How Can LGBTQ Catholics Proceed After Fulton?; And Other News

Here are some items that you might find of interest:

1) Law professor and theologian Leslie Griffin wrote about how LGBTQ advocates can proceed after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Fulton decision. She gave advice on how to craft legislation and how to reclaim better understanding of religious liberty in the church. She quoted Miguel Diaz, a theologian and former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, who commented:

“There are no winners today from the decision in the Fulton vs. the City of Philadelphia case. But tragically, there are many losers, namely, the children awaiting adoption, numerous committed LGBTQ+ couples willing to foster and/or adopt, and adoption agencies connected to the Roman Catholic Church and other religious communities.”

For Griffin’s full analysis at Verdict, click here.

2) Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, wrote an op-ed in the National Catholic Reporter about the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ efforts to stop LGBTQ rights legislation, including its opposition to a national suicide hotline that would have particular services for LGBTQ people and the Violence Against Women Act. Duddy-Burke wrote, in part:

“Over and over, [the bishops] have demonstrated they are willing to sacrifice the greater good of the nation, rather than extending grace to all. They do so despite the oft-documented reality that they do not reflect the will of most U.S. Catholic voters on these issues. . .

“As Catholics, we must scrutinize everything through the lens of our sacred scriptures and hold the bishops’ conference accountable to the most fundamental values of our faith: We are called to love and serve all people, especially those who are in need.”

3) The latest guest on the National Catholic Reporter’s monthly forum NCR Culture was Gina Chavez, a queer Catholic musician who has been nominated for a Latin Grammy. Olga Seguara, NCR’s opinion editor, hosted the conversation, which you can find here. For Bondings 2.0’s previous reporting on Chavez and her identities as LGBTQ and Catholic, click here.

4) Members of Dignity/New York rallied outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral on the city’s Pride Sunday, as they have been doing since 1984. LGBTQ activist Brendan Fay wrote about the gathering in Irish Central, noting that the group was well-received by Mass attendees on their way out of the church. For his full account, click here.

5) Ahead of the city of Coral Gables’ elections this past spring, the LGBTQ group SAVE withdrew its endorsement of mayoral candidate Vince Lago over an anti-LGBTQ position he took. Lago had joined a letter by parents and alumni of the Catholic school where his children attend opposing an inclusion policy adopted by the school that includes LGBTQ and racial justice items. The editorial board of the Miami Herald also noted it endorsed Lago “less wholeheartedly,” according to the Herald’s own reporting. Lago went on to win the mayoral election.

—Robert Shine, New Ways Ministry, July 3, 2021