RELIGION
Catholic Leaders Urge Nondiscrimination Protections
Religious advocates call for legislative action as Equality Act stalls in US Senate
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
More than 250 Catholic
leaders are stepping
up to express
unequivocal support
for comprehensive nondiscrimination
protections for LGBTQ individuals.
New Ways Ministry — a group
dedicated to LGBTQ Catholics
— spearheaded a letter signed by
prominent Catholic offi cials to
condemn the homophobic views of
many church leaders and emphasize
the need for legislation that
protects the LGBTQ community.
“We affi rm 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,” noted the
letter, which was signed by infl uential
leaders such as Mary McAleese,
Sister Jeannine Gramick and Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry call for religious leaders to
support LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections.
a Catholic academic and former
president of Ireland, and Mary
Novak, executive director of NETWORK,
a national Catholic social
REUTERS/GIAMPIERO SPOSITO
justice lobbying group in Washington,
DC.
The letter continued, “Society’s
failure to protect LGBTQ people
has left them crying out for justice.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we
too must hear and respond to this
cry by pursuing policies and laws
that remedy such grave injustices.
To do any less would abdicate our
responsibility as Christians to live
the Gospel in public life by advancing
the good of all people, especially
those on the margins.”
The push for non-discrimination
protections comes at a time when
the Equality Act, a federal bill that
would solidify comprehensive protections
for LGBTQ individuals,
hangs in the balance due a divided
US Senate.
“LGBTQ non-discrimination is
being debated at all levels in our
society, and the Catholic perspective
on this issue is often misrepresented,
even by some church
leaders,” Francis DeBernardo, New
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➤ NONDISCRIMINATION, continued on p.21
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