Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on lesbian manipulation of Catholic institutions:
Last week it was reported that a Catholic foster care agency in Texas denied a lesbian couple the right to adopt a child. This week it is being reported that a Catholic school in Michigan told a lesbian softball coach that she could not keep her job if she decided to “marry” another woman.
The couple sued and the coach resigned. All three are angry with the Catholic Church. None respect religious liberty and all believe they have a right to Catholic resources while violating Catholic teachings with impunity.
The Texas couple has neither federal nor state law on its side. Catholic non-profits such as Catholic Charities can receive public funds distributed to the bishops’ conference and go about their business—in this case running a foster care program—without crossing state and church lines, provided they do not engage in “intrinsically religious” activities, e.g. religious worship. Last year, Texas passed a religious liberty law that safeguards the right of agencies like Catholic Charities to turn away LGBT couples or prospective parents.
It is important to note that Catholic Charities Fort Worth expressly said, contrary to what was reported, that it does not refuse children in its foster care program who identify as LGBT. But it does matter who the foster parents are.
The lesbian Michigan coach—known to Huffington Post writers as a “queer”—said her sexual orientation does not affect her ability to coach her team. Maybe not, but that is beside the point: All teachers and coaches are expected to be role models, and Catholic teachers and coaches are expected to model themselves on Catholic teachings.
It needs to be said that the lesbian coach was not told that she was in violation of Catholic teachings because she was a lesbian. Indeed, she held her job for five years without a problem. But when she went public with her intent to “marry” another woman, everything changed.
“When someone is living outside of Church teaching or participating in behavior not in line with Church teaching and makes it known publicly,” the school said, “they cannot fulfill their primary mission to lead by example.” (My italics.) In other words, it was the public manifestation of the intended behavior that proved to be determinative.
Why is it that homosexuals are almost never seen trying to crash the schools and social service agencies run by Orthodox Jews and Muslims? After all, both have similar strictures to Catholic entities on these matters.
We all know why—gay activists have decided to target the Catholic Church. If they had any respect for the diversity that Catholic institutions offer, they wouldn’t be so busy trying to shove their secular values down the throats of Catholics.
Regrettably, those most likely to scream about tolerance are often the least tolerant among us.
