you to look into the telescope and once again see that for us the sun is the center of the universe, that our earth does truly revolve around the sun? Listen to the vast majority of today's biological and behavioral scientists, to the majority of today's mental health professionals and sexologists. GLBT persons are created, just as they are, by God -- it is not a choice and it is not an illness. It is a natural variation of God's creation. Our orientations do not need to be changed and cannot be truly changed. We are good and holy just as God created us.
And our civil marriages are good and holy. And the children we raise, when we show them proper love, respect, and upbringing and are supportive of them in their lives, do at least as well as those raised by our opposite-sex counterparts. We are citizens of the US and of Minnesota. As citizens, we vote, we pay taxes, we join the military to defend our country. Therefore, our committed relationships deserve all the same rights and privileges granted to other citizens in opposite-sex marriages; and our children deserve the same rights, privileges, and protections granted to those raised by opposite-sex parents.
Look into the telescope, Pope Benedict and Archbishop Flynn, and Bishops of Minnesota and see the truth. Tens of thousands of lives, tens of thousands of souls could be in the balance!
More About Catholics for Equality
The Catholics for Equality represent an ad hoc blending of a core group of concerned progressive Catholic lay persons active in a number of local parishes, with many members of the other organizations described above, who are outraged by the position and tactics taken by the Minnesotal Catholic Bishops in actively endorsing and advocating for the discriminatory and anti-Christian "Marriage Amendment" -- both from the pulpit and through official Catholic publications.
The group further believes that the Minnesota Bishops' postitions actions are diametrically opposed to their ordained roles as pastoral leaders who have been called by God to welcome, unite, and minister to all God's people -- not to ostracize, exclude, and spiritually abuse those whom that they do not understand or agree with. Catholics for Equality are taking proactive postions and actions to urge the Bishops to withdraw their support of the marriage amendment and are using all avenues open to them as citizens and Christians to oppose this amendment, which would mark the first time in Minnesota history that discrimination would be enshrined in the Constitution, and at the urging of the Catholic hierarchy.
A Special Appeal from Catholics for Equality
Dear Friends,
We are appealing to you to write a letter (and to encourage others to write letters) to Archbishop Harry J. Flynn and Bishop John C. Nienstedt of New Ulm to ask them to withdraw their support of the Minnesota Marriage Amendment. As citizens and as Catholics, this is a matter of conscience for us.
As you know, a number of fundamentalist religious groups have targeted Minnesota to amend the constitution to exclude same-gender couples from benefiting from civil marriage laws and all legal equivalents - such as domestic partnerships and civil unions.
Following is the current language of the proposed Minnesota Constitutional Amendment: "Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota. Any other relationship shall not be recognized as a marriage or its legal equivalent by the state or any of its political subdivisions." The amendment, if passed by both houses of the Minnesota legislature and voted "Yes" by a majority of ballots cast in the November 2006 election, would become the document by which all laws/statutes of Minnesota must abide.
Since there is already a statute in Minnesota preventing same-gender marriage, this push for an amendment to the constitution raises questions of motive. Is it a political move to influence the vote for conservative candidates in 2006? Is it punishment for homosexuals? Is it an attempt to break down the separation of church and state?
The Minnesota Catholic bishops have joined forces with fundamentalist evangelical groups pushing for the amendment. The Catholic campaign is spearheaded by Bishop Nienstedt. Archbishop Flynn has asked all the women's groups in the Archdiocese to distribute and collect postcards in support of the amendment at Masses in February. These postcards will then be forwarded to state legislators. The archbishop has also asked priests to attend training sessions and to preach sermons in favor of the amendment. In his January 5 column in The Catholic Spirit, the archbishop urged Catholics to support the amendment.
We think that the Archbishop should know that there are many of us, of different political persuasions, who cannot in good conscience support him in this. Our reasons are listed on the reverse side of this letter. Perhaps if many of us send letters explaining our thinking and feeling, the Archbishop may not only realize that the amendment presents deep moral problems, but find the courage to withdraw his support of it.
You may be saying, "That will never happen." But there is a broader purpose your letter will serve. We have to stop the culture war between "liberal" and "conservative" in our archdiocese. Both sides grow bitter and entrenched. It is a lose/lose situation. The issue of equal protection of GLBT people becomes a weapon in the war. The archbishop, with his gifts for being pastoral and his organizational resources, can do something about this. But he needs our encouragement. We can encourage him to calm the fears of the people who see rapid change as destructive of their way of life. We can encourage him to listen to people who think change is needed. Together we can nurture the spirit of love amidst changing forms of marriage and family.
Even if we do not succeed in getting the bishops to take moral responsibility, at least we will have stood up against an injustice to GLBT people in our moment in history.
Thanks for stepping
up. Copy us with your letter if you want to share ideas.
Catholics for Equality
Contact Person:
Paula
Ruddy Phone: 763-549-0881
6201 N. Lilac Drive, Unit 404 E-mail: pruddy@mninter.net
Brooklyn Center, MN 55430
Bishops' addresses:
The Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn
Archbishop of St Paul and Minneapolis
226 Summit Avenue
St Paul, MN 55102
The Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt
Bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm
1400 6th Street N
New Ulm, MN 56073
Some Reasons for People of Faith
for Opposing the Marriage Amendment
It violates human dignity and our own integrity as people who believe in equality. Our constitution expresses our self understanding as citizens. Amending it to exclude same-gender unions disqualifies a group of citizens on the basis of their sexual identity. They are at present denied the status and the benefits and privileges of civil marriage by Minnesota and federal statutes. An amendment to the Minnesota constitution adds nothing to heterosexual marriage. Its sole purpose is to discriminate against same-gender couples.
Christian compassion calls for alleviating the suffering of discrimination. How can disqualifying the sexual identity of our GLBT brothers and sisters be justified with a Gospel of unconditional love? Would Jesus support such action? The stories of GLBT people and parents of GLBT children testify to rejection and pain caused by the Church's teaching on homosexuality. Civil protections of marriage in this State, presumably honored by other States, and covered by over 1000 other statutes pertaining to marriage, could help GLBT couples stabilize their families and include them in our social structure. Even legalizing civil unions or domestic partnerships would help.
Forms of marriage evolve, but the spirit of love in families remains constant. The Archbishop says he is protecting the traditional form of marriage and family. The amendment adds no benefits for marriage but it privileges one form to the exclusion of all others. The traditional form is a good one for nurturing a loving family spirit, but it is not the only form that can do so. In the last four or five decades the forms of family have changed and diversified. This could be enriching to our culture. The role of religion is to nourish spiritual development in whatever form the family takes. The dysfunction in our society may be the result of the failure of religions to support families in creating spirit rather than the result of changing forms. The Archbishop is wasting resources and moral credibility in defending one form of family life when he could be tending to the spirit of family in all its forms.
In a constitutional democracy, lawmakers can't put a minority's equal rights on the ballot. Majorities sometimes get carried away, but the core moral value of equality in the Constitution is meant to remain firm. If lawmakers get carried away with the majority, the court's job is to hold firm. The proposed amendment is a dishonest strategy to shield the existing Minnesota Statute that defines marriage as a union of heterosexuals. The reason it needs shielding is that it is vulnerable to challenge under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. After the Civil War, the Constitution was amended to clarify the individual state's duty. No State may give benefits and privileges to one group of people and deny them to another unless they have good reasons. What reasons do the Minnesota bishops have for denying the benefits and privileges of civil marriage to same-gender couples? The Archbishop says it is not in their best interests or in the interests of society. This is an assertion that needs backing up with evidence. Why is the discrimination justified?
The common good is determined by deliberation of all the voices in the society. The US is a pluralistic nation. There are many groups who have their own cultures and ethics living together under one set of laws. Each group is free to argue that its ethical positions are best for the common good and should be embodied in law. However, when it comes to enacting laws, the duty of the lawmakers and the voting citizens is to let all people speak for themselves about what is good for them. Respect, debate, negotiation and compromise usually produce the only picture we can have of the common good. For example, we do not enact the religious taboos of one group into law when a significant number of people who will be affected by the law cannot see a reason for it. The Minnesota bishops are free to argue their position on the sinfulness of homosexual acts or on an ideal form of marriage, but since many people do not share their beliefs, they have a duty as citizens to give convincing reasons and evidence if they want to bind everyone.
Catholics do not need the amendment to practice their religion freely. The bishops are free to preserve the sacrament of matrimony for one man and one woman.. The amendment covers only civil marriage. Even if the State should in the future allow same-gender couples the benefits and privileges of civil marriage, the bishops are free to deny sacramental matrimony to same-gender couples. To safeguard their own religious freedom, Catholics should respect the civic freedom of others.
 |
BEN
GARVIN, Pioneer Press |
During
the Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on the
"Marriage Amendment" bill on April 4th, long-time
active CPCSM members (l-r) Tom and Darlene White hold up photos
of their lesbian daughter and grandchildren; and an unidentified
man holds up a photo of two lesbians in a committed relationship
and their children. The Judiciary Committee voted against
the bill 5-4, along party lines, as was expected. Complete Story: St.Paul Pioneer Press, April 5, 2006 |
Related Media Stories
The
marriage amendment
Star
Tribune
Last
update: April 04, 2006 – 10:37 PM
Tuesday's action: In a long-awaited hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected 5 to 4 a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and its legal equivalent.
The background: The Legislature has been debating for several years whether to propose for voter approval a constitutional amendment limiting marriage and its legal equivalent to the union of one man and one woman. • If approved in the Legislature, the question would go on the November ballot. • The Republican-controlled House has passed the bill twice, but the DFL-majority Senate has never brought it to a full floor vote.
The debate: Supporters warned that courts could overturn existing state law and redefine marriage and urged the importance to children and society generally of protecting the traditional definition of marriage. • Opponents decried the amendment as unnecessary and mean- spirited and designed to deny unmarried couples not just marriage rights but also existing rights involving hospital visitation, medical decisions, inheritance and more.
What
now: Supporters may try to bring the amendment directly to the
Senate floor, and the issue could become a major debating point
for the fall elections.
©2006
Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
Same-sex
marriage ban voted down
A Senate panel defeated an emotionally charged proposal to seek
a constitutional amendment. Supporters vowed the fight isn't over.
By Mark Brunswick, Star Tribune
Last update: April 04, 2006 - 10:36 PM
Bachmann,
stepsister hold opposing views
The lesbian stepsister of Minnesota's leading champion
of the marriage amendment begs to differ.
