An Open Letter to Pope Francis for Homeless LGBT Youth

Religion is the underlying cause for anti-gay bigotry.  Likewise, religious based bigotry is the leading cause of homelessness for LGBT youth who are estimated to make up 40% of homeless teens even though gays make up a far smaller portion of the overall population.  Sadly, too many churches still cling to ignorance and selective parsing of Bible passages to continue to fuel anti-gay animus while ignoring countless other inconvenient passages that show the true hypocrisy of the "godly folk."  Today, Faith In America  published a full-page open letter to Pope Francis in the New York Times. The letter was written by Ali Forney Center director Carl Siciliano.  Financial assistance to pay for the cost of the publication was provided by furniture maker Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams.  Here are excerpts from the letter:

Your Holiness, I write to you as a Roman Catholic, a former Benedictine monk and as a gay man who has spent over 30 years serving the homeless, first as a member of the Catholic Worker Movement, and now as the founder and Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center, America’s largest center for homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth based in New York City. I write on behalf of the homeless LGBT youths I serve. 

I ask you to take urgent action to protect them from the devastating consequences of religious rejection, which is the most common reason LGBT youths are driven from their homes. At the heart of the problem is that the church still teaches that homosexual conduct is a sin, and that being gay is disordered. 

I hope that if you understand how this teaching tears families apart and brings suffering to innocent youths, you will end this teaching and prevent your bishops from fighting against the acceptance of LGBT people as equal members of society.

I hope that you will open your heart to the suffering of our youths. As LGBT youths are finding the courage to speak the truths of their hearts at younger ages, epidemic numbers are being rejected by their families, and driven to homelessness. The number of youths enduring this cruel fate is staggering; last year at least 200,000 LGBT youths experienced homelessness in the United States. LGBT youths make up 40% of the homeless youth population in this country, despite comprising only about 5% of the overall youth population

What these youths endure is horrific. They endure the torment of being unloved and unwanted by their parents, combined with the ordeals of hunger, cold and sexual exploitation while homeless. LGBT youths who are rejected by their families are eight times more likely to attempt suicide than LGBT youths whose parents accept them.

 

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest and most influential Christian organization in the world. By teaching that homosexual conduct is a sin, and that the homosexual orientation is disordered, it influences countless parents and families in societies across the globe to reject their children. In the name of these children, and in light of the love and compassion at the heart of the message of Jesus, I ask that you end this teaching.

I encourage readers to read the entire letter.  Will Pope Francis get the message?  I'd like to think that anyone who is a decent follower of Christ would do so, but I will not be holding my breath.  I increasingly see religion - especially fundamentalist religion - to be a pervasive evil that causes far more harm and suffering than it cures.