Entries by Guest Contributor

Why We Left, Why We Stay: ‘I remain one foot in and the other outside the threshold’

March 16, 2019 /6 Comments/in , , /by

I neither leave nor remain. I am in limbo. Ten years teaching, six years studying in school, a decade ministering, hundreds of students taken on retreat, dozens and dozens of LGBTQ students lives’ made more livable for the safe space my classroom provided them: these are but a few of the numbers that mattered most to me before the day I was told I could no longer teach or remain in my position as Campus Minister because I was married to another woman.

Home for the Holidays?

November 11, 2018 /4 Comments/in /by

  Though we are surrounded by images of perfect family celebrations for Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is impossible to ignore the pain so many of us hold inside, as we go about our business, doing our best to maintain the positive outward appearance that the season seems to demand.  My heart goes out to those families who struggle through the holidays.

The Courage to Be Me

September 16, 2018 /15 Comments/in /by

I first attended a Courage meeting when I was 24 years old and a student in the Master of Theological Studies program at the University of Notre Dame.I was told I could find like-minded Catholics to support me in the struggle against my sexuality. 

On Fathers’ Day, A Grandfather’s Struggle with Church and State for Transgender Grandchild

June 17, 2018 /6 Comments/in , , , /by

My daughter, Marsha, is the mother of identical twins. Both were born with the bodies of girls. Marsha always wanted to name a daughter after my mother, Mary, so she named the twins Joanne and Mary. Joanne always loved to wear tutus and Mary wanted to wear camouflage type outfits.