By Dane Smith, Star Tribune
Last update: April 04, 2006 - 10:38 PM
Catholic
couple clashes with
church over gay rights
BY
KAY HARVEY
Pioneer Press, February 26, 2006
 |
PIONEER
PRESS FILE PHOTO |
| Maria and Charlie Girsch raised six children and now through their business, they challenge adults to reclaim the creativity of their childhood. Charlie is a former priest and Maria a former nun. These devout Catholics again wrestle with the church's policy. This time the issue is gay rights. |
Charlie and Maria Girsch aren't your typical parents.
In their 20s, he was a Roman Catholic priest; she was a teacher and a nun. They fell in love and chose to marry.
Now, love looms tall again to test the St. Paul couple's strong ties to Catholicism. The church has toughened its stand against Catholics in same-sex relationships. And one of the couple's six children is gay.
"We are caught between the child we love and the church we grew up in," Charlie Girsch says.
At the Cathedral of St. Paul, people wearing rainbow-colored sashes — considered a political statement in support ofpeople in gay relationships— are refused communion. And the diocesan leader, Archbishop Harry Flynn, now supports a proposed amendment to the Minnesota constitution that would ban not only gay marriage but also many advantages that union brings.
As a sash-wearing parent, Charlie Girsch has been denied communion himself. He and his wife rallied with others last summer to createCatholic Rainbow Parents, a group that has grown to 30 or more moms and dads of adult gays who oppose the church's stand.
The group drafted a declaration in support of gay rights, read it on the steps of the Cathedral of St. Paul in October and mailed a copy to the Vatican. Last month, the parents spearheaded a Mass at St. Stanislaus Church and invited families and friends of gays to celebrate together.
They vocally oppose Flynn's support of a proposed "one-man, one-woman" marriage amendment to the Minnesota Constitution that likely would block gay partners from sharing health insurance or jointly adopting a child without other legal measures.
Flynn has encouraged Twin Cities priests to promote the amendment. Two weeks ago, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis dispersed stacks of postcards to its 219 churches, inviting parishioners to sign and mail them to legislators to support putting the amendment on the ballot.
On that same weekend, Catholic Rainbow Parents wore their sashes to church in support of gays in committed relationships. They and other pro-gay groups have publicly protested the proposed amendment by carrying banners with messages they want to deliver to legislators.
Such words as "Don't Enshrine Discrimination in Our Constitution" and "How Does Persecuting My Family Protect Your Family?" blare from the signs they carry.
"All gays want is the protections heterosexual couples have," Charlie Girsch says.
DEFINING MOMENT
Parents of gay children reel at the language in official documents released years ago by the Vatican that labels people in same-sex relationships as "objectively disordered" and "instinctively inclined toward evil."
For those who have a gay child, the words cut like a knife, Maria Girsch says. "It's that fierce parental love. It's 'I don't want you messing with my child.' "
She and her husband now train work teams and other groups to reignite a childlike creativity in their business, Creativity Central (www. creativitycentral.com). The couple maintains the church's stand on gay and lesbian relationships goes against Gospel teachings that are the church's foundation.
"The commandments are to love God and love your neighbor as yourself," Charlie says. "Jesus constantly had to challenge the religious leaders of his day to back off their legalism and remind them to be compassionate." He can't imagine a loving God singling out any minority.
"Everybody is a child of God," he says. "They all look different. Some are short. Some are tall. Some have big feet. And some are gay. It's part of the package."
Any other way of looking at homosexuality ended for them when "we realized we love our kid," he says. They have seen others experience a similar defining moment.
"What do you do when a child is gay?" Maria asks. "The most anti-gay people have the hardest time accepting that reality. But they get over it, because that lovable child trumps their homophobia."
The Girsches' second-born child told them he was gay 10 years ago. Now 34, Jon Girsch is a self-employed graphic designer who lives in Seattle with his partner. They celebrated their commitment to each other three years ago on a Hawaiian beach with their families gathered around them.
Jon Girsch is proud of the stand his parents are taking, he says. He hasn't left the religion of his youth, nor has he joined a church in Seattle. Like his parents, he hopes someday for a Catholic church that accepts everyone without judgment.
"That includes women," he says. "I'd like to see an equality across the board and have that be based on love. It's very simple. A lot of people want to make it a lot of work."
JUDGMENT DAY
Her son came out as gay because he had to admit the inevitable, his mother says. Twenty years earlier, her husband did something akin to that when he gave up the priesthood. "For the lovely Maria," Charlie Girsch says, casting a fond glance at his wife.
He has felt the sting of being judged by others, he says. "Being a former priest had a stigma." Charlie's father proved it by refusing to attend his son's wedding.
Charlie Girsch felt another sort of sting when he was denied Communion because he wore a rainbow sash. He realized he had lost, however briefly, the white, male — and straight — privilege to which he was accustomed.
"In some ways, it didn't hurt," he says. He knew he could go back to the Communion rail without the sash and partake of the sacraments."
Someday, he hopes, it will be as easy for his son to feel the church's acceptance.
Kay Harvey can be reached at 651-228-5468 or kharvey@pioneerpress.com.
FOR MORE INFO
To learn more about Catholic Rainbow Parents, the Twin Cities group that supports Catholics in gay or lesbian relationships, go to http://catholicrainbowparents.org. To sign a declaration of support, scroll to near the bottom.
CPCSM
Cofounder and Source of Inspiration,
Bill Kummer, Passes Away
The local and national Catholic GLBT, HIV/AIDS, and social justice communities lost a great leader and a hard-working educator and advocate on January 29th, when Bill Kummer passed away at his home in St. Paul as the result of AIDS-related complications, following a courageous and inspiring 20-year battle with HIV/AIDS.
Bill is perhaps best known as one of the six cofounders of the 25-year-old CPCSM and a perennial board member and general coordinator (1985, 1989 - 2002) of the organization.
Much of CPCSM's work has included educating the Church and society about, and advocating on behalf of, the special gifts and civil and religious rights of GLBT persons. Bill's work culminated when he presented workshops on his successful GLBT ministry work with parishes at two National Catholic Charity Conferences in the late 1980s and a workshop about the educational program he and others put together for training "safe staff" for GLBT students in Catholic high schools at the annual National Conference of the National Association of Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries (NACDLGM) in 1999.
Prior to his co-founding of CPCSM, Bill spent nine years as a teacher and administrator in Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the St. Louis, MO, area as a Benedictine monk from the St Louis Priory. In his last year as a monk, Bill worked as a community organizer in the Hispanic barrio of San Antonio. Bill holds a BA in philosophy from St. Louis University and an MA in Theology from the University's School of Divinity.
Returning to the Twin Cities, Bill was employed as a community organizer in refugee resettlement with Hispanic families on St. Paul's West Side, an organizer in neighborhood revitalization efforts in a number of different inner-city neighborhoods on St. Paul's East Side, and as an advocate for the rights of the physically and mentally challenged at the United Handicapped Federation in St. Paul.
After receiving his HIV diagnosis in 1985, Bill turned much of his attention to educating other persons living with AIDS (PWAs) about holistic health issues and teaching the mainstream community accurate medical and psycho-social information and positive attitudes about PWAs. As a volunteer member of the Minnesota AIDS Project (MAP) Speakers' Bureau, Bill delivered over 3000 educational and training presentations to a wide range of educational institutions and community groups, often presenting to groups that were unpopular among other MAP speakers.
In 1988 Bill cofounded a collective of PWAs that created a groundbreaking inspirational video, entitled An Interruption in the Journey, that offered a holistic and comforting message of hope to other PWAs by helping them view their AIDS diagnosis as only a temporary delay on their life's journey. Providing a positive focus for living with AIDS, the video has been widely used as a training tool in a number of local and national AIDS service programs.
From 1988 to 1995, Bill was also a cofounder and publisher--on a volunteer basis-- of PWAlive, a quarterly holistic journal by and for persons living with or in someway affected by HIV/AIDS. Distributed to over 400 local and national AIDS-related agencies, this journal was unique in that it offered, for the first time since the start of the AIDS crisis, a holistic message of hope, healing, and community solidarity.
In 1989 Bill received the 21st Annual Archbishop Ireland Award, presented each year by the Catholic Commission on Social Justice of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, for his dedicated work on behalf of lesbian and gay persons and their families and on behalf of persons living with AIDS. June of 1998 Bill was the recognized by the schools of the Archdiocese as a recipient of an award for his work in setting up and coordinating a safe schools initiative among Catholic secondary schools.
In 1993, when Catholic legislators represented a major hurdle for the passage of human rights legislation that would add GLBT persons as a protected class to the Minnesota Human Rights, Bill coordinated a concerted lobbying effort of 100 Catholic legislators, and, with the help of a clerical volunteer, created a 75-page Catholic lobbying resource manual, that was widely used and acclaimed by a number of legislators to promote the passage of the GLBT human rights bill. Karen Clark, a co-author of the bill, later stated that the lobbying of the Catholic legislators was crucial to the bill's passage.
Born in Minneapolis on March 23, 1950, Bill spent the first two years of his life, until his adoption, with the Benedictine and Josephite Sisters who operated the St. Joseph's Home for Boys in St. Paul -- one of the last Catholic orphanages in Minnesota. He grew up as the only child of working-class parents, on the East Side of St. Paul, attending Blessed Sacrament Elementary School.
Bill never forgot all the love, support, and solid education that he had received from the Sisters of St. Joseph in the orphanage and in his grade school years. Throughout his adult life, Bill never ceased expressing his admiration and respect for the sisters, many of whom he invited to serve on the CPCSM Board during its 25-year history.
Bill's admiration for and dedication to the sisters culminated on May 3, 2005, when he was received into the community of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (St. Paul Province) as a consociate member. He had made plans to work in a remedial school for poor Black youth living in the impoverished town of Jonestown, MS, and had visited the school in the fall of 2004. His deteriorating health, however, forced him to remain in the Twin Cities.
Bill is preceded in death by his beloved parents, William and Bernadetta (Mahoney) Kummer, as well as many aunts and uncles and two cousins. He is survived by his longtime companion and caregiver of 20 years, Leo B. Bowe of St. Paul; his very dear friends and soulmates, Martin Dohmen of Fort Lauderdale, FL, and David McCaffrey of St. Paul; his maternal aunt, Beatrice V. Welch of Waukon, IA; his paternal uncle, Martin Kummer and paternal aunt, Florence Kummer, both of Hastings, MN; many family cousins; his consociate community of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (St. Paul Province); his CPCSM family; the Twin Cities HIV/AIDS community; and many friends. Bill's tireless commitment to helping others, wisdom and leadership, and sense of humor and quick wit will be greatly missed by many and remembered often.
