The last time I got this angry with and disgusted at NOM was on December 19 last year, following their defense of Phil Robertson's anti-LGBT and racist comments. Now, they have decided to openly denounce efforts against homophobia and transphobia.
On May 17 this year, the Facebook page of the U.S. Embassy To The Holy See posted this message:
Here's
what NOM had to say about it:
The US Embassy to the Holy See (Vatican) has had two very curious posts on their facebook page recently, first promoting International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia and today celebrating President Obama's proclamation on June as LGBT Pride Month.
Regarding the offensive post about International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, Thomas Peters summed it up nicely on Catholic Vote[.][]
Offensive, NOM? You have just said that remembering a young man who was kidnapped, tied to a fence, beaten to within an inch of his life and left to die for being gay is offensive. You have just said that "support[ing] LGBT youth" is offensive. You have just said that "increas[ing] support for people who are different" is offensive.
The article by Peters, NOM's former communications director is as follows:
Our embassy to the Holy See was established to promote goodwill between the United States and the Vatican.
Under the Obama administration, however, it has at best done nothing and at worst it actively harms our relationship with the Holy See.
Today for instance the embassy staff took a break from posting selfies and asking “who’s your favorite jazz performer?” to celebrate International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on their official Facebook page[.]
It’s nice to see where our tax dollars are going. One wonders if a rainbow flag was flying from our embassy in Rome today. Or if the embassy staff was distributing literature in St. Peter’s square today to promote awareness of homophobia and transphobia.
First of all, Thomas, it doesn't cost tax dollars to write something on Facebook. No government needs to spend money to do that. And no, I'm not actually wondering if rainbow flags or pro-LGBT literature has been in St. Peter's square. The embassy has not done that.
He continues:
A post like this by our embassy prompts the question, is it the position of our embassy that the Holy See is guilty of homophobia when, say, it opposes the redefinition of marriage, or is the Holy See transphobic in their eyes when it refuses ordination to a woman who undergoes sex reassignment therapy?
Is the embassy saying the church does not support all youth, including those who are questioning their sexual identity? Is the embassy saying the church is intolerant?
First of all: Thomas, the post did not claim that. You cannot make up interpretations. If anything, the embassy has given the Vatican more credit than it deserves. By linking the Vatican to the International Day Against Homophobia And Transphobia, they lend the appearance to the Vatican that it opposes homophobia and transphobia.
But there is one group acknowledging that the Catholic Church is intolerant. It's not the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See. It's the Catholic Church, through its own words an actions.A quick recap:
The Catholic Church describes homosexuality as "an objective disorder" and "a deviation, an irregularity, a wound". Their technical teaching is that gay people "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided." But it's words that they apparently don't live by. In December 2008, the Church opposed a UN resolution calling for the end of imprisonment and capital punishment for LGBT people over their sexual orientation and gender identity because it would "add new categories of those protected from discrimination" (that's kind of the point) and because it could lead to gay marriage coming to the Middle East (like hell). In March 2011, Catholic Archbishop Silvano Tomasi spoke to the UN, arguing for the criminalization of homosexuality by comparing it to incest and pedophilia. In December 2012, Joseph "Enemy Of Humanity" Ratzinger blessed Rebecca Kadaga, the Speaker of Uganda's parliament and a supporter of the death penalty for LGBT people. He also used his Christmas speech to attack transgender people. In April last year, Minnesota's Catholic bishops announced their opposition to sexual orientation-specific bullying legislation. And in July last year, the nation's Catholic bishops announced their opposition to "sexual orientation antidiscrimination laws".
That's why the Catholic Church is intolerant, Thomas. That's why they do not support youth who are questioning their sexual identity, because they don't want laws to protect them from bullying. This did not come from President Obama, Thomas. It came from the Church itself.
He continues:
Citing the case of Matthew Shepard is itself incredibly incendiary. The claim here is that anyone who refuses to give gay activists everything they want politically is somehow guilty of hate crimes perpetrated against gay people.
The post talked about homophobia, not politics, Thomas. Homophobia killed Matthew Shepard. It's true that opponents of LGBT rights are not responsible for his murder. But the post did not claim that they are.
(That’s even setting aside the questions of fact surrounding the story.)
You make me sick. Seriously. What the hell is wrong with you? (
Read this.)
And how is any of this promoting goodwill between our country and the Holy See?
I don’t follow our other embassies, but I’ll be shocked to find out if our embassy to China is calling out that country for its abhorrent forced one-child policy. Or if any of our embassies to sharia law countries are calling them out for religious intolerance.
No, it’s only on this issue that the Obama administration sees fit to lecture our allies and moralistically judge other countries, especially the Holy See.
Okay, a reasonable point. But I have an answer: the Catholic Church is active in America in opposing LGBT rights. But there are no (or negligible) pro one-child policy or pro-sharia law activists in America. That might be why there is a reason to address the Catholic Church and not other countries: it is influential in American politics in a way that other countries aren't.
