Last week, Chicago Archbishop Francis George compared the LGBT community to the KKK. TWO launched a petition on Change.org that has already been signed by 4,000 people. I discussed this controversial topic on WGN radio with Bill Leff.
You can listen to the segment HERE.
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Wayne Besen is the Founding Executive Director of Truth Wins Out and author of “Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth” (Haworth, 2003). In 2010, Besen was awarded the “Visionary Award” at the Out Music Awards for organizing the American Prayer Hour, an event which shined a spotlight on the role American evangelicals played in the introduction of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
[...] position and this is why he refused to appear on Chicago’s WGN radio to discuss his remarks, as I did on Tuesday [...]
Wayne, great segment. I like the way you nailed the guy at the end who was trying to justify the Cardinal’s comparison of the gay community to the KKK, though he misinterpreted what the Cardinal really said. I did want to refer to what an early caller said when he said that Jesus called homosexuality an abomination. He obviously hasn’t read the Gospels or he would know that there is no recorded statement of Jesus referring to same sex relationships. Nor is there any instance of his changing anyone’s sexual orientation.
Some of these self proclaimed religious people think they can get away with maligning us and that we should bow to them because they have these religious beliefs that our behaviors and our relationships are immoral. Good to you for not putting up with their s**t.
Did anyone else receive a letter like I did for signing the petition? This pisses me off even more!
archbishop@archchicago.org
Statement from Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago
December 27, 2011
The Chicago Gay Pride Parade has been organized and attended for many years without interfering with the worship of God in a Catholic church. When the 2012 Parade organizers announced a time and route change this year, it was apparent that the Parade would interfere with divine worship in a Catholic parish on the new route. When the pastor’s request for reconsideration of the plans was ignored, the organizers invited an obvious comparison to other groups who have historically attempted to stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church. One such organization is the Ku Klux Klan which, well into the 1940′s, paraded through American cities not only to interfere with Catholic worship but also to demonstrate that Catholics stand outside of the American consensus. It is not a precedent anyone should want to emulate.
It is terribly wrong and sinful that gays and lesbians have been harassed and subjected to psychological and even physical harm. These tragedies can be addressed, however, without disturbing the organized and orderly public worship of God in a country that claims to be free. I am grateful that all parties concerned resolved this problem by moving the Parade’s start time so as not to conflict with the celebration of Mass that Sunday.
Dan,
I received this email as well, and am considering how I will respond. I will have to mull things over a bit before responding.
Some things that come to mind, however, are to respond by stating that the archbishop and other RC church leaders have been interfering with the rights of LGBT people to civilly marry partners of the same sex by using lies and preaching from the pulpit.
I am also thinking of addressing the fact that they have interfered with every civil right for which LGBT people have been working, and that I have yet to hear them address any of the tragedies of physical attack, legal and illegal discrimination, suicide due to lies and oppression from people including religious leaders, and psychologically harmful reparative therapy. I also will probably address the fact that LGBT people have also been targeted by the KKK and other religious hate groups.
I don’t live in Chicago so I am not sure how walking along a public street would have interfered with entry into the church through side streets. I do live in St. Louis, and the start route for the pride march each year is in front of a Catholic church, and the church has never maintained that we interfere with their ability to worship. My understanding, however, is that the situation in Chicago was resolved prior to the archbishop’s TV interview, but he either was unaware of the fact, or he he lied.
This same archbishop attempted to stop the IL civil unions law from being enacted, and bishops across the state were outraged when they could no longer take taxpayer money for adoptions and foster care agencies while continuing to discriminate against LGBT parents.
And of course the obvious flaw in his comparison of the parade organizers to the KKK is that the parade organizers are not a hate group. Lots of us in the LGBT people have been really angry with the leaders of the RC church for years due to their opposition to our civil rights. If he does not understand that anger, he does not understand his complicity in our oppression. With the vicious lies that he and his peers in the RC hierarchy have been spreading about our community, it would not be a big stretch to call them purveyors of hate themselves.
I am glad that he felt the need to respond to those of us who signed the petition. Most of the RC church leaders I have written in the past have either ignored my letters and emails, or have responded with some pious pablum.
Dan
I also received this email and have already responded to it. And this is what I said:
—–
It was with some trepidation that I opened this email. Given the hyperbolic and inflammatory speech in which you have engaged over this matter, I was unsure what to expect. And you did not fail to meet my expectation. For I am not surprised that you would attempt to justify your comparison of the Chicago Gay Pride with the Ku klux Klan. It goes without saying that your reasoning and logic are flawed to an extensive degree, and that I am surprised that you would continue to use the KKK as an example given the congruence between their beliefs and the Catholic Church’s official stance towards homosexuality.
But even less surprising is the second paragraph, whose disingenuous and hypocritical statements are a perfect example of the problems underlying the modern Catholic Church. How can one call the harassment of homosexuals ‘terribly wrong and sinful’ while at the same time attempting to justify comparing them to one of the most reviled elements of American society? How can one justify projecting persecuting motives upon a homosexual organization while at the same time engaging in such persecution?
I am certainly aware of the Catholic Church’s stance on the fate of homosexuals, and will not engage in the kind of psychological projection in which you have engage when considering your probable attitude and emotional responses to this fate. I will suggest, however, that you strip away your hypocritical attitude. You cannot inflame hostile sentiments against homosexuals while at the same time decrying hostile sentiments against homosexuals. Disavow and retract this immature attempt at face-saving and give a true apology, or embrace fully the hatred and bigotry towards homosexuals. Either way, allow your true feelings to be displayed and then you will be able to determine whether the Catholic Church stands outside of the American consensus or not.
—–
We will see.
Thank you John and Michael. I wish I could write a letter as wonderful as you have. I want to write and say something but just don’t know exactly what to say yet…Thank you for responding!
Dan, the Church can live with dealing with GLBT in front of its church. We are subjected to its hate and attempts to interfere with our lives and our rights 24/7/365. I think it is more than a fair trade off. Deal with it.
I have just signed the petition, I will look forward to receiving the same message. I know quite a bit of theology and am not hesitant to have a discussion, my best hope is that I will actually get to have a discussion if there is a response.
Regards,
Reyn