Courage My Ass

It was roughly thirty-six years ago that American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and just last summer the American Psychological Association adopted a resolution that said ex-gay therapy programs were inadequate and potentially dangerous, especially for the long-term mental health of those victimized by such programs.

But that doesn't stop the Catholic church from working and working on turning all The Gays into The Straights, or, into Self-Loathing-Gays-Who_identify-As-Straight-Because-They-Are-Self-Loathing.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, through its Office of Marriage and Family Life, is supporting a type of ex-gay therapy program that asserts homosexuality is both treatable and preventable. They call their program "Courage" and say that they minister to people who have same-sex attractions by drilling it into people's heads that homosexuality is a mental disorder, that gay people will never find peace, and that we can be "cured" of this sickness. And it isn't just up there in Minnesota; there are "Courage" chapters in 116 cities around the country.

Now, we all know the Catholic church, that preacher of all things holy, is staunchly anti-gay--let us not forget their threat to cut off services to the needy in Washington DC if marriage equality becomes law there--but now they are actively working on the myth that we are sick and need to be cured. They bring a whole sub-basement of hatred to homophobia and produce a new species of ignorance.

But this wasn't always the case. In the 90s, Catholic Bishops released a statement called "Always Our Children," where they called on people to embrace their gay children, and pointed out that homophobia is destructive, and that ostracizing your children for being gay was quite damaging.

Ya think?

Yet now, those same Bishops have done a one-eighty, and say that gay people threaten the inherent moral dignity of humanity. And the Catholic church is spending millions of dollars on anti-gay initiatives all across the country, along with the millions they've spent paying off victims of child molestation and the money they spent moving pedophiles form parish to parish, but I digress.

The church has recently even said that they don't want gay folks visiting the Vatican [read about that HERE]. Well, I got news for you, Pope, who do you think built, designed, furnished and painted the Vatican? Yup, The Gays. And how many homosexuals wearing those pretty gowns and collars are in there right now?

I might suggest that the LGBT community start our own program, and call it "Freedom." A program that teaches that Catholicism can be cured, and you no longer have to suffer the sicknesses of the church.