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503-287-3256
Out and Out Productions
national news
Mighty message
Dignity/USA urges Catholic bishops to put the words of their
pastoral letter into action: (Love and accept your children ’
▼
by Bob Roehr
earing reactionary pressure from con
servatives, Dignity/USA called upon
the National Conference of Catholic
Bishops to reaffirm its October pastoral
letter, “Always Our Children,” and con
centrate on implementing it.
Dignity/USA, a gay and lesbian Catholic
group, made the plea Nov. 10 at noon outside a
Washington, D.C., hotel where the bishops were
meeting.
“Dignity salutes this issuance from the bish
ops as an important statement of the teaching of
our Church that all of God’s children are to be
loved and included in the
life of the church,” said
Robert F. M iailovich,
Dignity’s national presi
dent. “Parents do not have
to choose between loving
their gay and lesbian chil
dren and following any
teaching of the Church.”
He added, “Unfortu
nately some mean and harsh
voices have emerged, urg
ing the recall or a substan
tial watering down of the
letter and its recommenda
tions.”
Charles Cox, Dignity’s
executive director, also
urged the bishops to put
the words and message of
“Always Our Children” Charles Cox
into action.
“Many lesbians and gays see it as a sign of
hope; their parents see [it] as a reaffirmation of
their earlier decisions to love and accept us, their
children,” he said. “It prompted many of our
parents to pick up the phone and call us, to tell us
how much they love us and the families we have
created.”
He continued, “But we also heard the painful
stories of gay and lesbian adolescents being kicked
out of their homes because of their orientation. Or
F
of seeking guidance from a priest only to be told:
‘There is no place for you here, your son or
daughter is going to hell.’ ”
Cox pointed to the White House Conference
on Hate Crimes, taking place that same day, as
underscoring the need to implement the letter. He
said the bishops have an opportunity to reduce
hate crimes by helping priests of the diocese
become more sensitive to the gay and lesbian
community.
Meanwhile, an estimated 30 conservatives
gathered outside the hotel a few yards away,
reciting the rosary and praying. Many carried
signs reading“Sex Ed: Fod
der of Pedophiles and Ho
mosexuals” and “Stop Mo
lesting Our C hildren’s
Minds.”
Several times a gaunt
older man, dressed in a
black-and-white-checked
sport coat with an oleagi
nous sheen, broke away to
approach the ongoing Dig
nity news conference.
“ Dignity
means
sodomizing children,” he
shouted as he turned tail
and scurried away. A few
minutes later he was back.
“How many of you are gay
because
you
were
sodomized by priests?”
came the harangue and
again the quick retreat.
Tommy Economus, the founder of Linkup:
Survivors of Clergy Abuse, tried to use the media
opportunity to push for the bishops to issue a
letter on pedophile abuse.
M iailovich reacted angrily, rejecting
Economus’ intrusion. “Pedophilia has nothing to
do with homosexuality,” he said.
“You’re absolutely right,” Economus re
sponded.
Clinton hosts hate
crimes conference
White House and posted on its Web site focused on
racial discrimination. Its only mention of sexual
orientation was in the definition of hate crimes.
Proposed initiatives used generic language of hate
crimes, while the “case study” examples were all
racial in nature.
Sheila Kuehl, a lesbian and member of the
California Legislature, told the group, “We’re all
prepared to be there for each other.”
The anti-gay activist Fred Phelps and his back
ers paraded outside with their “God Hates Fags”
posters. They had done the same a few nights
earlier outside the Human Rights Campaign din
ner where Clinton also spoke.
Kerry Lobel, executive director of the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force, meanwhile, praised
the conference. She said the initiatives would
“help provide momentum and leverage for local
individuals and organizations who deal with bias
crimes on a daily basis.”
NGLTF played a leading role in passing fed
eral legislation to gather statistics on hate crimes
against lesbians and gay men and thus document
the extent of the problem. It has been holding a
series of town meetings on the subject in cities
across the country.
Hate crimes “strike at the heart of what it
means to be an American,” said President Clinton
during the White House Conference on Hate Crimes
held in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 10.
The conference grew out of Clinton’s yearlong
effort toward racial reconciliation.
The nation’s chief executive also endorsed a
bill sponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.)
and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) that would expand
the definition and scope of federal hate crimes
legislation. The measure would add hate crimes
based on sexual orientation, gender and disability.
The Justice Department recorded 8,759 hate
crimes in 1996, a 10 percent increase from the
previous year. Of that number, 63 percent were
racially motivated and 14 percent were based on
religion, while ethnic origin and sexual orientation
each accounted for 11 percent.
But the department acknowledged that the
definition of a hate crime and the interest and
accuracy in recording and prosecuting those crimes
varies greatly between local jurisdictions.
The extensive public materials prepared by the
Bob Roehr