Catholics Play Prominent Role in Bill’s Passage

Feb. 2, 2012. In the wake of the Washington State Senate’s vote endorsing same-sex marriage, DignityUSA applauds the leadership of Catholic legislators in getting one step closer to equality.

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Nominations are open for four (4) Directors-at-Large for a period of two years—October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2014.

Board members become part of the strong, dynamic, and supportive team that develops DignityUSA’s programs, ensures we have adequate resources to carry out our work, and sets strategic priorities for the future. We are currently seeking leaders with organizational development, marketing, fund-raising, or human resource management talents and experience. In order to ensure proportional representation, we are especially interested in members from the southern and western parts of the US, who are Latino/a, transgender, openly bisexual or allies of the LGBT Catholic community. 

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Hear DignityUSA Executive Director in a wide-ranging interview with Emmy Award winner Charlotte Robinson on OutTake Voices.

http://voices.outtakeonline.com/2012/01/gay-catholic-leader-reacts-to-popes.html   

 In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director of DignityUSA, the nation’s foremost LGBT Catholic organization. Recent polls show high levels of support for LGBT people among Catholics yet the Pope and bishops continue to lead attacks on civil rights for gay people. In Pope Benedict’s 2012 outrageous New Year’s speech to diplomats from approximately 180 countries the Pope said policies allowing gay marriage “threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself.” We talked to Marianne about being Catholic and issues facing our LGBT community.

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DignityUSA members Frank O'Gorman and Paul Scarbrough, both of Connecticut, are prominently featured in a Rainbow Times article about the Hartford Archdiocese's development of a Courage Chapter as a "ministry" to LGBT Catholics. To read this very comprehensive piece, please click on the link below. The article is made available with permission.

http://therainbowtimesmass.com/2012/01112012/ctabstinence.html

Boston, MA.  January 11, 2012. Leaders of the largest organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Catholics are reaching out to fellow Catholics who are hurt and angered by Pope Benedict XVI’s latest attack on the LGBT community. In a New Year’s speech to diplomats from approximately 180 countries on the importance of children, the Pope said policies allowing same-sex marriage “threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself.”

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Equally Blessed Job Opening

Coordinator, Equally Blessed.

Part-time, grant-funded position. 15-20 hours/week

Background.  Equally Blessed is a coalition of four national Catholic organizations which work for justice and equality for LGBT people in church and society. We are seeking a part-time coordinator to manage the day-to-day work of the coalition, as well as to oversee special projects and initiatives as they arise.  At present, Equally Blessed is involved in communications work to amplify the voice of the majority of US Catholics who support justice and equality for LGBT people, as well as education and advocacy projects consistent with our mission.  Coalition partners meet via conference call at least once a month; we also meet in person about five times a year.

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DignityUSA leaders from Washington State joined Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke in sending a letter of congratulations to Governor Chris Gregoire to thank her for leading efforts to expand marriage equality to Washington. Below is the text of the letter.

January 5, 2012

The Honorable Christine Gregoire

Office of the Governor

416 Sid Snyder Ave SW, Suite 200
PO Box 40002

Olympia, WA 98504-0002

Dear Governor Gregoire,

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January 6, 2012

Chris Pett, President of Dignity/Chicago, the advocacy organization for LGBT Catholics welcomed today’s apology from Cardinal Francis George for his remarks fearing that the annual Pride Parade could morph into a Ku Klux Klan-like anti-Catholic rally. 

Said Pett, “a core element in our Catholic faith is the sacrament of reconciliation by which we admit our wrongs, seek and are given forgiveness. We welcome this apology from Cardinal George. As we know him as our bishop, we know that it is sincere and that he will work to avoid making such damaging and hurtful remarks in the future.”

“We also invite a dialogue with the Cardinal, so that he might better understand and love the LGBT community in all its facets, especially those in his own Catholic Church who continue to be alienated by Church teaching that regards LGBT people as less than ‘wonderfully made’ children of God.”  “We encourage the Cardinal to open his arms to our community and listen to the truth in our lives and the joy we take in our faith.”

Dignity/Chicago is a chapter of Dignity/USA, and shares its mission to work for respect and justice for all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons in the Catholic Church and the world.

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In the days and weeks following Cardinal Francis George of Chicago’s comparison of the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan, Catholics have continued to organize and speak out. Cardinal George initially made his comparison in an interview with Chicago Fox affiliate WFLD just before Christmas, but despite calls to not air the interview, WFLD aired it Christmas morning.

Many Catholics have found the Cardinal’s comments and the ensuing backlash to be an opportunity to educate the Roman Catholic hierarchy on the reality of LGBT Catholics. Dignity Chicago is one of several Dignity chapters celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. Comments like those of Cardinal George’s are one of the reasons why the prophetic call of Dignity is as important now as it was 40 years ago.

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Equally Blessed hails laity's willingness to move beyond bishops' "insensitive and uniformed" teaching

WASHINGTON, D. C., November 8, 2011--The majority of American Catholics disagree with the teachings of their bishops on sexual issues so often that it is a wonder that the news media continues to speak of the Catholic Church’s position on a given issue when what they really mean is the position of the Catholic hierarchy.

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Boston, MA. Nov. 2, 2011.  Leaders of DignityUSA, the nation’s largest organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics and supporters, condemned the Boston Pilot’s publication of Daniel Avila’s column “Some Fundamental Questions on Same-Sex Attraction.”

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For the second year, DignityUSA is a national co-sponsor of Spirit Day. Celebrated on October 20, Spirit Day is  a sign of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth and a way to speak out against bullying. Spirit Day was started in 2010 by teenager Brittany McMillan as a response to the young people who had taken their own lives.

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