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Let Us Cherish the
Beautiful Diversity of
God's Creation

Welcome to the
Catholic Pastoral Committee
on Sexual Minorities

Celebrating and Serving the GLBT Community since 1980

2930 13th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55407-1420
612-201-4534
cpcsmmail@gmail.com

Church's View of Sex the Root of Its Troubles

By Maureen Gaffney, PhD

[Editor’s Note: The following op-ed was first published in the December 2, 2009 issue of the Irish Times.]

After the first wave of revelations over a decade ago, the sexual abuse of children by the clergy was explained away by the Roman Catholic Church by the bad apple theory – that these isolated “sexual acts” were transgressions by a minority of weak priests. In the wake of the Dublin diocesan report, that explanation has been amplified to include institutional failures of decision-making in dealing with offenders and victims, and a culture of secrecy and cover-up.

But tidying up corporate governance and instituting a more transparent culture is not going to resolve the scandal of clerical sexual abuse. That will require the church to face up to a much more profound problem – the church’s own teaching on sexuality.

Consider the list of issues the church has failed to deal with credibly since the 1960s: premarital and extramarital sex; remarriage; contraception; divorce; homosexuality; the role of women in ministry and women’s ordination; and the celibacy of the clergy. All have to do with sexuality.

Very few Catholics are looking to the church for moral guidelines in relation to any of these questions anymore. And why would they? After all, the church’s teaching on sexuality continues to insist that all intentionally sought sexual pleasure outside marriage is gravely sinful, and that every act of sexual intercourse within marriage must remain open to the transmission of life. The last pope, and most probably the present, took the view that intercourse, even in marriage, is not only “incomplete”, but even ceases to be an act of love, if contraception is used. Such pronouncements are so much at variance with the lived experience of most people as to undermine terminally the church’s credibility in the area of intimate relationships.

The sexual revolution, particularly the development of effective contraception, and the growth of the women’s and gay rights movements, has left the church stranded with an archaic psychology of sexuality. The world has moved decisively away from a view of sex as simply procreation. What preoccupies men and women in the modern world is trying to understand the psychological roots of their own sexuality: how it is formed; how central it is to their identity and sense of self; and probably most essentially, how it can make or break their relationships. Even the clergy cannot put up a credible defence for the insistence on priestly celibacy in the face of the almost complete collapse in vocations and the mounting evidence that many priests have ignored teachings on this matter.

Richard Sipe is a former priest and a recognised authority on celibacy. On the basis of his research in the US and other countries, he estimates between 45 and 50 per cent of Catholic clergy are sexually active. A study in Spain found that of those clergy who were sexually active, 53 per cent were having sex with an adult woman; 21 per cent with adult men; 14 per cent with minor boys and 12 per cent with minor girls. His own research showed 20 per cent of priests were involved in a more or less stable sexual relationship with a woman, or with sequential women in identifiable patterns. Another 10 per cent were in exploratory “dating” relationships that might include sexual contact.

Sipe estimates the proportion of gay men in the priesthood as between 30 per cent and 50 per cent, significantly greater than the proportion in the general population. About 10 per cent of clergy in the US were involved in homosexual activity. A further 12 per cent identified themselves as homosexual or as having serious questions about their sexual orientation, although not all were sexually active. These men find themselves in a church which views a homosexual orientation as “an objective disorder”, “a more or less strong tendency towards evil”. How can gay men and women in religious life, or those troubled by their orientation, work out their sexual identity in such an environment, let alone minister to their gay and lesbian flock?

All of those issues are institutionally denied or shrouded in secrecy. Hardly surprising, then, that paedophilia can flourish in such an environment. It is important to stress here that homosexuality and paedophilia are two quite separate phenomena. A 2004 study for the American bishops found the percentage of clergy accused of child sexual abuse was consistently between 3 and 6 per cent, and the overall average is 5 per cent.

As the institutional structures of the church have weakened in the wake of successive scandals, it is likely that the proportions of priests who are actively engaged in sexuality of one kind or another may have increased.

Yet, the church has remained unmoved in the face of the mounting evidence of defection from its sexual teachings by both laity and clergy, although in the case of the offending clergy, they seem entirely capable of keeping their doctrinal orthodoxy psychologically separate from their actual behaviour.

It is predictable what will now happen. The church’s “learning curve” will crank up temporarily and its corporate governance on child sexual abuse may improve. And then, it will be business as usual. But no amount of improved decision-making and transparency will enable senior clergy to respond effectively to the church’s crisis of sexuality.

To do that, they must confront the root cause of the problem – that the Catholic Church is a powerful homo-social institution, where men are submissive to a hierarchical authority and where women are incidental and dispensable. It’s the purest form of a male hierarchy, reflected in the striking fact that we all collectively refer it to as “the Hierarchy.”

It has all the characteristics of the worst kind of such an institution: rigid in social structure; preoccupied by power; ruthless in suppressing internal dissent; in thrall to status, titles, and insignia, with an accompanying culture of narcissism and entitlement; and at a great psychological distance from human intimacy and suffering.

Most strikingly, it is a culture which is fearful and disdainful of women. As theologian William M Shea observes, “fear of women, and perhaps hatred of them, may well be just what we have to work out of the Catholic system”. Until that institutional misogyny is confronted, the church will be unable to confront the unresolved issue of its teaching on sexuality and the sexuality of the clergy. Instead, celibacy will continue to be used as a prop to the dysfunctional homo-social hierarchy. The hierarchy will continue to project its fear of women on to an obsessive effort to exert control over their wombs, their fertility and their unruly sexual desires. That is the psychology of exclusion.

It is to be hoped that the Catholic Church in Ireland will resolve this issue. Not just because many of us don’t want to lose the reassuring moral presence of the church, nor because we cannot easily do without the intelligent altruism of devoted religious, but because the great joy and hope of the Christian message was never more badly needed.


Maureen Gaffney is a clinical psychologist. She is chairwoman of the National Economic and Social Forum, which advises the Government on economic and social issues, and is a member of the board of the HSE.

Star Tribune Article Gives Background to CPCSM Program

(Editor's Note: The following article contains some misquotes, which represent historical errors about CPCSM's relationship with the local archdiocese. Corrections and clarifications, placed within brackets [ ], have been made by David McCaffrey, who was a personal witness to CPCSM's founding and the group's subsequent history. For additional discussion and clarification of this article's factual errors, please see Michael Bayly's comments in his Wild Reed blogsite.)

Gays reject Catholic church's attempt to 'cure' them

David Joles, Star Tribune Gay and lesbian Roman Catholics who contact the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for spiritual guidance can find themselves directed toward a 12-step program aimed at changing their behavior. Australian-born Michael Bayly, who is the executive coordinator of a gay-Catholic committee, has organized a protest forum. Bayly, who is a member of St. Stephens Catholic Community, believes the Catholic Church needs to be “more accepting of diversity”

Gay and lesbian Roman Catholics are protesting a therapy aimed at helping them become celibate. The programs are provoking national -- and even international -- protests from critics.

By JEFF STRICKLER, Star Tribune

Last update: November 17, 2009 - 12:08 AM

Gay and lesbian Roman Catholics who contact the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for spiritual guidance can find themselves directed toward programs aimed at helping them become celibate.

Called reparative therapy, the programs are provoking national -- and even international -- protests from critics who say they are ineffective at best and, in some cases, harmful.

[Clarification: Mr. Strickler has confused the Courage Apostolate with reparative therapy itself. The primary goal of Courage is to assist its same-sex orientated members to maintain lives that are abstinent from sexual relationships. Although the group maintains that it does not advocate reparative therapy for its members, its web site is linked to a number of "ex-gay" ministry groups that do provide reparative, or "conversion," therapy for their members. Also, if its members do request reparative therapy, Courage will not discourage them, and in many cases will refer the members to therapists who support their mission and who also practice reparative therapy. Finally, Courage's founder, Rev. John Harvey -- prior to his retiring when Rev. Paul Check became the group's executive director -- did invite the late Peter Rudegeair, to accompany him to speak at various conferences that Courage sponsored in the US and in other countries. Mr. Rudegeair, a psychotherapist and member of NARTH, was one of the foremost proponents and practitioners of reparative therapy.]

Many see the programs as an example of the Vatican's swing toward conservatism, and an insulting blow to a decade of bridge-building between the church and the gay community.

"[Retired Archbishop] Harry Flynn came to us -- we didn't go to them, they came to us -- in the late 1990s and asked us to serve as resource people for the church," said Michael Bayly, executive coordinator of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM). "Then a new pope comes in. Now the archdiocese won't even take our phone calls."

[Correction: Michael Bayly was clearly misquoted here. In the fall of 1995, Sister Mary Ellen Gevelinger, OP, then the Director of Personnel for the local archdiocesan schools office (known then as the Catholic Education and Formation Ministries), having heard of CPCSM's training work within parishes and schools of the archdiocese, invited CPCSM to consult with her as she responded to requests from a number of secondary Catholic school presidents who requested training for their teachers and staff to learn how to more adequately respond to the special needs and gifts of their LGBT students. Her request resulted -- with Archbishop Flynn's knowledge -- in CPCSM presenting two training workshops to Sister Mary Ellen's archdiocesan staff and to the faculty and staffs at 8 of the 11 Catholic high schools, where the group assisted the schools to create "safe" programs for their LGBT students.]

So they are speaking out on their own. They're hosting a forum Tuesday at St. Martin's Table Restaurant and Bookstore in Minneapolis that they say will shine a spotlight on what they term the "pseudo-scientific organizations" that endorse reparative therapy.

Under the auspices of its Office of Marriage and Family, the Catholic church's programs are modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous and its sister program for the families of addicts, Al-Anon. The programs, called Courage (AA) and Encourage (Al-Anon), are intended to help gays remain chaste.

The chaplain of the local Courage chapter, the Rev. James Livingston, was out of town Monday and unavailable to comment. In explaining the programs, the archdiocese's website contains links to material that some gays find objectionable. That includes a Q&A with the director of Courage's national office, the Rev. Paul Check, in which he says, "People are relieved to know the condition [of homosexuality] is both treatable and preventable."

"Homosexuality is not an illness," objected David McCaffrey, one of the people who founded CPCSM in 1980. "You shouldn't be treating it because there's nothing to treat."

Check also was not available to comment, but a person in his office became angry when she heard about the forum. Although not an official spokesperson, she said, "We don't tell anyone what to do. We just try to help them live according to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church."

A decade ago, [Correction: Another misquote: the request was made 14 years ago.] the CPCSM was asked to conduct sensitivity training sessions for the archdiocese. "That's how much things have changed recently," Bayly said.

He pointed to an article last November in the Catholic Spirit, the archdiocese's newspaper, endorsing the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). Describing itself as a nonprofit educational organization serving people with "unwanted homosexual attraction," it maintains that through therapy, homosexuals can "develop their heterosexual potential."

In 2006, the American Psychological Association (APA) issued a statement challenging reparative or "conversion" therapy: "The APA's concern about the positions espoused by NARTH and so-called conversion therapy is that they are not supported by the science," it said. "There is simply no sufficiently scientifically sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed."
NARTH does have its supporters, however. In 2003, Psychology Today magazine ran an editorial citing data "which suggests that sexual orientation conversion therapy is at least sometimes successful."

NARTH is not connected to the Catholic Church and is endorsed by some Protestant denominations, also. Minnesotans aren't the only ones objecting. There have been protest marches outside NARTH meetings in Dallas and London, and there's a NARTH protest page on Facebook.

A Courage drop-out

Tonight's forum features a panel that includes Bayly; Dr. Simon Rosser, a professor in the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health, and Philip Lowe Jr., a former member of the Twin Cities chapter of Courage.

They will present an APA report that recommends that therapists address the distress of Catholic homosexuals "but not aim to alter sexual orientation," which it says "has the potential to be harmful."

Lowe spent 15 months in the Courage program in hopes of finding a way to reconcile his religion and his sexuality."I went to weekly meetings, I went to confession, I did everything you were supposed to do," he said. Through it all, he battled with the feeling that he was supposed to distance himself from who he is. "It wasn't a positive experience."

He quit the group and the church a year ago. He has since found a new partner and a new church home, St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis.

"We've been embraced by that community," he said. "I wish that everyone could experience that."

So, why don't other homosexuals leave the church?

"We identify the church as the people in it, not the hierarchy that runs it," McCaffrey said. "Besides, we've been Roman Catholics all of our lives. It's part of our lives. It's who we are."

Bayly doesn't expect the forum to change the church's stance on homosexuality, but he does hope that it might open a line of communication.

"All we're trying to do is start a discussion," he said. "We're trying to do a little consciousness-raising about the needs and gifts of the gay and lesbian community."

Jeff Strickler • 612-673-7392

CPCSM's Upcoming Program To Challenge Archdiocese's
Treatment of LGBT Persons and Families As Unethical
And Inappropriate According to Recent APA Report

Almost 30 years ago Archbishop John Roach called for “competent and compassionate pastoral ministry” for LGBT persons and their families within the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis (Catholic Bulletin, 9/21/1991) – a ministry that was built and maintained through the dedicated and tireless efforts of CPCSM leaders in cooperation with parishes and schools of the archdiocese. Sadly, under subsequent archbishops we’ve witnessed such ministry efforts undermined and usurped by rigid doctrinal fundamentalism and pseudo-science discredited by all mainstream professional mental health and medical associations.

Over the past five or six years the archdiocese has adopted and advocated the Courage Apostolate of the Catholic Church (http://couragerc.net) as the only pastoral program that it recommends for Catholic gay men and lesbians (whom the Courage leadership prefers to label with the pseudo-scientific term of [men and women who have] " same-sex attractions"). (See Rev. Jim Livingston's letter of 2-2-09 to all priests and deacons of the local archdiocese.)

Further, the Courage Apostolate, which employs a 12 step-like program (similar to the program developed by Alcoholics Anonymous) to help their members “recover” from “same-sex attractions,” supports individuals who seek “reparative therapy.”  Courage also maintains links on its national website to pseudo-scientific organizations that endorse and/or offer reparative therapy.

In August of this year, the American Psychological Association, in its in-depth 130-page report, entitled Report of American Psychological Association's Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation, repudiated “reparative therapy” -- i.e., attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation through therapy and prayer.

Near the end of the Report (Appendix A, p. 119), the Task Force presents a long list of resolutions that flow from its in-depth search of the research literature relating to same-sex sexual orientation and professional and religious sexual orientation change efforts. The following resolutions from that list seem to relate directly to the collaborative efforts of the Courage Apostolate and the local archdiocese to offer supportive services to gay/lesbian/bisexual Catholics.

[Be it resolved, that the American Psychological Association:]

Affirms that same-sex sexual and romantic attractions, feelings, and behaviors are normal and positive variations of human sexuality regardless of sexual orientation identity;

Reaffirms its position that homosexuality per se is not a mental disorder and opposes portrayals of sexual minority youths and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientation;

Concludes that there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation;

Encourages mental health professionals to avoid misrepresenting the efficacy of sexual orientation change efforts by promoting or promising change in sexual orientation when providing assistance to individuals distressed by their own or others’ sexual orientation;

Concludes that the benefits reported by participants in sexual orientation change efforts can be gained through approaches that do not attempt to change sexual orientation;

Advises parents, guardians, young people, and their families to avoid sexual orientation change efforts that portray homosexuality as a mental illness or developmental disorder and to seek psychotherapy, social support and educational services that provide accurate information on sexual orientation and sexuality, increase family and school support, and reduce rejection of sexual minority youth;

Encourages practitioners to consider the ethical concerns outlined in the 1997 APA Resolution on Appropriate Therapeutic Response to Sexual Orientation (APA, 1998), in particular the following standards and principles: scientific bases for professional judgments, benefit and harm, justice, and respect for people’s rights and dignity;

Oopposes the distortion and selective use of scientific data about homosexuality by individuals and organizations seeking to influence public policy and public opinion and will take a leadership role in responding to such distortions;

Supports the dissemination of accurate scientific and professional information about sexual orientation in order to counteract bias that is based in lack of knowledge about sexual orientation; and

Encourages advocacy groups, elected officials, mental health professionals, policy makers, religious professionals and organizations, and other organizations to seek areas of collaboration that may promote the well-being of sexual minorities.

On November 17, come hear three speakers share their perspectives on this situation and offer steps that can be taken to hold the Courage Apostolate accountable – both locally and nationally –for its support of reparative therapy. (See following insert for more details.)

President Obama Pledges to Change Policy on Gays at
Human Rights Campaign's Annual Dinner,
Shares Story About Founding of PFLAG

_______________________________________

Recent APA Report on Appropriate Therapeutic Response
to Sexual Orientation In Opposition to Archdiocese’s
Treatment of LGBT Catholics and Their Families

The American Psychological Association’s recent report, released earlier this month, on “Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation” proves to be an indictment of the position that the St. Paul and Minneapolis Catholic Archdiocese’s takes on the nature of homosexuality and on the services that it provides and recommends for its lesbian/gay/bisexual (LGB) Catholics and their families.

LGB Catholics or their families seeking pastoral ministry services from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis--for example, by calling the Office of Marriage and Family Life, will receive only a referral to the Courage Apostolate (for LGBs) or to its program Encourage (for the family members and friends of LGBs). Both groups are collectively called "Faith In Action" in the local archdiocese, which states that its mission is to support men and women with "same-sex attractions" to live chaste and holy lives. The Courage website indicates a positive attitude toward conversion therapy and will support its members who seek out such therapy. Also, the website has multiple links to organizations within the "ex-gay" movement.

Among the many anti-gay or "ex-gay" links on the Courage website is a link to the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), an organization that recommends conversion therapy for gay men and lesbians and promulgates documents based on pseudo-science -- both of which have no credibility among any of the reputable professional mental health or medical associations, such as the Amercian Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Council on Child and Adolescent Health, and many others. (Please see the article in this issue of the Progressive Catholic Voice reporting on CPCSM’s recent educational program, “The Myth of Conversion Therapy and the Pseudo-Science of NARTH.”)

The underlying attitudes toward LGBT persons and their families, reflected by the Archdiocese through its staff in the Office of Marriage and Family Life and by its website, are not only sorely lacking, they are reprehensible. In fact, it should be said that Courage and Encourage provide neither competent nor compassionate pastoral ministry. To tell LGBT persons that they are "objectively disordered" and must maintain a lives of sexual abstinence simply because they find themselves attracted to members of their own gender is outrageous – especially when the vast majority of today’s behavioral and biological scientists believe that homosexuality is innate, not freely chosen, and not a psychological disorder that can or should be treated.

Furthermore, it is an outrage to LGBT persons and their families for Courage to compare the situation of gay men and lesbians with that of alcoholics who follow the 12 steps of AA. It is not appropriate to recommend that LGBT persons follow an adaptation of those same 12 steps in order to abstain from pursuing meaningful committed relationships. Forming such relationships is the only way that God has created them to find the love in another person that mirrors God’s unconditional love for them.

Therefore, the approach that the local archdiocese advocates, through its Faith In Action Program, is contrary to the life-experience of millions of LGBT persons and has no foundation in the current sciences and in present-day medical and mental health practice. But to recommend that LGBT persons abstain from all committed same-sex relationships, while giving tacit approval to conversion therapy when all reputable professional groups have condemned it as being ineffective and potentially dangerous, is also incompetent, insensitive, and lacking in compassion -- and is even unethical.

Further, John Gonsiorek, a national expert on competent psychological practice and ethics said at CPCSM’s recent program about conversion therapy and NARTH that for a church group to advocate for conversion therapy is tantamount to practicing psychology – and bad psychology at that -- without a license, which is a criminal offense in Minnesota.

Over its past 25+ years working in the local church, CPCSM has provided workshops and inservices to virtually all of the heads of archdiocesan offices during Archbishop Roach's administration, presented its parish-based gay-lesbian ministry training to more that 25 parishes, resulting in active LGBT ministries in at least 6 parishes and competent and compassionate pastoral staff at many other parishes.

In addition, for 10 years, from 1983 to 1993, Catholic Charities and CPCSM cosponsored a program in which Deacon couple Roger and Donna Urbanski, who have a gay son, faithfully provided one-to-one counseling and a monthly support group for Catholic family members and friends of LGBT persons.