Visitation will be Thursday, February 2nd, 4:00 - 7:00 pm, followed by the Mass of the Resurrection at the Sisters of St. Joseph's provincial house chapel (Presentation of Our Lady Chapel), 1880 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN.
In lieu of flowers, Bill had requested that he be remembered by donations to CPCSM or to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Corondelet (St. Paul Province). Arrangements: O'Halloran & Murphy 651-698-0796.
130+
Rainbow Sash Wearers Receive Blessing Instead of Eucharist on Pentecost
Sunday
at Cathedral of St. Paul
Local
Media Coverage
Photo Gallery
Related Commentaries
CPCSM Celebrates 25 Years Since Its Founding
 |
| A colorful poster displays information about CPCSM's mission, goals, and programs, as well as photos highlighting its past 25-year history, at the organization's 25th Anniversary celebration on April 7. |
On April 7th, 2005, about 60 current and former officers, board members, and organizational members gathered at the Carondelet Center in St. Paul to celebrate CPCSM's 25th anniversary. The festive event was coordinated and hosted by board president Mary Lynn Murphy and her husband Mike, who are proud parents of a gay son.
After a brief period of socializing, the evening's events opened with a prayerful and musical centering ritual, led by board member Brigid McDonald, CSJ.
The emcee for the celebration was CPCSM's inspiring and articulate pastoral coordinator, Michael Bayly, who introduced the current board of directors and officers and the guests in attendance who were among CPCSM's first board members. He then invited the cofounders present and other participants to share past memories and other reflections via an open mic.
Many of the old-timers remarked that they could not believe that a quarter-of-a-century had passed since that Friday afternoon, May 9, 1980, when the "CPCSM Six" gathered around the chancery board room table with Archbishop John Roach and shared with him their often silent and lonely journeys of faith as GLBT persons growing up and working and volunteering within the Church.
At that meeting with the Archbishop, the CPCSM Six also expressed their hopes and dreams for the Church's future ministry with GLBT persons and their families, and they asked for his help in making their dreams a reality. (For more details about the May 1980 meeting with the Archbishop, please see CPCSM's Rainbow Spirit, Spring 2005, Vol. 7, Issue 1, p1ff.)
At the 25th anniversary celebration, the reminiscing and sharing of the innumerable contributions made by so many in attendance, as well as by those not present, could have gone on long into the night, However, it was 9 o'clock, and time to end the evening's festivities. Michael Bayly reminded the audience that the anniversary would be celebrated over the full upcoming year, which would allow for other special events and more opportunities for sharing of not only stories from the past but hopes and plans for the future.
Photo Gallery from CPCSM's the 25th Anniversary Celebration
One Cofounder's Reflections
on CPCSM's First 25 Years
By David J. McCaffrey
Many positive changes have occurred for GLBT persons and their families in society over the past quarter-century; and in large part, the Church's pastoral ministry to GLBT persons -- especially on the local level, where CPCSM has played a major role -- has paralleled those improvements. (For more details, please see CPCSM's Rainbow Spirit, Spring 2005, Vol. 7, Issue 1, p1ff., as well as the chronology of the major milestones in CPCSM's history that appears elsewhere on this Web site.)
However, during the same period, the Church's official teaching about GLBT persons has failed to develop so as to acknowledge and reflect the reality of Catholic GLBT lives. In fact, official teaching has both mirrored and contributed to a society-wide conservative backlash – a backlash that within the Catholic arena was orchestrated by Cardinal Ratzinger, our newly elected pope, when he served as the prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. One result of this backlash is that theologians and pastoral professionals teaching and working with and on behalf of GLBT persons -- John McNeill, Rev. Bob Nugent, and Sister Jeannine Gramick, to name a few -- have been silenced.
Furthermore, GLBT persons have been labeled "objectively disordered" and "intrinsically inclined toward evil." Our committed relationships have been condemned in Memory and Identity, the final book written by Pope John Paul II, as "part of a new ideology of evil," and as an "insidious" and "hidden" threat to families and society -- terms most likely suggested by Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope John Paul II's closest theological advisor.
Ironically -- just as developments within the Catholic pastoral arena mirror progressive changes on a more interpersonal and local secular level, a similar conservative retrenchment – driven by fundamentalist Christians, including Catholics – has been occurring within the secular politics of the ruling Republican Party. It’s a retrenchment that has paralleled the conservative backlash within the Vatican.
One even wonders if Cardinal Ratzinger's new role as pope will result in even additional and more widespread persecution of GLBT persons and those who minister with and to them.
Clearly, much additional work lies ahead for CPCSM and other organizations working within the Church for social justice for GLBT persons and their families. Such changes include GLBT persons' full acceptance by the Church as equal members of the Body of Christ, the full acceptance of our committed relationships as true reflections of God's unconditional love, an end to the culture of spiritual violence promulgated by the Vatican, and a Church-wide healing from the sin of homophobia.
My deepest hope and prayer, as we celebrate our first 25 years as an organization, is that more GLBT persons and their families who have been nurtured by the loving priests and other compassionate pastoral ministers in their local parishes, will come to see the Catholic Church as the People of God and respectfully demand that the Church hierarchy celebrate their gifts, listen to and respond to their needs, and grant them their rights granted by Baptism.
May GLBT persons and their families feel the responsibility voiced by the Gospel to share the many gifts they have received during their Catholic formation with other GLBT persons and their families who still struggle in darkness. For there are still so many such victims of the pain inflicted by a misguided hierarchy that refuses to be informed by the preponderance of current scientific findings and victims who have been rendered voiceless by their resulting fear and lowered self-esteem.
May more GLBT persons and their loved ones listen for and respond to God's call to join us and to share with us in the ownership of CPCSM's work, which apparently will be needed until well into the next quarter-century, when most of us cofounders will have moved on.
OPPOSED TO A SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BAN,
THOUSANDS RALLY AT CAPITOL
By RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER
St. Paul Pioneer Press, April 8, 2005
With love, hope and anger, thousands of gay and straight Minnesotans rallied Thursday on the Capitol lawn, resisting a push to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage.
Meanwhile, senators inside the Capitol dealt them a slight victory by refusing to immediately vote on a measure that would put the constitutional amendment on the 2006 ballot.
"Congratulations to all of us on a successful day so far," said Ann DeGroot, executive director of the state's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights organization, in kicking off the rally and lobbying day. Estimates of the rally's size ranged from 2,500 to 5,000.
DeGroot and others noted the Senate vote against the amendment was tri-partisan. All 35 Democratic senators, plus one Republican (Paul Koering of Fort Ripley) and the Senate's one Independence Party member (Sheila Kiscaden of Rochester) opposed pulling the measure from committee for a vote Thursday. The rest of the Senate's 30 members supported a move to force the issue to an immediate vote.
Those rallying said the vote was a sign their message is being heard. But they acknowledged the measure, which passed the Minnesota House 77-56 last week, will be a major issue for the foreseeable future.
Sen. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater and the chief Senate backer of the measure, pledged as much Thursday.
"It's never dead because I won't give up until the clock strikes midnight on the 23rd. There are always levers to pull," said Bachmann, who is a hero to many social conservatives and a villain to many social liberals.
The Legislature's constitutional deadline for business this session is May 23.
That's why, after joining the upbeat rally on the Capitol mall, hundreds went inside for face-to-face meetings with their senators and representatives. The constituents' message: Gay people deserve equal rights, and the constitutional amendment is discriminatory.
"Let them know that there is another population that feels differently than they do and that population includes their constituents," said Ann Swanson of St. Paul, telling a group of Rep. Erik Paulsen's -constituents how to lobby for their cause. Paulsen, an Eden Prairie Republican, had voted in favor of the constitutional amendment.
Swanson was one of dozens of coaches who helped people talk to their representatives. OutFront Minnesota officials said almost all of the Legislature's 201 members heard from constituents who are gay or lesbian or their allies Thursday.
That list includes Bachmann. She met with about a dozen members of her Senate district who came for the rally.
"She did a lot of listening, at first," said Carol Waldoch of Forest Lake, who met with Bachmann. But things got a bit heated, Waldoch said, particularly because Bachmann had invited two people who call themselves "ex-gay" to the meeting.
"She was telling us we have a choice to live as we do," Waldoch said. Bachmann told them, as she has said before, that they can get married just like anyone else -- but they have to marry someone of the opposite sex.
Still, Waldoch said, the meeting was worthwhile because Bachmann got a chance to see that gay people can form committed, responsible, religious families, just like straight people.
That message -- that gay people are not aberrant, irresponsible sinners -- was a major theme in the rally Thursday, reflected in many of the signs people held.
"Love is love. Period," read one. "Rights 4 Grandma," said another. "I'm American. I am a Vet and I am gay," said a third. "I'm a person of faith," said many.
Rachel E. Stassen-Berger can be reached at rstassen-berger@ pioneerpress.com.
Commentaries in the Media
by CPCSM Leadership
My Response to Pope John Paul's Recent Book,
Memory and Identity
By Mary Lynn Murphy, President of CPCSM
CPCSM Web Site,
3/2/05
Catholic Church Can
Overcome
Fear of GLBT People
By Michael J. Bayly
Star Tribune,
12/18/2004
Catholic
Church: It's time to re-evaluate
our views on human sexuality
by
Michael J. Bayly
St.
Paul Pioneer Press,
8/12/03
To
Phyllis Plum and Other CPO Members:
Please Stop Spreading False Information
About GLBT Persons
by David J. McCaffrey
CPCSM Founder and Board Member
CPCSM
Web Site, 8/10/03
The
CPO Does Not Speak for All Catholic Parents
by Michael J. Bayly and Mary Beckfeld
Star Tribune,
7/5/03
Other Recent
Media Coverage of CPO
Frank
Reilly: Online parent group
not the only voice of good Catholics
Star
Tribune, June 7, 2003
Other LGBT-Related News
Bishop Gumbleton Removed by Vatican
Outspoken Catholic Pastor Replaced;
He Says It’s Retaliation
New York Times, January 26, 2007
In his last Mass as pastor at the inner-city parish in Detroit where he had served for 23 years, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton told his parishioners that he was forced to step down as pastor because of his lobbying efforts on behalf of the victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy, a stance that put him in opposition to his fellow bishops.
