By Derek Vanbuskirk
Georgetown University is set to hold an LGBTQ-themed event, triggering criticism from a student group.
The university’s Catholic Ministry Instagram account published an invitation Wednesday advertising an end-of-the-month “student-led, queer-affirming discussion of the intersection of our faiths and our queer identities.” President of the Georgetown University College Republicans Shae McInnis told the Caller that Catholic Ministry’s decision contradicted Catholic Church teachings.
“It’s very sad to see Georgetown’s Catholic Ministry hosting events that will cause deep confusion about the Church’s magisterial teaching and risk bringing many souls further away from Christ and from salvation,” he said.
Catholic Ministry’s post was shared in collaboration with religious-affiliated groups on campus, including Georgetown University Queer Dharma, LJewBTQ+ and Jewish Life at Georgetown. (RELATED: NASCAR Driver Suspended For Using Gay Voice To Mock IndyCar Racer)
McInnis told the Caller that this is “just the latest example of a growing trend” in a statement. One student alleged the university’s Catholic Ministry has been “totally taken over by the LGBTQ agenda.”
The invitation to the “Queer Interfaith Discussion Group,” which says snacks will be provided, joins other invitations on the Catholic Ministry Instagram page for activities ranging from an “evening prayer for immigrants in the United States” to their “7th Annual Mass of Belonging.”
“LGBTQIA+ Catholics: You belong here! Whether you’re ‘in the pews’ every Sunday or you’ve felt unsure of your place in the Church, you are loved and you belong,” the invitation to the latter activity said. “The Mass of Belonging is a celebration of diverse belonging in our Catholic community.”
In October, Georgetown University brought on Fr. Lucas Sharma to join its Jesuit community for the “unique mission” of being a Jesuit pastoral associate in Georgetown’s LGBTQ Resource Center, according to a statement from the school. He will also conduct studies on religion, gender and sexuality.
“Hopefully, my work can inform how we might make Georgetown a place of more belonging for students on the margins across identities,” Sharma said in the statement.
He added that the goal of the school’s LGBTQ Resource Center was to host activities that “cultivate community and joy among our students” and to “uplift their voices.” (RELATED: Dem Governor Faces Backlash From Black Leaders After Helping Black Woman Get Elected)
However, some students believe that these groups are perverting the Church’s teachings to love your neighbor by affirming sinful behavior.
“It’s one thing to talk about issues related to homosexuality and the real struggles individuals might face, and it’s another thing to affirm acts that the Church deems sinful,” one concerned student wrote to a Georgetown priest. “It also makes me sad that the pro-life movement at Georgetown has never gotten this amount of public support.”
Law school lecturers in London recently received a grant to hold a “queerathon” and promote “queer theory” in the law.
At Saint Mary’s University in London, a researcher is working to inject “trans theory” into the study of international relations.
Cornell University has a class teaching “Queer Marxism.”
Wellesley College offers a “Queer Bible” course as part of its Jewish Studies program. It provides an “introduction to the Bible at the intersection of queer theory” and “biblical interpretation.”
Colleges have also offered courses on “Queering God” and “How To Be A Bitch.” Divinity schools have proclaimed that Jesus was “queer,” and have attacked marriage, capitalism, and monogamy.
The University of Chicago course “Queering God” questions if God is queer and explores what queerness has to do with the concept of God. “What does queerness have to do with Judaism, Christianity, or Islam?” the course description reads.
Occidental College offers the course “Black Queer Thought.” The course critiques “the demands of heteronormativity, white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism.”
The University of California at Berkeley hosted a taxpayer-funded lecture on the “Queering of Agriculture.”