From about 1993 to 1997, CPCSM was an active member of a Study Group on Sexuality and Spirituality, requested by a group of local Catholic high school presidents, which was comprised of representatives of most of the local Catholic high schools and the archdiocesan education staff and met monthly under the auspices of the Archdiocese's Catholic Education and Formation Ministries (CEFM) Program.

At about the same time CPCSM, by presenting its 4-session Safe Staff Training Program to the whole CEFM staff and to 8 of the 11 Catholic secondary schools in existence at that time, helped create for LGBT students in most of the participating schools, safe spaces and safe school staff patterned after the groundbreaking Safe Staff Programs (Out For Equity and Out For Good) in both the St. Paul and Minneapolis public high school districts. (CPCSM's safe staff training program is fully described in its recently published book (edited by Michael Bayly), Creating Safe Environments for LGBT Students: A Catholic Schools Perspective (Harrington Park Press).

For the incoming archbishop, with edicts more characteristic of a dictator than a pastoral leader, to put a end to nearly 30 years of these excellent pastoral efforts, carried out by good, holy, well-intentioned Catholic professionals --with the blessing of the local ordinary--who were trained to carefully listen to and respond to the special, unique pastoral needs of each person seeking their care, cries to heaven for justice!

Senator John Marty Recipient of CPCSM's
2009 Bishop Gumbleton Peace and Justice Award

At its 29th Annual Community Meeting, on June 22nd, at St. Martin’s Table Bookstore and Restaurant in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities-based Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM) presented its 2009 Bishop Gumbleton Peace and Justice Award to Minnesota Senator John Marty. The inscription on Sen. Marty’s award reads as follows: Through your inspiring commitment to justice and your tireless advocacy on behalf of all citizens of Minnesota – including LGBT citizens – you have enriched lives, strengthened communities, and modeled selfless service and authentic leadership. We especially honor your faithful and courageous efforts to ensure civil marriage equality for LGBT Minnesotans. Accordingly, with deepest respect, friendship, and gratitude, the Board of Directors of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities present you with its Bishop Gumbleton Peace and Justice Award at its Annual Community Meeting, June 22, 2009.

Michael Bayly, CPCSM's executive coordinator, presented Sen. Marty with his award. CPCSM’s Fr. Henry F. LeMay Pastoral Ministry Award went this year to longtime CPCSM supporter and former Board member, Beverly Barrett, who unfortunately was not able to be present at last night’s meeting.

Michael Bayly (left), CPCSM Executive Coordinator, with Senator John Marty after having presented the senator with the 2009 Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton Peace and Justice Award at CPCSM’s Annual Community Meeting.

Click here for a copy of John Marty's 2009 Bishop Gumbleton Peace and Justice Award.

________________________________________________________

A Related Story

John Marty at CPCSM's 2009 Annual Community Meeting:
"We Can Make It Happen"

Senator John Marty speaks with LGBT Catholics and their allies about
his commitment and efforts to achieve marriage equality for all Minnesotans

On June 22, the Twin Cities-based Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM) hosted its 29th Annual Community Meeting at St. Martin’s Table Restaurant and Bookstore. CPCSM's executive coordinator, Michael Bayly, welcomed those in attendance and introduced our special guest speaker, Minnesota Senator John Marty – who was later awarded CPCSM’s 2009 Bishop Gumbleton Peace and Justice Award. John Marty, son of Lutheran religious scholar Martin Marty, is a member of the Minnesota Senate, representing Senate District 54. He is also a Minnesota DFL candidate in the upcoming 2010 gubernatorial election. Marty entered politics in 1984 and throughout his successful political life has been a tireless advocate on environmental issues, health care reform, government ethics, and campaign finance reform. As part of his position on the latter, he does not accept soft money contributions or contributions from lobbyists, and he sharply limits the amount of contributions he will accept from any one person. Not surprisingly, Sen. Marty also opposes the public funding of stadiums and professional sports teams. In the area of health care, he is a supporter of the use of medical marijuana, and the chief author of the Minnesota Health Plan, a proposed single, statewide plan that would cover all Minnesotans for all their medical needs.

Of particular interest to the LGBT Catholics and their allies is the fact that in 2008 Sen. Marty co-authored Senate File 3880 (renamed earlier this year Senate File 20), a bill that would provide for gender-neutral marriage laws in Minnesota and thus allow same-gender couples to marry.

At CPCSM’s June 22 Annual Community Meeting, Sen. Marty shared the history and current status of Senate File 20. He also talked about why as a person of faith he supports marriage equality for all. Sen. Marty began his talk by noting that when he was growing up in the 1960s, he viewed the Catholic Church as a leader of social justice issues. “It was very supportive of anti-war and anti-poverty initiatives and of civil rights for African Americans,” he said. “Unfortunately, somewhere along the line things changed, and it’s difficult to hear today of how Catholics cannot openly talk about sexual orientation or civil rights for LGBT people. It’s almost bizarre when you see what’s happening in the rest of society, where for the first time people are opening up on these issues. People’s attitudes are changing and it’s good to see that happening.”

Moving Forward

Recalling the time in 1983 when the first gay rights legislation was introduced by Rep. Karen Clark, Sen. Marty said that there were people who cheered when Clark observed that some opponents of equal rights for gays like to quote scripture to support their view that she as a lesbian shouldn’t have the right to live. “I found that to be really, really sick,” said Marty, who then provided a helpful overview of the subsequent gains that have been made in relation to gay rights in Minnesota.

He notes that in 2006 he began to notice a marked difference in attitudes around the issue of same-gender marriage – even within many faith communities. Then in 2008 he was approached by a gay partnered man and asked if he would introduce a marriage equality bill. Marty’s response was unequivocal: “I’d be glad to,” he told the man, “I’d be honored.”

Marty is adamant that as a civil society we should not ban people from doing something because some people’s religious beliefs say that it’s wrong. “That’s really offensive to me,” he said, “and so I was pleased to draft a bill for marriage equality.”

Although the passing of Prop 8 last November in California was viewed by many marriage equality advocates as a setback, Marty chose to view it as an opportunity to invigorate the movement. At a rally in Minneapolis shortly after the passage of Prop 8, he told the gathered crowd of his belief that “we’ve got to move forward, and we’ve got to move forward now.”


Words Matter

"Words matter,” Marty insists. “My wife and I have been married for over twenty years. We called our commitment ceremony a wedding; we called it a marriage. If you’ve had a commitment ceremony in a church or elsewhere and you think of it as a marriage, then call it that. Don’t worry about what other people say, you call it what you want and define the term. When people use the terminology that matters most to them, then other people’s attitudes are changed. “I’m actually not that concerned about whether or not we call all government-sanctioned unions ‘civil unions’,” he says, “but we’ve got to use the same terminology for everyone. If someone wants to change marriage [in the civil arena] to union, well, that’s not a fight I care to get involved in. What I object to is different terminology that implies that some types of marriages are less good than others, that says we can’t use the word ‘marriage’ for them. I find that offensive.”

Marty observed that for a long time a lot of people in the LGBT community were saying that they don’t dare use the word “marriage” because it will incite their opponents and because they felt they didn’t have public support. The term “civil unions,” these folks reasoned, might be palatable and thus garner public support.

“The trouble with that argument,” says Sen. Marty, “is that as we discovered over one hundred years ago ‘separate but equal’ doesn’t work. In fact, there’s no such thing as ‘separate but equal,’ and it took sixty years for the Supreme Court to realize how wrong that was and to undo it. There’s no ‘separate but equal’ in racially segregated schools, and there’s no ‘separate but equal’ in having both marriages and civil unions. If you’re going to call them equal, you have to give them the same name. I don’t care what you call them but they’ve got to called the same thing.”


Changing Attitudes

Sen. Marty noted that OutFront Minnesota, the state’s largest LGBT support and lobbying organization, is supportive of his bill and have implemented a 3-5 year strategy to reach out to people around the state and facilitate dialogue. Faith communities will especially be focused upon, a strategy that Marty stressed was key.

“People’s attitudes around this issue have and are changing significantly,” he said. So much so that he sees marriage equality being achieved in Minnesota within three years. “I don’t think that’s unrealistic,” he said. “It’s no longer the uphill battle it was.”

“People change,” he reminded those in attendance at Monday’s CPCSM gathering. “They wake up, and they grow and they learn. The more we take control of the language, and the more we’re not afraid to speak out, the more attitudes change. And they are changing. They’re not changing by the decade anymore, they’re not changing by the year anymore. They’re changing by the month. We’re seeing a really profound difference in attitude. And it’s largely a generational thing. One of my colleagues told me: ‘My parents would never join a church that would marry a same-sex couple; my kids would never join a church that wouldn’t.’ She’s absolutely right about her kids – and, actually, I doubt she’s right about her parents.”

“Church pronouncements don’t change people’s minds,” Marty insists, “it’s folks figuring out that the two people who sit in the pew in front of them at church every Sunday are not friends but partners. That’s what changes people’s minds. Because they know these two guys, they know that they are nice people, that they’re just like us. They’re taxpayers, they work hard, they take care of their home. And the more people come out, the more we have same-sex marriages happening in other states, left and right, the more minds are changed. So I’m convinced that it’s not too far away, and I think three years is a legitimate goal for us in Minnesota. And we can make it happen.”


A Loving and Christian Thing to Do

Toward the end of his talk at CPCSM’s Annual Community Meeting, Sen. Marty shared how his faith encourages him to advocate and support marriage equality. “The Bible I read says that we’re supposed to love each other; that God loves us and cares about us, and created us in His image,” he said. “Making lifelong commitments is something we’re supposed to be proud of. We’re supposed to make commitments to each other. That’s a loving and Christian thing to do.
Yes, I can read stuff in the ancient Hebrew law, in Leviticus, that I don’t think people should take as a standard for how to live their lives today, unless that is they want to do all that stoning of everybody that’s prescribed, but then most of them would be stoned as well. We know that that’s all ancient stuff, that in its own context and with the knowledge of that time it made sense. But it doesn’t make sense today.”

During the question-and-answer session that followed Sen. Marty’s talk, he stressed that, “as a politician, it’s not my role to figure out where the churches ought to be on this or that issue. Our bill explicitly says that this law does not mean that any church has to marry a same-sex couple. It also says that the government shouldn’t tell a church who they can and cannot marry.

“The best thing to do,” he suggested, “is not to vilify them but to say how we think they’re wrong. Let them go into their little clubhouses and do whatever they want, but just let everybody else have their marriages, have their lives, and have their rights.”

“I believe we ought to have marriage equality,” Sen. Marty reiterated, “and I’m working for that and I think attitudes are changing and a lot of people of faith are understanding it – largely because of groups like CPCSM that are initiating and encouraging dialogue from a faith perspective. And regardless of what some leaders of faith communities choose to say and do, the role of government is to treat people equally.”

Sen. John Marty converses with attendees at CPCSM’s Annual Community Meeting, including, at left, CPCSM president Mary Beckfeld.

Other attendees at CPCSM's Annual Community Meeting, at St. Martin's Table Bookstore and Restaurant, Minneapolis, on June 22, 2009.

Mark your calendar!

CPCSM Annual Community Meeting

Featuring Minnesota Senator John Marty

7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Monday, June 22, 2009

St. Martin's Table Restaurant and Bookstore

2001 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis

(See Map for Directions)

We are very excited to have Sen. Marty speak at this year’s annual CPCSM community meeting.  Sen. Marty is a tireless advocate for justice for all – including LGBT people.  He is a co-author of SF 3880, a bill that would provide for gender-neutral marriage laws in Minnesota.

Sen. Marty will share the history and current status of this bill, and talk about why as a person of faith he supports marriage equality for LGBT people.

CPCSM’s two annual awards – the Father Henry F. LeMay Pastoral Ministry Award and the Bishop Thomas Gumbleton Peace and Justice Award – will also be presented at the meeting.

  Light refreshments will be served and a free-will offering requested.

(Click here for poster for this event.)

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CPCSM Co-Founder Makes Complaint to Minnesota Twins
About Homophobic Comments in Recent TV Broadcast

Editor's Note: On June 3, 2009, CPCSM Co-Founder and current Board Vice-President, David McCaffrey, sent the following letter of complaint to the Minnesota Twins criticizing TV color commentatior and former baseball star, Bert Blyleven, for his homophobic remarks about LGBT persons, including those who are athletes. Copies of this letter were also sent to a primary sponsor of that broadcast and other LGBT education and advocacy groups. In addition to those groups listed under "CC:" at the bottom of the letter, copies were later also sent to PFLAG Twin Cities, Outsports.com, and GLAAD.

June 3, 2009

Minnesota Twins
Attention: Broadcast Department
34 Kirby Puckett Place
Minneapolis, MN 55415

Dear Broadcast Dept. Staff:

I am writing to register a complaint about some comments made by Bert Blyleven on the Sunday, May 31 TV (WFTC, Channel 29) broadcast of the Twins-Rays Game. I found some sophomoric comments of his to be insensitive and offensive to and disrespectful of myself and all other members of the Minnesota gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender (GLBT) community and their families and friends – many of whom are Twins fans. His comments were also misguided and unnecessarily macho and narrow-minded about what it means to be a man in today’s world.

Ironically, Mr. Blyleven’s offensive remarks were part of his response to a fan’s question about role models in baseball.  In the bottom of 2nd inning of Sunday’s game, Dick Bremer read aloud the fan question of the day (i.e., the “Car Soup Email the Booth” segment of the broadcast) directed to Bert and Mr. Bremer: “When you were kids who were your baseball role models?”

In response, Bert said that his role models were pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale of the LA Dodgers. Dick then said his was former Twin Bob Allison, whom he described as “strong, athletic, and good-looking.” Dick then asked Bert whether he agreed that Bob Allison was “good-looking.” And Bert replied (apparently attempting to playfully put down Mr. Bremer), “I don’t really look at guys that way and say, ‘Boy, he’s good-looking,’ but I guess you do.” As Dick struggled to clarify that he meant Allison was “handsome,” Bert interrupted and added, “He was just a nice man, but for you he was ‘good-looking’”

A few seconds after those mildly offensive words of Bert’s came a remark from him that was clearly insensitive, misinformed, and derogatory regarding gay men – and also misguided and narrow in what it implied about heterosexual men. Dick had just named the Rays’ current batter, “Gabe Gross,” and reported that the count on him was 2 balls and 1 strike. At that point, Bert quickly quipped, “And what you said was “gross” (clearly referring to Bremer’s description of Bob Allison as “good-looking” and once again putting Dick down for the comment but with a more pejorative word).

I am 62 years old and have been an avid Twins Fan since I was 14. My first visit to the old Metropolitan Stadium for the first Knot-Hole Gang Game when I was playing Little League baseball in St. Paul is still clearly in my memory. I have also spent most of my life playing, coaching, and umpiring amateur baseball and competitive softball – from Little League baseball to Men’s Senior Class B Softball.

My life in amateur baseball/softball includes the 17 years during which I played competitive softball in the gay men’s Twin Cities Goodtime Softball League (www.tcgsl.org), which today numbers 34 teams and over 500 players. Founded in 1977, the league plays every Sunday during the summer and early fall at the Northeast Athletic Fields in Northeast Minneapolis. A sister league for lesbian softball players, called Northern Lights Women’s Softball League (www.nlwsl.org) comprised of about 22 teams and 400 players holds its summer and fall games Sundays at Dunning Field in St. Paul. Both leagues are also members of the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (www.nagaaasoftball.org/), whose members number 680 teams from 34 cities throughout the United States and Canada. I am quite certain all of these players and their families and other fans would disagree with Mr. Blyleven’s offensive comments.

As I have already stated, I am a loyal Twins fan and baseball lover who also happens to be a gay man, of which I have been aware since the age of 6.  I have a life-partner of 11 years, who also loves baseball, having played varsity high school baseball in Memphis. He also happens to be gay – as well as an African-American, and a physician. It has been many years on my life’s journey since I  became convinced that God created me to be gay and loves me just as much as all His/Her other children.

This conviction was so strong that in 1980 I cofounded the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM). CPCSM is an independent and progressive grass-roots non-profit organization of Catholic GLBT persons, their parents, and church and educational professionals, which has been working in Twin-Cities-Area among Catholic parish communities and high schools over the past 29 years. Throughout its history, CPCSM has provided educational and consciousness-raising sessions about the special needs and gifts of GLBT lesbian persons. Today, I am still the Vice President of CPCSM’s Board of Directors.

Current and former professional baseball stars – such as Mr. Blyleven -- are role models for many of today’s youth. Just as Mr. Blyleven would not be allowed to use the “N” word or to make other racist, sexist, or ageist comments while working as a spokesperson for the Minnesota Twins, he should also be admonished not to make homophobic remarks that can have serious implications for the approximately 5-10 % of the TV viewers who are GLBT – such as loneliness, isolation, depression, and self-hatred -- and for their families and friends. (This assertion is supported by research results reported by many educational, mental health, and medical professionals and by their professional associations, including University of Minnesota pediatrician Dr. Gary Remafedi, who reports that gay teens are almost seven times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual teens. In his conclusions about his study, Dr. Remafedi – as well as a researchers in a number of other studies – state that gay teens engage in suicide attempts and other at-risk behaviors not because they are gay but because of society’s negative reactions to them.  [American Journal of Public Health, 1998, pp. 57-60].)

Such biased comments made by one of today’s role models about GLBT people also can have a negative effect on young heterosexual viewers by encouraging their oppressive treatment of their GLBT peers, such as discrimination, verbal and physical harassment, and sometimes even more severe violence. Young people should not be taught to misunderstand, fear, and hate other children and teens who are different than they are, but should be encouraged to accept and support them. It seems that Mr. Blyleven, and perhaps also Twins officials who tolerate such narrow-minded and homophobic speech, need some educating and consciousness-raising about their GLBT fans and viewers.

I realize that professional sports is one of the last bastions of homophobia in today’s society, but a community-oriented organization such as the Minnesota Twins could set an invaluable example by educating its spokespersons and other leaders so that all members of the Minnesota community can feel welcome and respected by the Twins. I don’t believe that when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball that historic moment should be viewed only as a milestone in fighting racism in baseball. It should also be seen as the first step in heralding the beginning of human liberation in baseball, so that everyone – including all minority groups -- can feel welcome to participate in the American pastime.

Sincerely,

 

David J. McCaffrey
Co-founder and Vice-President of the Board, CPCSM

CC:   Minnesota Twins, Public Relations Department
         Carsoup.com
         Fox 9 KMSP TV, Public Relations Department
         Commissioner, Twin Cities Goodtime Softball League
         Commissioner, Northern Lights Women’s Softball League
         Ethan Boatner and George Holdgrafer, Lavender Magazine (www.lavendermagazine.com)

(Click here for PDF of this letter.)

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LGBT Community and Social Work Profession Lose A Pioneer, Human Rights Educator and Activist, Social Justice Advocate



John R. Yoakam, PhD
January 11, 1947 -  April 20, 2009

The Twin Cities LGBT community lost an early organizer and provider of mental health and social services and a pioneer in human rights activism and education on April 20th, when John Yoakam passed away at his home in Minneapolis following a courageous and inspiring 14-month battle with pancreatic cancer. John was also well known, locally and nationally, for his years of work as an educator and advocate in the areas of social work, aging among LGBT persons, LGBT faith-based issues, HIV/AIDS, and social justice.

In the summer of 1973, after receiving his Master of Arts in Religious Studies from Chicago Theological Union, John moved to Minneapolis to join his then life partner Jim Frost. It was in Minneapolis in 1972 that John had first met Jim, then the director of Gay House, the first social service agency for gay men and lesbians in the Upper Midwest. In the fall of 1973 John and Jim Frost were featured in a ground-breaking “Moore on Sunday” local television program on gay and lesbian life.

Prior to John’s arrival in Minneapolis, Jim Frost had also been a leading force, with consulting help from psychologists at Walk-In Counseling Center, in founding the first professional counseling service for gay men and lesbians in the Upper Midwest, called Gay Counseling Service (GCS)*. GCS was comprised of a handful of gay and lesbian paraprofessional volunteers who provided free counseling and were supervised by local mental health professionals. (However, soon the lesbian organizers left the group to provide lesbian counseling at a local women’s center.)