Last weekend, the archbishop of Detroit, Cardinal Adam Maida, sent a letter to the parish, St. Leo, saying Bishop Gumbleton had to be removed because of church rules on retirement. But as Bishop Gumbleton, who turns 77 on Friday and had already retired last year as a bishop, told his parish last Sunday, there are many pastors even older than he who are allowed to continue serving.
“I’m sure it’s because of the openness with which I spoke out last January concerning victims of sex abuse in the church. So we’re all suffering the consequences of that, and yet, I don’t regret doing what I did because I still think it was the right thing to do,” he said, as the congregation rose and erupted in applause.
Bishop Gumbleton, though he never led a diocese, is known nationally in church circles as a liberal maverick. He co-founded the peace ministry Pax Christi and accompanied antiwar delegations to Haiti and Iraq. He broke ranks with church teaching by preaching in favor of acceptance of gay men and lesbians and the ordination of women.
Last January, he lobbied in favor of a bill in Ohio to extend the statute of limitations and allow victims of sexual abuse to sue the church many years after they were abused. He said he was speaking out because he had been abused by a priest as a teenage seminarian and knew how hard it was to speak publicly even decades later. Bishops in Ohio opposed the bill, which failed.
A spokesman for the archdiocese of Detroit, Ned McGrath, said Bishop Gumbleton’s removal from St. Leo Parish had nothing to do with his lobbying on sexual abuse or his political stands.
All bishops are required at age 75 to submit resignation letters to the pope, Mr. McGrath said, and the pope has the option to accept or reject the resignation. Bishop Gumbleton’s resignation was accepted last year, and, Mr. McGrath said, “it was with the understanding that he would give up any pastoral office.”
Cardinal Maida announced in his letter to parishioners that he had appointed a new pastor, the Rev. Gerard Battersby.
In his brief remarks at Mass on Sunday, Bishop Gumbleton told the parish that after he turned 75, he had sent a separate resignation letter to Cardinal Maida asking to stay on as pastor at St. Leo’s on a year-by-year basis. He said he was surprised by his sudden replacement.
“I did not choose to leave St. Leo’s,” he said. “It’s something that was forced upon me.”
Three canon lawyers interviewed on Thursday said there was nothing in canon law that would prohibit an archbishop from permitting a retired auxiliary bishop from serving as a pastor after 75.
Bishop Gumbleton, who has already moved out of his room behind the church and plans to move into an apartment in Detroit, did not respond to an interview request. A video of his remarks during Mass was taken by a parishioner and posted on the Web site of the National Catholic Reporter, an independent Catholic weekly newspaper that publishes a column by Bishop Gumbleton.
Mary M. Black, a parishioner at St. Leo’s, said: “Almost universally, everyone in the parish is hurt and angry and upset and bewildered.”
Ms. Black said: “He talks after Mass with people, and he is there ahead of Mass to say the rosary for anybody who has problems. And we all have his personal phone number. You do not have to go through a secretary. He was a pastor in the truest sense of the word.”
Related Postings
Bishop Gumbleton to Be Removed
by
Vatican
as Pastor of
Inner-City Detroit Parish
From Detroit Free Press Story
BY JACK KRESNAK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
December 23, 2006
|
Retired Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton is apologizing to parishioners and friends of St. Leo Catholic Church for upsetting them Sunday when he spoke of his imminent "exile" from the parish on the city's near west side.
In a letter to be published in this Sunday's parish bulletin, Gumbleton reveals that talks are under way to link the parish with the Jesuit-run SS. Peter and Paul Church in downtown Detroit. Under the plan, the Rev. Carl Bonk, pastor of SS. Peter and Paul, would be pastor of both parishes.
Bonk said Friday the clustering issue is being discussed and has not been approved by his superiors in the Society of Jesus order. Gumbleton could not be reached.
Bonk, who spoke with Gumbleton, said the situation is "emotionally straining" on the bishop. Of the charitable projects associated with St. Leo, Bonk said, "It's a given that they will continue on."
Gumbleton, 76, an internationally known pacifist, is expected to leave the parish he has led for 23 years early in 2007. He previously said church officials denied his request to continue living in a small office behind the church.
In the letter to the parish, he says the order to leave "as far as I know, comes from the Vatican."
"Even though I will be moving out, I will still be close by," Gumbleton writes.
Gumbleton's letter also stresses that the Archdiocese of Detroit is committed to keeping the parish open and that the St. Leo community, comprising 500 member families and countless others who volunteer in many charitable projects, will continue working for the poor. The parish is centered around the church on Grand River near West Warren.
"The love and caring that marks this parish is experienced immediately by anyone who joins us at a Sunday liturgy celebration, or who experiences the loving outreach that emanates from the multiple services we are able to give to all who come to us in need," Gumbleton writes.
Contact JACK KRESNAK at 313-223-4544 or jkresnak@freepress.com.
Copyright © 2006 Detroit Free Press Inc.
Gumbleton removed from parish
Requests, no demonstrations, no ‘media circus’
By DENNIS CODAY
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, retired auxiliary bishop of Detroit, announced at Sunday Mass Dec. 17 that he was being asked to leave St. Leo’s Parish in Detroit, where he has been stationed since 1983.
Gumbleton told NCR that he expects a new pastor to be appointed within a month. He also said he expects to continue his weekly column, The Peace Pulpit, on the NCR website.
He said that the move has been in the works for six to eight months as part of the archdiocese’s plan to restructure parishes in Detroit. St. Leo’s will be “clustered” with a nearby parish and the pastor of the other parish, which has not been named yet, will become pastor of St. Leo’s. Gumbleton left administrative positions with the archdiocese to take over as full time pastor of the inner city parish in 1994.
He told NCR in a telephone interview Dec. 19, “Once it became clear that our parish was going to be clustered then it was also quite clear that I would not be pastor of the cluster because I am already past retirement age.” Gumbleton will be 77 next month.
Gumbleton said that he had hoped to continue to live at St. Leo’s but the request had been denied. “I suppose it’s so that the new pastor has a chance to take over and be seen as the pastor,” he said.
“If I’m hanging around too much, it could make it more difficult for him, and I don’t want that. My main concern is that the parish keeps going, so I don’t want to do something that would be divisive,” he said.
He said he was to take up residence “at a couple nearby places.” He said, “I will not be pastor here, but I will still be functioning as a bishop. I will be doing confirmations and I will still be celebrating Mass publicly, but it will be at various places not one place.”
Gumbleton is a native of Detroit and was ordained a priest of the archdiocese in 1956. He was ordained auxiliary bishop in 1968. He has long been critical of the archdiocese’s parish restructuring plans. He has said closing schools and parishes amounts to abandoning the city.
“This whole process where you cluster parishes and so on, I think is hurtful to the development of the church within the city. But it is happening in the suburbs too,” Gumbleton told NCR.
“I don’t think the church becomes most alive when parishes become mega-churches. I think smaller communities are much more vibrant and much more expressive of a community of disciples than big churches. [Big churches] become big service stations.”
He said if there are not enough priests to serve as pastors, “You train other people to take over as pastoral administrators, which is provided for in canon law. Lay people and religious.
“It’s being done in other places. You have to get a sacramental minister, but the pastoral administer is the leader of the community and it can work very effectively. I’ve seen it work,” he said.
He declined to name thee new pastor because the man is a religious order priest and must have permission from his superiors before accepting the appointment.
Gumbleton did say that the parish St. Leo’s would be clustered with was compatible with the current parish community. “It is a parish that has a similar outlook and a similar way of acting that we do. It is one that could be compatible. I feel confident that these two parishes could work together and one pastor could make both go OK,” he said.
He also said that it is not one of three parishes that St. Leo’s pastoral council had recommended earlier this month as possible partners in a cluster.
Gumbleton also said he was anxious that his last days at St. Leo’s not be turned into “a media circus.”
“I would just as soon not have Sunday liturgy become something that is about me. I want to keep the parish going as a parish as we have for 20 some years,” he said.
“I don’t see any point in people coming to demonstrate or anything of the sort. It’s not like it’s my funeral Mass or something like that. I just want everything to continue to be as much for the parish as possible and not be flooded with outsiders.
“Christmas celebrations and Sunday liturgies should continue to be parish liturgies and not liturgies that are all about me. We have a very vibrant parish community and I want it to be that way.”
In January 2005, when Gumbleton turned 75, he did not submit a mandatory letter of resignation to the Vatican. Instead, he began a yearlong correspondence with the Congregation of Bishops seeking permission to continue to serve as long as he was healthy. The congregation denied this request and Gumbleton submitted a letter of resignation in January 2006.
Last year when he told his parish that he had submitted the letter, he had said the resignation “affects the canonical office of bishop only.”
He said his ministry at St. Leo would continue to be a priority, and he pledged to “continue to exercise my ordained ministry as a bishop as long as I am physically capable of doing so. This means that I will continue to teach, preach, celebrate sacraments and carry on my work for justice and peace wherever I am called to do so.”
Source URL:
http://ncrcafe.org/node/775
"Removed"
From the Blogsite Whispers in the Loggia
Posted Monday, December 18, 2006
By Rocco Palmo
Earlier in the day, a query came from Rome seeking confirmation that something was afoot involving the retired Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton amid reports of his "removal" as pastor of St Leo's in the Motor City, where he's served since 1983.
The bishop, a columnist for the National Catholic Reporter and hero to the church's liberal wing (and, ergo, conservative bete noire #1), retired from active episcopal ministry last February, when his resignation for reasons due to age was accepted by Pope Benedict shortly after Gumbleton's 76th birthday.
Quickly on the heels of the tip, the following was passed along, written by a St Leo's parishioner:
This morning [Sunday, 16 December] at Mass at St. Leo's Bishop Gumbleton shared with us the news that he is being "removed" from St. Leo's. It will appear in the Peace Pulpit Homilies from NCR later this week. That means these homilies will cease also.
Several of us talked with him after Mass and learned that the order came from "Rome" and was a result of the Bishop speaking out on the "priest abuse" situation. Of course "Rome" doesn't like his call for acceptance of gay and lesbian persons or his position on women priests and deacons, or his suggestions that the Church should speak out against War and Torture etc. etc.
He will be gone soon and our parish is already in mourning. It is a loss for the whole Church in my opinion but the thought of not seeing his smiling face on Sunday mornings is almost unbearable for some of us.
Please keep us all in prayer.
