Catholic Church Goes After Straight Allies of Marriage Equality

by Michael A. Jones, change.org

Though it's no fun seeing same-sex marriage rights placed on a statewide ballot, one of the best things to come out of the Maine vote on marriage equality is the fact that progressive-minded Catholics are starting to speak out for the rights of gays and lesbians to marry. Through groups of "Catholics for Marriage Equality" and other venues, ordinary Catholics are speaking up in new ways arguing that love should win out over hate.

It's just too bad that the institutional Catholic Church can't let go of their anti-LGBT agenda. Maine is an interesting case study here. Despite the fact that the Bishop of Maine (Richard Malone) has had to close more than a half dozen parishes this year because of financial constraints, the Catholic Church in Maine has pumped out more than half a million dollars to urge Maine residents to vote for discrimination against gays and lesbians. Worse yet, Bishop Malone has said that giving equal rights to gays and lesbians is a dangerous sociological experiment and that same-sex marriage would be a threat to children.

But what's even scarier is that the Catholic Church in Maine is now punishing straight people who support the rights of gays and lesbians. Look no further than the ironically named Prince of Peace parish in Lewiston, Maine. There, a Eucharistic Minister and lector (the person who volunteers to read the weekly scriptures) was removed from her position because she said publicly that she supports the rights of gays and lesbians to get married.

The Catholic Church has had some real lows this year when it comes to LGBT rights. From the Pope saying that LGBT people were as big a threat to the world as climate change, to the U.S. bishops prepping a document to be released later this month that will say that same-sex marriage will harm the intrinsic human dignity in every person. Add to this list now a possible witch-hunt to identity straight allies of same-sex marriage, and to remove these straight allies from any positions within the Church.

In this specific case, Pamela Starbird Beliveau, a woman who has been heterosexually married for twenty years and who has several children, wrote a column in a local paper that said people should be free to love one another, regardless of sexual orientation.

"We are all wired for relationship, and that includes intimate relationship. When any person finds that special someone, we aspire to marriage," Beliveau wrote in her local paper. "It is a noble and honorable way to live out our lives. It breaks my heart to deny any loving couple the opportunity to experience married life."

For that statement, Beliveau was told by her local pastor that she could no longer volunteer to give out Communion on Sundays, or read from the Bible during church services.

"In view of this publicly stated position of yours, I regret that you will not be eligible to exercise a public ministry in Prince of Peace Parish," wrote her church. "More specifically, that means that I have decided that you are not to serve as a reader or minister of Holy Communion effective today..." Yeah, the letter really is that repulsive. Even more repulsive would be if the pastor resorted to this letter as the only means to communicate this to Beliveau. Failing to tell a dedicated member of the church in person would show an ultimate lack of courage.

At the heart of a move like this though is, frankly, desperation. More and more Catholics in the pews are starting to support marriage equality, and it's these straight allies that are ultimately a threat to the Church's work to oppress gays and lesbians. The actions in Lewiston, Maine can -- at their worst -- be seen as a national statement to straight Catholics who are sympathetic to equal rights for gays and lesbians: speak out, and you too will be marginalized from the Church.

The vote in Maine is in 48 hours. This could be the first time in over 30 tries that same-sex marriage actually wins at the ballot box in the United States. That would be huge.

But it's clear that even if we win in Maine -- which is still not a certainty given varying poll numbers -- the work of changing hearts and minds continues. Pamela Starbird Beliveau should be celebrated by equality advocates for being willing to challenge an anti-LGBT structure, knowing full well that there might be consequences (which there were). If only more Catholics, and especially progressive Catholic organizations, had as much courage as her to look within their own faith and see one of the gravest examples of injustice and discrimination at play in the U.S. today.

(Photo courtesy of maveric2003's photostream on Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.)