And Thomas, I'm noticing an interesting contradiction here. You are criticizing the Obama administration for accusing the Catholic Church of being homophobic, transphobic and intolerant, even though the Obama administration didn't do that. But at the same time, you seem to be calling for the Catholic Church to reject the Obama administration's invitation to the Catholic Church to take a stand against homophobia and transphobia. You can't have it both ways. It makes no sense to criticize the Obama administration for accusing the Catholic Church of being anti-LGBT (but that's not what happened), and then, call on the Catholic Church to reject an opportunity to take a stand against homophobia and transphobia. The rejection that you call for would only vindicate the position that the Catholic Church is anti-LGBT.
He continues:
In fact the church disagrees that “being gay is who you are”. We believe that a person’s deepest identity can only be found in Christ. The church doesn’t reduce people to their sexual orientation. Courageous Catholics living with same-sex attraction and trying to live up to Christ’s exhortations are a testament to the fact that living the faith is beautiful.
What I've experienced has been the exact opposite of that. I was baptized Catholic, but in April last year, I completely stopped calling myself Catholic due to their rigid obsession with homosexuality, marriage equality, abortion, their hostility to any views different from theirs and their handling of the sex abuse cases. Then, in October last year, I began to have romantic feelings for a male friend of mine. And I am male as well. Now, there is even less reason for me to go back. In the light of my current understanding of my sexuality, their attitude is not one that I feel is accepting of me.
Peters continues:
I think we need to help our embassy to the Holy See overcome its “pope-a-phobia” — their fear of the teachings of Pope Francis, Pope Benedict, St. Pope John Paul II, St. Pope John XXIII, and all the popes in between and all the popes before and all the popes to come.
Also, the teachings of the Church (dogmaphobia) and the teachings of Christ (christophobia).
Thomas, you're damn right I'm dogmaphobic. You're damn right that I hate and fear beliefs and teachings that perpetuate bigotry, inequality, discrimination and hatred. The Catholic Church judges people by their sexual orientation. I judge their judgement. And by the way, Jesus never said anything about homosexuality or same-sex marriage.
The article ends by asking people to promote the Catholic Church as an institution that accepts same-sex attracted people, and hoping that an embassy staff worker will "come out" as Catholic, because, know, Catholics can't get married, and can be fired in 29 states for being Catholic.
But NOM's endorsement of that tripe was only Part One. As he always does, President Obama has declared June this year LGBT Pride Month. Part of the proclamation was the posting of this statement on the Facebook page of the U.S. Embassy To The Holy See (Vatican):
Cue NOM (emphasis added):
Today, the US Embassy to the Holy See released a similarly incendiary facebook post, this time about President Obama's recent proclamation on June as LGBT Pride Month.
The embassy also tweeted a quote from Obama's proclamation: "...let each of us speak for tolerance, justice, and dignity.” (But not tolerance, justice, or dignity for those who agree marriage is between one man and one woman, of course.)
The link was to a NOM blog post about a florist in Washington State who was sued for discriminating against a gay couple. In my opinion, she broke the law. It's that simple. While I don't want her to have to violate her religious beliefs, she runs a public accommodation, and she needs to understand that she has certain responsibilities that she has agreed to, and that includes abiding by the law. And NOM
doesn't like refusals of service when it's turned back on them. So we can laugh this off.
NOM continues:
These insulting provocations are problematic on several levels. First, as Thomas pointed out, it raises the question: is it our embassy's position that the Holy See's moral teachings render the Catholic Church guilty of homophobia and transphobia?
Second, these posts are as insulting as suggesting Muslims or orthodox Jews start eating pork.
Here comes that contradiction again. First, NOM mocks the idea that the Catholic Church is homophobic and transphobic. Then, they say that taking a stand against homophobia and transphobia is to the Catholic Church what eating pork is to Muslims or Orthodox Jews, i.e. against the religion. So even as they say that the Catholic Church is not homophobic and transphobic, they say that taking a stand against homophobia and transphobia runs contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
They finish with:
Finally, the Catholic Church doesn't celebrate "Pride Month"; during June, Catholics celebrate the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the feast day of St. John the Baptist, martyr for the sanctity of marriage. No amount of desperate social media posts can change this.
The embassy certainly has a lot of nerve.
NOM, that's exactly right. The Catholic Church doesn't celebrate Pride Month. If that's the case, then no one is making them celebrate Pride Month. So stop complaining about how the Obama administration is forcing its values on them. The administration is not. It can't.
And apparently, if you encourage the Catholic Church take a stand against homophobia and transphobia, you have "a lot of nerve."
To sum up, NOM believes it is "offensive", "incendiary" and "insulting" to:
Remember Matthew Shepard.
Support LGBT youth.
Increase tolerance toward people who are different.
Strengthen laws against violence toward LGBT Americans.
Take action to prevent bullying and harassment.
Prohibit discrimination in housing and hospitals.
This isn't about marriage. This is about being as hateful and bigoted and oppressive against LGBT people as possible. People need to understand how bad NOM is. That's why I'd like to ask all of us to contact the Southern Poverty Law Center to inform them of both this new exhibition of homophobia and transphobia and their previous track record, in the hopes that they will be officially recognized as an anti-LGBT hate group. Their video about their March For Marriage (Discrimination) claims to be about truth. But the truth is: for them, it's about much more than marriage.