Gays picket Chicagos Holy Name Cathedral

Around 100 gays and lesbians picketed Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral on Valentine’s Day.

Members of the Gay Liberation Network protested the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage and its hostility to LGBT people in general.

They chanted, “Holy Name, holy shame!”

“Most present-day gay leaders … have taken a pass on highlighting and demonstrating against religious leaders’ opposition to our equality,” said GLN’s Andy Thayer. “In doing so, they ignore the lessons of how we have won LGBT victories in the past, and why we suffered critical defeats like California’s Proposition 8 and Maine’s Question 1.”

Thayer said past LGBT wins against people such as Anita Bryant and Dr. Laura Schlessinger involved “relentlessly pounding them for their anti-gay bigotry, quoting their hateful statements, labeling them as vile bigots, and thus ‘peeling off’ their soft supporters.”

“In contrast,” he said, “when anti-gay campaigners, including Catholic leaders, successfully promoted Proposition 8 and Question 1, they took the battle to us, relentlessly labeling us as child molesters in a manner very reminiscent of Anita Bryant. And we remained punching bags. Our ‘leaders’ didn’t strike back, labeling the anti-gay leaders as bigots and haters. And we lost.”

The Catholic Church teaches its members that gay sex is a mortal sin.

A spokeswoman for the archdiocese said Chicago churchgoers have no ability to alter Vatican teaching.

By Rex Wockner

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