John then joined Jim, in the early days of GCS, in coordinating the organization. Before funding was obtained for office space for GCS, John and Jim took phone calls at their Uptown duplex from local gay men seeking counseling services. Often these calls required the two men to provide some crisis counseling over the phone and usually resulted in their scheduling the caller for an individual counseling appointment or group session with one of GCS’s volunteers.

In addition to founding and developing GCS in 1973, John Yoakam and Jim Frost also initiated a series of monthly pot-luck dinners and a weekly drop-in center for gay men at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis, called One Groveland. These services for gay men were intended to provide them with alternatives to gay bars as their only socializing outlet. (The potluck dinners eventually led to the founding of the organization known as Caring Association of Male Professionals (CAMP), which continued hosting the monthly potlucks for many years.) GCS also soon became a clearinghouse and referral center for many other services and activities within the local gay community. To reflect these additional activities, GCS changed its name to Gay Community Services** and received funding for office space and paid staff.

After his key role in the founding and early development of GCS, John experienced many more successful accomplishments and achievements -- too numerous to list here; see John's complete autobiographical sketch for more details. John greatest academic achievements began in 1999 when he received a PhD from the University of Minnesota in social work, specializing in LGBT gerontology. In the fall of 2000 John accepted a position teaching social work at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University. He became chair of the department in 2001 and served in that capacity until 2008. While at St. John’s and St. Ben’s, John was a faculty sponsor of Prism, the campus organization for LGBT students, and he served as a facilitator for the Gay and Bisexual Men’s group in St. Cloud.  John also participated in the LGBT faculty/staff group and helped organize the first Lavender Graduation ceremonies for LGBT and allied students on campus.

At the time of his death, John was a nominee for the Sister Linda Kulzer Gender Education Award at the College of St. Benedict / St. John's University. On May 14th, John will postumously receive the LGBT Generations Award for Community Service at the Heights Theater in Minneapolis.

Preceded in death by his parents, Reid and Virgie Yoakam, John is survived by his life partner of 15 years, Gary Gimmestad; brother, Cyrus A. Yoakam; sister, Janet E. Jacobs; nieces, Diane L. Guerrero and Ginger E. Jacobs; nephews, David A. Yoakam and Scott Jacobs; and grand nieces and nephews, Lucas Guerrero; Alejandra Guerrero; Julia Jacobs- Schelsinger; and many dear friends.

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CPCSM's Former Liaison to Archbishop Roach and Witness to Group's Founding Named Archbishop of St. Louis

On April 21st, the former priest of the local archdiocese who was a witness to the founding of CPCSM and later became the group's second liaison to Archbishop Roach, was named by the Vatican as the next Archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri.
Archbishop-designate Robert J. Carlson, currently the Bishop of Saginaw, MI, will be filling the post left vacant when Archbishop Raymond Burke was appointed to the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, in June 2008.

In May of 1980, when Archbishop Roach agreed to hold a listening session with the six gay and lesbian Catholics who were CPCSM's cofounders, he also asked then-Father Carlson, as the archdiocese's vicar general, to witness and to take notes at the meeting. It was that meeting with Roach that the CPCSM leadership has always considered the event marking the group's founding. By 1982 Carlson, who would later be named an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese, was appointed by Archbishop Roach to be his second liaison -- following Auxiliary Bishop John Kinney's tenure in that position -- to CPCSM, as an unofficial group working within the archdiocese.

For a more detailed account of CPCSM's initial listening session wiith Archbishop Roach -- including its background and aftermath -- please see the following link.

For more information about Archbishop-elect Carlson's appointment as Archbishop of St. Louis, please see the following links from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, the Associated Press and the St. Louis Beacon. For a more detailed biographical sketch for Bishop Carlson, see the following Wikipedia link.

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http://thecatholicspirit.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=655&Itemid=27

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Regional Deacons' Conference, Hosted by Archdiocese,
to Feature Presentation By Director of Anti-Gay Group

CPCSM Responds to the Promotion of the Anti-Gay Courage
Apostolate at the Region 8 Deacons' Conference with Letter to Deacons

Archbishop Nienstedt has taken another step toward what, in effect -- according to the CPCSM leadership -- is undoing much of what the organization has accomplished in its nearly 30 years of education and ministry work within the local archdiocese. CPCSM leaders believe that by continuing to promote the anti-gay and dehumanizing philosophy of the Courage Apostolate -- this time in the upcoming continuing education that the Archdiocese is providing for the permanent deacons working in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota -- Nienstedt is undermining the role CPCSM has played in helping to realize Archbishop Roach's goal of providing "competent and compassionate pastoral care" to this Archdiocese's LGBT community.

At the Region 8 Deacons' Conference, hosted by the Archdiocese at the University of St. Thomas on July 18-20, 2008, one of the advertised keynote speakers will be Rev. Paul Check, the Chief Executive Officer of the Courage Apostolate. Calling itself a "pro-chastity" group, Courage advocates treating gay persons as if they were suffering from a disease tantamount to alcoholism that must be arrested through their participation in support groups to help maintain sexual abstinence through the practice of life-long celibacy.

In response to Nienstedt's latest misguided decision regarding LGBT persons and their families, CPCSM has sent a letter to the permanent deacons serving in all the dioceses within Minnesota, warning them of the unethical philosophy and practices advocated by Courage. The letter, in its entirety, along with attached resources that offer information and alternatives to Courage (i.e., CPCSM's position paper on Courage and a Catholic bibliography on LGBT issues) , is as follows.

__________________________________

July 11, 2008

Dear Deacon:

We want to call your attention to a serious moral and pastoral care issue presented by the Region 8 Deacon Conference, July 18-20 at the University of St Thomas.

We are writing as members of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM), a grassroots coalition of lay and religious pastoral ministers – including a number of priests, sisters, brothers, and deacons – that for nearly 30 years has worked within the Twin Cities Metro Area with and for Catholic lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons and their families.

Founded in 1980 with the approval of the late Archbishop John Roach, CPCSM has worked to create environments of respect, acceptance, and safety for LGBT persons and their families in the Catholic Church.  Our work has included a range of services – from the training of pastoral professionals and volunteers working with LGBT persons in 25 parishes, to “safe staff” training of secondary school professionals at eight of the local Catholic high schools.

CPCSM’s work has comprised a variety of educational and consultative programs – which include co-sponsoring, with Catholic Charities, a monthly family support group for Catholic families of LGBT persons, led for 10 years by deacon couple and CPCSM members, Roger and Donna Urbanski; presenting educational lectures and training workshops to a number of parishes, parish groups, and religious communities; and providing consultations to a number of archdiocesan, parish, and community groups and to their leaders (e.g., the Archdiocesan Education Center and the Archdiocesan Center for Ministry).  For almost 20 years, CPCSM leadership played a major training role in the Archdiocesan Diaconate Formation Program.
 
The mission of CPCSM has always been to discern and celebrate the transforming presence of God in the lives and relationships of all – though, in particular, in the all too frequently discounted and maligned lives and relationships of LGBT persons.

We share this background information with you because we are concerned that at the upcoming Region 8 Deacon Conference, the only person scheduled to speak on the issues of homosexuality and ministry with homosexual persons and their families, is Fr. Paul Check, the Chief Executive Officer of the Courage apostolate.

Like the vast majority of LGBT Catholics, their parents, loved ones, and allies, we have serious concerns about the ideology and message of the Courage movement.  We share some of these concerns, along with alternative ways of thinking about and ministering to LGBT persons than those advocated by Courage, in the enclosed position paper.  This position paper is comprised of “talking points” grouped under four headings: “Courage’s Mission and Philosophy,” “Courage and NARTH (National Association for Research and Treatment of Homosexuality)”, “Alternative Catholic Perspectives on Homosexuality,” and “Church Teaching on Homosexuality.” In the event that you attend Fr. Check’s presentation at the upcoming deacons’ conference, we encourage you to draw on these talking points to respectfully question and challenge the theological presuppositions and pastoral recommendations of Courage.

We have serious concerns with Courage and the hierarchical Church insisting that all gay and lesbian people are called to lifelong celibacy as a result of their God-given sexual orientation. We believe that this reflects an extremely limited and ultimately unhealthy understanding of human sexuality and of God’s presence and call in the lives and relationships of LGBT people.

It is our understanding that the diaconate ministry was developed, in large part, to provide pastoral outreach to persons on the margins of both the Church and society, and that this outreach places great emphasis on listening to where people are at on their journey rather than on preaching of doctrine.  There is a place for, and value in, helping people discern where and how God is present and active in their lives – including LGBT lives.  The Church itself can and has benefited from such discernment.  The Vatican II document Dei Verbum says that the Catholic tradition develops in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit, and that this development of tradition occurs “through the intimate understanding of spiritual things [that believers] experience.” In this way, Dei Verbum states, the Church “constantly moves forward toward the fullness of divine truth.”

This foundational teaching of Vatican II clearly teaches that the Church is still developing and growing.  It’s a teaching that also refutes the idea that to be a good Catholic means, first of all, unquestioning obedience to those who have placed themselves over us and who declare that they possess truths that others do not.

Yet sadly, such an absolutist approach is exactly what the Courage apostolate advocates.  From our perspective, and perhaps yours too, such an approach fails to embody those diaconate traditions and charisms of listening and openness to God in the lives and relationships of all.

We hope you will use the enclosed position paper as a resource, not only when engaging Fr. Check at the Region 8 Deacon Conference, but also in your future interactions with people in your life and ministry as deacons.  A PDF version of this position paper is also available on the CPCSM website (www.cpcsm.org) for downloading and distribution. We are also including with this letter a Catholic bibliography on gay issues – a list of books and other references that we hope you will find of value in your ministry with and for LGBT persons and their families.

Yours in Christ,

See the following link to view:
A Catholic Bibliography on LGBT Issues

HAPPY LGBT PRIDE
2008!

For an excellent first-person account of CPCSM's presence in the 2008 LGBT Pride Parade and at the Pride Festival in Loring Park, please see: "A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride," by Michael Bayly (CPCSM's Executive Coordinator), in his blogsite, The Wild Reed, June 29, 2008.

Local Catholic Parishes No Longer Feel Able
to Express Pride in Their LGBT Members

Archbishop Nienstedt Forbids St. Joan of Arc to Hold
Annual LGBT Pride Prayer Service, Calling the Parish 'Sacred Ground'
Where Those Living the LGBT 'Lifestyle' Must Not Be Allowed

For the first time in over 25 years the annual Twin Cities Pride Guide carries no advertising from a Twin Cities area Catholic parish announcing that it welcomes LGBT persons and wishes the LGBT community a "Happy Pride Celebration." Even St. Joan of Arc in Minnesota, long considered the most progressive parish within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, on orders from the chancery office, can no longer hold its annual LGBT Pride prayer service, as it has for many years in the past.

In an email notifying supporters of the directive halting the annual LGBT prayer service, CPCSM's cofounder and current board member, David McCaffrey, described the order as "yet another volley of dehumanizing spiritual violence directed at LGBT persons and their families under Archbishop Neinstedt's reign of homophobic hatred."

Apparently, the local news media also felt that this action by Archbishop Nienstedt is newsworthy, judging from the unprecedented coverage they gave the order to halt the prayer service and CPCSM's subsequent decision to hold its own LGBT Pride prayer service outside the church at St. Joan of Arc. Leading the news coverage was a front-page story in the Pioneer Press on June 24th (see below). The next day a media blitzkrieg hit CPCSM's meeting space in the Merriam Park neighborhood in St. Paul -- a long procession of news teams came calling for interviews and video footage and photos, including WCCO, KARE, KSTP, KMSP and the StarTribune. Even USA Today eventually carried a report on this controversy. (See the complete Google News listing of all the US news stories about CPCSM's response to the cancellation of the annual LGBT prayer service at St. Joan's.)

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Uproar over prayer service for gays grows

By HERÓN MÁRQUEZ ESTRADA
Star Tribune, June 25, 2008

Joey McLeister, Star Tribune Michael Bayly is planning a lay service and a rally tonight outside St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church because the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis won’t allow a prayer service to be focused on gays and lesbians. “The archdiocese is now dictating to people who they can and cannot pray for,” Bayly said.

As he has done for a number of years, Michael Bayly will arrive tonight at St. Joan of Arc Church ready to celebrate his God, his faith and his homosexuality.

But this year, Bayly and other Catholic gays and lesbians will not be allowed to celebrate their lifestyle in the church sanctuary following an edict handed down by Archbishop John Nienstedt, who has barred the annual gay pride prayer service at the south Minneapolis church.

In protest, Bayly and others have decided to hold their own lay service outside the church tonight. They are also calling for a mass rally at the church tonight to condemn the archdiocese.

The annual gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender service, designed to coincide with gay pride week celebrations, instead will be characterized as a "peace" service, said Dennis McGrath, a spokesman for Nienstedt and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

"Celebrating the GLBT lifestyle is contrary to the teachings of our church -- plain and simple," McGrath said.

The ban has caused an uproar inside and outside the church, which for years has been known as a liberal bastion supporting GLBT people.

Most of the anger has been focused on Nienstedt, who took over as archbishop recently and almost immediately angered local gays.

This is "yet another volley of dehumanizing spiritual violence directed at GLBT persons and their families under Archbishop Nienstedt's reign of homophobic hatred," David McCaffrey, a board member of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM), said in an e-mail Monday to members.

"The archdiocese is now dictating to people who they can and cannot pray for, and that deeply concerns me," said Bayly, executive director of the CPCSM. "This certainly does not celebrate the presence of God in the lives of gay people. They are dictating to gay people how to have a good life."

The Rev. Jim Cassidy, acting pastor at St. Joan's, said he respects the wishes of the archdiocese and is just happy that the service was not canceled.

"The archdiocese, for all parishes, is the front office and we need to respect that," Cassidy said Tuesday. "There is no welcome mat being pulled here."

Also Tuesday, McGrath defended the archdiocese and Nienstedt, saying that gay and lesbian relationships, especially if they are consummated, are contrary to church doctrine.

McGrath said Nienstedt decided to act after he was notified by callers about the GLBT service at St. Joan, which has a large homosexual contingent.

McGrath said Nienstedt simply did what any archbishop in the country would do in a similar situation. He said the decision does not signal that the archdiocese is taking a conservative turn in the Twin Cities.

He said that former Archbishop Harry Flynn, who recently retired, would have made the same decision if he had known about the service.

"We weren't aware of it," McGrath said Tuesday. "We have 219 parishes. We don't sit and monitor all of them."

Gay activists and parishioners at St. Joan scoffed at the notion that the archdiocese did not know about the service.

They pointed out that not only has it been going on for at least five years -- timed to coincide with the Twin Cities GLBT Pride Parade -- but the service has been widely advertised in church bulletins and on the Internet.

"St. Joan's has always been very up front about this," Bayly said. "There are always watchdogs quick to let the archdiocese know what is going on."

McGrath said the parish decided to change the service's theme to peace. But he also cautioned the church, which serves an estimated 4,000 families, to change the focus so that the service is not about the gay and lesbian lifestyle.

"We don't want it to be a rose by any other name," McGrath said. "Homosexuals are welcome in the church. We don't extend that to a full gay or lesbian lifestyle that includes sexual activity."

Parishioners said that they were notified of the service change Sunday and that many in the congregation were dismayed.

"I said, 'Oh my God, what are they doing?'" said Gerry Sell, who joined the church in 1965 and said she will likely join the protest outside the church. "I felt like I was split down the middle. I was furious, but then my heart was torn in half."

This is not the first time that the archdiocese has come down hard on St. Joan of Arc.

In recent years, the parish was ordered by the archdiocese to remove gay pride material from its website.

The archdiocese also told the church to stop allowing those not ordained to speak at mass. Discussion topics have included scripture, missionary work and homosexuality.

Sell and others believe the archbishop's action, combined with the other past disputes, might finally drive people away from the Catholic Church.

"I have grown up with the strong belief ... that my God is a loving, inclusive God," said Mary Coleman of St. Paul, who joined St. Joan almost 20 years ago. "My God loves my brother, who happens to be gay, as much as he loves me. I am not sure I can stay in a church that doesn't love and accept my brother the same way it loves and accepts me."

Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report. Heron Marquez Estrada • 612-673-4280

© 2008 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

 

CPCSM Highlighted and Leadership Quoted in Current
Minnesota Monthly Article About Reactions to Changes
in Local Archdiocese Related to Incoming Archbishop

Excerpts from
Fate of the Faithful
By Tim Gihring

Minnesota Monthly
May 2008

There is a precept in the Catholic Church called ecclesia semper reformanda, meaning “the church is always reforming”—a surprise to anyone who believes it has all-too-successfully resisted change. Yet the church of today looks nothing like the church of 1950, which looked nothing like the early church, an institution many scholars believe included women leaders and married priests. And the latest makeover occurred less than 50 years ago.

When Catholic leaders gathered in the early 1960s for the landmark discussions known as the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, or Vatican II, they mandated modernization—not to conform to contemporary mores, but to assert the church’s relevance in a fast-changing world. After all, Joe Catholic could by then zip around the world in a jet, watch the president on TV, and more than ever—given John F. Kennedy’s status as the first Catholic in the Oval Office—hope to become the president. Meanwhile, Catholic worship seemed literally backward—still led exclusively in Latin by priests who faced the altar, not the congregation.

Vatican II changed all that. The service, or liturgy, could be led in the language of the people. The people, or laity, were empowered to participate. Nuns threw off their habits, the laity joined choirs, led Sunday school, and no longer felt they were going to hell if they missed a mass. The liberating spirit of these changes inspired several generations of Catholics to question other church teachings or traditions seemingly incompatible with modern life.

Some now say they went too far. In dispensing with bad theology, maybe some good was lost, too, say critics—baby Jesus thrown out with the bath water. Today’s young seminarians are struggling to lead a church still awash in the sea change instigated by their elders and, perhaps not surprisingly, they’re looking for anchors. “They just want to get in touch with their cultural roots,” says [Robert] Kennedy [head of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul]. “They’re not carrying some of the baggage that their parents carried in the ’60s and ’70s—they’re freer to look at the tradition of the church and be excited. They’re pushing back a little bit, saying some of that’s kind of interesting and beautiful.”

The type of priest many Catholics have come to know is being displaced. After Vatican II, the most popular priestly model was the so-called servant-leader, whose accommodating, or pastoral, manner toward the faithful reflected a significant break from the shepherd priest who had all the answers and whose sheep were, well, sheep. Now, some traditionalist young priests, often called John Paul or JP II priests, are returning to the more authoritarian mold of pre-Vatican II.

One local seminarian (who favors the pre-Vatican II Latin mass slowly being reintroduced in traditionalist parishes), has posted images on his blog of the kind of priest he hopes to become: black-and-white pictures of pre-Vatican II priests facing the altar, historic paintings evoking the majesty of old. Adapting his philosophy from a group called Concerned Roman Catholics of America, he says, “I will not allow the Holy Catholic Church to be torn apart and assaulted by the forces of modernism, syncretism, heresy, and the gross immorality of some of its clergy in the name of the ‘Spirit of Vatican II.’ I will not allow our Catholic youth to be robbed of their faith or have their innocence destroyed in the name of ‘tolerance,’ ‘ecumenism,’ ‘diversity,’ or any other politically correct ideology of the day.”

Kennedy warns against extrapolating from such examples. “It’s true that some enclaves around the country seem to want to reconstruct some imaginary version of the [pre-Vatican II] church,” he says. “I don’t know what they’re smoking.” But today’s youth returning to a pre-Vatican II church—“that’s not going to happen.”

Nevertheless, the generational difference is enough to disturb many servant-leader priests. “They don’t admire the young priests,” says Dean Hoge, a sociology professor and expert on priests and seminarians at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. “They feel the young men are too concerned with their own status.” In turn, the JP II priests call their elders—sometimes called Vatican II priests—“social-worker priests” or “Protestant priests,” he says, as if they’ve “somehow watered down what it means to be a priest.”

