HRC Requests A Meeting with Pope

While Pope Francis has made statements that some perhaps self-delusional Catholics have perceived as a softening of the Catholic Church's anti-gay jihad and one Catholic bishop in Brazil has come out in support of civil unions for same sex couples (but not marriage), here in America the Catholic Church seems to have launched a new offensive against gays in the form of teachers contracts and opposition to any behavior that might be conceived to be "supportive of the homosexual lifestyle” which can be grounds for dismissal. As I have argued before, Pope Francis may be far better at PR than his Nazi Pope predecessor, but truth be told, to date Francis has not altered any official Catholic Church doctrine towards gays.  Officially, we are still "inherently disordered" and "motivated toward evil."  In perhaps a hope of pushing Pope Francis to stop the pretenses, Human Rights Campaign ("HRC") has asked for a meeting with Pope Francis.  Here are highlights from HRC's website:

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, today delivered a letter to the Vatican on behalf of 9 teachers who have lost their jobs at Catholics Schools for either being LGBT, or supporting an LGBT family member.   

 Last month, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati took anti-LGBT to a new level, calling not only for the firing of gay and lesbian school employees, but also citing support of the “homosexual lifestyle” as grounds for dismissal. 

Since then, Molly Shumate, who has been a devoted first grade teacher in Cincinnati for 14 years, was forced to resign after being asked to choose between her career as an educator and supporting her own gay son. These draconian laws are designed to force LGBT people back into the closet and silence straight allies.

They have sparked a frightening trend that is being duplicated in Cleveland, Oakland, Hawaii and most recently in Macon, Georgia where just last week Flint Dollar was fired from his position as Band Director at Mount De Sale’s Academy.  Dollar says that he was fired from the Catholic school by President David Held, who cited Dollar’s pending marriage to his male partner of six years as the reason for termination. Mount de Sales students and parents are reportedly planning a sit-in protesting the decision.

The letter signed by the teachers and delivered to the Nuncio, or diplomatic representative of the Holy See, reads in part:

Today, a majority of Roman Catholics in the pews and our communities support LGBT equality, as have the millions of fair-minded people who have shown support with their LGBT friends and families.

"We take hope from your messages of acceptance and see in your pastoral leadership the possibility for the Church to correct these hurtful injustices. We ask for a Papal audience with our families, so that you may hear our personal stories firsthand and see the impact the Church’s actions have had on us all."

Dozens of LGBT teachers committed to educating our youth have already lost their jobs in schools across the country. HRC calls on the Vatican to receive and carefully consider this letter to ensure that no more young people are deprived of  a good education and no more teachers are denied employment because of who they are or who they love.

Personally, I will not be holding my breath hoping that Francis will do something to signal real change.  Indeed, I voted with my feet over 14 years ago and left the Roman Catholic Church.  Between the sex abuse scandal and the Church's treatment of Gays, I'd feel dirty if I were still a Catholic.