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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYMCA Loses $60,000 Grant From Catholic Church After Refusing To Stop Working With LGBT Support Group
The Catholic Church gave the YMCA an ultimatum: stop working with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, or lose your $60,000 grant.
The YMCAs director told WICD-15 that while they take no position on gay marriage, it is important for them to not allow anyone to influence who they work with.
The University Y board met several weeks ago and voted to remain in the coalition.
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/religion/christianity/catholicism/ymca-loses-60000-grant-catholic-church-after-refusing-stop#
Edit: Apparently they weren't the only ones. Chicago Tribune has more:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-19/news/ct-met-catholic-immigration-funding-20131019_1_catholic-campaign-gay-marriage-issue-immigrant-groups
When a statewide immigrant-rights coalition endorsed same-sex marriage this past spring, 11 groups were given a stark choice by a Roman Catholic anti-poverty program: Leave the coalition or lose their Catholic funding.
Eight of the groups decided to stick with the Illinois Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights. Another group broke with both. All told, the nine groups gave up grants totaling nearly $300,000 from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. This week, some began scaling back projects that address domestic violence, affordable housing and immigration rights.
The decision marks a rift between secular and Catholic leaders who had long been aligned in the push for immigrant rights in the United States. Church leaders say that chasm has been widened by a national movement to link gay rights and immigration reform.
"We don't have a formal stance on marriage equality," said Jenny Arwade, executive director of the Albany Park Neighborhood Council, which this week reduced the size of an after-school program that taught bicycle mechanics to neighborhood teens. "Our organizational values are that we believe in equal rights for all people. We were disappointed in the decision. We also believe it's the church's decision to do what they want to do."
This year, the Catholic anti-poverty group awarded more than 40 grants to groups around the state that work to empower the poor. Each recipient signed a contract, agreeing to uphold church teachings in all they do. That rule also applies to the alliances to which they belong, the archdiocese says.
Apparently, grants from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development come with significant strings attached.
Sid
idwiyo
(5,113 posts)cbayer
(146,218 posts)What would the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights have to do with GLBT rights and why does the headline describe them as an "LGBT support group"?
Their webpage focuses on what one would expect from their name and says virtually nothing about GLBT rights.
Doing a search for GLBT on their site comes up with a single story from July, 2012.
Plus, the story has not been reported at any other source that I can find.
Something just doesn't smell right.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)The LGBT Immigrant Rights Coalition invites community members to join us for an educational town hall happening across Chicagoland. These community forums are meant to bring community members to discuss issues of importance to the immigrant community and to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. We are planning these events in the Chicago communities of Humboldt Park, Little Village, and the suburban communities of Cicero, Waukegan, and Aurora.
October 30, 2013
Luis Roman
"As I finish my Uniting America Fellowship with ICIRR, Ive been reflecting on my personal growth and also the work Ive done with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. I would like to thank Lambda Legal for being such a supportive host agency, and to all of their staff for being so nurturing.
As a queer immigrant, working with LGBT and immigrant communities made this fellowship extremely personal. I began my fellowship only a few weeks after moving to Chicago from Los Angeles. Instead of allowing the fellowship to overwhelm me, I decide to take full advantage of this amazing opportunity. I attended events, spoke with community members, scheduled meetings with leaders, read some reports, all so I could better understand the community. I wanted to do work that addressed some of the community needs."
Must I go on? There is much of this on their site.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)To ask what immigrant rights have to do with gay rights is to assume those immigrants are all straight couples in babushka clutching at their Bibles. Additionally, refugee rights for those who escape oppression in the many nations which will execute or imprison gay people is a huge issue.
I went to their site and searched the word 'gay' and here is what I got.
http://icirr.org/search/node/gay
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)The Coalition has partner organizations, some of which also get funding from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development:
http://icirr.org/our-partners
The Catholic Campaign for Human Development didn't like the ICIRR supporting marriage equality, so it went after ICIRR partners, and essentially said:
'Choose. Either withdraw from the coalition, or lose your funding from us.'
You're right. Something about this story really smells.
Sid
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)That makes it all ok. Or so I have been told.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)All is forgiven.
rug
(82,333 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)and the Crossroads Fund of Chicago, and the Chicago Workers' Collaborative and the other anti-poverty groups being targeted by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development because of their association with the Illinois Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights.
But I hear the Pope drives a shitbox Renault, and likes people in wheelchairs.
Sid
rug
(82,333 posts)lots of people in Illinois learning exactly how the Catholic Church thinks and works.
Sid
rug
(82,333 posts)Still, good for you for coming to the defense of a Christian organization.
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)You don't get something for nothing, one has to trade most if their reason and critical thinking ability for it.
