Catholic School Students Stand up for LGBTQ Equality

These Catholic kids equal hope for the future

Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. — Romans 13:10 NIV

Respected religious institutions drive homophobia in the United States. They teach it in both churches and schools. The Roman Catholic Church is a prime culprit, but students and parents at a Catholic high school in Seattle are bucking official Church discrimination. They’re standing up for the love and respect they say lie at the core of Christian faith. Students like these these represent hope for the future of both LGBTQ equality and Christian tolerance in the United States.

Roman Catholic teachings gravely insult LGBTQ people

When you’re an LGBTQ kid at a Catholic school, you can be injected with a lot of vicious toxins. Schools teach students from the official Catechism, which holds that members of gender and sexual minorities are ‘gravely depraved’, ‘intrinsically disordered’, and ‘morally evil’. Not only is this kind of teaching deeply toxic to queer kids, it encourages other students to look down on and stigmatize their minority peers.

Catholic schools in the US are increasingly modeling stigmatization to their students

According to the National Catholic Reporter, US Catholic schools have been firing LGBTQ teachers and staff at an accelerating pace since around 2014, when a food pantry worker and a music director were fired from Catholic institutions for being in same-sex relationships.

Miss Beattie and Mr. Danforth love you, and they miss you, and they see you.

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis has announced a purge of all LGBTQ staff.

The archbishop of Miami sent a letter warning employees they could be fired for appearing to support same-sex marriage on social media. Teachers report being afraid of congratulating LGBTQ family and friends on their legal marriages.

Keith Kozak, a Catholic campus outreach representative at Cleveland State University, was fired last year after he “liked” photos of friends’ same-sex weddings on Facebook.

Most lay Catholics support LGBTQ equality, with Catholic young people being among the most accepting in the United States

According to the Pew Research Center, 67% of American Catholics supported same-sex marriage as of 2017, with numbers climbing every year. 74% of American Catholics support LGBTQ employment equality, according to PRRI.

In both surveys, support for LGBTQ equality among young Catholics aged 18 to 35 is dramatically higher, with numbers approaching 85%, which is far higher than the general population of American young people.

Archdiocese of Seattle fires two gay teachers

Last week, The Archdiocese of Seattle fired gay English teacher Paul Danforth and lesbian soccer coach Michelle Beattie from their jobs at Kennedy Catholic High in King County, Washington, but claimed the teachers resigned voluntarily.

King County Council member and former Washington State legislator Dave Upthegrove posted a statement from the school in Burien, south of Seattle, that says the two teachers “voluntarily resigned.” He claims the school and the diocese are lying, that both teachers were fired. Danforth’s fiance backs Upthegrove, telling multiple news sources that the diocese forced both teachers to quit their jobs.

Kennedy High School in Burien today fired (forced the resignation of) two of their teachers solely because they are gay/lesbian. This is a reminder of the blatant discrimination that continues to exist in our community against members of the LGBT community… I am especially saddened by the message this sends to the LGBT students at the school. They may not be welcome or valued by their school but they need to know that their community loves and cares about them. — Dave Upthegrove

Seattle students defy archdiocese and roar their defiance

For most of the day last Tuesday, rainbow-clad crowds of Catholic-school students, alumni, and parents marched, protested and chanted around the entrances of the Seattle Archdiocese offices. In Burien, at Kennedy High School, students exited classes and staged a mass sit-in starting at 10:00 AM. At 1:00 PM, almost all Kennedy students walked out and attended a rally where they demanded the reinstatement of their teachers.

Parents call for Christian love

People at both protests told reporters they also demand a change in the Church teachings on same-sex relationships. Parent and Catholic-school graduate Grace Armstrong told the Seattle Times she was protesting a failure to demonstrate Jesus’s message of acceptance and love.

“When you send your kid to a Catholic school, you pay money and hope you get the message of Jesus in the school,” she said, while carrying a sign reading, “Jesus would protect gay teachers and fire pedophile priests.”

The firings don’t reflect parental values

Protesters describing themselves as parents of Kennedy students circled the Seattle Archdiocese office building, chanting, “Reinstate, not hate!” and “Separate church and hate!” They paused frequently to hold hands and recite the Lord’s Prayer.

Many parents expressed shock about the teachers’ firings, which they said doesn’t reflect the values of parents who send their kids to Kennedy.

“This is not the Kennedy I recognize,” said Shelly Lounsbury Griffin, who graduated from Kennedy in 1984 and came out as gay when she was in college.

At the school rally, student body president Angel John appealed to core Christian principles and Catholic values. “We stand here because we love our school and we love our teachers,” she said. “And this was an injustice we cannot tolerate.”

John was referring to Catholic teaching that rejects “unjust discrimination” against LGBTQ people, a core value she says she learned in school.

After John fired up the crowd, Sean Nyberg stepped up to the microphone, to a roaring student ovation. “I was the one who proposed to Paul Danforth, “he told them. “I can’t say a lot, but I can share this. Miss Beattie and Mr. Danforth love you and they miss you, and they see you.”

The archdiocese doubles down, insisting they will not reinstate the teachers

The Archdiocese of Seattle did not respond to the the day-long protests until Friday evening, although a spokesperson continued to claim against all evidence that the teachers were not forced out.

“They resigned voluntarily,” insisted Greg Magnoni of the Seattle PR firm Magnoni Communications Strategies, speaking on behalf of Archbishop Paul D. Etienne.

Friday evening, Etienne issued a dense and conflicting statement that appears to affirm he will not reinstate the teachers. He does not explain why he and his paid spokespeople initially lied about the voluntary nature of the “resignations.” Since they are not free to return to their jobs, their resignations were obviously not voluntary.

Seattle Catholic students are the hope of the future

While Catholic leaders like Etienne fight for the legal right to discriminate against LGBTQ people, Catholic youth represent hope for a kinder, more loving future. Catholic young people increasingly reject the hate that leaders like Archbishop Etienne teach.

While Church officials pursue exemptions to civil rights law by trying to shoehorn professional teachers into slots as “ministers” of the Church, students and other young Catholics are looking for moral solutions based on faith, Christian love, and core gospel values.

Practically the ENTIRE Kennedy student body walked out of school Tuesday, and their roars of outrage had to startle the archbishop. He heard the future roaring in to announce that his brand of hatred and stigmatization is coming to an end — whether he likes it or not. The parents circling his office, chanting and praying as they held hands, delivered a similar message.

Stigmatizing and excluding LGBTQ people is unloving, unChristian, and — increasingly — unCatholic. Young people of good will not permit religion to excuse homophobia.

James Finn is a long-time HIV/LGBTQ activist, an alumnus of Act Up NYC, an essayist occasionally published in queer news outlets, and an “agented” novelist. Send questions, comments, and story ideas to [email protected].