Social workers or not, many Vatican II priests fostered a progressive agenda. The nation’s first archdiocesan Commission on Women was begun in the Twin Cities in 1979 by then-Archbishop John Roach to explore the role of women in the church. Also at that time, the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM) formed in St. Paul. With Roach’s blessing, says CPCSM co-founder David McCaffrey, the group introduced a sort of sensitivity training in parishes and eight out of the 11 local Catholic high schools—a curriculum enabling counselors to better serve gay Catholics. “During the peak of our work,” says McCaffrey, “we became almost mainstream.”

By 1999, after conservative parents complained, says McCaffrey, CPCSM was no longer welcome. Last year, the archdiocese frequently ran afoul of gay advocates, as when it forbade a CPCSM-sponsored talk in October by a lesbian and her father to be held at a Minneapolis church. Soon after, [Coadjutor Archbishop] Nienstedt clarified the church’s position on homosexuality in the archdiocesan newspaper, the Catholic Spirit. In an earlier column, he had called homosexuality a disorder, explaining that “such inclinations are not sinful in themselves” but acting on them is. This time, he said even those who “actively encourage or promote homosexual acts or such activity within a homosexual lifestyle formally cooperate in a grave evil,” which many read as a literal condemnation of those who’ve supported the loving relationships of their gay children or friends.

This spring, further archdiocesan orders have limited everything from the role of lay preachers during mass to the kinds of nontraditional, laity-led liturgies some parishes have offered since the 1960s. The Commission on Women was recently folded into another archdiocesan office, which some participants see as a diminishment of its importance. “The post-Vatican II sense of collegiality among the bishops, much less among church leaders and lay people, has faded,” says one local observer, “and the sense of hierarchy has ascended.”

“There are some arguments in favor of the more traditional view of the priesthood,” says Hoge. “They have a stronger morale, they’re happier men. They resign a bit less. And the seminaries that espouse that view are a little stronger, so they say, ‘We’re the way of the future, follow us.’ But the laity, in general, prefer the servant-leader model.”

As a new era dawns, several well-known servant-leader priests here, including the Reverend Michael O’Connell of the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis—the originator of the popular Basilica Block Party—are moving on or retiring. As a result, some local Catholics conjecture, the archdiocese won’t be as welcoming. “I figure we have about 10 good years left,” says a longtime Basilica parishioner. The local Reverend Mike Tegeder simply predicts bigger and broader clashes, as the spirit of Vatican II won’t easily be exorcised. “The genie is out of the bottle,” he says. “There’s no putting it back.”

Tegeder, the priest at the Church of St. Edward in Bloomington, is among the most vocal critics of Nienstedt’s appointment. Ordained in the late 1970s, he is a classic servant-leader priest. He sometimes sports a worn newsboy cap (Nienstedt prefers a crisp black fedora) and occasionally uses the word “damn” in the non-ecclesiastical sense.

Tegeder notes that Nienstedt’s June trip to Rome, where he’ll receive a lambskin stole as affirmation of his appointment, has been heavily advertised among local Catholics—they can even purchase a tour package to traipse along, something more status-conscious East Coast bishops would encourage. (For his part, Nienstedt has said the criticism of his appointment has been “very inhospitable and not at all in keeping with the classic Minnesota attitude of ‘fair play.’”) Yet Tegeder is hardly an inner-city activist or the head of a nonconformist parish: The Church of St. Edward is a large congregation in a leafy suburb. He’s certainly no less traditional than his church’s staff, who on this day—Ash Wednesday—all appropriately sport a cross of ashes on their foreheads.

Tegeder has gathered the staff to discuss their hopes and fears for the future of the archdiocese. This archdiocese is known for its unusually high number of progressive Catholics armed with advanced religious education, and Tegeder’s staff fits the mold. They are all women, and many have degrees in divinity or theology—“all of them basically have the same education as the priests,” says Tegeder. Vatican II renewed the church’s call for Catholics to inform their conscience through study—in addition to consulting their leaders—and these women have taken the call seriously.

Heidi Busse, who organizes the church’s religious instruction classes as its director of faith formation, is an outgoing 35-year-old with a master’s in theology. She’s occasionally preached at St. Edward’s. But starting this month, as directed by the archbishop’s office, lay preaching will largely be banned during mass. Several parishes have regularly featured lay preachers as a way for parishioners to “break open the word,” Busse says—to hear from a perspective closer to their own. Now, lay people must speak at the end of mass, if they are to speak from the pulpit at all.

“I think there’s a breakdown between reality—the real life in the parish—and theory or doctrine or politics,” says Busse. She isn’t called to be a priest, she says, but is a talented speaker. “We all have different gifts, and it’s hard as a woman or lay person to be told your call is not valid.”

LaLonne Murphy, the parish’s director of liturgy and music, has worked in the archdiocese for 30 years and says the increased stress on guidelines, or rubrics, has been pitched to the parishes as necessary to avoid “confusion” among the faithful. “If Heidi preaches, I don’t think there is going to be any confusion that she is Father Mike,” says Murphy. “We are not confused about these things.”

The women would prefer a dialogue between parishioners and leaders. “We don’t want to run wild,” says Busse. “We don’t want to be relativist…it’s just that the conversation would be so helpful for all of us to be more open to serving each other.” Murphy agrees: “People here tend to be more adult and take responsibility for themselves and the world around them. They’re not waiting for someone to tell them what to do. No one needs another mom and dad.”

The sentiment echoes national surveys that show a growing gap between the Catholic laity and their leaders on such issues as contraception, married priests, and church governance. “They’re moving in opposite directions,” says William D’Antonio, a renowned scholar in the sociology of religion at Catholic University and co-author of the 2007 book American Catholics Today. From 1987 to 2005, the authors’ research shows, the “level of Catholics’ commitment to the institutional church” has trended downward. “By 2005,” says D’Antonio, “there isn’t an age group or gender where there is a majority saying that they look to church leaders as the automatic source of authority.” Instead, more Catholics are looking to their own conscience.

The concept has precedence: Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote, “It is better to die excommunicated” than to disobey one’s conscience. The beloved educator Cardinal John Henry Newman reputedly said, “I shall drink to the pope, if you please—still, to conscience first and to the pope afterwards.” When it comes down to who feels welcome in the church, says Murphy, many of the faithful consult their consciences. “We are not confused when people are not permitted by the institution to join us at the table,” she says, referring to the church’s position on Catholics in same-sex unions. “We are not confused by that. That [church policy] is an abomination.”

Even toward straight people seeking to marry, however, the archdiocese has become less welcoming, claims Tegeder, with some parishes scrutinizing the couple’s commitment to Catholicism when one partner isn’t Catholic. Parishes have also refused to conduct funerals on similar grounds, says Mary Hayden, the church’s director of pastoral care. Murphy is appalled. “Can you imagine Jesus telling somebody they can’t have their funeral someplace? That he won’t stand by them in death? A lot of this law-quoting is about manipulation and fear, telling people they’re going to hell. Fear does not control us. We won’t stand for that kind of bullying.”

What will become of those who feel bullied, the parishioners at the margins? “People are realizing they have different options,” says Tegeder. “Some will want to keep the fight up, others will feel they have to move on.” And still others, says Hayden, will become angry with God.

Since Nienstedt’s welcome mass, many progressives have wondered whether his vision of unity is compatible with theirs. Can he strike a balance between the orthodox ideal of getting everyone on the same page and their hope that diverse perspectives will be embraced? Other Catholics, though, believe he shouldn’t bother accommodating—one man’s hardliner, after all, is another’s true believer. “Bless the Lord! A bishop without a limp spine!” wrote one online commentator upon the news of Nienstedt’s appointment. “Finally, a bishop who knows how to bish!” gushed another.

Several local priests have condemned Tegeder’s views—the Reverend George Welzbacher of the Church of St. John, in St. Paul, calls him a “chronic malcontent” who’s assumed “the role of roadside bomber. Or maybe suicide bomber.” He suggests that those who agree with Tegeder—the insubordinate—have already left the church anyway.

Kennedy says archdiocesan leadership changes so infrequently that new bishops tend to elicit extreme reactions: “Some will say, ‘Thank goodness we got a new sheriff and let me tell you about the guys you need to arrest first,’ and others will say, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s going to change something. How can we prevent that?’”

Even many moderates, however, advocate the occasional archdiocesan housecleaning. “If you don’t sweep and vacuum once a week, things get out of control,” says the Reverend David Smith, recently retired from the University of St. Thomas. Though he notes, “One can raise questions whether they’ve done too much [cleaning]. Sometimes people who call for a housecleaning are pretty restricted about the rooms they want cleaned.”

Those “rooms” may be ideologies, such as gay activism, or parishes with experimental liturgies. “This archdiocese is known worldwide for several parishes that have strayed pretty far from the Catholic faith,” says Janice LaDuke, who blogs about local Catholicism as “Catherine of Alexandria,” the medieval martyr. She says anyone who thinks Nienstedt’s appointment triggered a Catholic culture war here doesn’t know the local church—“This archdiocese has been a battlefield long before now.” And she, for one, welcomes the challenge: “I’ve got my sword handy, my Catechism and Bible at the ready.”

Four weeks before Easter, St. Stephen’s Catholic Church in Minneapolis is standing-room-only with the kind of crowd for whom May Day is a major holiday: bearded men in ponytails, white-haired crones leaning on canes carved with animal totems, a lesbian couple rocking their baby. There are enough Subarus in the parking lot to open a dealership. Some worshippers have never been here before. A few are Lutheran, attending in solidarity. Many are in tears.

St. Stephen’s is one of the churches LaDuke would consider a liturgical outlier, and the battle has been taken to its doorstep. “We are in crisis,” the service’s leader announces. “We don’t know where we’re going to be.” But they can’t stay here. After today—after 40 years—this service is being shut down by the archdiocese. Too many rules broken, Archbishop Flynn wrote to them. Too much “confusion about liturgical practices.”

The 9 a.m. service at St. Stephen’s, a major social-service provider in its blighted neighborhood near the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, was likely the first in the archdiocese to feature the sort of guitar-strumming, dancing-in-the-aisles aesthetic that makes even liberal Minnesotans blush. Of course, there are no aisles here, no pulpit, and, for a long while, no priest. Just two basketball hoops, a stage, and a makeshift altar. The service has always been held in the parish’s gym.

Their communion vessels are made of the wrong material—ceramic instead of precious metal. Women often lead worship. After the homily, a microphone is set up for parishioners to dialogue about the text. Poetry is often read, as in Unitarian churches. Even Tegeder describes it as “kind of a fast and loose community” and suggests the archdiocese was right to question aspects of the service. But he also believes the current hierarchy would consider it a “marginal” community. How did things come to this? And why now?

In his letter to the parish, Flynn said he sought changes by April, when St. Stephen’s received a new priest, by all accounts a traditionalist. Flynn also noted that St. Stephen’s had been upbraided before; enough changes were not made.

In the bigger picture, St. Stephen’s time may simply be up. Among the phenomena of the Catholic church’s new era is the emergence of liturgical vigilantes, people who visit parishes and note—in blogs or letters to the archbishop—how closely rubrics are followed. Flynn has publicly chastised such busybodies, yet more than one visitor to St. Stephen’s has tattled on the 9 a.m. worshippers. And now the St. Stephen’s folks are divided. Many vow to continue a similar service off-site, outside the archbishop’s purview.

Few, if any, have talked publicly of abandoning Catholicism altogether, not unlike other Catholics under duress. Mary Beckfeld, co-founder of the online journal Progressive Catholic Voice, which launched locally last fall to chronicle alternative viewpoints within the church, is the mother of a gay son and feels she can best affect change on his behalf by staying in the church. “We really love this church,” she says of herself and the newsletter staff. “And I don’t believe I’m living in mortal sin.” McCaffrey, who struggled for years to reconcile his sexuality with Catholicism, says he finally found balance in the inclusive spirit of Vatican II—only to feel it’s been pulled out from under him by the Catholic hierarchy. “That’s the outrage we feel,” he says. “They’re really screwing with our lives.”

Michael Bayly, who edits the Progressive Catholic Voice and directs CPCSM, has long advocated for gays like himself in the church. By baptism, he says, it’s his church, the one he knows and loves—why should he leave? Besides, he says, wherever Catholics are gathered, that’s a Catholic space. If the St. Stephen’s crowd moves underground, they won’t be any less righteous.

. . . Progressives like Heidi Busse find hope in [the] tradition of the church [known as the] sensus fidelium, which holds that the Holy Spirit inevitably guides the faithful in the right direction—even if the church, as an institution, takes some errant turns. “We’re a human church on the one hand, but a divine one on the other,” she says. “Sometimes the hierarchy has to catch up to what the faithful has been doing. The faithful really lead.” Just where the church is on that continuum can only be seen—by the earthbound anyway—in hindsight.

Tim Gihring is a senior writer at Minnesota Monthly.

[Click here for complete article.]

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VIDEO: What’s Morally Wrong With Homosexuality?

Featuring Dr. John Corvino

CPCSM Cofounder Shares His Frustration with Changes in
Local Archdiocese's Pastoral Ministry for LGBT Catholics and Their Families, Recommends Boycott and Other Political Actions

(The following article is taken from the February 2008 issue of the Progressive Catholic Voice. Please refer to the same issue for another article by David McCaffrey, entitled Growing Up Catholic: "The Best Little Catholic Boy in the World," which recounts the earlier years of his life that led up to his work with CPCSM.)

In Good Conscience

Ways to Advocate on Behalf of LGBT Persons and Their Families
Or on Behalf of Other Issues of Justice

By David J. McCaffrey

LGBT Catholics or their families seeking pastoral ministry services from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, for example, by calling the Office of Marriage and Family Life, will receive only a referral to Courage (for gay men or lesbians) or to Encourage (for the family members and friends of gay men or lesbians). Both groups are collectively called "Faith In Action" in the local archdiocese, which states that its mission is to support men and women with "same-sex attractions" to live chaste and holy lives. The Courage website indicates a positive attitude toward conversion therapy and will support its members who seek out such therapy. Also, the website has multiple links to organizations within the "ex-gay" movement.

Searching the Archdiocese's website for "homosexuality" (after finding that the more respectful term, "LGBT pastoral ministry," yields no results) also leads only to Courage and Encourage. Such a search also results in a link to the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), an organization that recommends conversion therapy for gay men and lesbians and promulgates documents based on pseudo-science -- both of which have no credibility among any of the reputable professional mental health or medical associations, such as the Amercian Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Council on Child and Adolescent Health, and many others. (Please see the article in this issue of the Progressive Catholic Voice reporting on CPCSM’s recent educational program, “The Myth of Conversion Therapy and the Pseudo-Science of NARTH.”)

The underlying attitudes toward LGBT persons and their families, reflected by the Archdiocese through its staff in the Office of Marriage and Family Life and by its website, are not only sorely lacking, they are reprehensible. In fact, it should be said that Courage and Encourage provide neither competent nor compassionate pastoral ministry. To tell LGBT persons that they are "objectively disordered" and must maintain a lives of sexual abstinence simply because they find themselves attracted to members of their own gender is outrageous – especially when the vast majority of today’s behavioral and biological scientists believe that homosexuality is innate, not freely chosen, and not a psychological disorder that can or should be treated.

Furthermore, it is an outrage to LGBT persons and their families for Courage to compare the situation of gay men and lesbians with that of alcoholics who follow the 12 steps of AA. It is not appropriate to recommend that LGBT persons follow an adaptation of those same 12 steps in order to abstain from pursuing meaningful committed relationships. Forming such relationships is the only way that God has created them to find the love in another person that mirrors God’s unconditional love for them.

Therefore, the approach that the local archdiocese advocates, through its Faith In Action Program, is contrary to the life-experience of millions of LGBT persons and has no foundation in the current sciences and in present-day medical and mental health practice. But to recommend that LGBT persons abstain from all committed same-sex relationships, while giving tacit approval to conversion therapy when all reputable professional groups have condemned it as being ineffective and potentially dangerous, is also incompetent, insensitive, and lacking in compassion -- and is even unethical.

Furthermore, John Gonsiorek, a national expert on competent psychological practice and ethics said at CPCSM’s recent program about conversion therapy and NARTH that for a church group to advocate for conversion therapy is tantamount to practicing psychology – and bad psychology at that -- without a license, which is a criminal offense in Minnesota.

Over its past 25+ years working in the local church, CPCSM has provided workshops and inservices to virtually all of the heads of archdiocesan offices during Archbishop Roach's administration, presented its parish-based gay-lesbian ministry training to more that 25 parishes, resulting in active LGBT ministries in at least 6 parishes and competent and compassionate pastoral staff at many other parishes.

Furthermore, for 10 years, from 1983 to 1993, Catholic Charities and CPCSM cosponsored a program in which Deacon couple Roger and Donna Urbanski, who have a gay son, faithfully provided one-to-one counseling and a monthly support group for Catholic family members and friends of LGBT persons.

From about 1993 to 1997, CPCSM was an active member of a Study Group on Sexuality and Spirituality, requested by a group of local Catholic high school presidents, which was comprised of representatives of most of the local Catholic high schools and the archdiocesan education staff and met monthly under the auspices of the Archdiocese's Catholic Education and Formation Ministries (CEFM) Program.

At about the same time CPCSM, by presenting its 4-session Safe Staff Training Program to the whole CEFM staff and to 8 of the 11 Catholic secondary schools in existence at that time, helped create for LGBT students in most of the participating schools, safe spaces and safe school staff patterned after the groundbreaking Safe Staff Programs (Out For Equity and Out For Good) in both the St. Paul and Minneapolis public high school districts. (CPCSM's safe staff training program is fully described in its recently published book (edited by Michael Bayly), Creating Safe Environments for LGBT Students: A Catholic Schools Perspective (Harrington Park Press).

For the incoming archbishop, with edicts more characteristic of a dictator than a pastoral leader, to put a end to nearly 30 years of these excellent pastoral efforts, carried out by good, holy, well-intentioned Catholic professionals --with the blessing of the local ordinary--who were trained to carefully listen to and respond to the special, unique pastoral needs of each person seeking their care, cries to heaven for justice!

It is for these reasons that I strongly believe that in good conscience I must personally begin taking more drastic political actions against this archdiocese – and I urge all readers of the Progressive Catholic Voice to consider doing the same, whether it be because of the archdiocese’s treatment of LGBT persons and their families, or for another issue of justice about which they feel as outraged as I do.

Much of the change regarding the treatment of LGBT person in this local church came about through the pressure put on the Chancery by members of right-wing fundamentalist groups that threatened both to withhold their contributions to the archdiocese and to contact the archbishop's superiors in the Vatican if he would not take a more conservative orthodox approach – and hence, one that is also less tolerant and compassionate – toward LGBT persons and their families.

Therefore, because these kinds of strategies appear to speak louder to the Catholic hierarchy than do personal appeals or rational arguments -- whether they be from a theological, philosophical, or scientific point of view -- or even public protests, I am recommending the following actions as a show of solidarity for our LGBT brothers and sisters and their families:

• A letter writing campaign to Archbishop Nienstedt's superiors
  
  
• A boycott of the Archbishop's Annual Appeal.
  
  

Letter-writing to Archbishop Nienstedt's Superiors

The following addresses are to those members of the Catholic hierarchy that are directly responsible for Archbishop John Nienstedt being appointed as the Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis. It is best if your letters come from your heart and reflect your own personal opinions as to why--based on his record in New Ulm as bishop and here, so far, as Coadjutor Archbishop--John Nienstedt is not a good fit as archbishop for this archdiocese. You might consider writing to the Apostolic Nuncio and then sending a copy to both Cardinal Re and Pope Benedict XVI.

Archbishop Pietro Sambi
Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America
3339 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W,
Washington, DC 20008
Telephone: (202) 333-7121
Fax: (202) 337-4036

Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re
Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
Palazzo delle Congregazioni,
Piazza Pio XII, 10
00193 Rome
Italy
Tel  (from USA): 011-39-06-69-88-42-17
Fax (from USA): 011-39-06-69-88-53-03

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
The Apostolic Palace,
00120 Vatican City State
Italy
Email: benedictxvi@vatican.va

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___________________________________________

Boycott of the Archbishop's Annual Catholic Appeal

Editor's Note: The boycott of the Archbishop's Annual Catholic Appeal that I am recommending here is based upon my own personal outrage about the archdiocese's 180-degree change in its attitudes and the (outrageously incompetent and insensitive) "pastoral care" that it is now recommending for its LGBT members and their families. I am inviting all readers to join me in this boycott. However, there may be other issues that the archdiocese has been addressing about which readers feel more outraged (e.g., liturgical reform, treatment of women, treatment of lay ministers, treatment of non-Catholics at Catholic liturgies, etc.). I strongly encourage readers to feel free to adapt their own boycott efforts, including the wording of the sample statement below, to fit another particular issue of injustice that may seem closer to their hearts.

