“ As alumni of the University of Notre Dame, we are signing our support for the current and future LGBTQ students, faculty and staff. We have been on the sidelines of this conversation but we are here to say that we stand with you. We love and value the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning members of the Notre Dame family. Because that’s who we are; a family. And family members are there for each other and support each other. You are not alone. In signing our names, we hope that you find solace in the fact that we love you for exactly who you are and for who you love. God, Country, Notre Dame”
I am adding my name as a co-signer because I agree with everything the petition says (apart from some grammatical issues, such as the choice not to use an Oxford comma, some sentence fragments, and the use of who rather than whom in the last sentence, but then again, Oxford commas aren’t such a big deal). I personally have no problem with homosexuality, I don’t believe that people should be defined by their sexuality, and I certainly hope that the incredible Notre Dame community of alumni and faculty would not turn away or ostracize anyone with a valid claim to belong to that family, especially over something like sexual preference, unless that individual forfeited their membership through criminal or morally detestable behavior. However, I also understand why the University administration continues to refuse official recognition to an LGBTQ club at Notre Dame. Moreover, I respect their right to refuse such a club official recognition, and I will not take part in any campaign to force their hand on recognition of an LGBTQ club.
While I have no problem with homosexuality, Catholic teaching is that homosexual activity is fundamentally immoral. They have a nuanced theological/philosophical argument supporting their position, and it is a position that continues to be debated and considered at high levels within the Church. The University of Notre Dame, as an institution, is explicitly and profoundly Catholic. While it accepts students of all faiths (as it should), and teaches classes representing a wide spectrum of paradigms (as it should), when the administration speaks as an official body, “ex cathedra”, then they must consider their Catholic identity. Were the administration to officially recognize an LGBTQ club at Notre Dame, it would be placed in the untenable position of having to supervise a club consisting of homosexual individuals, while continuing to teach that it would be immoral for any of the members of said club to act on any of their desires. In order for the University to maintain any kind of philosophical consistency and avoid breaking the rule of non-contradiction, the Notre Dame LGBTQ club would become, in effect, the “LGBTQ chastity club”. I am fairly certain that this is not what LGBTQ club campaigners have in mind, and I am also fairly certain that they would not find this outcome desirable.
What is more, while I do not necessarily agree with everything the Church teaches, on this, or many other issues, I respect absolutely the right of the Church to hold this position. I also respect the right of Muslims to believe that drinking alcohol is immoral. I respect the right of atheists to believe that God doesn’t exist and I am a superstitious archaic idiot. Religions (or any belief system, for that matter) teach that some things are moral and other things are not moral. And in America, they are free to do so, as long as they do not advocate harming others, or force others to subscribe to their beliefs or live according to their teachings. The holdings of an organized religion are not laws, nor should they be. I am decidedly against making the consumption of alcohol illegal, and I have absolutely no problem with homosexual civil (legal) marriage. However, I am also utterly opposed to Government or civil society forcing organized religions to change their teachings. The government should not be able to force the Catholic Church to perform or recognize Homosexual sacramental (religious) marriage.
The University of Notre Dame must continue to accept students of all faiths, ethnicities, and sexual orientation, and all students past and present should be accepted as they are by the alumni and faculty community. However, it is unfair to expect the University administration to force itself into an ideologically inconsistent position by supporting a club which would condone activity that, correctly or incorrectly, the Church believes is immoral. But this is exactly why the student, alumni, and faculty community exists as an entity separate from the University administration. While I respect the decision of the administration not to extend official recognition to an LGBTQ club, I would be profoundly disappointed if the students, alumni, and faculty failed to accept these upstanding members of the Notre Dame community into their family, and give them all the support they would give any other member of the Notre Dame family. Do we really need an official, University sponsored club to do that? Or are we as Alumni capable of acting on our own as independant, free willed individuals? I hope we are.
