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Pope Francis said gay men aren’t welcome in the Catholic clergy
Wow, a Catholic leader openly against gay people? I, for one, am shocked.
In a new book, The Strength of a Vocation, Pope Francis made it incredibly clear that gay men are not welcome in the Catholic clergy.
“The issue of homosexuality is a very serious issue that must be adequately discerned from the beginning with the candidates if that is the case,” he said. “In our societies, it even seems that homosexuality is fashionable and that mentality, in some way, also influences the life of the Church.”
The comments were made to Spanish priest Fernando Prado in the book-length interview, which was released December 3.
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Francis went on to add that homosexuality within the Church “is something that worries me” and that “the question of homosexuality is a very serious one.” He feels that before men are trained to be priests, those training them must be certain that they are “humanly and emotionally matured.”
Though he was once thought to be one of the more progressive popes the Catholic religion had seen, Francis recently made the declaration that parents with gay children should seek psychiatric help for them.
OMFGay readers: What are your thoughts on this?
With rising support for marriage equality and the LGBTQ community comes a bit of a distorted view on the issues of discrimination those within the community still face.
According to a new report from FiveThirtyEight, “only 55 percent of Americans believe that gay and lesbian people face a lot of discrimination in the U.S., down from 68 percent in 2013.”
But those numbers may be skewed, depending on how the person responding is surveyed. According to the same article, a 2014 report “found that Americans were 14 points less likely to say gays and lesbians experience a lot of discrimination when responding to an online survey than when a pollster called them.”
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What’s more, an increasing number of Americans seem to be believing the idea that fighting for LGBTQ rights is largely unnecessary. A 2017 Gallup survey found that 46 percent of people do not think “news (sic) civil rights laws are needed to reduce discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people.” A 2018 survey from PRRI revealed that 49 percent believe the U.S. “has made the changes needed to give gay and lesbian people equal fights with other Americans.”
It’s nice that people believe LGBT citizens have been given the rights to make them equal with other Americans, but it’s simply not the case, especially when you consider that new rights don’t always mean increased acceptance. In fact, anti-LGBTQ hate crimes rose 3 percent in 2017, according to the FBI. Of the 1,470 victims who “were involved in 1,249 separate bias incidents,” close to 60 percent were against gay men and 25 percent were against “a mix of LGBTQ people.”
The number of hate crimes in the U.S. against those in the LGBTQ community has increased every year since 2014.
This article was originally published March 21, 2019.
My new obsession, Grey’s Anatomy‘s Alex Landi, who plays Dr. Nico Kim on the hit ABC series and who also plays the perfect shirtless husband in my dreams, is set to present at this year’s 30th annual GLAAD Media Awards.
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The 26-year-old actor shared the new via his personal Instagram Stories:
Alex Landi will present and Lizzo will perform at this year’s GLAAD Media Awards
Landi will be in good company during the March 28th ceremony, with stars like Hayley Kiyoko, Lena Waithe, Janet Mock, Barbara Corcoran, Olivia Munn, Meghan Trainor, Adam Rippon, and even Landi’s Grey’s co-star, Jake Borelli (Schmico!). Hip-hop artist Lizzo is set to perform.
Grey’s Anatomy ship Schmico at the GLAAD Media Awards together?
Will & Grace star Sean Hayes will be presented with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award “for his work in promoting and forwarding LGBTQ culture.” Power couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z will receive the Vanguard Award “for their continued work as allies for the LGBTQ community.”
The GLAAD Media Awards “recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community and the issues that affect their lives.” This year’s ceremony will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Even Disneyland is getting a bit more
The iconic company is calling it “Magical Pride” and the event date will coincide, of course, with the start of Pride Month.
The event will feature a “Magical March of Diversity Parade,” as well as live-music and themed photo locations.
“Magical Pride” has been an unofficial event at Disneyland Paris since 2014, organized by independent groups. The 2019 event will be the park’s first time hosting officially.
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In 1991, Disney World theme park in Florida hosted an official LGBTQ Pride event, attended by 3,000 gays and lesbians.
Though Disney received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index for businesses with pro-LGBTQ employee policies for 12 years in a row, the company has made a slow (though worth mentioning) start to including LGBTQ characters and storylines in their media.
The upcoming Disney film, Jungle Cruise, will feature the company’s first openly gay character to appear in a live-action feature. And despite this positive step forward, the announcement drew criticism because the actor cast in the role, Jack Whitehall, is a straight man, and the character itself will perpetuate certain gay stereotypes.
Good Luck Charlie was their first live-action sitcom series to feature a lesbian couple, back in 2014, while Andi Mack was the first live-action series to feature an openly LGBTQ recurring character.
You can book “Magical Pride” tickets now with Greatdays Holidays.
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