Also please note that the sample form below allows for a number of options (i.e., withholding only a portion of the Appeal funds and giving them all to one or more LGBT-friendly organizations, withholding all of the Appeal funds and giving all of them to LGBT-friendly organizations or one part of them to LGBT-supportive groups and the rest to other social justice organizations (which you will have to locate through you own searches: for example, by calling the local First Call For Help at "2-1-1", or by online web searching).

The suggested sample form (or one of your own making) that follows can be mailed directly to the Archbishop's Catholic Appeal Office at the following address:

2008 Archbishop's Annual Catholic Appeal
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
328 Kellogg Boulevard West
St. Paul, MN 55102

SAMPLE FORM

Boycott of the Archbishop's Annual Catholic Appeal in Support of my LGBT Sisters and Brothers In Good Conscience . . . I can no longer continue to be a silent witness to the neglect and abuse that my lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) brothers and sisters and their families have been suffering at the hands of the Catholic Church in general, and in this archdiocese in particular. The Church is a place where everyone should feel welcome and where all should experience the unconditional love of God -- where all should be treated as equals. Instead, my LGBT sisters and brothers and their families have been subjected to unjust discriminatory treatment that lacks true compassion since it denies the validity of their relationships, life-experiences, faith journeys, and special needs and gifts and goes contrary to the findings of modern science. Until this Archdiocese begins to provide truly competent and compassionate pastoral ministry to God's LGBT people and to their families--and not simply the grossly demeaning and sorely inadequate treatment offered by Faith In Action programs (Courage/Encourage), I will withhold (all / a portion) of my financial contribution to this year's Archbishop's Annual Catholic Appeal, in the amount of $ _________________ . Instead, I am giving these funds to another non-profit social justice organization that recognizes and/or provides pastoral ministry or other social services that show a competent and compassionate regard for the special gifts and needs of LGBT persons and their families, or to an organization that advocates for social justice for LGBT persons and their families. Identifying Information Optional but Recommended Name _______________________________________________________________ Address _____________________________________________________________ Phone ______________________  Email __________________________________ "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."   (Matthew 25: 40) "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. . . . In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."   (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. )

List of Suggested Organizations for Funds Withheld
from Archbishop's Annual Appeal

Catholic-Oriented LGBT-Related Organizations

CPCSM, The Progressive Catholic Voice, or Catholic Rainbow Parents
(To send a check to any of these organizations, make the check payable to:
 CPCSM and indicate which group the money is intended for on the memo line on the check.)

The House of the Beloved Disciple
2930 13th Ave. So.
Minneapolis, MN 55407
Phone: 612-201-4534
Email: cpcsmmail@gmail.com

Dignity Twin Cities

Other LGBT-Related Organizations

The following is a list of local non-profit organizations, which are welcoming and affirming of LGBT persons and are not part of the Archdiocese; and the list may include organization(s) to which you might wish to redirect the funds you are withholding from the Archbishop's Annual Catholic Appeal.

Faith, Families, Fairness Alliance
(an interfaith alliance)

Avenues for Homeless Youth

The Bridge

District 202

OutFront Minnesota

PFLAG, St.Paul-Minneapolis Chapter

Project Offstreets

Quatrefoil Library

Rainbow Families

Safe Zone for Homeless, Runaway, At-Risk Youth
(Face-to-Face Health and Counseling Service, St. Paul, MN)

St. Paul Youth Services

David J. McCaffrey is a founding member of The Progressive Catholic Voice and a cofounder of CPCSM.

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The Myth of 'Conversion Therapy' and the Pseudo-Science of NARTH

PART I – DEBUNKING NARTH

By Michael Bayly

(From The Progressive Catholic Voice, February 2008)

In this first of two articles, CPCSM executive coordinator Michael Bayly highlights the insights and information presented by John C. Gonsiorek, PhD1 (1) during his January 29 presentation at the House of the Beloved Disciple.

INTRODUCTION

On January 29, 2008, the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM) sponsored an educational program entitled, “The Myth of ‘Conversion Therapy’ and the Pseudo Science of NARTH.” 

Held in Minneapolis at the House of the Beloved Disciple, this program featured two local licensed psychologists, Jeffry G. Ford (2) and John C. Gonsiorek, who shared their perspective on the National Association for Research and Treatment of Homosexuality (NARTH) and the theory and practice of “reparative” or “conversion” therapy, advocated by NARTH and other so-called ex-gay ministries and organizations.

These ex-gay groups are adamant that homosexuality is preventable in childhood and treatable in adulthood, and that most gays and lesbians can successfully convert to heterosexuality through what they label “reparative therapy” or “conversion therapy.”

The program was prompted by recent efforts on the part of the Archdiocese to promote NARTH as a credible scientific organization.  For instance, in the November 8 issue of The Catholic Spirit (the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis), Fr. Jim Livingston (3) endorsed NARTH by citing the organization as a useful resource and by encouraging people to visit its website so as “to learn . . .about the emotional root causes of homosexuality.”

Fr. Livingston also recommended an audio CD of a talk given by NARTH co-founder Joseph Nicolosi, an individual whom Coadjutor Archbishop Nienstedt, when he was a bishop in Detroit, invited to speak to the priests of the archdiocese as an “expert” on homosexuality.

Many Catholics are concerned by the local Archdiocese’s increasing reliance on the perspective and “findings” of NARTH to support and validate Church teaching on homosexuality.

A “fraudulent healthcare system”

Dr. Gonsiorek began his presentation with words of advice for Catholics troubled by the Archdiocese’s efforts to present NARTH as a legitimate scientific organization and to use its “findings” to validate Church teaching on the “disordered” nature of homosexuality.

“If you’re going to challenge the Archdiocese in its attempts to introduce what I consider to be a ‘fraudulent healthcare service,’” said Gonsiorek, “then you need to become educated about what the behavioral sciences say about sexual orientation.  That has to be the base from which you operate as opposed to reacting to the ‘flakiness’ of organizations like NARTH.”

For the most up-to-date information regarding sexual orientation, Gonsiorek recommends the website of the American Psychological Association, and in particular, this site’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns page, its Guidelines for Psychotherapy with Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients, and its Division 44, also known as the Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Issues.

The Origins of NARTH

Dr. Gonsiorek then proceeded to provide some insightful background information on the origins of NARTH – origins inseparable from the wider cultural debate on homosexuality and, specifically, the American Psychiatric Association's 1973 decision to remove homosexuality from its official manual that lists mental and emotional disorders (followed two years later by the passage of a similar resolution of the American Psychological Association).

This change in the diagnosis of homosexuality was the result of the wealth of research data gathered since the early 1950s that showed no difference between homosexual and heterosexual populations in terms of “adjustment.”

Gonsiorek also noted that a significant “sea change” took place in the early 1970s when biological psychiatry began taking over the field of behavioral science from the psychoanalytical establishment.  Indeed, the change in the diagnosis of homosexuality, says Gonsiorek, was “essentially a run-up of a long-standing fight” between these two groups, and was an important moment for the biological psychiatrists, “not only because they had a strong data base to support such a change, but because the psychoanalysts had always considered human sexuality to be their domain.”

In time, the psychoanalytical establishment also changed in its understanding of homosexuality; it now has the same sets of policies and principles about sexual orientation as the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association.  Yet there were “old guard” psychoanalysts who were disgruntled about being displaced and seeing their organization change its views on homosexuality.  This disaffected group of psychoanalysts formed an alliance with conservatively- and religiously-oriented psychotherapists.  It was from this alliance that NARTH was established.

The problem with “conversion therapy”

Gonsiorek then outlined the problem with “conversion” or “reparative” therapy, the theory and practice that treats homosexuality as a pathology, as a disorder that can be “repaired” and changed.

“It’s nonsensical to have a treatment for a diagnosis that doesn’t exist,” says Gonsiorek.  “With homosexuality being de-pathologized in 1973, what exactly is being treated?  There is no data to support that sexual orientation can be changed and there’s no reason to change it; there’s no impairment.”

So why do people subject themselves to such a “nonsensical” treatment?  Gonsiorek notes that there can be a “a great deal of coercion, a great deal of social pressure in some families and communities for those struggling with homosexual feelings to submit to conversion therapy.  If they don’t, they’ll be socially ostracized.

Some ex-gay therapists insist that in recommending and/or offering conversion or reparative therapy they are merely giving people a choice as consumers to meet their personal health goals.  This argument, says Gonsiorek is “specious and borders on malpractice.”  Healthcare providers, he insists, “should not just do what consumers want but offer services that are based on established standards of care.  And if the consumer wants something that is flakey, the answer is ‘No.’ To give them what’s flakey is malpractice.”

Gonsiorek also noted an “obvious sexism associated with the ex-gay movement.”  “Most of the change efforts are focused on men,” he says.  “Women are not so important to the ex-gay ministers and therapists.”

And there is yet another aspect of sexism reflected by this movement: If women marry supposedly ex-gay men and the marriage fails, it’s these women and any children produced by the marriage that suffer.  “There’s a lot of this type of ‘collateral damage,’” says Gonsiorek, “but it’s rarely talked about by NARTH and the wider ex-gay establishment.”

Big business

Gonsiorek also observed that: “This whole discussion on reparative therapy is occurring in a socio-political context in which it’s becoming standard practice for both corporations and right-wing religious organizations to heavily fund institutes and think-tanks, and to purchase the science they want.”

“We saw this very dramatically with the tobacco company lawsuits, where the tobacco companies, for decades, bought their own science to support their positions,” he said.  Yet despite the pseudo-science being exposed in such cases, “the funding by right-wing organizations within the scientific community and within church organizations [remains] big business,” notes Gonsiorek.

“It’s understandable,” says Gonsiorek, “that the lay public can become confused when every behavioral health organization does not support reparative therapy, and yet there are these official-sounding organizations, endorsed by people like archbishops, that make the argument that they are just one more credible voice among many.”

The real issue

At one point during his presentation, Gonsiorek was asked: “How do the people involved with groups like NARTH respond to the reality that every major professional organization in the behavioral sciences disagrees with them?”

Gonsiorek noted that they often attempt to “re-pathologize” homosexuality by making the following argument: Because certain subsets of the lesbian and gay population have higher rates of certain problems, it must mean there’s inherent pathology.

In response to this ploy, Gonsiorek notes that: “In reality, every group that is treated as second class has higher rates of both mental and physical health problems.  If you treat people badly, they get messed up.  You don’t need a PhD to figure that out.  Yet we don’t say that women are inherently pathological because they have a higher rate of depression and eating disorders.  Neither do we say that Native Americans are inherently pathological because they have higher rates of alcoholism.”

The “real issue,” says Gonsiorek, “is that if you can find anyone at all in the given population who is not pathological, then that disproves that the group is pathological.  If you have a 20 percent higher base rate of a particular problem within a population, and if there are people within that population for whom that particular problem is not an issue, than it’s clear that something else is going on other than inherent pathology.”

Exploring the issue further, Gonsiorek noted that: “What often happens with people who are maneuvered into reparative therapy is that they’ve been trashed for years by churches and communities – even by their own families.  As a result, they’re often depressed and anxious.  That’s what the problem is, and that’s what requires treatment.  So the reparative therapy is often done instead of what needs to be done – which is to undo the damage caused by harassment, ostracism, and disparagement.”

Science and religion

Gonsiorek concluded his talk by noting that “both the behavioral sciences and religion attempt to understand the human condition and to respond to problems within the human condition.”  Yet he was adamant that science and religion are “not the same, and that one cannot speak for the other.”

“For a church leader to tell you what is good behavioral science,” he said, “carries about as much weight as your Uncle Joe telling you.”

Reflecting on the current situation in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Gonsiorek said: “As a psychologist, I find it almost fraudulent for someone who claims to be a moral authority to be grandly operating in an area in which they have no competence.”

In the March issue of The Progressive Catholic Voice, Michael Bayly will share highlights from Jeffrey Ford’s (3) contribution to CPCSM’s program, “The Myth of ‘Conversion Therapy’ and the Pseudo-Science of NARTH.”

NOTES

1.  John C. Gonsiorek, PhD, is a fellow of American Psychological Association (APA) Division 9 (also called the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues), and Division 12 (the Society of Clinical Psychology).

John is also a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, and a Past-President of APA Division 44 – also known as the Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Issues. For 25 years, he had an independent practice of clinical and forensic psychology in Minneapolis.

John has published widely in the areas of professional misconduct, sexual orientation and identity, and professional ethics. For many years, he provided expert witness evaluation and testimony regarding impaired clergy and professionals, standards of care, and psychological damages. He has also provided training and consultation to a variety of religious denominations and organizations.

A consulting editor for the APA journal, Professional Psychology: Research & Practice, John is also the author of a number of publications, including: Breach of Trust: Sexual Exploitation by Health Care Professionals and Clergy, Homosexuality: Research Implications for Public Policy (with Weinrich); Male Sexual Abuse: A Trilogy of Intervention Strategies (with Bera and Letourneau), and Homosexuality and Psycohtherapy: A Practitioner’s Handbook of Affirmative Models.

2.  Jeffry G. Ford, MA, is a licensed psychologist and psychotherapist.  Interestingly, Jeff was formerly the executive director of OUTPOST, an “ex-gay” ministry located in Minneapolis.  For ten years, Jeff claimed to be a “former homosexual,” and was a national speaker for Exodus International, the governing board and communication hub for most ex-gay ministries.  Today, however, Jeff identifies as a gay man and is a nationally known consultant and speaker on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues. He specializes in addressing the complexities involved with the anti-gay theory known both as “reparative therapy” and “sexual conversion therapy,” which purports to prevent and cure homosexuality. Jeff dedicates his time and energy to challenging the unethical and dangerous use of pseudo-scientific theories associated with the ex-gay movement, a movement that includes NARTH.

3.  Fr. Jim Livingston serves as lead chaplain to the local chapter of Courage (which goes by the name of Faith in Action in the St. Paul/Minneapolis Archdiocese). Courage purports to help people move beyond “same-sex attraction” by encouraging a life of “interior chastity in union with Christ.” The movement labels itself a “pro-chastity ministry,” and equates chastity with celibacy.  Although Courage -- which, along with NARTH, Livingston enthusiastically promotes in his November 8 commentary -- acknowledges that the “inclination of homosexual attractions” is “psychologically understandable,” the group, nevertheless, considers such attractions “objectively disordered” – a view promulgated by the hierarchical church.  Courage often substitutes the words “homosexuality” and “gay” with the NARTH-coined phrase, “same-sex attraction disorder” – a term unrecognized by any professional mental health association.  Following NARTH’s lead, Courage likens homosexuality to alcoholism, and conducts its “support groups” using the 12-Step format developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Some members of Courage even consider their “disorder” to be curable, and explain its origin using debunked theories of dominant mothers, distant fathers, and abusive family relations.  Livingston’s commentary in The Catholic Spirit is clear evidence that the quackery of NARTH is actively endorsed and encouraged by some within the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.

__________________________________________________________

PART II – THE "EX-EX-GAY"

By Michael Bayly

(From The Progressive Catholic Voice, February 2008)

INTRODUCTION

In the February 2008 issue of The Progressive Catholic Voice, Michael Bayly shared the contributions made by John C. Gonsiorek to the CPCSM-sponsored event, “The Myth of ‘Conversion Therapy’ and the Pseudo-Science of NARTH.”

Dr. Gonsiorek was one of two speakers at this program, which took place at the House of the Beloved Disciple in Minneapolis on Tuesday, January 29, and was prompted, in part, by recent efforts on the part of the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis to promote the ideology and “scientific findings” of the National Association for Research and Treatment of Homosexuality (NARTH).  The other speaker invited to share his perspective on this issue was Jeffry G. Ford, MA, a licensed psychologist and psychotherapist. 

Highlights of John Gonsiorek’s presentation comprised Part I of the two-part Progressive Catholic Voice series, “The Myth of ‘Conversion Therapy’ and the Pseudo Science of NARTH.”

Following is Part II, comprised of highlights of Jeff Ford’s presentation at the House of the Beloved Disciple on January 29.

An expert for both sides of the issue

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Jeffry Ford’s story is that he was formerly the executive director of OUTPOST, an “ex-gay” ministry located in Minneapolis.  For ten years, Jeff claimed to be a “former homosexual,” and was a national speaker for Exodus International, the governing board and communication hub for most ex-gay ministries.

Today, however, Jeff identifies as a gay man and is a nationally known consultant and speaker on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) issues.  Jeff dedicates his time and energy to challenging the unethical and dangerous use of pseudo-scientific theories associated with the ex-gay movement, a movement that includes NARTH.  In particular, he addresses the complexities involved with the anti-gay theory and practice known both as “reparative therapy” and “sexual conversion therapy,” which purports to prevent and cure homosexuality.

The story of Jeff’s journey away from the world of “ex-gay” ministry is featured with those of other “ex-gays” in a publication entitled, "Finally Free," complied by the Washington, DC-based Human Rights Campaign.

Learning how to pass

Growing up in a religious home, Jeff responded to his growing awareness that he was attracted to other males by rationalizing that “something had gone wrong” inside of him.  He felt shame and a sense of “badness,” and struggled to keep secret his homosexual feelings.  Yet his mother could tell that something was going on inside of him.  Accordingly, she would have “little talks” with him that invariably started with: “Jeffry, do you know what it is to be a queer?” She also attempted to “butch” him up and would give him examples of what was wrong about being effeminate and queer.  She even sent him to a wrangling camp on a ranch in Arizona.  Looking back on this experience, Jeff says with a wry smile: “It just didn’t work.”

Nevertheless, by high school, Jeff had “learned how to pass” – learned how to date girls and keep his true desires “under wraps.”  In his junior year of high school he became involved with evangelical Christianity, and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.  In this rigid, fundamentalist form of Christianity, Jeff found a way to hope and believe that “something” was going to take his homosexuality away; that somehow God, through Jeff’s personal acceptance of Jesus, was going to heal him and set him free.

He began to sublimate, repress, and deny the homosexual feelings he was experiencing.  Despite some “dalliances” involving other men – encounters that he never talked about and felt “incredibly shameful about,” Jeff married at the age of twenty.  Yet when neither his evangelical Christian faith nor his heterosexual marriage made his homosexual desires disappear, Jeff sought counseling.  The Christian counselor he saw at Bethel College was in his own way, says Jeff, compassionate and caring.  In retrospect, however, Jeff can also say that this counselor was misguided in his understanding about homosexuality.

He asked Jeff to undergo “aversion therapy” – a form of electric shock “reparative therapy.”  Jeff ended up doing forty sessions of this humiliating type of therapy that left painful scorch marks on his forearms.  Even after realizing that this type of therapy had failed to take away his homosexual desires, Jeff continued to pursue anything he could so as not to be gay.

The two biggest lies

At one point during his presentation, Jeff shared the DVD documentary Abomination: Homosexuality and the Ex-Gay Movement

The various testimonies contained in this DVD – from former ex-gays and psychologists – attest to the fact that the ex-gay movement pushes what former ex-gay Daniel Gonzales describes as the two biggest lies that drive people into any form of therapy to either change or repress their sexual orientation and/or its expression.  These lies are that: 1) a person cannot live their life as a gay person and be a good Christian, and 2) being gay is not a viable or fulfilling way to live one’s life.

One Catholic ex-gay featured in the documentary notes that often after “conversion therapy” fails, many “faith-based” therapists will say that the only choice you have left is celibacy.  They realize that the success rate of changing homosexuals to heterosexuals is “very, very poor.”  So they try to take a new approach by saying, “Well, if you can’t change, then be celibate.”

To be sure, the lives of ex-gays all seem to be dominated by hopelessness, guilt, internalized shame, and feelings of defectiveness.  More than one commentator in the film noted that the sense of worthlessness that ex-gay ministries foster compels many gay people to take unsafe sexual risks.  As one former ex-gay noted: “If you serve a mean God, you become sort of mean also.”