Official Statements in Reaction to
US Bishops' Recent Document
Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination
National Association of Catholic Diocesan
Lesbian and Gay Ministries (NACDLGM)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 17, 2006
The Board of Directors and Staff of the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries (NACDLGM) are saddened by the approval of the USCCB document “Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination.” While the statement acknowledges the need for ministry with homosexual persons, the guidelines were developed without consultation with bishops and pastoral leaders of existing local diocesan outreach ministries, and without consultation with lesbian and gay Catholics. They also ignored the insights of science on sexuality and the valuable contribution of
the 1997 pastoral letter, “Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers.”
We are especially disappointed that the guidelines, while recommending that “Church ministers listen to the experiences, needs, and hopes of the persons with a homosexual inclination to whom and with whom they minister,” do not in fact reflect the real lives of gay and lesbian people, especially Catholics. The guidelines characterize homosexual persons as focused on sexual inclinations, tendencies, acts and behavior without reference to the integrity of the fuller lives of faith, love, commitment, service and spirituality of Catholic gay and lesbian persons.
For more than 25 years, diocesan ministries have welcomed in the Church gay and lesbian Catholics who understand and affirm their sexual orientation as intrinsic to their identity. It is profoundly sad that many of them and their families will be unnecessarily alienated by the tone of this document.
In calling them to public silence about their identity the Church would render gay and lesbian Catholics less than welcome as equals by baptism and would encourage deception and shame.
In accordance with the Mission Statement of NACDLGM, we urge individual bishops and the Bishops’ Conference to “reflect on Sacred Scripture, reflect on Church teaching and pastoral practice, study the social and physical sciences, listen to and ponder the lived experience of lesbian and gay persons and their families,” and to develop a truly pastoral and prophetic document on the place of lesbian and gay Catholics in their Church.
NACDLGM Contact:
Rev. Jim Schexnayder
NACDLGM Resource Director
510-708-5762
DignityUSA Issues Guidelines for Pastoral Carefor Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Catholics in Response to Proposed Document from U.S. Bishops
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2006
Washington, DC – DignityUSA finds the proposed document from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), "Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care,” to be deeply flawed. Therefore, DignityUSA has joined with some other members of Catholic Organizations for Renewal (COR) to ask the bishops not to approve any such guidelines without further consultation with the faithful – especially those LGBT Catholics who are most affected.
DignityUSA’s involvement in the pastoral care of LGBT people dates back to its founding in 1969. In 1987, DignityUSA issued its first comprehensive letter on pastoral care and is today releasing the following updated draft of this letter. (See immediately following this press release.)
Sam Sinnett, president of DignityUSA, further announced the beginning of a process to solicit feedback and comments on this draft. We encourage anyone interested in these guidelines to review and provide comments to info@DignityUSA.org (with Pastoral Care as subject) or in writing to our national office at 1500 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 8, Washington, DC, 20005, before May 15, 2007. A final version will be released at the DignityUSA biennial Convention in Austin, TX, July 5 – 8, 2007.
Vatican II and the Code of Canon Law encourage Catholic faithful to make known to their pastors items of urgent concern in which they have special competence. It is in this spirit that these guidelines are updated and this open process of comments is being begun.
DignityUSA is the nation's foremost organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics, their families, friends and supporters. Founded in 1969, it is an independent nonprofit organization with members and chapters across the country. DignityUSA works for full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in the life of the Church and Society. www.dignityusa.org
For more information
Sam Sinnett, President
314 477-5798 (cell)
DignityUSA Letter on Pastoral Care of LGBT People 2006
Draft 1, November 12, 2006
“By the grace of God I am what I am, and God's grace to me has not been without effect.” (I Corinthians 15:10)
“We believe that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics in our diversity are members of Christ's mystical body, numbered among the People of God. We have an inherent dignity because God created us, Christ died for us, and the Holy Spirit sanctified us in Baptism, making us temples of the Spirit, and channels through which God's love becomes visible. Because of this, it is our right, our privilege, and our duty to live the sacramental life of the Church, so that we might become more powerful instruments of God's love working among all people.” Opening of DignityUSA Statement of Position and Purpose
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Catholics and their families, like all Catholics, need and deserve pastoral care from ministers and members of the church that is respectful, affirming, challenging and directed towards helping them mature and deepen their commitment to the Gospel. DignityUSA draws on thirty-seven years of providing this care for LGBT people, and on the lived experience of thousands of faithful LGBT Catholics, to put forth the following declaration of what this care should encompass.
- Pastoral care for LGBT Catholics must truly embody and reflect the truth that we are equal in worth and dignity to other people. As children of God, we are created in God’s divine image and likeness, as are all people. We should, therefore, be treated with respect, and be constantly challenged to respect others, especially those unlike us or unfamiliar to us. As individuals and as a community, we deserve the same legal protection of basic human rights enjoyed by other members of the church and of civil society. These include the rights to safe housing, equal opportunity in employment, and freedom from physical and verbal violence. These rights should not merely be affirmed, but actively supported by leaders and ministers of the church in the arena of public discourse and civil legislation.
- LGBT Catholics must be welcomed as full and equal participants in the life of the church. All sacraments and roles of ministry, leadership and service should be open to LGBT Catholics, as they are to other members of the church. Church employees and volunteers must be free of any harassment or discrimination due to their gender identity or sexual orientation, regardless of whether that orientation has been publicly disclosed or acknowledged.
- Ministry to LGBT Catholics and our families must be sensitive to the history of alienation caused by decades of negative statements and actions directed against our community by church officials and ministers. Awareness of the pain and fear of religious institutions carried by many LGBT Catholics and family members, and a willingness to work to regain trust, are essential qualities for all involved in these ministries. LGBT people will need space and time to tell our stories, and to be heard with a sincere openness and willingness to learn about our lives, our relationships, and the relationship between our lives and our faith.
- The lives and experiences of LGBT Catholics must be reflected in the liturgical, educational and social events of the church. For too long, the invisibility of LGBT people in church and society has enabled our continued oppression. Maintaining the veil of secrecy leads to isolation, confusion and a sense of shame. It invites those who do not understand us or are hostile to us to dehumanize and pathologize LGBT people, and to view us as threatening and alien. Our lives and experiences must be counted as normal dimensions of God’s creation. We must be made visible – for our own sakes, and that of the rest of the human family. Rituals that help to sanctify aspects of LGBT people’s lives are needed to help ensure that the church is truly welcoming.
- A revised theology of sexuality must acknowledge that many intimate relationships express unitive love, even in the absence of possible procreation. This must be affirmed as an expression of divine love. The church has long acknowledged that one of the primary functions of the sexual relationship within marriage is the unitive function, which facilitates the development of a bond of love and intimacy between partners. Furthermore, the church sanctions marriage between men and women who have no possibility of procreating, whether by reason of age or infertility.Sexually intimate relationships between same-gender couples must be affirmed as having the same potential for holiness as those between opposite-gender married couples. Guidelines for ethical expression of sexuality are welcome, to the extent that they promote respect, freedom from exploitation, honesty and mature love between partners.
- Same-gender partners must have the opportunity to formalize our commitments sacramentally, as well as through civil marriage. Equality in the eyes of God and under the law must be affirmed. LGBT people must have the same access as our heterosexual sisters and brothers to the sacrament of marriage and to legal protections that support and provide public affirmation of our commitments. Church leaders should be in the forefront of advocating for equal recognition of commitments between same-gender partners.
- Pastoral care for the families of LGBT people—both the families from which we originate, and the families we create—should emphasize respect, ongoing inclusion, love and affirmation, while providing support for the particular struggles that LGBT people and their families undergo. Many parents, grandparents, siblings and extended families find their love for LGBT Catholic family members in conflict with social and religious messages. They struggle to maintain positive relationships with family members who “come out” by disclosing their sexual orientation. The experience of “coming out,” which can be a painful as well as a graced one for all involved, requires compassionate support. Church officials and ministers must urge family members to maintain relationships, offer unconditional respect for one another, and communicate honestly with one another.
- Church leaders must affirm and support LGBT individuals and couples who parent children, as well as the children of these families. The number of families with children headed by LGBT people is considerable and growing. The formation of these families, which include both biological and adopted children, is motivated by the fundamental human desire to love and nurture the young. Church leaders should provide equal and free access to all relevant sacraments, work to ensure equal legal protections for all families, and lead efforts to end verbal and physical violence experienced by members of these families.
- The church must work to ensure that all youth, including those who are “coming out” or questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation, are safe from verbal or physical harassment and violence at school and in other social settings. The opportunity to mature with a positive sense of identity is vital for all young people. They need a variety of positive role models, strong boundaries, and encouragement to act in ways that demonstrate respect for themselves and others, even as they take risks that help them understand their capabilities and limitations.
- LGBT Catholics, like all others, should be challenged to live out the Gospel values of service, compassion and community. LGBT Catholics must be involved in serving people living in poverty, suffering illness or living at the margins of society. We must be part of the faith-sharing that builds spiritual community. We must be reminded that loving neighbor as self is part of the Great Commandment. We must extend to all others the respect and dignity we have worked so hard to gain for ourselves.
Press Release by the Undersigned Members of Catholic Organizations for Renewal
November 12, 2006
An expected set of “pastoral guidelines” scheduled for review by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at its annual Fall meeting in Baltimore begins with an erroneous understanding of what it means to be homosexual, Catholic reform leaders say in a letter to U.S. Catholic bishops.
The bishops’ premise that homosexuality is a choice rather than a deeply ingrained emotional and psychological attraction for members of the same sex that is a part of one’s basic humanity has caused much harm, Catholic church reform leaders agree.
“The bishops latest guidelines, entitled ‘Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care’ begins with the premise that homosexuality is an inclination towards same-gender, genital activity and it denies the well-known existence of homosexual orientation as a normal variation of human sexuality,” members of Catholic Organizations for Renewal, a forum of 23 North American church reform groups said in a letter to the USCCB committees that drafted the proposed pastoral guidelines.
Because of the committee’s mistaken premise and their failure to consult widely with affected and knowledgeable lay members of the church, the group says the guidelines are “deeply flawed.”
Further the proposed guidelines are not at all pastoral but rather harmful because they repeat the same “spiritually violent language” used over the past 20 years, describing homosexuality as “objectively disordered” and labeling same-gender relationships “inherently evil.”
“We bear witness to the physical and spiritual harm done to the Catholic community—ourselves, our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters–specifically because of this language.”
Noting that under church law (Canon Law 212, 3), Catholics are encouraged to make their concerns known to the bishops, especially in areas where they have special expertise, the groups urge the bishops to withdraw the proposed guidelines and begin anew with consultations with members of the church at large, including those most affected by the document—homosexual Catholics.
