In a June 21 Star Tribune article Catholic Parents Online (CPO) president Colleen Perfect noted that safe staff training in a number of Catholic high schools was halted due to concerns from some parents.

This is true. Yet it also needs to be acknowledged that this groundbreaking program was initiated by other Catholic parents -- and by courageous staff members at a number of Catholic schools -- out of concern for the well-being of the increasing number of youth who either "come out" -- that is, openly state that they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT) -- or struggle with questions related to sexual identity and orientation.

In 1995, as a result of this concern, the Catholic secondary school presidents of Minneapolis and St. Paul turned to the archdiocese for guidance. Under the auspices of the archdiocese's Catholic Education and Formation Ministries, the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM) was invited to share its expertise in ministry with GLBT people and in training and consulting about their issues.

Founded in 1980, CPCSM is a grass-roots, nonprofit, independent coalition based in the Twin Cities. The group is composed of parents, teachers, Catholic school students and alumni, pastoral ministers and human services professionals, all of various sexual orientations. Our ministry has always been infused with a zeal for inclusive justice and a passion for embracing diversity -- especially as it relates to issues of sexual orientation and identity.

We believe that members of sexual minorities, by virtue of their struggle to maintain a sense of personal integrity and authenticity, have unique gifts to offer the church and society. We believe that one's sexuality can and must be affirmed as a gift and as an essential element to be integrated holistically into one's faith life.

In 1996 an archdiocesan study group identified comprehensive training for educators as the most pressing need for Catholic schools in relation to pastoral care and sexual identity issues. The bulk of this training, called the Safe School Initiative, occurred in the 1997-98 and 1998-99 school years with members of CPCSM planning and facilitating training at seven archdiocesan high schools.

Contrary to CPO's assertion that CPCSM instructed teachers in "how to promote the GLBT agenda," safe staff training supported faculty in understanding authentic Catholic teaching and how to promote it in the classroom in pastorally sensitive, nonjudgmental ways.

In 1999, however, as a result of CPO's lobbying of the archdiocese, CPCSM representatives were barred from participating in any future training. However, many of the schools originally involved in safe staff training have continued and expanded the initiative. The first wave of trainees are now the educators of their peers.

Catholic parishes and schools dedicated to being pastorally sensitive and proactive about the issue of sexual orientation are clearly troubling to some people. Yet the price to pay for not engaging in this issue is one that is unacceptable. The high suicide rate of GLBT teenagers and the high incidence of GLBT youth thrown out of their homes who turn to drugs and prostitution to survive tell us that this price involves lost lives.

As members of the people of a loving and inclusive God, CPCSM is committed to working to create safe spaces for our GLBT children. Such spaces will continue to be created throughout the church as there are simply too many stories being shared that put a recognizably human face on CPO's so-called "gay agenda" and too many Catholic parents attuned to the movement of God's sanctifying grace in every aspect of their children's lives.

Michael J. Bayly, Minneapolis, and Mary Beckfield, Chaska, are co-presidents of CPCSM.