Catholic Allies Group in Indianapolis Seeks to Create More LGBTQ-Supportive Schools

Catholic Allies, a new Indianapolis-based non-profit, is engaging families, alumni, and educators to create a more supportive environment for LGBTQ+ students in local Catholic schools, even as the archdiocese has been more restrictive on LGBTQ+ issues.

Still in its first year of operation, Catholic Allies has already drawn significant support. In February, 300 participants attended the organization’s second in-person meeting, which featured four speakers who shared their experiences and strategies for supporting LGBTQ+ youth.

Catholic Allies has also created an anonymous drop box for educators to ask questions and to contribute their suggestions. IndyStar reported that while many educators have used the drop box to share tips, none have signed their names due to fear of retribution for speaking openly about this topic.

“I need to be here for these kids,” was written on one drop box comment. “I need to help show them that they aren’t broken and nothing is wrong with them.”

Catholic schools in Indianapolis, which served 20,000 K-12 students in the 2020-2021 school year, have faced high-profile criticism for anti-LGBTQ+ policies in recent years, including internal guidelines barring admittance of transgender students, the firing of several high school employees for queer relationships or support, and the stripping of Catholic affiliation from another high school because administrators refused to fire an employee in a same-gender marriage.

In the wake of this turmoil, 2003 Bishop Chatard High School graduates Danielle Wiese and Kate Berry, who now have children of their own in Indianapolis Catholic schools, helped organize Catholic Allies because they wanted to start a conversation about how to support LGBTQ+ youth in their community.

“Our mission has been let’s get enough people involved to say that they believe in respect, compassion, sensitivity for the LGBTQ community so that we can shift the culture,” Wiese told IndyStar. “Because just having that, shifts the culture itself.”

Wiese told IndyStar that the community’s response to Catholic Allies has been “overwhelmingly positive. “It feels like everybody was just waiting for an opportunity to start this conversation,” she said.

The organization hopes to focus on creating safe spaces within the schools where LGBTQ+ youth can experience inclusion and acceptance. They base their plan on section 2358 of Catechism of the Catholic Church which says that LGBTQ+ persons “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity,” and that “Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.”

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis said in a statement to IndyStar that “as a core value of Catholic teaching, our Catholic schools promote the dignity of every person as created in the image of God. Every human being is sacred, and, therefore, deserving of respect and dignity.”

However, the Archdiocese also claimed that Catholic Allies is “improperly identifying itself as a Catholic organization” because it is not endorsed by the archdiocese.

Both Wiese and IndyStar reported that they have asked the Archdiocese for reassurances that educators would not lose their jobs for attending Catholic Allies events. The Archdiocese has not responded.

As the work and reception of Catholic Allies shows, lay Catholics are leading the way on LGBTQ+ inclusion. Church leaders in Indianapolis would do well to heed the movement of the Spirit toward creating a welcoming church for all God’s children.

—Ariell Watson Simon (she/her), New Ways Ministry, April 20, 2023