Catholic Organizations for Renewal is a forum of 23 church reform and renewal organizations in the United States and Canada, which meets twice annually. The letter to the bishops was drafted and approved by the following signatories at the group’s Nov. 1 -2, 2006 meeting in Milwaukee prior to Call to Action USA’s annual meeting, which drew more than 3,200 participants.
Call to Action USA, Chicago, IL - Nicole Sotelo, 857 928-4112 cell
Call to Action, Northern Virginia, Arlington, VA - Sharon Danner 703-680-0860
Catholics For a Free Choice, Washington, DC - Frances Kissling, President, 202-986-6093
Catholics Speak Out/Quixote Center, Brentwood, MD - Rea Howarth, CoDirector 301-699-0042 cso@quixote.org
CORPUS USA - Anthony Padovano 973-539-8732
DignityUSA, Washington, DC - Sam Sinnett, President, 314-477-5798 (cell), President@DignityUSA.org
Eighth Day Center for Justice, Chicago, IL, Kathleen DeSautels, 312-641-5151
Ecumenical Catholic Communion, California - Charlie Davis
FOSIL, Southern Illinois – Fred & Tari Harms, 618-985-2377
Save our Sacraments, Scituate, MA - Jan Leary, 508-655-1863
Southeastern Pennsylvania Women's Ordination Conference, Philadelphia, PA - Regina Bannan, President 215-350-9877 (cell)
Spiritus Christi Church, Rochester, NY - Mary Ramerman, Pastor, 585-325-1180
Voice Of The Faithful, New Jersey - Theresa Padovano 973-539-8732
Women’s Ordination Conference, Fairfax, VA - Aisha S. Taylor, Executive Director, 703 352-1006, ataylor@womensordination.org
Women–Church Convergence, Susan Farrell, 718-368-4511
Other Reactions to
US Bishops' Recent Document
Letters to the Editor
Star Tribune, November 17, 2006
Georgia Mueller, Catholic Mother of a Gay Man
BISHOPS' STATEMENT
Learn to accept
The Catholic bishops' latest regressive statement on homosexuality is a sad commentary. It betrays unprecedented levels of institutionalized self-rejection. It is no secret to Catholics or non-Catholics that significant numbers of Catholic priests, bishops and beyond are homosexual persons. Their persistent inability to fundamentally love themselves lies at the heart of their twisted policies regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) persons.
But we will not allow their problem to become our problem. We Catholic families of well-adjusted, functional, out-of-the-closet GLBT adult children and grandchildren reject out of hand the bishops' notion that any human person is automatically called to celibacy and silence by virtue of his or her sexual orientation.
We know from real-life experience that homosexuality is a normal variation of the God-given gift of human sexuality. It is a gift that our adult children are called to express lovingly and responsibly.
We hope that the church can eventually learn to love and accept itself on this issue, and be open to the wisdom and love we have gained as parents of GLBT persons.
GEORGIA MUELLER, INVER GROVE HEIGHTS
Wisconsin State Journal, October 16, 2006
Abbie Marie Hill, a junior at Madison East High School, said she's never felt different growing up as the child of lesbian parents. Researchers into same-sex parenting agree.
Abbie Marie Hill has three moms and that fact, to the Madison teenager, is at once crazy and completely unremarkable.
Hill was born to a lesbian couple who later separated. Today she has a third parent, a stepmother, in her life. The 17-year-old high school junior takes a viola to youth symphony sessions and carries straight As home from Madison East.
"It's crazy and confusing but it works," Hill said of her family, which makes sense to her but isn't what some strangers expect. "In some ways it doesn't even seem like that's different."
A new wave of research confirms earlier findings that the children of gay and lesbian parents are at least as healthy and well-adjusted as comparable children of straight parents and that the differences found between these two groups of children have been modest, researchers say. The studies, they say, undermine the argument that denying marriage and other rights to same-sex couples helps children.
Opponents of same-sex marriage counter that it's too early to be certain the research is valid and that the government has an obligation to give straight families preference over others.
Jenny Baierl, of Evansville, who supports a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriages and civil unions, said she does so in part out of concern for her two young boys.
Baierl, one of thousands of volunteers working to promote or oppose the proposal, has spoken at legislative hearings and squared off in a televised debate over the measure with openly gay Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison.
"I want to make sure my kids are raised in a society that values marriage," she said.
But for Mike Tate, head of anti-amendment group Fair Wisconsin, the proposed ban is a threat to children, because of the possibility it could go beyond the question of marriage and cost families health insurance or other benefits. "Why would we want to do something that hurts children and hurts families?"
What research says
Medical establishment groups that have come out in favor of gay marriage or against bans like Wisconsin's proposed constitutional amendment include the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association and, in July, the American Academy of Pediatrics. In Wisconsin, the national pediatrics academy's state chapter and the Wisconsin Medical Society also oppose the proposed ban because of its possible effects on patients.
That doesn't convince Bill Maier, vice president and psychologist in residence at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Maier said professional groups sometimes reflect decisions by committees, not all members. Existing studies are still hampered by questions about how strong and representative their samples of human subjects are, he said.
"The evidence confirms nothing about the quality of gay parents," he said. "It's still very early to be making any conclusive statements."
The children of gay men and lesbians are more likely to behave in ways that are outside the norm for their gender and may exhibit other differences as well, Maier said, citing in part a 2001 study that he called the "most comprehensive report" on the subject. But one of that study's co-authors, New York University sociology professor Judith Stacey, said anti-gay marriage groups have misrepresented her research in a "dishonest" way.
Stacey's article - a review of 21 studies going back some 20 years - examined in part whether having two parents of the same sex influenced the development of a child's sexual orientation and behavior related to his or her gender.
Five years later, Stacey said new research, including a study that used a random, nationwide sample, shows the situation has turned out to be more complicated than she had believed.
"I have been surprised that the differences so far seem to be smaller than I would have guessed," Stacey said.
Stacey, who has always supported gay marriage, is co-authoring an update to the first article that looks at some 80 studies of gay and lesbian parents, single mothers and fathers and their children from several countries.
In the first article, Stacey's study examined potential limitations in the studies' samples of human subjects and methods. Today, there are still holes in what we know, she said, noting that many studies of same-sex parents have focused on well-to-do whites and have neglected minorities and the poor.
But she said a new wave of research is "much solider now," addressing more of those issues as well as children such as Hill, who were born into families of same-sex parents rather than to opposite-sex parents who later split up and took same-sex partners.
"The kids are fine. There's no evidence whatsoever that children of gay and lesbian parents have noticeably different outcomes on mental health," Stacey said of the findings. "They turn out at least as well.
These children may turn out somewhat better, she added. "It's not because of the sexuality but because of selection factors. It's because these are wanted children," Stacey said, noting that same-sex couples have to deliberately set out to conceive or adopt children. "When you're looking at heterosexual parenting, you have a lot of accidental" pregnancies.
Stacey's findings square with research that has shown that the social groups of parents - rich and poor, white and black - matter much less than the quality of the parents and the love and discipline they show their children, said David Riley, a human ecology professor at UW-Madison.
But Riley also noted that this research on its own can't answer the question of how people should vote on the amendment. "Most people on both sides of the debate base their arguments on civil rights and religious teachings. Behavioral science can't tell you which of those is preferable."
A busy life
Abbie Marie Hill enjoys the youth group at her Unitarian congregation, plays in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra and muses thoughtfully about the high school where she earns high marks.
Some evenings, she goes to talks on mathematics at UW-Madison - just because she wants to - and she dreams of a career in engineering or some other math-heavy discipline.
She spends five days a week at the condominium of her biological mother, Abbie Hill, who conceived Abbie Marie through artificial insemination, and two days a week at the East Side home of Hill's former partner.
Abbie Marie said that, growing up in Madison, she's never felt like she's different. In spite of that, she said she sometimes has difficulty explaining her family to strangers.
"I have the lesbian parents, and the split household," she said, joking that some people might scratch their heads when they hear her give contradictory details about her "mom."
"They probably think my mom has multiple personalities."
Most of the time she feels like any other student. "Occasionally, I'll just think of things that people in a traditional family have and realize, 'Oh I really will never have that. Hmmm.' Usually it's just like a hmmm thing. It's not a bad thing or 'Oh I'm missing out on something,'" Abbie Marie said.
Abbie Marie's step-mother Mary Waitrovich said the teen-ager has thrived.
"Here Abbie is - she's near the top of her class," Waitrovich said. "She's a great kid. She's a shining example of how a child who's raised by lesbians can turn out great."
Abbie Hill said she cried once when she heard a speaker at an event argue that she and other lesbians were second-rate parents.
"As a mother for me to hear that it just broke me out. It made me feel like wait a minute," she said. "I've been such a good mother. It's probably the most important thing I've ever done."
Hill's former partner, Madison firefighter Karen Hoffman, called their daughter "a gift I never thought I'd have."
But Hoffman has never been able to adopt or gain legal recognition as a parent that would guarantee custody rights to her daughter or just the right to authorize hospital treatment.
"You don't have any rights at all," Hoffman said.
Father role cited
Focus on the Family's Maier acknowledged the love and effort many lesbian parents give their children but pointed to studies that he said showed children need a father.
"The two most loving lesbians in the world cannot provide a father to a little boy," Maier said. "It's not just two parents. It's having the contributions of a married mother and father."
Jenny Baierl, the Evansville mother and pro-amendment activist, said she knows from experience the challenges of having two women as parents. Baierl was raised by her mother and grandmother after her father was killed by a drunken driver when she was 5.
Though the two women loved her, Baierl had no uncles or grandfather to fill the void her father had left, she said. That searing experience, the teachings of her Christian faith, and her marriage to her husband John, leave Baierl with a powerful certainty about the value of traditional marriage.
"I had no male role models," said Baierl, 33, who now lives in an all-male household with her husband and two young sons in Evansville. "I feel like I was really cheated."
Differences modest
Stacey said the situation of a child who tragically loses a parent isn't comparable to a child who has had two same-sex parents from birth. Plus, children often have access to relatives and other adult role models of both sexes, she said.
But Stacey said her studies and training in sociology suggest that having same-sex parents can lead to modest differences in the areas of a child's gender behavior and sexual orientation.
For instance, the boys of lesbian moms in one study scored just as high on masculinity scales as boys of opposite-sex parents but also higher on femininity scales, showing a willingness to talk about feelings as well as play sports, Stacey said.