One psychologist in the film offered the following insight: “The repression of sexual desire actually makes the idea of acting them out more titillating, makes a person more likely to think sexual thoughts.  For those struggling to suppress their homosexual feelings, this repression actually leads to an increase in the acting out of unsafe sexual behaviors – behaviors that might not occur if they were more accepting of their homosexuality.”

One young man interviewed confirmed this, saying that: “I never really dated anyone – male or female – until I made the choice to accept my sexuality.”  That acceptance allowed him to start dating, an experience that he describes as “fantastic.”  “I was no longer meeting men in dark places having anonymous sex,” he said, “but actually having a relationship for the first time.”

Breaking free

Of course, for some gay people, getting to the point of having a relationship requires breaking free from an ex-gay ministry of one form or another.  Breaking free, however, can be a very protracted and painful experience as it is often within these ministries that many gay people have their family, friends, and their sense of faith and community.  Yet despite the pain of being ostracized by family and friends, the vast majority do indeed break free.  As one former ex-gay declares: “I’d rather be hated for what I am than loved for what I’m not.”

Yet what of those who claim that conversion therapy has worked for them?  According to Jeff Ford, ninety-six percent of such people fall into the first two of three categories, the first of which is comprised of people who, despite claimed success, still struggle with homosexual feelings and/or behaviors.  The second category is comprised of those who are single and celibate.  Only four percent of those who claim that “reparative” or “conversion” therapy has been successful now consider themselves to be heterosexual.  Interestingly, almost all of these people work in the ex-gay counseling field.  It would seem that for reparative therapy to be successful, one must quit one’s job and become an ex-gay minister and/or therapist and dedicate one’s life to it.

Jeff noted that in the ex-gay world, the expression of same-sex attraction is never talked about as an act of love.  It’s only ever understood and talked about as an incarnation of evil.  Furthermore, if you accept the “lie” about the normalcy of homosexuality, then you forfeit your place in heaven.

Jeff’s questioning of this dogma against his inner sense and experience of being loved and accepted by God as a gay man was an experience of “deep grace and forgiveness.”  It was a liberating experience for him.

Says Jeff: “The ex-gay movement tends to blame the parents and/or supposed experiences of childhood abuse for changing the direction of one’s natural (i.e., heterosexual) sexual orientation.  If your unmet needs can be met in ‘healthy’ ways, i.e., in non-erotic same-sex friendships and relationships, then not only will your unmet needs be met, but your heterosexuality will bloom and blossom.  That’s the hope and that’s what they promise.  And some people will do almost anything to believe this – from years and years of counseling to prayers and exorcisms.

“The problem,” continues Jeff, “comes when people do all these things and yet continue to experience same-sex attractions.  They feel like a failure, yet you’re not supposed to talk about such feelings of failure publicly – only in private with your counselor.  There’s a lot of restraint on your personal freedom.  The extent of this restraint depends on which ex-gay ministry you’re involved with.  Some of them demand that you don’t listen to certain types of music, read certain types of books.  You can’t be left alone with another person of the same gender.  It’s very cult-like, very controlling.”

Accurate answers, powerful insight

Jeff certainly has a powerful story to share, and he did so eloquently at the House of the Beloved Disciple on January 29. Without doubt, much of this power comes from the fact that Jeff speaks from experience. After all, he studied and practiced reparative therapies for years. Such personal and professional experience, says Jeff, allows him to offer “accurate answers and powerful insight” into the workings and ideological underpinnings of the ex-gay movement.

Also, unlike many so-called “experts” in the pseudo-science of conversion and reparative therapies, Jeff’s writings have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Most recently his article, “Healing Homosexuals: A Psychologist’s Journey Through the Ex-Gay Movement and the Pseudo-Science of Reparative Therapy,” was published in The Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy (Haworth Press, Volume 5, No. 3/4, 2001). It was simultaneously published in the book, Sexual Conversion Therapy.

Jeff also maintains a comprehensive web site entitled Reparative Therapy: A Pseudo Science, that contains a wealth of information, resources, and a detailed account of his “journey through reparative therapy.”

Michael Bayly is an editor of The Progressive Catholic Voice and the executive coordinator of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM).

John has published widely in the areas of professional misconduct and impaired professionals, sexual orientation and identity, professional ethics, and other areas.  He is a fellow of APA Division 9 (also called the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues), and Division 12 (the Society of Clincial Psychology).

Dr. Gonsiorek is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota; and has taught at a number of other institutions in the Twin Cities area.  For many years, he provided expert witness evaluation and testimony regarding impaired clergy and professionals, standards of care, and psychological damages; and has provided training and consultation to a variety of religious denominations and organizations. 

John is a consulting editor for Professional Psychology: Research & Practice.  His major publications include: Breach of trust: Sexual exploitation by health care professionals and clergy; Homosexuality: Research implications for public policy (with Weinrich); Male sexual abuse: A trilogy of intervention strategies (with Bera and Letourneau), and Homosexuality and psychotherapy: A practitioner’s handbook of affirmative models. 

For 25 years, Dr. Gonsiorek had an independent practice of clinical and forensic psychology in Minneapolis, and now primarily works as a consultant.  He can be reached by phone at 952-994-1386;  or e-mail: gonsiorek@comcast.net. 

Other Resources on the Ex-Gay Movement

What is Reparative Therapy?
An Historical Overview
by Jeff Ford

Reparative Therapy: A Pseudo-Science
(Jeff Ford's Website)

John Gonsiorek's Recommended
Resources from the American Psychological Association (APA)
(A .pdf handout, can be downloaded and printed)

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300+ People Vigil at the Cathedral in Solidarity with LGBT Catholics

(adapted from the blogsite The Wild Reed)

Having processed across Summit Avenue, the protesters gather in front of the Chancery as they witness CPCSM's executive director Michael Bayly deposit the open letter to Archbishop Nienstedt into the building's mail slot.

Over three hundred people gathered at the Cathedral of St. Paul on Sunday afternoon, December 2nd for a vigil of solidarity with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Catholics, their families and supporters. The vigilers gathered in response to an invitation from the Progressive Catholic Voice (PCV), a coalition of Catholic organizations and individuals (of which CPCSM is a founding group) that recently launched a monthly e-newsletter of the same name. The PCV's invitation to gather for the vigil was prompted by Coadjutor Archbishop John Nienstedt's November 15th statement on homosexuality in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the local archdiocese.

CPCSM's executive director Michael Bayly set the tone for the vigil with his opening statement, welcoming all who had come to show their solidarity.

[It is very] appropriate that we’re gathering on the First Sunday of Advent – that season of the church year that invites us to reflect, renew, listen, discover, and become our truest selves in the light of Christ.

Advent is traditionally understood as a time of waiting. As LGBT Catholics we’re very familiar with waiting. We’ve been waiting for a very long time for the institutional church to recognize and honor the light of Christ present in our lives AND relationships.

For that to happen, the church’s teaching on “homosexual activity” will have to change. And I have no doubt that it will one day change. My prayer is that Archbishop Nienstedt will join us in being a prophetic voice in working to ensure that this change happens sooner rather than later.

I’d like to close by paraphrasing Pope John XXIII: We should not think of ourselves as being fearfully under siege in a fortress-like church, a church that serves as a museum of unchangeable traditions and teachings. Rather, we should embody a living, growing, and evolving church; one that can be envisioned as a flowering garden of life – full of color, diversity, and possibility.

Friends, I look out and see such a church before me. And I thank you again for having the courage and compassion to be that type of church and to stand here today in solidarity with LGBT Catholics and those who encourage and support them.

By gathering at the Cathedral amid wintry winds that brought a sub-zero wind chill, the 300+ protesters were, in effect, showing that they do "encourage and support lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) family members, and friends who accept and express their sexuality," Further, the group was there to express their disagreement with Coadjutor Archbishop John Nienstedt's recent statement indicating that by encouraging and supporting their LGBT family members and friends, they are “cooperating in a grave evil.”

Through the sea of signs that they carried and by enthusiastically responding to the event's speakers with their applause and cheering, the crowd also indicated that they would like to see the Church’s teaching on homosexuality reformed in light of credible science and the lived experiences of LGBT people and their families
 
One of the key organizers of the vigil, Michael Bayly, shared with his blogsite readers, "I can’t tell you how happy I am with this incredible turn-out – especially considering the severe wintry conditions we’ve been experiencing in the Twin Cities."

Bayly further elaborated, "No doubt [I thought] due to the inclement weather, the crowd was slow to build. As we began the proceedings with the Bret Hesla song, The Image of God, I thought to myself: Well, fifty people isn’t bad for weather like this. Yet as I began my welcome (and for twenty minutes afterwards), the people just kept arriving and the crowd just kept swelling! (At one point, 325 people were counted.)"

In joy! Oh, in joy do we gather!
Knowing we are all the image of God.

Be strong! Oh, be stronger than hatred,
Knowing we are all the image of God.

We stand! Oh, we stand and we celebrate,
Knowing we are all the image of God.
                       The Image of God, by Bret Hesla

Catholic Rainbow Parents co-founder Darlene White, who has a lesbian daughter with two children.

Speaking on behalf of Catholic Rainbow Parents, convener Mary Lynn Murphy addressed the crowd with her husband, Mike. Responding to the Catholic Church’s contention that homosexuality is a “disorder,” Mary Lynn declared: “Homosexuality is not a disorder of any kind, but rather an ordinary human characteristic with the exact moral dimensions of heterosexuality. This is not, we believe, and never was, a question of ‘sin.’ It is a simple question of human diversity, and society’s ongoing struggle to learn to accept differences of all kinds.”

“As parents, we lift up the voice of our parental authority on this matter, refusing to allow unloving, untrue messages from any entity to undermine our loving families and the human dignity of LGBT persons everywhere - whether they are found in the pews, in the wider society, or - as they frequently are - in the ranks of the clergy and the hierarchy itself.”

Another inspiring speaker at the Vigil for Solidarity was Dignity Twin Cities president Brian McNeill.

Also sharing an inspiring message was Ronnie Angelus, longtime peace activist and parishioner at St. Joan of Arc.

“People are crying today,” said another speaker, 80-year-old Ronnie Angelus. “People are weeping today. A grandfather who loves his granddaughter and her female partner believes he cannot receive communion. And he weeps. Mothers, fathers, relatives, and friends are told they cannot want abundance of life for their gay family members and friends. Young people grappling with their sexuality are scared and they weep. Somewhere, mixed with rage and disbelief, we stand heartbroken today.”

“And the words of Pastor Martin Niemöeller keep coming to my mind: ‘When they came for me there was no one left to speak for me.’ And make no mistake, they are coming for us. The statement of the Archbishop makes it official and it opens the doors for the hate to spill out. Make no mistake. They are coming for us! If ever there was a time to ask for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, for fortitude and wisdom, the moment is now. In these mighty winds of change it is time to say, ‘Come Holy Spirit, come! Come Holy Spirit, come!’”

Above and below: Soulforce founder and author Rev. Mel White received cheers and applause when he declared that those present were the “hope for the Catholic Church.”

“Throughout history,” Rev. Mel White reminded those vigiling outside the cathedral, “the Catholic church, the Christian church, has been saved by people like you who loved it enough to stand up and say, ‘You’re wrong!’”

Mel White then gave some graphic examples of other heroes for their faith in the history of the Church.

"Giordano Bruno, on the Campo Di Fiori, a Roman Square just outside the Vatican walls, was  burned at the stake for confronting Roman Catholic teachings in March of 1600. Then, 400+ years later, John Paul II expressed 'profound sorrow' for the martyrdom.When sentenced, Bruno said tothe bishops, 'You have far more fear in condemning me than I have in being condemned.' "

"Exactly 30 days ago in Linz, Austria, cardinals, bishops and priests gathered to canonize the courgeous layman Franz Jaggerstater who was beheaded by the Nazis in August, 1943.  As a young man he had watched with growing horror as the priests in his Austrian diocese, his local bishop, and even the pope had by their silent assent supported Hitler and the Third Reich. Months earlier Franz Jaggerstater had politely refused to be inducted into Hitler’s army after priests, bishops, cardinals, and the pope had advised for 'the sake of your families' not to resist Hitler’s blitzkrieg across Europe. 'We are losing our souls and we don't know it,' Jaggerstatter cried out."

Mel's third story was the following account of a recent "gay martyr." "Beneath the Pope's window, in St. Peter's Square, Alfredo Ormando, a young gay writer, burned himself to death on January 13, 1998, to protest the teachings and actions of the Vatican against God's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender children."

"There have always been heroes and martyrs who gave their lives for Christ and their faith. If we hope to reach our goal some day, then we, too, must become heroes of the faith," Mel told the crowd. He then concluded his talk by urging the crowd to take over the steps of the Cathedral, which the local archdiocesan authorities had told the vigil's organizers were private property and off-limits for the protesters. "Those are our steps, Mel shouted, "we have a right to occupy them!"

Another highlight of the Vigil for Solidarity was the warmth and energy of the wonderful music provided by (l to r) Kathleen Olsen and Larry Dittberner and Mary Preus (not pictured).

CPCSM co-founder and Progressive Catholic Voice technical editor David McCaffrey, one of the key organizers of the Vigil for Solidarity, made good use of his rich baritone voice throughout proceedings to provide clear and concise explanations and directions to the crowd.

One of the most powerful moments of the vigil was the “die-in and rising up” ritual on the front steps of the cathedral.

As can be see in the photos above, the symbolic "die-in and rising-up" ritual involved the protesters who had gathered on the steps of the Cathedral falling to the ground after David McCaffrey, over the bull-horn, recited Archbishop Nientedt’s recent “life-denying” and "spiritually violent" words regarding homosexuality and then sounded a loud siren. The siren signified the great risk that such a negative statement from a church leader can bring -- risk to the physical, psychological, and spiritual health of LGBT persons and their families.

Eleven-year-old Joseph Olsen proclaimed Jesus’ “life-giving” words: “I came that you might have life – and have it to the full!" (John 10: 10), to symbolize, as David McCaffrey pointed out to the crowd, "that Jesus’ words of life are meant for us all, LGBT and straight people -- just as the teachings of the Church should bring us all the message of God’s unconditional love and not be a source of misunderstanding, fear, hatred, and disunity."

After the die-in participants lying on the Cathedral steps heard the life-giving words of Jesus, they were directed to rise up and everyone joyfully began singing “I Shall Walk in the Presence of God” and began a solemn procession across Summit Avenue to the Chancery, where Archbishop Nienstedt's office is located.

I shall walk in the presence of God, I shall walk.
With the sun and the rain upon me, I shall walk.
In the land of the living, living land, I shall walk.
With my sisters and brothers around me, I shall walk.

After the "die-in and rising-up" ritual, the vigilers processed across Summit Ave. from the Cathedral to the Archbishop's office at the Chancery, where an open letter to him was deposited in the mailbox.

With a large icon of St. Francis of Assisi (the patron saint of The Progressive Catholic Voice , which organized the vigil), carried by one of the vigilers, leading the way, all in attendance joined in the procession and gathered in front of the nearby chancery and witnessed CPCSM executive director, Michael Bayly, deliver an open letter to Archbishop Nienstedt from the editorial team of The Progressive Catholic Voice.

An unidentified woman carries the portrait of St. Francis of Assisi that usually oversees various meetings of both CPCSM and The Progressive Catholic Voice editorial team!

An Open Letter to Archbishop Nienstedt
Concerning His Recent Comments on Homosexuality

Program from Vigil for Solidarity (.pdf)
(Includes suggestions for future actions of solidarity and local resources.)

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Local Media Coverage

KARE - 11

WCCO- 4

Michael Bayly's Blogsite: 300+ People Vigil at the Cathedral in Solidarity with LGBT Catholics Why We Gathered

St. Paul Pioneer Press, December 2, 2007

St. Paul / 200 protest Catholic leader's comments

About 200 people gathered at the steps of St. Paul Cathedral on Sunday to protest comments on homosexuality made by Coadjutor Archbishop John Nienstedt, future leader of the Catholic Church in the Twin Cities.

The rally was organized by several local groups upset with Nienstedt's comments in his Nov. 15 column in the Catholic Spirit newspaper. He wrote: "Those who actively encourage or promote homosexual acts or such activity within a homosexual lifestyle formally cooperate in a grave evil and, if they do so knowingly and willingly, are guilty of mortal sin."

A handful of people at the rally held signs that read: "Love is Not a Mortal Sin."

"It's so important to take a stand when churches speak out against the gay community," said Randi Reitan of Eden Prairie, whose son, Jacob, is gay. "My son is a child of God."

Nienstedt will become archbishop next year. In a statement Sunday, the archdiocese said church teaching forbids all sexual activity outside of marriage.

"Persons with the same-sex orientation of attractions are welcomed as full members of the Church," the statement said, "and are invited to find God's grace within this moral framework."

- Nick Ferraro

Letters to the Editor, St. Paul Pioneer Press, December 5, 2007

Hoping, praying

Thank you for covering the public protest at the St. Paul Cathedral on Sunday ("200 protest Catholic leader's comments," Dec. 3). Your article alerted Catholics of Archbishop John Nienstedt's outdated condemnation of those of us who "encourage" gay and lesbian family/friends. We "are guilty of mortal sin." YIKES!

It sounds like he hasn't read current scientific and psychological data (or the New Testament). After 13 years of excellent Catholic education, countless religious retreats, books, meditations, plus 50 years of Mass and Eucharist, I am prepared to disagree with his edict.

Perhaps he never met a faith-filled person of the GLBT community, or maybe his life was never enriched by a friend/family member who was gay or lesbian. If not, he had better get out into his archdiocese, prepare to dialogue and experience our riches. He may see another side of this issue, and hopefully soften his attitude. We can only hope ... and pray!

ANN McGLYNN
North St. Paul

Condemning freedom?

The Pioneer Press notes the GLBT protest at the cathedral as well as Coadjutor Archbishop John Nienstedt's remarks in response ("200 protest Catholic leader's comments," Dec. 3). It is disturbing that Nienstedt cites Scripture passages condemning certain types of sexual activity while ignoring passages allowing slavery, condemning charging interest on loans, sanctioning unequal treatment of women, etc.

Why are gays and lesbians targeted? Does this selectivity reflect the benevolent face of God? Or does it smack of intolerance and denial?

It reminds me of my years in the convent where arrogant and intolerant superiors attempted to rule our lives while treating us as putty in their hands.

Perhaps it is time for all of us to re-read the Vatican II's decree on religious liberty, a church teaching that Nienstedt and the current Roman Curia seem to ignore. Why lecture the world about freedom of conscience and then condemn the very exercise of that freedom?

MARGARET KLEMPAY
St. Paul

Minnesota Monitor, December 3, 2007

Catholics Confront Archdiocese Over Statement on Homosexuality
Andy Birkey, Minnesota Monitor, December 3, 2007.


Photos: Michael Bayly (except second photo of die-in, which was taken by Andy Birkey).

 

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Nienstedt's First Statement On Homosexuality Signals Beginning Of Unprecedented
Period Of Persecution for LGBT
Catholics and Their Families In Archdiocese

"Those who actively encourage or promote homosexual acts or such activity within a homosexual lifestyle formally cooperate in a grave evil and, if they do so knowingly and willingly, are guilty of mortal sin. They have broken communion with the church and are prohibited from receiving holy Communion until they have had a conversion of heart, expressed sorrow for their action and received sacramental absolution from a priest."

With these heartless and legalistic words, Coadjutor Archbishop John Nienstedt -- scheduled to replace Archbishop Harry Flynn next spring -- dispassionately sent forth his first volley of spiritual violence, directed at LGBT Catholics, their families and friends, and their pastoral advocates and other supporters.

The statement appears in Nienstedt's weekly column in the November 15th issue of The Catholic Spirit, the Archdiocese's official newspaper, in which he lays out for the archdiocese -- for the first time since it was announced that he would be replacing Archbishop Harry Flynn -- his viewpoints on homosexuality. The column, which reiterates the coadjutor's position toward gays while serving as the Bishop of New Ulm, appears to announce Nienstedt's intentions, during his upcoming administration, of treating LGBT persons and those who love and support them harshly and with more legalism and less pastoral concern than has ever been seen during the administrations of previous archbishops in the local archdiocese.