These religious organizations are no different. Their PRIMARY purpose is to bring in new followers. Everything else us secondary, including feeding and helping the poor, as evidenced again with the story in the OP.
rug
(82,333 posts)cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)Go on, reply back with more snark and personal attacks. That's what you do.
rug
(82,333 posts)Sorry you take it that way.
cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)A Personal attack is all you did and that's all you do.
Go on now, feed that last word compulsion and make another snarky personal attack.
rug
(82,333 posts)lame54
(35,293 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)as long as any LGBT immigrants are screened out first, of course.
Sid
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Cardinal Francis George of Chicago quoted Pope Francis when defending the cuts of funding to the Immigration Coalition:
The cardinal quoted Pope Francis, saying that marriage should be a stable union of man and woman and that this union is born of their love, as a sign and presence of Godʼs own love.
Further quoting Pope Francis, he said that this union is also born of the acknowledgment and acceptance of the goodness of sexual differentiation, whereby spouses can become one flesh and are enabled to give birth to a new life.
Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/cardinal-george-defends-cchd-canceling-groups-funds-over-same-sex/#ixzz2kS8NzgwK
lame54
(35,293 posts)He has done a turn-around on many of his pre-pope statements
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)The quote is from the first Encyclical of Pope Francis: Lumen Fidei.
Humanist_Activist
(7,670 posts)where are you getting your information?
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Last edited Tue Nov 12, 2013, 04:57 PM - Edit history (2)
The cuts in funding and/or support for groups inclusive of gay rights (or at least, organizations not refusing to denounce GLBT rights) has been going on for some time and not just in Illinois. The scope is much broader and would include organizations that promote choice and contraception. The rejection of women's rights and gay rights goes hand-in-hand, as I had pointed out in a recent thread (which got locked, BTW) and by extension, issues concerning the root causes of poverty come into play.
As someone here also pointed out, one cannot address issues of immigration reform presuming that all immigrants are straight. GLBT immigrants face additional hurdles regarding their legal status; in light of the EU now granting political asylum to gays escaping persecution, it is very much an issue that needs to be addressed here in this country.
So whether its the YMCA, the Boy Scouts of America, the Coalition for Immigration and Refugee Rights, et al, we who support GLBT rights, reproductive choice and immigration reform must not only speak up but help to fill the financial void left when their funding or support is severed by conservative Christian organizations.
Lastly, discussions about this ongoing battle should never be censured here on DU, unless support for reproductive choice, GLBT rights and immigration reform have suddenly become out of vogue on a progressive forum.
A few more links for you:
http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/cardinal-george-defends-cchd-canceling-groups-funds-over-same-sex/
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/u.s.-bishops-agency-ended-major-contract-with-printer-over-ties-to-pro-life/
http://www.catholiccitizens.org/platform/platformview.asp?c=53949
http://www.catholiccitizens.org/platform/platformview.asp?c=54049
http://www.catholiccitizens.org/platform/platformview.asp?c=55345
http://www.catholiccitizens.org/platform/platformview.asp?c=53771
TroglodyteScholar
(5,477 posts)ananda
(28,866 posts)..
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Roman Catholic bishops today elected Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Kentucky to be their new president. Archbishop Kurtz recently served as the chair of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)...but having just had a substantive thread on these issues locked, I'll leave that to someone else. I'm still really pissed.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Daily threads telling us how great Pope Photo-Op is, but the critical post gets locked. And the locking host didn't even have the courtesy to post a locking message, to let you and the others in the thread know why Hosts decided to lock a thread with 70 replies and 40 recs.
Ah well, selective enforcement of the GD SOP is nothing new around here.
Sid
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)And also to this Y
joeunderdog
(2,563 posts)Or people who cheat on their taxes? Or how about people who use birth control? Or people who do not help the poor?
Values is values.
TeeYiYi
(8,028 posts)...cute pic of the Pope kissing a baby.
TYY
William769
(55,147 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Saw this...
"An emergency fund set up to help the struggling groups has raised $91,000 toward closing the nearly $300,000 gap. Gill Foundation and Crossroads Fund are among the groups who have contributed to the Solidarity Fund...."
I would be happy to contribute and I'm sure there are many others here who would chip in.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)The Solidarity Fund was established by a group of Chicago and national foundations to provide support to local groups whose work is grounded in advancing social justice, racial equity and immigrant rights, and who recently lost funding from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), an arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. CCHD based its decision to defund these groups on their membership in a coalition of advocates for immigration fairness and reform, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), which in May 2013 expressed support for marriage equality in Illinois.
