Over the last several weeks and months, most of the news agencies within the United States have reported on instances of intolerance and discrimination towards members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. One of the most devastating cases was the suicide of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi. After a video of him engaging in homosexual acts surfaced online, Tyler tragically decided to end his life by jumping from a bridge. The students who filmed the act without consent have been disciplined and charged with invasion of privacy, which in my opinion is lenient.

Many individuals are now questioning why others are so intolerant of homosexuals. Unfortunately, religious beliefs are usually marked as the leading cause. In regards to the Catholic Church, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Let’s take a look at some of the things the Church says about homosexuality.

• “Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” (Persona Humana 8). They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved” (CCC 2357).
• The Church also holds: “The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial” (CCC 2358).
• It does not condemn individuals who identify themselves as being gay or lesbian; instead, we are called to be compassionate toward them. Homosexual individuals “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided” (CCC 2358).
• However, individuals who identify themselves as homosexual are “called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition” (CCC 2358).
• “Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection” (CCC 2359)
• In Persona Humana, the church writes: “In the pastoral field, homosexuals must certainly be treated with understanding and sustained in the hope of overcoming their personal difficulties and their inability to fit into society” (8).

For Catholics today who are struggling with homosexuality, it is important for them to realize the church’s stance on this increasingly prevalent issue. The homosexual individual must understand that God created man and woman in his image and likeness to be a sign of His love. The Church’s stance on homosexuality is clear; we support the person but condemn the act.

Individuals struggling with same-sex attractions deserve respect and care as well as the tools needed to live chaste lives. In fact, there is a Catholic program, Courage, that offers support groups for individuals dealing with these issues. “A sister group, called EnCourage, offers support to parents of children with same-sex attraction” (Good News About Sex & Marriage: Answers to Your Honest Questions about Catholic Teaching by Christopher West; page 161).

Notes: CCC= Catechism of the Catholic Church; Good News About Sex & Marriage is published by St. Anthony Messenger Press.