All you Catholics, give me some help.

[Pablo Rafael]

Jethro,

I'm pretty sure that there no intentional effort to keep you out of the catholic.com forums. There is a strong non-Catholic presence there. We Catholics are generally sensitive about the perception people often have that we are very exclusive. I have found the Catholic church remarkably accepting of diverse viewpoints. They have had some problems with their website and have alerted their members that they need donations to keep the forums operating. Right when I first joined there was a lot of conversation about a major crash that had erased a good portion of the posts. Give it another try and see if it works.

Pablo

[BrianB]

I joined over on that forum. My handle is heckonwheels. It seems very conservative. I may not post very much.

[Legashira]

Pablo: Thanks for your efforts in making our presence known in unfriendly Catholic circles.

Have you considered joining DignityUSA (http://www.dignityusa.org), the nation's oldest and largest GLBT Catholic organization? We've been the Voice of GLBT Catholics for over 38 years, building and sustaining GLBT faith communities throughout the nation. While we have not been too successful in changing official Church policies with respect to GLBT issues, we have been successful in changing the hearts and minds of many parishes and church-goers. Indeed, most Catholics in the pews support some type of legal recognition of same-sex couples and families.

DignityUSA recently published a compilation of stories about four gay & lesbian families with children and how they've managed to thrive despite all odds. I think you'll find the stories inspiring and heartening. Publicizing such families will, over time, effect positive attitudinal change toward GLBT families in church and society. Read or download DignityUSA's 1st Quarter 2008 QV Quarterly Voice:
http://www.dignityusa.org/pdf/qv/200...1stQtr2008.pdf

I am also providing the link to the March 2008 Dateline newsletter:
http://www.dignityusa.org/pdf/dateli...SA_Mar2008.pdf

Thanks for reading.

Yours,
Leo N. Egashira
Communications Commitee Chair
DignityUSA Board of Directors
(Seattle, WA)

[kara speltz]

Thought you'd like to see this page from our 2004 campaign at the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference. We proudly carried large pictures of Nouwen, Moylan, Judge and Dooley. These were 4 gay saints who we knew for a fact that they were gay, as opposed to the hundreds of gay saints who we can only guess might have been. One of my own special heros is Cardinal Newman, who I understand was buried with his beloved partner. The Church will try and deny us, but we've been there from the very beginning. Kara

Soulforce proudly proclaims the faithfulness to God of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people as demonstrated in the lives of but a few of the many holy men and women who have committed their lives to relentlessly doing God's work.

Fr. Henri Nouwen (famous author) , a gay priest whose spirituality has touched millions. Probably one of the most admired spiritual authors in the world, he kept the secret of his Sexual orientation fearing that this fact might somehow make his amazing writing less acceptable.

Mary Moylan (Vietnam War resister) a nurse who in 1968 participated in the Catonsville Nine Draft Board action, which led to a series of draft board and corporate actions that awakened Catholic opposition to the Vietnam War. Mary spent many years in Uganda as a nurse/midwife prior to returning to the states to take part in this now famous act of resistance.

Fr. Mychal Judge (NYC Fire Chaplain) , a gay priest who died during 9/11 ministering and lived his entire life supporting the struggle for justice. Fr. Judge was deeply loved, admired and respected by firefighters whose gratitude for his years of devotion made his reputation almost mystical in their eyes.

Dr. Tom Dooley (Vietnam era naval doctor) , who risked his life during the Vietnam war years to set up medical clinics throughout Southeast Asia. Dooley authored three books about his time in Southeast Asia. He was dishonorably discharged from the navy in 1956 for his homosexuality.

[matthewspeed]

Kara,
Thank you for submitting this important information. It's amazing how many gay individuals live lives of sacrifice for God and for humankind. These people did not undergo reparative therapy, but embraced their homosexuality and continued to follow their missions. If it were necessary to deny their homosexuality, then surely they would have done so. But God created these heroes as gay people. Their gayness had nothing to do with whether they could do good or bad. They were good people that just happened to be gay.

I am reminded on the words of many right winged evangelists and politicians that say how unhealthy and degrading our "lifestyle" is. I look at these peoples lives and I see people who have saved lives, risked their lives for the greater good, and served in our military. Were these individuals "detrimental" to our society? Did they "degrate" us? Were they a "danger" to our family values? Of course not!! Look at the good they did. They were heroes or Saints!

I think it would be an awsome idea to combine a list of at least 100 gay heroes- people of faith, people of integrity, that have done good works that have improved and even saved lives, and send the list to prominate religious and political figures. This would remind them of the good things that many gay people have done.

But many will still live in denial and predjudice and continue with the rhetoric that gay people will destroy the family structure and continue to be a "unhealthy" lifestyle corrupting our nation.

Sadly, these people will never receive the recognition they deserve. But when they enter the gates of heaven, they will receive honor from God, our creator! They will be rewarded for following thier mission on earth. The naysayers and those who judged them will sit and watch as God places the crowns on thier heads.