In a letter to the editor published by the St. Cloud Times, Rosemary Kassekert, a member of the advisory board of the Catholic League’s Minnesota Chapter and Chair of its legal task force, has criticized St. Cloud State University’s controversial policy statement mandating its definition of acceptable student attitudes toward gays and lesbians. Ms. Kassekert urged the university to change the policy because it is a “blatant form of religious discrimination” and denies students their “right of conscience.”
The position paper, which would apply to students seeking entrance to the school’s social work department, contains the following statement:
Accepting gay and lesbian people does not mean accepting them as individuals while simultaneously abhorring their assumed behavior. The separation of the client from the client’s behavior cannot be used to resolve a social worker’s personal dilemmas regarding this protected population.
Paul L. Ringsmuth, a Catholic and vocational rehabilitation counselor has voiced his objections to the policy. In a letter to the St. Cloud Times, he called on anyone supporting his challenge “to join or contribute to the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights” because “they are going to need all the financial support they can get to protect our religious rights.”
The policy is currently being reviewed by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in order to determine whether any action will be taken.
