Jake Midura Challenged Homophobic Catholic School Test Question

I get it Catholic Church; you think gay people are bad, and pedophiles are just confused, but do you have to make being gay a test question?

Jake Midura is seventeen and gay, and like most gay folks he struggled with the idea that he was gay, but has accepted it, loves himself, and came out to his family and friends.

Jake also goes to a Catholic high school, and, amazingly enough, he says it has always been a safe haven for him, and he’s never felt any kind of bigotry or homophobia at school … until The Test.

See, Catholic schools are still teaching that homosexuality is bad, and on one of his end of the year exams, Jake came upon this multiple choice question:

Homosexual sex acts are immoral because

A. a homosexual orientation is evil.

B. God disapproves of gay people.

C. they are not open to life.

D. none of these.

Jake correctly answered "D" and was given an incorrect since the "correct" answer is that The Gays are “not open to life;” whatever the hell that means.

And when Jake and his mother suggested to the school that maybe these kinds of questions can be revised, and made a "little more tactful" the school principal, Denis Mailloux, issued this statement:

"This was a question on a test administered to students in a high school junior level class called "Life in Jesus Christ," which is a Christian Morality course. The question was taken verbatim from the textbook: "Your Life in Christ: Foundations in Catholic Morality," which is in conformity with USCCB guidelines. The correct answer is C.

Our faculty and staff strive to be sensitive to the needs of all of our students, and we have no desire to be hurtful or coarse in presenting Catholic teaching on this or any other topic. However, as a Catholic school, we also have a responsibility to teach authentic Catholic doctrine, or to 'teach the truth in love' as Ephesians 4:15 so well puts it."

They don’t wanna be hurtful or coarse, but they do wanna make sure they teach their studenst that The Gays are not open to life … and, again, still wondering what in the hell that means.

And then Father John Fortin, Superintendent of New Hampshire H Catholic Schools said this:

"Church teaching on homosexuality is complex, and this particular test question should not be taken as representing the fullness of the Church's teaching on it. The Church teaches that persons who experience same-sex attraction should be welcomed into full participation in their local faith community, and explicitly rejects unjust discrimination and harassment of any persons, including those with a homosexual inclination.

The Church also teaches that all persons are called to live a chaste life in keeping with the particular states of life. In particular, the Church teaches that sexual activity is reserved for married couples."

The teaching isn’t complex; the teaching is that being gay is bad. And, if the question is mot representative of Catholic teachings then why is it on a test and why is it in a text book?

And, since being gay is bad, I wonder where the questions about straight kids were? The Masturbation Is Bad quiz? Or the Premarital Sex Means You’ll Burn In Hell exam?

I think Jake had the right answer all along and that, big surprise, it’s the Catholic Church that’s gotten it wrong.

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