LGBTQ people are also disproportionately subjected to policies of mass incarceration. We think, too, of LGBTQ people subject to so-called conversion therapies that, though causing great psychological damage, still remain legal in most states. Moreover, many LGBTQ people are forced to remain closeted, thus compounding the emotional damage. Such discrimination is often compounded by gender, race, religion, class, or other factors. Discrimination manifests itself in healthcare, housing, employment, public accommodations, adoption and foster care, interactions with police, access to credit, and education. A recent report shows that more than one-third of LGBTQ people have faced some form of discrimination, and this rate is notably higher if one is transgender or a person of color. Heeding Vatican II’s repeated calls to discern “the signs of the times,” Catholics have been engaging questions of gender and sexuality with renewed energy.ĭespite certain legal and social advances in recent years, LGBTQ people in the United States remain victims of significant discrimination. Whichever position you, the reader, may hold on sexual or gender ethics, we invite you to consider the following theological reflection on the topic of non-discrimination with an open mind and an open heart. What we are saying in this statement, however, is relatively independent of that debate, and the endorsers of this statement may hold varied, and even opposing, opinions on sexual and gender matters. That is a vital discussion for the future of Catholicism, and one to which we are whole-heartedly committed. We recognize that a great debate is currently underway in the Catholic Church about whether the current magisterial characterization of same-gender relationships and transgender identities is accurate or not. We affirm that Catholic teaching should not be used to further oppress LGBTQ people by denying rights rooted in their inherent human dignity and in the church’s call for social equality. If LGBTQ people were allowed to flourish as full human beings and as equal citizens, our communal, cultural, and social life would be greatly enhanced by their gifts.Īs Catholic theologians, scholars, church leaders, writers, and ministers, we affirm that Catholic teaching presents a positive case for ending discrimination against LGBTQ people. We affirm the Second Vatican Council’s demand that “any kind of social or cultural discrimination.must be curbed and eradicated” ( Gaudium et Spes, 29). Ending discrimination of this type would also benefit the common good of all people in our society. Non-discrimination would alleviate the personal suffering of LGBTQ people, provide them equal access to our society’s opportunities, and, in many cases, save lives. By supporting civic policies that promote discrimination and by opposing policies that would produce equality, these leaders bypass the Catholic Church’s proud social justice tradition, the product of more than a century’s development of social doctrine that increasingly supports the human rights of all people without exception.īecause LGBTQ people suffer from unjust discrimination due to structural inequalities in law and social institutions, our Catholic faith compels us to speak out in support of the principle of non-discrimination. Harsh statements from high-ranking church leaders against LGBTQ equality initiatives in the civil arena have often succeeded in limiting the rights of LGBTQ people, causing great offense and allowing great social and personal harm to befall this marginalized community.Įqually alarming to us as Catholics is that a vocal section of our church leaders too often does not fully consider Catholicism’s most fundamental teachings and values when taking positions on LGBTQ social policy initiatives. The relationship between the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and the community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) persons has long been fraught with tensions, negative emotions, and confusion.
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