As for sexual orientation, Stacey has predicted that the children of gay and lesbian parents are likely to be more comfortable identifying with that orientation themselves, but said that so far the research hasn't proven conclusive on that.
Abbie Marie Hill, for her part, isn't dating anyone and calls herself "straight but not narrow."
Her upbringing in liberal Madison with lesbian parents leaves her less worried about her sexual orientation or who she will love, she said.
"I don't feel this need for labels or I have to be one way or the other and I have to box myself in just to fit in," Abbie Marie said. "Whatever happens, it's cool. Why spend all this time, anguished time, like searching for, you know? Why not just be?"
Jason Stein can be reached at: jstein@madison.com
Copyright © 2006 Wisconsin State Journal
Facts About Kids with Gay and Lesbian Parents
(Source: COLAGE)
In the United States alone, there are millions of people with one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT) parent(s). While research shows that there are no significant developmental differences or negative affects on children of LGBT parents, these youth do report facing significantly more prejudice and discrimination because societal homophobia and transphobia. Youth report that schools are a key place where they face intolerance- from peers, teachers, school administration, and school systems that are affected by the homophobia in our society. According to a 2001 study, students who have LGBT parents experience harassment at the same rate as students who themselves are gay.
- As of 1990, 6 million to 14 million children in the United States were living with a gay or lesbian parent. (National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, a service of the U.S. Administration for Children and Families.)
- There is absolutely no evidence that children are psychologically or physically harmed in any way by having LGBT parents. There is, however, much evidence that shows that they are not.
- People with LGBT parents have the same incidence of homosexuality as the general population, about 10%. No research has ever shown that LGBT parents have any affect on the sexuality of their children. (Patterson, Charlotte J. 1992)
- Research claims that children with LGBT parents are exposed to more people of the opposite sex than many kids of straight parents. (Rofes, E.E., 1983, Herdt, 1989)
- Studies have shown that people with LGBT parents are more open-minded about a wide variety of things than people with straight parents. (Harris and Turner, 1985/86)
- Daughters of lesbians have higher self-esteem than daughters of straight women. Sons are more caring and less aggressive. (Hoeffer, 1981)
- On measures of psychosocial well-being, school functioning, and romantic relationships and behaviors, teens with same-sex parents are as well adjusted as their peers with opposite-sex parents. A more important predictor of teens' psychological and social adjustment is the quality of the relationships they have with their parents. (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, 2004)
- Most "problems" that kids of LGBT parents face actually stem from the challenges of dealing with divorce and the homophobia and transphobia in society rather then the sexual orientation or gender identity of their parents.
Related News Stories: Children of
Lesbian and Gay Parents
LA Times on Lesbian/Gay Parents: He Said/She Said?
November 3, 2006
From Beyond Homophobia
A weblog about sexual orientation, prejudice, science, and policy
by Gregory Herek, PhD
Professor,
Dept. of Psychology, University of Calif. at Davis
Technical Report: Coparent or Second-Parent
Adoption
by Same-Sex Parents
Ellen C. Perrin, MD and Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of
Child and Family Health, American Academy of Pediatrics
PEDIATRICS, Vol. 109 No. 2 February 2002, pp. 341-344
(Official American
Academy of Pediatrics' publication
supporting
adoptions by gay co-parents)
Sexual Orientation, Parents, &
Children
POLICY STATEMENT
American Psychological Association
Adopted by the APA Council of Representatives July 28 & 30, 2004.
Canadian legislators vote for gay marriage
Bill expected to be law by end of July
By Beth Duff-Brown
Associated Press, June 29, 2005
TORONTO -- Canada's House of Commons voted
Tuesday to legalize gay marriage, passing landmark legislation
that would grant all same-sex couples in Canada the same
legal rights as those in traditional unions.The bill passed as expected, despite opposition
from Conservatives and religious leaders. The legislation
drafted by Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority Liberal
Party government also is expected to pass the Senate easily
and become federal law by the end of July.The Netherlands and Belgium are the only other
nations that allow gay marriage nationwide.Some of the Liberal lawmakers voted against
the bill, and Martin's Cabinet minister for economic development
in Ontario, Joe Comuzzi, resigned Tuesday over the legislation.
But enough allies rallied to support the bill, which has
been debated for months.Martin said he regretted losing Comuzzi but
praised Tuesday's vote as a necessary step for human rights."We are a nation of minorities,"
Martin said. "And in a nation of minorities, it is
important that you don't cherry-pick rights."There are an estimated 34,000 gay and lesbian
couples in Canada, according to government statistics. Gay
marriage has been legal in seven provinces."This is a victory for Canadian values,"
said Alex Munter, national coordinator of Canadians for
Equal Marriage, a group that has led the debate for the
legislation.Martin, a Roman Catholic, has said that despite
anyone's personal beliefs, all Canadians should be granted
the same rights to marriage.Churches have expressed concern that their
clergy would be compelled by law to perform same-sex ceremonies,
with couples taking them to court or human-rights tribunals
if refused. The legislation, however, states that the bill
covers only civil unions, not religious ones, and no clergy
would be forced to perform same-sex ceremonies.The Roman Catholic Church, the predominant
Christian denomination in Canada, has opposed the legislation
vigorously, saying it would harm children in particular.
Top
Psychiatric Group Urges
Making Gay Marriage Legal
Associated Press
Monday, May 23, 2005
ATLANTA, May 22 -- Representatives of the
nation's top psychiatric group approved a statement Sunday
urging legal recognition of same-sex marriage.If approved by the association's directors
in July, the measure would make the American Psychiatric
Association the first major medical group to take such a
stance.
The statement supports same-sex marriage "in
the interest of maintaining and promoting mental health."It follows a similar measure by the American
Psychological Association last year, little more than
three decades after that group removed homosexuality from
its list of mental disorders.The psychiatric association's statement was
approved by voice vote on the first day of its weeklong
annual meeting in Atlanta. It cites the "positive influence
of a stable, adult partnership on the health of all family
members."The resolution recognizes "that gay men
and lesbians are full human beings who should be afforded
the same human and civil rights," said Margery Sved,
a Raleigh, N.C., psychiatrist and member of the assembly's
committee on gay and lesbian issues.The document states that the association is
addressing same-sex civil marriage, not religious marriages.
It takes no position on any religion's views on marriage.
Massachusetts is the only state that allows same-sex marriage. Eighteen states have passed constitutional amendments outlawing same-sex marriage.
Brain
Responses Differ
in Gay, Straight Men
Study:
Homosexuals React
to Male Sex Hormones Like Women
The Associated Press
Updated: 5:19 p.m. ET May 9, 2005
WASHINGTON - The brains of homosexual men
respond more like those of women when reacting to a chemical
derived from the male sex hormone, new evidence of physical
differences related to sexual orientation.The finding, published in Tuesday’s issue
of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
shows differences in physiological reaction to sex hormones.Researchers led by Ivanka Savic at the Karolinska
Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, exposed heterosexual men
and women and homosexual men to chemicals derived from male
and female sex hormones. These chemicals are thought to
be pheromones, molecules known to trigger responses such
as defense and sex in many animals.Whether humans respond to pheromones has been
the subject of debate, although in 2000 American researchers
reported finding a gene that they believe directs the human
pheromone receptor in the nose.
Biological basis to sexual orientation?
In the Swedish study, when sniffing a chemical from testosterone,
the male hormone, portions of the brains involved in sexual
activity were activated in gay men and straight women, but
not in straight men, the researchers found.When they sniffed smells like cedar or lavender,
all of the subjects brains reacted only in the olfactory
regions that handles smells.The result clearly shows a biological involvement
in sexual orientation, said Sandra Witelson, an expert on
brain anatomy and sexual orientation at the Michael G. DeGroote
School of Medicine at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.
The research was funded by the Swedish Medical
Research Council, the Karolinska Institute, and the Megnus
Bergvall Foundation.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved.
Press Release
American Psychological AssociationDate: July 28, 2004
Contact: Pam Willenz
Public Affairs Office
(202) 336-5700APA SUPPORTS LEGALIZATION OF SAME-SEX CIVIL MARRIAGES
AND OPPOSES DISCRIMINATION AGAINST LESBIAN AND GAY PARENTSDenying Same-Sex Couples Legal Access to Civil Marriage
is Discriminatory and Can Adversely Affect
the Psychological, Physical, Social and Economic
Well-Being of Gay and Lesbian Individuals
HONOLULU – Prohibiting civil marriage
for same-sex couples is discriminatory and unfairly denies
such couples, their children and other members of their
families the legal, financial and social advantages of civil
marriage says the American Psychological Association’s
(APA) Council of Representatives in a resolution adopted
today. The APA also opposed discrimination against lesbian
or gay parents adoption, child custody and visitation, foster
care and reproductive health services.Both policy positions were adopted at the
recommendation of an APA Working Group on Same-Sex Families
and Relationships. The Working Group, appointed by the APA
Council of Representatives in February 2004, was charged
with developing policy recommendations for APA that would
guide psychologists in the current public debate over civil
marriage for same-sex couples. The Working Group was directed
further to base its policy recommendations on the research
on same-sex relationships and families.This seven-member team of psychologists with
a combination of both scientific expertise in family and
couple relations and professional expertise with lesbian,
gay, and bisexual populations summarized the research that
discrimination and prejudice based on sexual orientation
detrimentally affects the psychological, physical, social
and economic well-being of lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals,
that same-sex couples are remarkably similar to heterosexual
couples, and that parenting effectiveness and the adjustment,
development and psychological well-being of children is
unrelated to parental sexual orientation."The APA recognizes the importance of
the institution of civil marriage which confers a social
status with important legal benefits, rights and privileges,"
said psychologist Armand R. Cerbone, who is a private practitioner
in Chicago and chair of the working group. "Discrimination
of all kinds takes a toll on people's health and psychological
well being. In the context of the huge social and political
debate that is currently going on, APA and psychologists
had to grapple with the issue of what psychology believes
is in the public interest in this controversy.”Given what research tells us about the impact
of discrimination and given that the research further provides
no justification for discriminating against same-sex couples
in marriage or in parenting, the Working Group strongly
recommended that APA support states in providing civil marriage
to same-sex couples and fully recognizing the parental rights
of lesbians and gay men. As a benefit for human welfare,
it is important to point out that permitting same-sex couples
to marriage may especially benefit people who also experience
discrimination based on age, race, ethnicity, disability,
gender and gender identity, religion and socioeconomic status,
said Cerbone.According to the United States Accounting
Office (2004), over 1,000 federal statutory provisions exist
in which marital status is a factor in determining a person’s
eligibility to receive various benefits, rights and privileges.
