In the light of the new tone set by Pope Francis,and the promising steps forward taken by the Synod, it would be good to see individual parishes explicitly –and fully–welcome LGBT Catholics. It’s long overdue.We don’t need a permission slip from the Vatican to love unreservedly, without exception. We don’t need a permission slip to be done with sexism, with a church in which some people are more God’s children than others.
Today, millions will ‘go purple’ to support LGBT youth and take a stand against all-too-prevalent bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity. They’ll be wearing purple and using purple on social media as a way to show that they are supporting #Spirit Day, an annual event sponsored by GLAAD, and endorsed by New Ways Ministry and many other organizations. Catholics have actively participated in past years, impelled by their faith to protect some of the most vulnerable in this world — and I hope you’ll join (again) today!
Bullying among youth is always wrong, and worse still when LGBT teens and young adults are targeted because they often suffer from in person and online harassment at greatly elevated levels. Bullying, and the causative stigmas and phobias which it produces, leads LGBT youth to have higher rates of substance abuse, self-harm, and suicide.
Feeling excluded from one’s faith community or internalizing religious-based discrimination…
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Dawn Morais 
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