Ryan Landes
bartender | Queen Village
"No, I really don’t think so. I don’t think his schedule will permit it. And he doesn’t need the publicity. It’s not something he needs to do. Two-million Catholics are coming out to see him in Philly. He doesn’t need an LGBT following."
James Colberg
server | South Philadelphia
"Probably not. He’s forward-thinking, but too grounded in the Catholic religion. He’s great on issues involving the poor, and I like that he lives very modestly. But he’s really not good on LGBT issues."
Zakia Holly
postal worker | North Philadelphia
"No. He doesn’t believe in same-sex marriage. He won’t want to be lectured on that subject. But I think he should meet with the group, because there are so many issues he needs to address, like the lesbian educator who was just fired from her job at a Catholic school. That was just plain wrong."
Meredith Burns
graduate student | West Philadelphia
"I’ll be optimistic and say yes. It’s imperative for the Catholic Church that he meets with the LGBTQ community so he learns something. He needs to be inclusive because there are plenty of queer Catholics who are suffering under oppressive policies. The meeting could also benefit queer people who aren’t Catholic."
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