One of the longest and strongest stalwarts against LGBT equality, the Catholic Church, made a slight budge this week. While the emphasis certainly needs to be put on the word “slight,” that there was a budge at all should be celebrated.
In a draft report out Monday, church leaders signaled that LGBT people had “gifts” to offer to the Church, and that same-sex couples had the potential to provide “precious” support to one another. Those statements are in no way a ringing endorsement of LGBT people or LGBT equality — far from it — but that a tone of positivity was put to paper says something.
Leaders in the Catholic Church for years have been at the forefront of the fight against LGBT rights, including here in Pennsylvania, with the PA Catholic Conference being among the strongest opponents of LGBT-equality issues like the long-stalled nondiscrimination bill. Catholic leaders across the nation have made derogatory remarks about LGBT people, and Catholic employers have been among those who have terminated LGBT people simply for being LGBT people.
But, it has long been commonly accepted that the Catholic line towards LGBT people does not universally extend from the hierarchy to the masses. Sure, some parishioners may not accept LGBT identities but, like in most circles, that resistance could be rooted in a lack of exposure and a lack of understanding. And as those gaps have been closed in recent years, the disconnect between the Catholic doctrine on the books and Catholicism in practice may have been deepening.
It is the growing community of unapologetically “out” LGBT people, including those who have refused to denounce both their Catholicism and their LGBT identities, who are helping to change hearts and minds and, by extension, fuel institutional change.
As the Vatican emphasized in its somewhat-backtracking statement Tuesday, it is not opening its altars to same-sex weddings. But, for an entity so shrouded in tradition and unwavering standards, even the smallest of shifts means a lot. Change for an organization whose resistance to change was for so long celebrated needs to be incremental — with even every slight change being recognized for its power.