ICIRRs public support of marriage equality states:
As an organization dedicated to the full inclusion of all Americans, whether foreign-born or native-born, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights supports marriage equality. ICIRR believes that full equality and civic participation should extend to recognition of all families, including those involving same-sex partnerships. Such recognition should extend to our immigration laws, our family laws, and to other areas of law that affect our families. While we recognize that there are differences of opinion within immigrant and faith-based communities regarding same-sex marriages, including among our members, the majority of our members - and therefore our organization - believe that a full respect for our states and our nations diversity demands that we not discriminate based on whom we love, and that we call upon an end to such discrimination in our local, state, and federal laws.
You can make an online donation at the site.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Behind the Aegis
(53,959 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Flight of the Conchords did a song on their HBO series a couple of years ago - "Too many dicks on the dance floor", that had Randy Jones, the original Village People cowboy, in the video.
Sid
dionysus
(26,467 posts)theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)[url]http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-man-challenged-gay-marriage-ban-dies-125842696.html [/url]
... I will NOT be silenced.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Donors to the CCHD give to this anti-poverty organization with the understanding that their money will be passed on to organizations that respect the teachings of the Catholic faith. Organizations that apply for funds do so agreeing to this condition.
On May 23, the ICIRR board broke faith with its member organizations when it publicly supported so called same-sex marriage. For its own political advantage, it introduced a matter extraneous to its own purpose and betrayed its own members, who were not consulted.
The CCHD had no choice but to respect the unilateral decision of the ICIRR board that effectively cut off funding from groups that remain affiliated with ICIRR. Without betraying its donors or the Catholic faith, the Catholic Churchs long-standing work for immigrant groups and for immigration reform remains intact. This record speaks for itself and is well known. It is carried locally by Priests for Justice for Immigrants and by Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants, along with very many lay Catholics, in collaboration with the Archdiocesan Office for Immigrant Affairs and Immigration Education, led by Elena Segura with my complete support.
It is intellectually and morally dishonest to use the witness of the Churchs concern for the poor as an excuse to attack the Churchs teaching on the nature of marriage. Four weeks ago, Pope Francis wrote: marriage should be a stable union of man and woman this union is born of their love, as a sign and presence of Gods own love, and of the acknowledgement and acceptance of the goodness of sexual differentiation, whereby spouses can become one flesh and are enabled to give birth to a new life. In other words, when it comes to marriage and family life, men and women are not interchangeable. The whole civilized world knows that.
Those who signed the open letter in the Tribune proclaimed their adherence to the Catholic faith even as they cynically called upon others to reject the Churchs bishops. The Church is no ones private club; she is the Body of Christ, who tells us he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Because the signers of the letters are Catholic, they know that in a few years, like each of us, they will stand before this same Christ to give an account of their stewardship. Jesus is merciful, but he is not stupid; he knows the difference between right and wrong. Manipulating both immigrants and the Church for political advantage is wrong.
Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago
http://www.archchicago.org/news_releases/news_2013/stmnt_130729.html
bold added by me.
Sid
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Assuming that the battle for equality and human rights for all is shared by everyone here, this is what we are facing:
November 12, 2013
Meet the newly elected President of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kathyschiffer/2013/11/archbishop-joseph-kurtz-is-the-new-president-of-usccb/
By an overwhelming margin, this morning the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Louisville Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz as their next president, replacing outgoing president Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Archbishop Kurtz received 125 votes; the next candidate, Cardinal DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, received 25 votes for the office of president, and was subsequently elected Vice President with 147 votes.
The slate of ten candidates included Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, Bishop Blase Cupich of Spokane, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati, Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit, and Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami. Archbishop Kurtz had been considered the likely heir to the leadership post, though, because he was Vice President of the conference.
As USCCB President, Archbishop Kurtz will be the most visible leader in the largest religious body in the United States, the 67 million-member Catholic Church. He will advocate in Washington for the Churchs positions opposing same-sex marriage and the federal mandate for contraception coverage. He will be a liaison between the Vatican and the 445 bishops of the U.S.
In Louisvilleand before that, as bishop of KnoxvilleArchbishop Kurtz has demonstrated strong conservative values, and has been a staunch defender of Vatican directives on doctrine and liturgy. Fr. Thomas Reese, a liberal commentator who has frequently disagreed with Vatican politics, has described Archbishop Kurtz as a "smiling conservative in the vein of New Yorks Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, who is very gracious but still holds the same positions as Philadelphias Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who has boldly challenged Catholic politicians who dissent from Church teachings on abortion....
http://www.queerty.com/archbishop-joseph-e-kurtz-warns-americas-catholics-gay-marriage-is-the-new-roe-v-wade-20101118/
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/u.s._bishops_laud_courage_of_n.j._senate_vote_on_gay_marriage/