National LGBT News Briefs: Campus, Catholics and Cops
Bathroom politics hit Pitt, Catholic hierarchy challenged on LGBT youth and LAPD takes a step on transgender policy
Change.Org Petition Asks Cardinal to Support LGBT Youth
A new Change.org petition, launched by Joseph Amodeo, a former member of the Executive Committee of the Junior Board of Catholic Charities, asks Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, to meet with leaders from the LGBT community and homeless LGBT youth.
Amodeo resigned from the Junior Board of Catholic Charities after Dolan avoided a request to help young people served by the Ali Forney Center, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency care to homeless LGBT youth, the petition states.
”We need to raise our voices and seek a dialogue with the Cardinal on this and other issues affecting the LGBT community. Those sitting in the pews must send a message that leaders in the pulpits need to hear: we stand in solidarity with LGBT youth,” Amodeo wrote on Change.org. ”We should all embrace our young adults and not turn our backs on them for being who they are.”
The petition, which asks the cardinal to ”hear their stories, and collaborate in responding to the epidemic of LGBT youth homelessness,” will be delivered to Dolan’s office May 17.
A March 2011 study compiled by Public Religion Research Institute revealed that 73 percent of Catholics favor laws that would protect gay and lesbian people against discrimination in the workplace; 63 percent of Catholics favor allowing gay and lesbian people to serve openly in the military; and 60 percent favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
