NEWS NOTES: Following Up on Previous Stories

Here are some items that may be of interest which follow up on stories that we have already posted:

1) Back in April, we posted about Anna Maria College, a Catholic campus in Worcester, Massachusetts, disinvited Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the widow of Senator Edward Kennedy, from speaking at the school’s commencement ceremonies, in part because of her support of marriage equality.  This past week, Anna Maria College welcomed Ms. Kennedy as the keynote speaker at an academic symposium on “Faith and the Public Square: Balancing Religious Beliefs with the Common Good.”  The Worcester Telegram and Gazette article on her speech notes that she received a standing ovation when introduced.

2) In September, we reported that Nigel Studdart, a Catholic high school teacher in New Zealand, was fired from his job because he criticized his principal’s negative remarks about gay parents, and because he supported the students’ protest of the remarks.  Recently, a follow-up story in The New Zealand Herald notes that Mr. Studdart is considering legal action to get his job back.

3) Over the past year, we’ve been following the story of Ontario’s new law which requires state-funded Catholic schools to establish gay-straight alliances, if requested by students.  A possible law suit against the government may be brought by a group who feels that Catholic education rights are being violated by the new law, reports The Globe and Mail.

4) In September, we reported that Catholic organizations were among over 30 religious groups that endorsed the passage of a California bill which would outlaw forcing minors to undergo “conversion therapy” to change their sexual orientations.  The bill was passed into law and signed by California’s Catholic Governor Jerry Brown.  CNN.com reports that in signing the law, Brown hoped that conversion therapy would be consigned “to the dustbin of quackery.”

5) Last week, we reported on Equally Blessed’s report which detailed how the Knights of Columbus are spending millions of dollars to prevent marriage equality from becoming the law of the land.  Today, the Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog carries an op-ed essay by Marianne Duddy-Burke, a representative of Equally Blessed and executive director of DignityUSA, which provides some context and analysis for this report.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Catholic Groups Endorse California Law to End Conversion Therapy

Over 30 religious organizations, including two Catholic groups, have endorsed California’s proposed law (Senate Bill 1172) which would make it illegal to force minors to undergo “conversion therapy” to change sexual orientation or gender expression.

DignityUSA and New Ways Ministry are the two Catholic groups which joined with a wide diversity of other religious organizations which support the legislation sponsored by California Senator Ted Lieu, and also endorsed by Equality California, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Gaylesta (an LGBTQ psychotherapy association), Mental Health America of Northern California, Lambda Legal, and the Courage Campaign.

LGBTQWeekly.com notes the comments of Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA on the bill:

“In our years of ministering to LGBT Catholics, we have seen the devastation wrought by this damaging psychological abuse, and know the years of legitimate therapy, prayer and reflection required to return victims to a healthy, whole identity.”

Also quoted was Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, faith work director for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund and convenor of the National Religious Leadership Roundtable, who helped organize religious support for the bill:

“We see the heartbreaking effects of this deceptive and dangerous psychological abuse and we know that, as religious leaders, we must say no. No to injury, no to suffering, no to the pain it causes.  Our religious traditions call us to affirm the worth and dignity of all God’s children – these practices denigrate that which is sacred in all people and they must be stopped.”

California Governor Jerry Brown has until September 30th to sign or veto the bill.  If he signs it, or does nothing, the bill becomes law on January 1st, 2013.

You can read a full list of the religious endorsers here.

New Ways Ministry is proud to have supported this legislation.  It is a major step not only toward helping individuals live freely in the way they are created by God, but for society to recognize the goodness of the diversity of sexual orientations and gender expressions. Other states should quickly follow this example.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry