Rainbow Parents

Parents of LGBT Catholics speak out
Eric Johnston, PlanetOut Network
(October 14, 2005)

Calling Vatican policies regarding LGBT people "spiritually abusive," dozens of Catholic parents of LGBT children issued a statement Wednesday on the steps of a cathedral in St. Paul, Minn., rejecting church teaching on homosexuality.

"We are here to do what we believe Jesus would have us do. Jesus challenged the authorities to change the rules that oppressed the marginalized of his day," said Myrna Ohmann. "We are here to challenge the church and society to rethink and adjust their attitudes."

The protestors are members of a group called Catholic Rainbow Parents. They reject church teaching that declares homosexuality is "objectively disordered" and "evil."

"The effects of such language are profoundly dehumanizing and spiritually abusive of these persons and those who love them," said Mary Lynn Murphy, who has a gay son. "Additionally, language of this kind fuels the fires of bigotry and places LGBT persons in physical and emotional danger."

The group's "declaration of wisdom and love" included the following passage: "Throughout its history, the church has been known to change its position on various issues in the light of increased understanding of specific realities. The time is long overdue for members of the church hierarchy to be open to the realities of LGBT people's lives and relationships."

Members of the group delivered a copy of the statement to their local cathedral and also sent copies to the Vatican and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Debbie Weill is the executive director of Dignity USA, a group dedicated to respect and justice for LGBT people in the Catholic Church. "We're certainly encouraged by the work this group [Rainbow Parents] is doing," she told the PlanetOut Network. "Their protest is right on target. The church's understanding of sexual orientation is very juvenile and certainly doesn't reflect God's teaching and God's love."

Catholic Rainbow Parents formed this past July. Its members hope to distribute their declaration throughout the country, to "share with other Catholics the wisdom and love gained as a result of their experience of being parents of LGBT persons."

The protest comes in the midst of a thorough review of U.S. seminaries that aims to identify gay students and alumni and a soon-to-be-released Vatican document that will limit gay seminarians, allowing only those who have been chaste for three years.