For example, Nienstedt's column stands in stark contrast with the following quote from a statement written by the late Archbishop Roach -- with whom CPCSM's cofounders met to announce the beginning of their pastoral ministry efforts -- that summarizes the treatment that he advocated for LGBT persons.

. . . Gay people, like anyone else, have a deep need for human relationships. Although sexual activity between two members of the same sex cannot be condoned, nevertheless, the church and society must carefully avoid passing judgment on the inner moral state of any individual.

Many homosexuals experience unnecessary pain and suffering. It is the obligation of all of us to love such persons as our brothers and sisters; it is the firm intention of this local church not only to advocate for the rights of homosexual persons, but to provide cometent and compassionate postoral care for such persons.
Archbishop John R. Roach
"A Statement on Homosexual Persons and the Protection of Human Rights"
Catholic Bulletin, September 21, 1991

In Nienstedt's November 15th column, he summarizes three other points that he believes to be crucial to his discussion about LGBT persons. Two of the points are meant to show how his position on homosexuality is in agreement with the attitudes of the majority of the US bishops and to justify his pastorally insensitive and legalistic approach to homosexuality.

The first of the other points, quoted immediately below, indicates how he justifies the archdiocese's refusal to allow Carol Curoe, a parishioner at St. Joan of Arc in a long-term committed lesbian relationship, and her 82-year-old "cradle Catholic" father to share at St. Frances Cabrini Church the story of their journey together in dealing with her coming out to him as a lesbian. (See Nov. 1, 2007, editorial in the Catholic Spirit.) (The father and daughter's story appears in their recently published book, Are There Closets in Heaven? A Catholic Father and Lesbian Daughter Share Their Story (Syren Book Co., 2007).)

At their special assembly in Denver from June 14 to 19, 2004, just before the last presidential election, the U.S. bishops issued a document (see Origins, July 1, 2004, Vol. 34, no. 7) clarifying the role of Catholic politicians with respect to their stands on moral issues within the public arena.

The second to last point of that document was our collective resolve that Catholic churches, colleges and other institutions should not give "awards, honors or platforms" to persons who, whether Catholic or not, held public positions contrary to the church's defined teaching. To do so would cause scandal, leading Catholics to be confused about what is right and wrong according to the teachings of the church, prompting them to endorse or even to commit immoral behavior. This is why it was not appropriate for Carol Curoe and her father to speak at the Church of St. Francis Cabrini in Minneapolis.

For the second other point concerning homosexuality, Nienstedt gives the the following opinion, which many other doctrinal experts would find problematic:

The USCCB statement "Always Our Children" is not a normative teaching statement of the bishops' conference.  I, along with the majority of bishops at the time of its publication, never had the opportunity to discuss or vote on that document in general assembly. It was written by the Committee on Marriage and Family and, with the approval of the NCCB Administrative Committee, it was published in the committee's name only (see Origins, Oct. 9, 1997, Vol. 27, no. 17, p. 287). What is considered normative would be last year's document adopted by the USCCB general assembly and entitled "Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care." I urge you to read and study this document, which can be ordered at: www.usccbpublishing.org.

Nienstedt's contention that Always Our Children is not "normative" was immediately challenged as untrue by retired Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, who served along with Nienstedt in Detroit as a fellow auxiliary bishop. According to Bishop Gumbleton, due to criticism from a number of conservative bishops, such as John Nienstedt, the original draft of Always Our Children (1997) was sent to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where it was ratified after some changes were made that did not "significantly alter the message of the document." The document was then reissued by the US bishops' Committee on Marriage and Family in its current form in the summer of 1998. The common understanding of doctrinal experts is that ratification of a document by the Vatican would supersede the authority of a nation's conference of bishops. A news story in the July 17, 1998, issue of the National Catholic Reporter verifies Bishop Gumbleton's recollection of these events.

Although Archbishop Nienstedt is correct in stating that the document adopted by the USCCB general assembly, "Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care," it certainly cannot be said that his November 15th statement that implies that families and friends who support and encourage LGBT persons who accept themselves and seek out committed relationships commit mortal sin is normative, since such a statement has not been ratified by the whole body of US bishops.

Nienstedt's final point is about the pastoral care of homosexuals who accept that they have the "disorder" of same-sex attraction (SSA), for which he recommends Courage support groups for gays and lesbians, which he likens to Alcoholics Anonymous groups, and Encourage support groups for their families and friends.

First, given current science on human sexuality, including the official pronouncements from pertinent professional mental health and educational organizations, CPCSM cannot Archbishop Nienstedt's definition of homosexuality as disordered or pathological, which is based on long-ago refuted and discredited statements made by neo-Freudian psychoanlysts from the 1950s.

Further, although Courage does not officially recommend reparative therapy for its members, its website does say that it will stand by those who seek change through reparative therapy and Courage conferences have featured presentations by mental health professionals who advocate such change therapy In agreement with all reputable professional mental health and medical associations, CPCSM condemns reparative therapy as not only ineffective but unethical and even a threat to the psychological and physical health of those who seek it out.

CPCSM leadership recently consulted with experts in the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota who tell us that the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), which has been used as a reference for the archdiocese's positions on homosexuality in recent articles in the Catholic Spirit, have no credibility or respectability among legitimate professional associations pertinent to the study and treatment of homosexual persons. These associations include--among many others--the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychiatric Association.

Therefore, we challenge Archbishop Nienstedt to show us reputable scientists of human sexuality that support his position and whose peer-reviewed academic publications agree with his assertions? Does not sound theology need to be informed by solid science?

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An Open Letter to Archbishop Nienstedt
Concerning His Recent Comments on Homosexuality

November 21, 2007

Dear Archbishop Nienstedt:

Your November 15 column in The Catholic Spirit on homosexuality leaves us grief-stricken and questioning.

We cannot accept your teaching on this matter.

Your first point is that the US bishops are concerned that Catholics might get "confused about what is right and wrong according to the teachings of the Church, prompting them to endorse or even to commit immoral behavior." Because of this concern, homosexuals in partnered relationships may not get awards, honors or be allowed to speak in a Catholic church.

Our question is: Is it Church teaching that right and wrong are determined by the bishops? We believe that moral positions emerge by discernment from the experience of the faithful as a whole in dialogue with scientific and philosophical communities of inquiry. From our study, as well as our experience as homosexual people, as parents of homosexual people, and as staunch supporters of people who are seeking to live a life of goodness and love, we see homosexuality as one of many good ways to develop our human capacities to love as a preparation for receiving the gift of divine life. Please clarify this for us. Do bishops by their elevation have an infusion of knowledge of right and wrong in all areas?

Your second point is that "those who actively encourage or promote homosexual acts or such activity within a homosexual lifestyle formally cooperate in a grave evil and if they do so knowingly and willingly, are guilty of mortal sin. They have broken communion with the church and are prohibited from receiving holy Communion until they have had a conversion of heart, expressed sorrow for their action and received sacramental absolution from a priest."

By the threat of sin, you have divided parents from children, family members and members of loving communities from each other. Many of us are not affected by your words because we firmly believe that homosexual love is, as all love is, of God. But upon others who are still struggling with Roman Catholic Church teaching on this subject, you have placed an intolerable burden.

For all of us the vagueness of the statement renders it absurd. We are sad to see our leadership in such a position. Is it a mortal sin if we support our homosexual family members and friends in loving, partnered relationships? May we have them to dinner? May we worship with them? May we take care of their children when they need us? May we tell them that we love them and are very happy that they are happy?

Are we not to allow lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons who accept and express their sexuality, or their supportive families and friends, to engage in any of the following activities: 1) work for us if we are employers, 2) rent from us as landowners, 3) secure loans from us if we are bankers, 4) take classes from us or attend our schools if we are educators, 5) engage in business with us if we own or operate a business, or 6) utilize public accommodations or public services if our jobs give us responsibilities over the usage of these public services?

To engage with LGBT persons in any of these above ways certainly could be construed as "encouraging" or "promoting" their "homosexual lifestyles"; yet, to refuse LGBT persons access to any of these activities or services would be in direct violation of Minnesota's Human Rights Act, which has protected them from discrimination based upon sexual or affectional orientation since 1993. Such an interpretation of your recent statement would create much confusion and cause extreme stress for the faithful. Please explain to us what your statement says about these areas of possible conflict.

Your third point is that Always Our Children is not "normative" because it did not come from the whole body of US bishops after discussion and vote. However, your brother bishop, Thomas J. Gumbleton, who served with you in Detroit, disagrees with your opinion about the authority behind this document. He informed us that his recollection of the history regarding this document leads him to conclude that it is clearly normative. Gumbleton recalls that due to criticism from conservative bishops such as yourself, the original draft of Always Our Children (1997) was sent to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where it was ratified after some changes were made that did not "significantly alter the message of the document." The document was then reissued by the US bishops' Committee on Marriage and Family in its current form in the summer of 1998. Our understanding is that ratification of a document by the Vatican would supersede the authority of a country's conference of bishops. Our search of documents revealed a news story in the July 17, 1998, issue of the National Catholic Reporter that verifies Bishop Gumbleton's recollection of these events.

Also, in light of your concerns about the authority of episopal statements, does this proclamation of yours on mortal sin for all supporters of homosexual people have the affirmative vote of the whole body of US bishops? It is curious that it could be mortal sin in the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis to support homosexual partners while in other states in the US and other countries it is not.

Your fourth point is about the pastoral care of homosexuals who accept that they have the "disorder" of same-sex attraction (SSA). Given current science on human sexuality, including the official pronouncements from pertinent professional mental health and educational organizations, we cannot accept your definition of homosexuality as disordered or pathological, nor accept that reparative therapy is ethical or effective. Can you show us reputable scientists of human sexuality that support your position and whose peer-reviewed academic publications agree with your assertions? Does not sound theology need to be informed by solid science?

Also, please note that we recently consulted with experts in the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota who tell us that the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), which has been used as a reference for your positions on homosexuality in recent articles in the Catholic Spirit, have no credibility or respectability among legitimate professional associations pertinent to the study and treatment of homosexual persons. These associations include--among many others--the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychiatric Association.

We believe that you genuinely want to create a well-ordered Catholic community in the Archdiocese. Yet, must "orderliness" depend on rigid legalism and unquestioning obedience?  Does not the life and example of Jesus demonstrate that such qualities are subordinate to that type of hospitality that invites and includes all: the different, the marginalized, the sinners, the exceptional, all classes, colors, genders, and orientations.  Intrinsic to this “radical hospitality” is a trusting openness and response to the presence and action of God within the Church as People of God and thus the vast and diverse arena of human life and relationships.

Accordingly, instead of top-down teaching, we believe that all of us should be in continual dialogue from our own study and experience about the norms of right-relationship between and among us in all our differences. As Patrick A. Heelan, S.J., has pointed out in an analysis of John Paul II’s encyclical Fides et Ratio, “the process of learning truth is embodied, dialogical, evolutionary, emergent, metaphorical, imaginative, lifelong, and committed to the entanglement of goodness and truth.”

We need a strong and clear leader who will respect our faith experience and grow together with us to create a witnessing community in this complex society. We have hope that you will join us and that we can support you.

Sincerely,

The Editorial Team of The Progressive Catholic Voice:

Michael Bayly
Mary Beckfeld
Steve Boyle
Susan Kramp
David McCaffrey
Brian McNeill
Mary Lynn Murphy
Rick Notch
Theresa O'Brien, CSJ
Paula Ruddy

(Click here for more information on The Progressive Catholic Voice.)

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Catholic Father and Lesbian Daughter Banned
from Speaking on Church Property

Presentation Moved to New Space in Spirit of the Lakes UCC Building

Following is a statement to the media released yesterday by the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities and Syren Book Company.

_______________________________________________________

Carol and Robert Curoe

The Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis has banned an 82-year-old “cradle Catholic” and his daughter from speaking at a Catholic parish.

Robert and Carol Curoe, co-authors of the recently released book, "Are There Closets in Heaven? A Catholic Father and Lesbian Daughter Share Their Story," were scheduled to speak Monday at St. Frances Cabrini Church in Minneapolis, at an event organized by the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM) and Catholic Rainbow Parents.

However, according to Michael Bayly, executive coordinator of CPCSM and editor of the recently published book, "Creating Safe Environments for LGBT Students: A Catholic Schools Perspective," St. Frances Cabrini's pastor was informed that due to “the number and intensity” of calls and e-mails received by the Archdiocese opposing the event, it could not be held on church property.

“The Archdiocese’s decision to ban the Curoes is very sad and misguided.” Bayly said.

The Curoes have been engaged in a book speaking tour of the Midwest for the last month, speaking at a range of venues and receiving overwhelmingly positive responses to their story.

Their book has been described as “a testimony to the power that faith and love can play in bringing families together.”

Retired Catholic bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit has endorsed the book, noting that father and daughter’s “willingness to share their journey will help break down many barriers of prejudice and discrimination facing the homosexual community.”

“Obviously, we’re disappointed, and we are still trying to understand it,” said Carol Curoe. “Our book, Are There Closets in Heaven? talks about an 82 year-old, life-long Catholic father trying to understand and practice his faith within his Church while also loving his daughter as he does her siblings. Neither our journey, nor writing the book, was an easy task.”

Despite the banning of the Curoes’ speaking engagement at St. Frances Cabrini, Monday’s event will still take place.

“This whole incident has reaffirmed our commitment to help build spaces of safety and respect within the Church for gay people,” says Bayly.

One of these spaces is a recently established center called The House of the Beloved Disciple, located at 2930 13th Ave. S., Minneapolis, in the building that is also home of Spirit of the Lakes United Church of Christ. The Curoes will speak at The House of the Beloved Disciple on Monday, October 22, at 8:00 p.m.

“I hope this unfortunate event does not mean that CPCSM’s days of being welcomed to host educational and story sharing events in Catholic parishes are over,” said Bayly. “Though disappointing, the banning of the Curoes is not altogether surprising – especially given the climate of fear and intimidation that has steadily increased throughout the Church over the past few years.”

“CPCSM has been around for 27 years, and has always been a grassroots and independent organization within the local Catholic community. It's clear that our sharing of Jesus’ message of compassion and justice is now needed more than ever within the Church,” Bayly said.

Let us pray and work for social justice
for all of our brothers and sisters everywhere!

"In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me."
(From Martin Niemoeller, Berlin Lutheran pastor, arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau Concentration Camp in 1938; the Allied forces freed him seven years later.)

CPCSM Member of Newly Formed Coalition of Progressive Catholics Launching E-Newsletter,
The Progressive Catholic Voice

CPCSM is honored to be part of a coalition of Catholic organizations and individuals that has recently launched a monthly e-newsletter entitled The Progressive Catholic Voice. Serving as a forum for reflection and dialogue within the local Catholic community, The Progressive Catholic Voice was launched on October 4, the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi (rendered by artist Jon Giuliani in the picture above). We chose St. Francis to serve as the e-newsletter’s patron saint as, in his time, he heard and responded to God’s call to “repair my Church.”

This call continues to resound today in a Roman Catholic Church that, at its worst, is corroded and weakened by clericalism, hypocrisy, intellectual dishonesty, a profound lack of imagination, and a monarchical mindset and structure totally contrary to Jesus’ egalitarian model of community. We also believe that the taking of a progressive stance is a legitimate calling within our richly diverse Catholic tradition. As progressive Catholics we seek to embody God’s spirit of generosity, justice, and compassion as we participate in and contribute to the Church’s capacity to grow, change and evolve in ways that ever increasingly reveal God’s transforming love within and among us.

Specifically, this new e-newsletter seeks to develop and unify the progressive Catholic voice of our local church.  We believe that this progressive voice is an intrinsic part of our Catholic tradition.  Along with the moderate and conservative voices within the Church, this progressive voice is essential to the discussions and deliberations that are part of any living faith community. As Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801­90) once noted: the laity has to be consulted in matters of doctrine, especially when teachings concern their lives so intimately.

Sadly, such consultation is not taking place within the Church.  In its place we are witnessing an institutional retreat into clericalism and theological absolutism. Yet as distressing as this is, we, as progressive Catholics, are unwavering in our commitment to embody a healthy, life-giving, intellectually-honest, and authentically Gospel-based model of church – especially in terms of organizational structure, decision-making, and Vatican II’s call for “full, conscious, and active participation by all the baptized.” 

This embodiment is one way we are called to “repair” the Church.  Another involves providing a forum for the voices and stories of progressive Catholics that have been suppressed. A third aspect involves highlighting and critiquing the inconsistencies, incongruencies, and injustices of an institution that claims to be Gospel-based but sometimes falls short.  All are proactive endeavors and will be undertaken in a respectful tone and in a spirit of love for our brothers and sisters throughout the Church – regardless of whether they identify as conservative, moderate, or progressive.

More often than not, The Progressive Catholic Voice will undertake these three endeavors vital for the repairing of our beloved Church, by simply asking and exploring questions. As progressive Catholics, we take to heart Sister Joan Chittister’s observation that “the courage to question the seemingly unquestionable is the essence of spiritual leadership.”

We therefore invite you to be part of this courageous leadership by subscribing and/or submitting your own questions, reflections, stories, commentaries and ideas to The Progressive Catholic Voice.

To receive this e-newsletter via e-mail each month, subscribe to it, by sending an e-mail with the word “subscribe” in the subject line to: progressivecatholicvoice@gmail.com.

To submit materials to The Progressive Catholic Voice or to contact the editorial team, send an e-mail to the same address.

We look forward to your participation and support in getting the word out about The Progressive Catholic Voice.

Click on the following link, to view
the current issue of The Progressive Catholic Voice.

CPCSM and Catholic Rainbow Parents Invite
CPCSM's Members and Friends to the
Second Annual Bill Kummer Forum

Featuring . . .
Carol and Robert Curoe, Co-authors of
Are There Closets in Heaven?
A Catholic Father and Lesbian Daughter Share Their Story

Note Following Changes

8:00 p.m., Monday, October 22, 2007
The House of the Beloved Disciple
(Spirit of the Lakes UCC Building)
2930 13th Avenue So.
Minneapolis

It’s always difficult for a child to tell her parents she is gay, regardless of how liberal or conservative her family might be.  When the daughter is part of a devout Catholic family living in a small rural community, the parent-child relationship is exposed to even greater risk.

Are There Closets in Heaven? is a revealing first-person dialogue between a lesbian daughter, who had always dutifully tried to please her parents, and her Catholic father, an eighty-one-year-old farmer from Iowa. Through their letters and reflections, we see how courage and love made it possible for Bob and Carol Curoe to navigate the twists and turns of such a dramatic shift in their lives. This highly personal and often emotional exchange offers a gift of hope and inspiration to families who struggle with learning their child is not what they expected.

Are There Closets in Heaven? lets us experience the real lives behind debates taking place in today’s media on same-sex marriage, constitutional amendments, gays and lesbians raising children, and religion. 

Carol and Robert Curoe

Carol Curoe is a business consultant in Minneapolis, where she lives with her partner of twenty years, their sons, Patrick and Jonathan, and the family dog, Max.  When she came out to her parents in 1990, their response was one of shock.  They were from a small, conservative, Irish Catholic farming community in eastern Iowa, and where totally unprepared to deal with their daughter’s “coming out” as lesbian.

Yet Carol and her father Bob were determined to keep the lines of communications open.  What followed over the next several years was a steady stream of correspondence, both poignant and liberating in its honesty and candor.  Many of these letters comprise Carol and Bob’s book, Are Their Closets in Heaven?  A Catholic Father and Lesbian Daughter Share Their Story, published last month by Itasca Books. 

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton has written of the book: “From within the context of a traditional Catholic family, Bob Curoe and his daughter, Carol, share their journey together from denial and suffering to full rejoicing in the gifted life of Carol as one of the Moms in a two-Mom family.  Their willingness to share their journey will help to break down many barriers of prejudice and discrimination facing the homosexual community.”

Read Michael Bayly's recent interview with Carol Curoe in the Fall 2007 Issue of Rainbow Spirit (p.3).

