It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again: The Notre Dame Academy Uninvited A Gay Speaker

It seems like it was only yesterday—actually it was Monday—that I posted about Bryant Huddleston being uninvited to speak at his sister's graduation because he’s gay [see post HERE] and here we have the same thing happening again.

This year’s Notre Dame Academy’s May Crowning—an annual event, in which girls in Catholic schools show their devotion to the Virgin Mary by bestowing a wreath of flowers as a crown on a statue of the mother of Jesus—has gone and done the same thing to Brittanie Kuhr that Sloan-Hendrix High School  did to Huddleston. They have revoked her invitation to speak at the event because she’s engaged to be married to a woman.

:::gasp:::

Kuhr, a 2009 graduate who placed the wreath on the statue of Mary when she was a senior, learned that she was uninvited just a day before the event. The high school explained that its decision was based on Kuhr’s advocacy of same-sex marriage, something of which the Roman Catholic school does not approve:

“As a Catholic school, Notre Dame Academy supports the teachings of the Catholic Church. That means ensuring that programs, resources, and presenters that we choose to represent Notre Dame Academy will also support those teachings. This situation involved the contradiction between public advocacy for same-sex marriage and church teachings, not the sexual orientation of the speaker.”

You know, cuz the Baby Jeebus and his Daddy, or Mommy, hate The Gays, and hate the idea of same-sex marriage. I mean, the Baby Jeebus specifically taught his followers to rise up against same-sex marriage, and God, when he, or she, was writing the Bible, devoted an entire chapter to telling his, or her, followers to stomp out same-sex marriage wherever it rears its ugly head. At least, it appears that’s what the officials at the Notre Dame Academy think the baby Jeebus and his Daddy, or Mommy, said.

The revocation of Kuhr’s invitation sparked the creation of a social media support group for Brittanie Kuhr, with some 1,215 people—most of whom are graduates of the academy—creating the NDA Eagles for Equality. Shortly after the school’s statement was issued, the Facebook group was converted to private status, though it posted a statement:

“While the decision has been made and Brittanie did not speak at May Crowning as planned, we as LGBTQA alumnae are determined to not let this blatant act of discrimination [allow] current and future generations of NDA students [to] be pushed further back into the closet.”

On her own Facebook page, Brittanie Kuhr wrote, “How dramatically things can change in 4 years. Including my openness about my sexuality. Surprising to many: my faith has remained a constant. NEWSFLASH: Catholicism and homosexuality ARE NOT mutually exclusive!”

She then said she did not want to “harm the image of Notre Dame Academy” but that she wanted to facilitate a “dialogue to improve [NDA’s] current ‘Non-Discrimination Policy’.”

Kuhr also stated that she had no intention of speaking about her sexual orientation, or her upcoming marriage, just that her speech would discuss her “lifelong relationship with Mary and Notre Dame Academy.”

See, like Bryant Huddleston, who had said his speech at his alma mater would be about his sister, and empowering women, and what he learned, Kuhr’s speech was not going to be about herself, and her life, and her love.

What some of these school officials, both at the Notre Dame Academy and the Sloan-Hendrix High School ,don’t seem to realize is that gay people have more on their minds than just being gay. We have other things to talk about other than our sexual orientation and our opinions on LGBT rights and marriage.

Too bad the students at both the NDA and Sloan-Hendrix won’t be able to hear that.

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