QUEER ALTERNATIVE TO WYD IN THE WORKS

Michael Kelly, convenor of the Rainbow Sash and author of Seduced by Grace, an exploration of the gay experience of spirituality, is encouraging members of the gay community, religious and agnostic alike, to take a stand challenging the upcoming World Youth Day.

Kelly, who spent 17 years working as a Catholic teacher, came out publicly in 1993 while working at a Californian college.

Since then he has gone on to become one of the few public commentators on gay spirituality in Australia. His book Seduced by Grace is a collection of essays, many of which were published in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, on the topic.

In the lead up to World Youth Day, Kelly is working with a number of gay and lesbian religious leaders and the Pitt St Church to organise a GLBT event as an expression of the gay right to a spiritual life, and says the gay people of Sydney should be making their objections to the Catholic Church’s homophobic policies known.

“As queer people there is a tendency for us to think that because we live in a secular society we can just ignore religion and religious structures, as if they don’t impact on our lives, but in fact they do,” Kelly said, citing the fact that the Catholic church is one of Australia’s largest employers and yet it is exempt from anti-discrimination legislation.

“The feeling that I had 12 months ago was that people, particularly gay people, tended to think they could ignore World Youth Day but they’re starting to realise it’s a lot bigger than that. We have to realise that this is going to be the biggest religious event of the year and it is absolutely about a form of religion that sees no place for self-affirming queer people. This enormous religious juggernaut that’s coming to Sydney is publicly and rather aggressively condemning of gay people. That ought to make us very concerned and angry. That ought to make us determined to find some way to stand up for ourselves because these ideas they’re peddling are not only affecting gay kids but teaching straight kids that it is wrong to be gay.”

As a gay man of faith, Kelly’s aim is not to endorse religion-bashing and in fact he encourages gay people to connect with religion.

“What I am interested in doing is trying to help gay people to deepen their understanding of spirituality, however they understand it — whether that be through Catholicism, Buddhism or new age philosophy. That is my passion.”

In response to WYD Kelly has been working with Uniting Church ministers, Rev Dorothy McRae-McMahon and Rev Ian Pearson, as well as former Pentecostal minister Anthony Venn Brown and David Reeder from the Anglican faith to organise a GLBT interfaith gathering on July 13.

Held on the eve of WYD, the event will feature gay and lesbian traditions from the various Christian traditions speaking of their experiences and starting an open dialogue with a panel of young people.

“This will be a chance for queer people in Sydney to gather together, to celebrate our vision and wisdom. This is the kind of vision we should be sending to the next generation — and we will not allow it to be silenced by old men in frocks.”

GAY CATHOLICS PREPARE FOR WORLD YOUTH DAY by Cara Davis

GAY CATHOLICS PREPARE FOR WORLD YOUTH DAY   by Cara Davis

Gay and lesbian Catholics who share Christian ideals will be welcomed to take part in Australia’s largest religious event, World Youth Day.

July 2008 is the first time Australia has hosted World Youth Day, an annual event initiated in 1986 by Pope John Paul II to bring together Catholic youth from all over the world.

A World Youth Day spokeswoman said she hoped gay and lesbian Catholics who supported the Church’s values and teachings would be actively involved in the celebrations.

More than 500,000 young pilgrims from Australia and around the world are expected to arrive in Sydney for World Youth Day from 15 to 20 July 2008.

Gay Catholic activist Michael Kelly said he would be surprised if gay Catholic organisations were allowed to play a public role.

Sydney Catholic gay group Acceptance will submit an application for endorsement to the World Youth Day organisers in October, Tim, a group spokesman, said.

Acceptance will be proposing an event as part of the World Youth Day celebrations, which reinforces the message that it is “okay to be gay and Catholic”.

The group will look at joining forces with its equivalent organisations around the world, including Quest in the UK and Dignity in Canada and the US.

The Prime Minister John Howard has contributed $35 million to World Youth Day, and Opposition leader Kevin Rudd has promised $15 million to the event if he wins the federal election.

The money, Kelly said, would be used towards recruiting youth to a conservative position on spirituality, sexuality and ethics.

“This is a huge, international, flagship event for ultra-conservative Catholicism,” he said.

He has called on the gay and lesbian community to “look very seriously” at how it will respond to World Youth Day.

“The church has thrown millions of dollars into promoting their teachings on sexuality and religion,” he said.

“What kind of outreach can we make as a community to the young gay and lesbian Catholics in Sydney for World Youth Day?”

Kelly proposed a rainbow tent in Hyde Park, where community members could offer literature, condoms, counselling and support.

The more the community can work together the better, former evangelist Anthony Venn-Brown said.

“If you are in a traditional church that is not welcoming of gay and lesbian people, you will be experiencing a degree of dissonance between your faith and your sexuality,” he said.

“In some cases it causes mental health issues, and we know that some people suicide because they are so tormented by the conflict.”

ACON would be providing its usual services during World Youth Day including peer support, counselling and the provision of same-sex information, Siri May, Young Women’s Project Officer at ACON, said.

It was unlikely, however, that ACON would be formally invited to participate in World Youth Day, she said.

Tim from Acceptance said the group was not equipped to provide health services to young gay and lesbian Catholics and would instead refer them to the appropriate service providers.

Instead, the role of Acceptance was to provide a safe, spiritual and social environment for gay Catholics and their families.

“We are going to hold our event anyway,” Tim said.

“There is nothing to stop anyone organising a seminar or forum, but obviously we would prefer it if the event was formally endorsed.”