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Reflections from Our Executive Coordinator Michael J. Bayly, MA (From The Wild Reed: Thoughts and Reflections from a Progressive, Gay Catholic Perspective)

Born and raised in rural Australia, Michael J. Bayly currently resides in the US Michael where he serves as CPCSM's Executive Coordinator. He established The Wild Reed "as a sign of solidarity with all who are dedicated to living lives of integration and wholeness – though, in particular, with gay people seeking to be true to both the gift of their sexuality and their Catholic faith.The Wild Reed simply invites people to observe, reflect upon, and perhaps respond to one man’s progressive, gay, Catholic perspective on faith, sexuality, politics, and culture" (from The Wild Reed). He can be reached at: mbayly1965@yahoo.com.

Coadjutor Archbishop Nienstedt's "Learning Curve"
Thursday, May 03, 2007

An Editorial Showing Why CPCSM's Work Still Needed

Hypermachismo in the U.S. bears hidden costs

BY MARK DERY TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press

05/05/2007

So there's a smoking crater where Don Imus used to sit. That's fine with those of us who never understood the appeal of his grizzled-codger shtick, which always sounded like Rooster Cogburn reading "The Turner Diaries," anyway. But if we're going to administer a ritual flaying to every blowhard who channels the ugly American id, why has a hate-speech Touretter like Ann Coulter escaped the skinning knife? She called Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards a "faggot" at the Conservative Political Action Conference; insisted on "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch" that Bill Clinton's "promiscuity" is proof of "latent homosexuality"; quipped on "Hardball Plaza" that Al Gore is a "total fag"; and wrote, in her syndicated column, that the odds of Hillary Clinton "coming out of the closet" in 2008 are "about even money." Obviously, racism - slavery, lynching, institutionalized discrimination - has taken a much greater toll, in this country, than homophobia. According to the most recent FBI data (2005), most hate crimes (54.7 percent) were racially motivated; only 14.2 percent were inspired by the sexual orientation of the victim. But there's another reason the media haven't given Coulter a prime-time water-boarding: Her problem is our problem. As a society, we view racial epithets as Class A felonies, whereas homophobic slurs are parking violations (if that). Coulter laughed off her Edwards crack, saying, "The word I used . . . has nothing to do with gays. It's a schoolyard taunt, meaning wuss." Got that? The term "faggot," helpfully defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as "offensive slang ... a disparaging term for a homosexual man," really means "wuss," a schoolyard pejorative applied exclusively to guys - guys who are "unmanly," according to American Heritage. Not that it means you're a fag or anything. Which is just British slang for "cigarette," anyway. So why are you looking at me like that? Coulter's chop-logic re-minds us that homophobia is so ubiquitous as to be invisible in American society. Only people whose idea of formal attire is a white sheet with eyeholes would dare to use the N-word in public, but homophobic smears reverberate throughout pop culture. Little wonder: Asked in a 2003 Pew Global Attitudes Project study if homosexuality should be accepted by society, only a razor-thin majority (51 percent) of Americans answered yes, in contrast to 83 percent in Germany, 77 percent in France and 74 percent in Britain. Our tradition of demonizing political opponents is founded on homophobic innuendo. Camille Paglia derided Al Gore for his "prissy, lisping Little Lord Fauntleroy persona" that "borders on epicene." John Kerry was deemed too "French" - meaning too much of a girlie man - to be commander in chief. Now Edwards is too heteroflexible; only Straight Guys with a Queer Eye get $400 haircuts, right? George W. Bush learned an unforgettable lesson about the anxious nature of American masculinity when Newsweek branded his father a "wimp," a perception Bush 41 never really overcame. The resolve never to look like a wimp is the key to Dubya's psychology: the you-talkin'-to-me pugnacity at news conferences; the Top Gun posturing on the aircraft carrier, in a crotch-gripping flight suit that moved G. Gordon Liddy to swoon - on "Hardball," for Freud's sake - "what a stud." Doesn't all this machismo and locker-room homophobia protest a little too much? What can we say about a country so anxiously hypermasculine that it produces Godmen, a muscular-Christianity movement that seeks to lure Real Men back to church with services that feature guys bending metal wrenches with their bare hands and leaders exulting, "Thank you, Lord, for our testosterone!" The trouble with manhood, American-style, is that it's maintained by frantically repressing every man's feminine side and demonizing the feminine and the gay wherever we see them. In his book, "The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity," clinical psychologist Stephen Ducat calls this state of mind "femiphobia" - a pathological masculinity founded on the subconscious belief that "the most important thing about being a man is not being a woman." OK, so maybe I'm overstepping the bounds of my Learning Annex degree in pop psychology. But the hidden costs of our overcompensatory hypermachismo are far worse than a few politicians slimed by pundits. The horror in Iraq has been protracted past the point of lunacy by George W.'s bring-it-on braggadocio, He-Ra unilateralism and damn-the-facts refusal to acknowledge mistakes - all hallmarks of a pathological masculinity that confuses diplomacy with weakness and arrogant rigidity with strength. It is founded not on a self-assured sense of what it is but on a neurotic loathing of what it secretly fears it may be: wussy. And it will go to the grave insisting on battering-ram stiffness (stay the course! don't pull out!) as the truest mark of manhood. Mark Dery is a cultural critic who teaches in the department of journalism at New York University. He wrote this piece for the Los Angeles Times.

CPCSM Strongly Supports
Equal Civil Marriage Rights!


A Billboard near St.Louis, MO, sponsored by Catholic Action Network*

A Catholic Theologian's Reflection

Wisconsin Theologian and Former CPCSM President
Sheds Much Needed Light on Same-Sex Marriage Issue
in Recent Pioneer Press Guest Editorial

On civil unions and Christian tradition

WISCONSIN'S MARRIAGE AMENDMENT
WILLIAM C. HUNT, STD St Paul

Pioneer Press, Oct. 31, 2006

Christians concerned about the so-called marriage amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution would do well to examine our own religious tradition, in particular a centuries-old condemnation of an "unnatural" practice.This practice is mentioned more than 15 times in the Hebrew Bible — always in the negative sense of a serious offense. Christian leaders condemned it as an unnatural vice for more than 1,500 years. In 1312 an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church condemned as heretics all those who argued that this practice was not sinful. Dante places people guilty of this vice in the seventh ring of hell. Martin Luther equated this sin with theft and murder and insisted that anyone who engaged in this activity should not be buried in consecrated ground. . . . (For complete article:)

See CPCSM's full page of information about CPCSM's
support for equal marriage for LGBT persons and about
the Minnesota 2006 Anti-Marriage Amendment, which was strongly supported by
Minnesota's Catholic Bishops and Christian fundamentalists.

Scientific News About LGBT Persons

"Within the community of Christian believers there are areas of dispute and disagreement, including the proper way to interpret Holy Scripture. While virtually all Christians take the Bible seriously and hold it to be authoritative in matters of faith and practice, the overwhelming majority do not read the Bible literally, as they would a science textbook. Many of the beloved stories found in the Bible – the Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the ark – convey timeless truths about God, human beings, and the proper relationship between Creator and creation expressed in the only form capable of transmitting these truths from generation to generation. Religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts.

We the undersigned, Christian clergy from many different traditions, believe that the timeless truths of the Bible and the discoveries of modern science may comfortably coexist. . . ."

10,578 Clergypersons (as of 2/12/07) who signed "An Open Letter Concerning Religion and Science"
The Clergy Letter Project
Butler University
Indianapolis, IN

---

Confronting the Biological Facts about Homosexuality
By William Saletan
St. Paul Pioneer Press, February 7, 2007

Just over the Montana border, closeted in their own private Idaho, the gay sheep are getting it on.

Well, it's not exactly private. They're doing it in front of scientists at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station. The scientists arrange the trysts. It's called "sexual partner preference testing."

According to an article by researchers in the project, here's how it works. In a 15-by-10-foot "arena," a young ram is offered four choices: two ewes in heat, and two rams. "The four stimulus animals are restrained in stanchions so that they can only be approached from the sides and rear." For 30 minutes, the unrestrained ram does as he pleases — and the scientists keep score.

A bare majority of rams turns out to be heterosexual. About one in five swings both ways. About 15 percent are asexual, and seven to 10 percent are gay.

Why so many gay rams? Is it too much socializing with ewes? Same-sex play with other lambs? Domestication? Nope. Those theories have been debunked. Gay rams don't act girly. They're just as gay in the wild. And a crucial part of their brains — the "sexually dimorphic nucleus" — looks more like a ewe's than that of a straight ram. Gay men's brains similarly resemble those of women. Charles Roselli, the project's lead scientist, says that such research "strongly suggests that sexual preference is biologically determined in animals, and possibly in humans."

Roselli's interest is in the science. He figured the political upshot, if any, would be gay-friendly. After all, surveys show that if you think homosexuality is biologically determined, you're less likely to be anti-gay.

Roselli didn't just prove that homosexuality in rams is natural. He tried to engineer it. In a 1999 grant application, he proposed to determine whether male-oriented "preference behavior can be artificially produced in genetic male sheep by providing male lamb fetuses (with) prenatal estrogen stimulation." Seven months ago, he published a study that sought the same result by other means. That's how you test possible causes of homosexuality.

You'd expect conservatives to demand that the National Institutes of Health stop funding this research. But if you figure out how to make sheep gay, maybe you could figure out how to make them straight. And maybe you could do the same to people.

Roselli studies hormones, brains and behavior at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), a medical institution. But Fred Stormshak, his collaborator, is an animal scientist affiliated with Oregon State University (OSU), which focuses more on agriculture and economics. Gay rams are "a costly problem for sheep producers because breeding rams are worth $300 to $500 each," Stormshak said in OSU's agricultural newsletter a decade ago. "Outwardly, there is no way to tell whether a ram is male-oriented, so the producer runs the costly risk of buying an animal that will never produce any offspring."

Identifying gay rams wasn't enough. In 2000, Stormshak described an attempt to "alter" them. The idea was to "enhance their sexual behavior or performance" by making them act like straight rams. Three years later, Roselli told an OHSU committee that "information gained about the hormonal, neural, genetic and environmental determinants of sexual partner preferences should allow better selection of rams for breeding and as a consequence may be economically important to the sheep industry." OSU President Ed Ray says the research "may define biological tests that can be used to identify" gay or asexual rams, "thus eliminating their use for general breeding purposes."

Notice the lack of animus. Breeders don't care whether rams are gay or simply unmotivated. All that matters is "performance." And when Ray talks about "eliminating" such rams from breeding, he leaves open the possibility of their grazing happily into old age. But you can smell the slaughterhouse.

Which brings us to the animals whose breeding we really care about: our children.

Passing on genes is life's deepest drive. You don't just want kids. You want grandkids. An Israeli woman, with court approval, is using her dead son's sperm to inseminate a stranger. I know a man whose future mother-in-law put him through a fertility test before approving the marriage. Then there are parents who pressure their adult children to marry and procreate. In a survey, 73 percent of Americans said they would be upset to learn that their child was gay. To many parents, "I'm gay, Mom" means "No grandkids."

Roselli offers evidence that human homosexuality is linked to biological conditions, some of them genetic. If he figures out how to manipulate sexual orientation in sheep, will others try to manipulate it in humans? Doctors used to "treat" homosexuality with hormone injections. Some still do. This idea failed miserably in adults, but it might work in fetuses. And if we can't engineer sexual orientation, maybe we can select it. In Asia, millions have used modern tests to identify female fetuses so they could be aborted. If we learn how to recognize gay brains in development, look out.

The more likely path is gentler. Science will gradually convince us that sexual orientation is innate, more like skin color than character. Condemnation of homosexuality as a sin will subside, and we'll turn to two biological differences between race and sexual orientation: Homosexuality defies the aspiration to procreate with your mate, and it's easier to isolate and alter in embryonic development. We may come to view homosexuality as we do infertility — as a disability. The rhetoric of "acceptance" will shift from liberals to conservatives. We'll inoculate our children against homosexuality out of love, not hate.

The sheep researchers didn't intend anything like this. But they didn't foresee the uproar over their work, either. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has tried to quash their research, depicting them as bigots. PETA, like President Bush, thinks that bad ideas come from bad people, and you must stamp out the whole lot.

But bad ideas, such as communism and eugenics, are usually well-intended ideas that turn bad along the way. What we do with the biological truth about homosexuality isn't written in our genes. It's up to us.

William Saletan covers science and technology for Slate, the online magazine. He wrote this piece for the Washington Post.

Born Gay? How Biology May Drive Orientation
The Seattle Times, June 19, 2005

Animals Exhibit "Gay" Behavior
The Seattle Times, June 19, 2005

In New Book London Researchers Say Being Gay Is Genetic
(Born Gay: The Psychobiology of Sexual Orientation)
News Release, University of East London
June 14, 2005

New Study Gives Support to Position:
Sexual Orientation Has Biological Basis, Is Not Simply a Choice
Study: Homosexuals react to male sex hormones like women
The Associated Press
May 9, 2005

Genetics at Work?

___________________________________________________

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."

An Appeal to the Hearts and Minds
of All Who Seek the Truth . . .

Listen to the stories of tens of thousands
of GLBT people and their families! Listen to the vast majority of professional associations of scientists and health care professionals!

SEXUAL ORIENTATION IS NOT A CHOICE !
Discrimination Against GLBT Persons
Is Evil and Sinful Because
It Destroys Lives and Families!

On-Line Donations to CPCSM (Effective Immediately)

Please note that our previous relationship with CharityBox.com has now ended, due to increases in fees that they are now charging non-profit groups that receive donations through them (i.e., from a fee of 5% per each donation made to a regular monthly [$9.95] or annual [$99] fee, regardless of the number of donations made).We are currently looking for another secure web site through which we might continue to offer an on-line donation service allowing for the use of credit cards. Until then, we apologize for this inconvenience and ask that in the interim donors either mail checks payable to "CPCSM" to our address or call or email us to make other arrangements for making donations to CPCSM (all means of contact listed at top of this page).

Please also see the Membership and Donations page of this website for further information on becoming a member of CPCSM at the same time that you make a donation. Also, information about CPCSM's status as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization can be found on that page.

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we will live deep in our hearts.

May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people and the earth, so that we will work for justice, equity, and peace.

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer, so we will reach out our hands to comfort them and change their pain to joy.

And may God bless us with the foolishness to think that we can make a difference in the world, so we will do the things which others say cannot be done. Amen.

Prayer of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice
Ann Arbor, Michigan

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let us pray and work for social justice for all of our brothers and sisters everywhere!

"In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me."
(From Martin Niemoeller, Berlin Lutheran pastor, arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau Concentration Camp in 1938; the Allied forces freed him seven years later.)

Top of Page

DVD Now Available Online

For More Information on the Video and Where to Order It

Available Now
from Haworth Press!

Creating Safe Environments
for LGBT Students:
A Catholic Schools Perspective
Michael J. Bayly, Editor

A unique publication, the  first of its kind anywhere!

Compiled from CPCSM's three years of experience conducting "Safe Staff" training seminars with local Catholic high schools.

More about the book,
with reviews.

Now on sale locally at:
St. Martin's Table
2001 Riverside Avenue,
Minneapolis, MN 55454
612-339-3920

News

US Bishops Issue Regressive and Spiritually Violent Statement 11-14-06

Editorials
Michael Bayly's Response to US Catholic Bishops Statement on Gay Ministry

Be Not Afraid: You Can Be
Happy and Gay
Nov. 16, 2006

When 'Guidelines'
Lack Guidance
Nov. 15, 2006

Other Reactions to US Bishops' Document

NACDLGM
November 17, 2006

DignityUSA
November 12, 2006

Catholic Organizations
for Renewal
November 12, 2006

National Religious
Leadership Roundtable
of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's (NGLTF)
October 20, 2006

Letters to the Editor
Star Tribune
Nov. 17, 2006
Georgia Mueller
Catholic Mother of Gay Man

Positive Pastoral Care:
A Sampling of Resources
________________

Developing List of Resources
(NACDLGM)
Gay Adolescents in Catholic Schools
By Robt. Mattingly, SJ
Momentum**
Part I (Sept - Oct ' 04)
Part II (Nov - Dec ' 04)

Creating Safe Environments
for LGBT Students:
A Catholic Schools Perspective
Michael J. Bayly, Editor
Based on CPCSM's work with local Catholic high schools

Tell Me The (Whole) Truth:
School Supplies to Get
Real Sex Education
Lambda Legal Publications, 9/5/2002

Facts About Homosexuality
and Child Molestation
Gregory M. Herek, Ph.D., Professor
Dept. of Psychology, University of Calif. at Davis

Library of Resources
Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN)

Coming Out: A Guide for Youth and Their Allies
GLSEN

Journal of Gay & Lesbian
Issues in Education
Haworth Press

Free HRC Guide to
Coming Out:
> In English
> In Spanish
> For African-Americans

School Survival Guide
A project of the LGBT Center of NY:
Run by and for youth

More Facts About
Reparative Therapy

Lambda Rising: An
Excellent Resource
for Ordering
GLBT Books

Science in the News

Important Reminder!

Support CPCSM
in your workplace!

As a member of Community Shares Minnesota (formerly Community Solutions Fund) we benefit from their presence in workplace giving campaigns throughout the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota.  This means new audiences and new dollars for us! So if you are looking for options in your workplace this fall, know that wherever Community Shares MN is represented, you can designate your gifts to the organizations nearest and dearest to your heart - including us!  Tell your friends and co-workers!

Also, remember that you can designate all or a portion of your Community Shares MN donations exclusively to CPCSM. (Currently, the only way you can donate to CPCSM without mailing us a check.)

For more information, please contact Michael Bayly at the PFLAG office 612-201-4534 or cpcsmmail@gmail.com

CPCSM News

CPCSM's 2006 Annual Community Meeting
a Great Success

CPCSM Members Show Family Photos at MN Senate Committee Hearing on Marriage Amendment

Catholic couple clashes
with church over gay rights
By Kay Harvey
Pioneer Press, 2-26-06
Story About Catholic Rainbow Parents' members Charlie and Maria Girsch

CPCSM Cofounder and
Source of Inspiration,
Bill Kummer, Passes Away
on January 29, 2006

CPCSM Newsletter
Rainbow Spirit
Spring 2006**

**Adobe Acrobat
needed to read or print this .pdf document. To download free software, click here.

New CPCSM Program Catholic Rainbow Parents Check out their new web page and read the group's original Declaration and their more recent official statement: "Catholic Rainbow Parents for Constitutional Integrity."Find out how you can show your support by signing the Declaration! Media Coverage Ritual of Affirmation and Sending Forth Reported in Pioneer Press (10/13/05)* *Adobe Acrobat needed to read or print this .pdf document. To download free software, click here. Catholic Rainbow Parents Formation Reported in the NCR  (8/26/05)

New CPCSM
Web Page
Gay Priests & Pedophilia

Guest Commentary

Speaking Against the Proposed Marriage Amendment

On civil unions and
Christian tradition
By William C. Hunt, STD
St Paul Pioneer Press,
Oct. 31, 2006

History Reveals Unsavory Mix of Religion, Constitutional Law
By Rev. Michael Tegeder
St. Paul Pioneer Press
January 10, 2006

Online Donations
Click here for
instructions about
how to make a secure donation by credit card
to CPCSM or to
Catholic Rainbow Parents.



Other GLBT
Catholic News
Gay theology pioneer
trusts 'God's
shrewdness'
(About John McNeill)
By ROBERT J. McCLORY
NCR, 11-11-05

Proud to be celibate,
gay priest
By RENEE K. GADOUA
Religion News Service
NCR, 11-11-05

Memphis Bishop
Welcomes Home
Gay Catholics
NCR, 6-17-05

Other
Commentaries
By CPCSM Leaders

 

Inspirational Links

Daily Scripture Readings
(New American Bible)

New Resources
for Families and
Friends of GLBTs
Come Out and
Celebrate Program
with
Sample Packet
of Materials
for Downloading

---

CPCSM's Parents' Speakers Bureau

An Excellent Local Support Group
for GLBT Youth
The Naming Project



Other Resources
Out of the Darkness,
Into the Light**
The Present and
Future Impact of
GLBT Ministry
on the Church
1/10/2001
By Fr. Greg Tolaas

About Us
History of Gumbleton
and LeMay Awards

Other Relgious Links

GayCatholicForum.org Christian Lesbians.Com Nationwide Welcoming Congregations Index

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