APA Working Group on Same-Sex Families and Relationships:
Armand Cerbone, Ph.D., Chicago, Illinois; Beverly Greene,
Ph.D., St. John’s University; Kristin Hancock, Ph.D.,
Graduate School of Professional Psychology at John F. Kennedy
University; Lawrence A. Kurdek, Ph.D., Wright State University;
Candace A. McCullough, Ph.D., Bethesda, Maryland; Letitia
Anne Peplau, Ph.D., University of California, Los AngelesFull text of the resolutions is available
at http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/policy/marriage.pdf (Resolution on Sexual Orientation and Marriage) and
http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/policy/parentschildren.pdf (Resolution on Sexual Orientation, Parents, and Children).Reporters: Armand Cerbone, PhD can be by phone
at (773) 755-0833 or by Email, and Anne Peplau, PhD be reached
by phone at 818-990-2688 or by Email
The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world’s largest association of psychologists. APA’s membership includes more than 150,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 53 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare.
Canadian Psychological Association Endorses Canadians for Equal Marriage
On November 24th the 5,300-member Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously endorsed Canadians for Equal Marriage, a multi-partisan, nationwide, bilingual campaign to ensure passage of the federal legislation to provide same-sex couples with access to marriage across Canada. (Click on the following link for the full text of the CPA's press release.)This announcement was preceded on August 6, 2003, by a related CPA announcement in response to the recent Vatican document entitled Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons. In that document, the Vatican states the following: "As experience has shown, the absence of sexual complementarity in these (homosexual) unions creates obstacles in the normal development of children who would be placed in the care of such persons. They would be deprived of the experience of either fatherhood or motherhood. Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development." (Section III.7)
In commenting on the Vatican statement, CPA President, Dr. Patrick O'Neill, said: "Psychological research into lesbian and gay parenting indicates that there is no basis in the scientific literature for this perception. With the legalization of same-sex unions in Canada, the public and various interest groups are revisiting their views on this issue and CPA is concerned that publicly stated beliefs, which impact upon legislation and social policy, are not always based on scientific evidence. According to CPA, the psychosocial research into lesbian and gay parenting indicates that there are essentially no differences in the psychosocial development, gender identity, or sexual orientation between the children of gay or lesbian parents and the children of heterosexual parents." (Click on the following link for the full text of the CPA's 8/6/03 press release.)
American
Psychological Association Document: No Research Evidence
Lesbians and Gay Men
Are Unfit Parents
In light of the recent supportive statements from the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) about parenting within gay and lesbian unions, the CPCSM web site has checked with the American Psychological Association (APA) to see what statements they have issued on the topic. The APA has issued a Public Interest document entitled Lesbian and Gay Parenting, which contains an extensive summary of related research findings and a lengthy and detailed annotated bibliography on the topic.
The summary section of Lesbian and Gay Parenting is as follows.
In summary, there is no evidence to suggest that lesbians and gay men are unfit to be parents or that psychosocial development among children of gay men or lesbians is compromised in any respect relative to that among offspring of heterosexual parents. Not a single study has found children of gay or lesbian parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents. Indeed, the evidence to date suggests that home environments provided by gay and lesbian parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children's psychosocial growth.
(Click on the following link for the full document, Lesbian and Gay Parenting.)
"The APA section that provides this and other similar documents in the public interest (known as the APA's 'Public Interest Directorate') supports and promotes efforts to apply the science and profession of psychology to the advancement of human welfare. Public Interest issues are of central importance to the science and profession of psychology and critical to consumers of psychological services and the general public. The major objectives of the Public Interest Directorate are to promote those aspects of psychology that involve solutions to the fundamental problems of human justice and equitable and fair treatment of all segments of society; to encourage the utilization and dissemination of psychological knowledge to advance equal opportunity and to foster empowerment of those who do not share equitably in society's resources; to increase scientific understanding and training in regard to those aspects that pertain to, but are not limited to, culture, class, race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, and discrimination; and to support improving educational training opportunities for all persons." ( From About the Public Interest Directorate, on the APA's web site page: www.apa.org/pi/about.html.)
Recent Emails from SoulForce
(Coordinator's Note: The following email messages were recently received from Mel White, cofounder and executive director of SoulForce, a national interfaith movement committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against GLBT people. SoulForce employs the nonviolent principles of Gandhi and King in the liberation of sexual and gender minorities. The photo and text from the New York Times that immediately follow were not part of Mel's email but were later added to this page.)
Catholic
Bishops’ Marriage Document
Condemned by Soulforce as Confusing,
Harmful, and Spiritually Violent
Soulforce Press Release, November 12, 2003
Contact: Laura Montgomery Rutt
For Immediate Release Cell: 717-278-0592
(Washington, DC) - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) today approved a document condemning loving relationships between people of the same gender, and defining marriage as “between a man and a woman”. The document, entitled Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers about Marriage and Same-Sex Unions, is intended to be made into a pamphlet and circulated among Catholic parishes and parishioners.Soulforce, a national interfaith movement committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) people, denounced the document as confusing, harmful, and spiritually violent. Soulforce has been seeking to dialogue with the Bishops and vigiling outside of the USCCB meetings for the past 4 years.This document is being released at a time when the country is divided over the issue of civil marriage rights for same-gender couples and the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), which seeks to amend the US Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, thereby codifying discrimination against GLBT individuals, unmarried couples, and their families. Although the Catholic document does not mention the FMA, Soulforce believes it is meant to influence Catholics to support it.“The Catholic Church has always been free to decide which marriages it will or will not recognize,” said Kara Speltz, grandmother, lifelong Catholic, and Soulforce Catholic Denominational Team leader. “However, it is painful and morally wrong that the bishops of my church have set aside their role as shepherds to try to influence parishioners and the government to discriminate against me and my family.”The document states that Christians should “oppose as immoral both homosexual acts and unjust discrimination against homosexual persons,” then goes on to say that “the state has the obligation to promote family,” and that it would be “wrong to redefine marriage for the sake of providing benefits to those who cannot rightfully claim marriage.”Additionally, the Catholic document does not address the difference between the 1000+ rights granted though civil marriage vs. the religious ritual of marriage, nor does it site specific examples of how granting the rights of civil marriage to couples of the same gender will harm the institution of marriage. “This document is not only discriminatory, harmful, and confusing, it is a thinly veiled attempt to influence Catholics to support the proposed anti-family Federal Marriage Amendment by inserting their politics into a religious document,” declared Laura Montgomery Rutt, spokesperson for Soulforce.“Although the Catholic Church is free to discriminate against whoever they choose,” Montgomery Rutt continued, “the US government has a higher obligation to Americans to insure equal rights and protections to all individual, couples, and families – to do less is not only discriminatory, it is antifamily and un-American.” “How dare the Catholic Church attempt to install their ant-gay teachings into the US Constitution that would make 2nd class citizens of millions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals,” stated Rev. Mel White, cofounder and executive director of Soulforce. “When will the Catholic Church learn that this kind of spiritual violence leads to great pain, suffering and even death for GLBT people.”
Soulforce, Inc. is a national interfaith movement committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Soulforce teaches and employs the nonviolent principles of Gandhi and King to the liberation of sexual and gender minorities.
An Urgent Email Warning
from Mel White
November 6, 2003
As President Bush prepared to sign the abortion bill Wednesday,
his audience included, from left, with steepled fingers,
Adrian Rogers, former head of the Southern Baptist Convention;
Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition;
Jerry Falwell; Janet Parshall and Jay Sekulow, radio talk
show hosts; Cardinal Edward M. Egan; Attorney General John
Ashcroft; and Senator George Allen.
(Click
here for the complete New York Times' story.)
Doug
Mills/The New York Times
The front page photo in today's New
York Times tells it all. Watching President Bush sign the
bill banning the so-called 'partial birth' abortion procedure
are Adrian Rogers, a past president of the Southern Baptist
Convention, Lou Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values
Coalition, right wing televangelist, Jerry Falwell, Janet
Parshall, the extremist fundamentalist radio talk show host,
Jay Sekulow, with the American Center for Law and Justice,
Cardinal Edward Egan of the Archdiocese of New York and
Attorney General John Ashcroft.The article makes it clear: The fundamentalist
Christian strategy is one of "incrementalism, restricting
abortion rights step by step as a part of the larger battle
to turn public opinion against Roe v. Wade."These same fundamentalist Christian
leaders are using the exact same strategy to turn the public
against GLBT Americans and to deny us our civil rights.
The Federal Marriage Amendment, gaining strength daily,
is a blatant attempt to superimpose their fundamentalist
morality on the nation and permanently deny us the 1047
rights and protections that go with civil marriage.For ten years I've been warning that
the nation is the midst of a fundamentalist takeover and
that if we don't do something now, GLBT people will be the
first victims. Please, go to www.soulforce.org and sign the Petition opposing the Federal Marriage Amendment.
You'll find the reasons you should act and act now on that
page.Second, donate to help Soulforce continue
making our stand against the Fundamentalists. This year,
only 700 people have sent a contribution or made a monthly
pledge. Our adversaries are making and spending millions
to end our rights. If we don't confront their lies, who
will? And if you don't help us, we can't do it either. Please, sign the petition and donate
to Soulforce today. Time is running out. The photo on the
front page of the NYTimes makes that perfectly clear.
Mel White
Cofounder of Soulforce, Inc.
|
On This Page . . . |
Twin Cities Justice and Peace Groups Honor Bishop Gumbleton with
Lifetime Achievement Award
CPCSM'S Annual Community Meeting Features
Readings from New Publication and Awards
CPCSM Coordinating Group for Inaugural
Prayer Breakfast
for
Hope and Justice
Bishop Gumbleton Removed by Vatican
CPCSM's Year in Review
2005 - 2006
175
Protesters Rally on Steps of Cathedral
to Demand Archbishop Cease
Support of Marriage Amendment
2006 World Marriage Day Public Statement on Behalf of Catholics for Equality
Catholic
Couple Clashes with
Church
over Gay Rights
Cofounder Bill Kummer
Passes Away
on Jan. 29, 2006
Rainbow Sash Action on Pentecost 2005
One Cofounder's Reflections on CPCSM's First 25 Years
Commentaries
in the Media
by CPCSM Leaders