Cardinal Dolan: Gay Rights Are Not A "chic cause"
In his Blog today, Roman Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan posted an article called "The True Meaning of Marriage" http://blog.archny.org/?p=1247
Archbishop Dolan is an outspoken critic of marriage equality in New York, and he is more than entitled to those opinions. Nevertheless, one of the primary statements of the article was:
Please, not [marriage equality] here [in New York]! We cherish true freedom, not as the license to do whatever we want, but the liberty to do what we ought; we acknowledge that not every desire, urge, want, or chic cause is automatically a “right.” And, what about other rights, like that of a child to be raised in a family with a mom and a dad?
We are all entitled to our own opinions. Nevertheless, Archbishop Dolan misrepresents Christians and Catholics who support the civil rights of the LGBT community. Furthermore, this comment publicly claims that LGBT rights are not a longstanding or legitimate cause. If the Archbishop's exact words were made about the civil rights of any other group, they would have been considered offensive. Why should this be any different?
An archbishop is entitled to voice anything he chooses on his blog. However, gay rights are not a "chic cause!" This is cause for concern, given the fact that many other Christian denominations and groups are LGBT friendly.
One thing is your choice to affirm the hierarchical Roman Catholic teaching. Another is to demean gay rights, the efforts of an entire class of human beings, many of which are (or used to be) members of the Archdiocese of New York!
We ask that you apologize for this insensitive remark. Gay rights are a longstanding cause. While LGBT rights may be a controversial topic, especially for Roman Catholics, there is no civil reason to demean the good-faith efforts of the LGBT community in this way.
With all good will.