News
LGBT Catholics welcome Francis’ comments on marriage
Pontiff says church has grown ‘obsessed’ with gay nuptials, abortion
LGBT Catholics have welcomed Pope Francis’ comments that the church has grown “obsessed” with same-sex marriage, abortion and contraception.
“We find much to be hopeful about, particularly in the Pope’s firm desire that the church be a ‘home for all people,’ and his belief that God looks on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people with love rather than condemnation,” Dignity USA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke said in a statement on Thursday after America, a Jesuit magazine, published the pontiff’s extensive interview with with Rev. Antonio Spadaro, editor-in-chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, an Italian Jesuit magazine, that took place during three separate meetings last month in Rome.
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry in Mount Rainier, Md., said Francis’ comments amount to a “new dawn” for the Catholic Church.
“Pope Francis’ words and example have opened up new opportunities for the Catholic Church to welcome and dialogue with LGBT people,” DeBernardo said. “His words will give courage and hope to thousands of pastoral ministers and Catholic faithful who have been doing this work for many decades, but who have often received penalties and discouragements from church leaders who did not share this pope’s broad vision.”
Francis’ comments come less than two months after he told reporters who asked him about the reported homosexuality of the man whom he appointed to oversee the Vatican bank on his flight back to Rome after a week-long trip to Brazil for World Youth Day that gay men and lesbians should not be judged or marginalized. The Argentine-born pontiff reiterated this statement during his interview with Spadaro.
“In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation,” Francis said. “It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing.”
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Washington told the Washington Blade that Cardinal Donald Wuerl was traveling on Thursday and did not have any comment on Francis’ statements.
“He is a man who profoundly believes in the mercy of a loving God, and who wants to bring that message of mercy to the entire world, including those who feel that they have been wounded by the church,” New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan said in a statement. “As a priest and a bishop, I particularly welcome his reminder that the clergy are primarily to serve as shepherds, to be with our people, to talk with them, to be pastors, not bureaucrats.”
Dolan, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, further discussed the pontiff’s comments on “CBS This Morning” on Friday.
“If we keep [a] kind of a negative, finger-wagging tone, it’s counterproductive,” Dolan said.
LGBT Catholics greeted Francis’ election in March to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who vehemently opposed same-sex marriage and condom use to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and enforced the Vatican’s moral doctrine before ascending the papacy, with cautious optimism.
Francis, who is the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, in 2001 visited a hospice to kiss and wash the feet of 12 people with AIDS. He told Spadero he used to receive letters from gay people who said they were “socially wounded” because they felt “like the church has always condemned them.”
“The church does not want to do this,” Francis told Spadero.
The pontiff was among those who led the opposition to Argentina’s same-sex marriage law that President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signed in 2010. Francis described the measure as a “machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God” before Argentine lawmakers approved it.
Fernández herself criticized then-Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio’s comments against the measure that included references to it as a “demonic plan.” Francis also called for a “holy war” against the gay marriage bill.
“He says not to interfere with the lives of gays, but in the countries where lawmakers are debating laws of equality, the Catholic hierarchy lobbies ferociously to ensure that these laws don’t advance (the same pope played a part of this in Argentina,)” Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Federation of Argentina President Esteban Paulón told the Blade on Friday. “This leads us to ask ourselves who is the Pope? Is he the same Bergoglio of the holy war and demonic plan (about marriage equality) or the ‘compassionate’ Francis toward gays.”
Even though it appears Francis’ comments will have no impact on Catholic teachings on same-sex marriage and other social issues, Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin on Thursday wrote to Dolan as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson. He urged them to end their public opposition to pro-LGBT measures.
“Doing anything less will put you in direct conflict with Pope Francis’ message of welcome and mercy — and create an even greater gulf between you and the broad majority of the American Catholic laity, who support their LGBT neighbors’ freedom to marry the person they love in a civil ceremony,” Griffin wrote.
World Pride 2025
Pabllo Vittar to perform at WorldPride
Brazilian drag queen, singer, joined Madonna on stage in 2024 Rio concert

A Brazilian drag queen and singer who performed with Madonna at her 2024 concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach will perform at WorldPride.
The Capital Pride Alliance on Thursday announced Pabllo Vittar will perform on the Main Stage of the main party that will take place on June 7 at DCBX (1235 W St., N.E.) in Northeast D.C.
Vittar and Anitta, a Brazilian pop star who is bisexual, on May 4, 2024, joined Madonna on stage at her free concert, which was the last one of her Celebration Tour. Authorities estimated 1.6 million people attended.
Federal Government
RFK Jr.’s HHS report pushes therapy, not medical interventions, for trans youth
‘Discredited junk science’ — GLAAD

A 409-page report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenges the ethics of medical interventions for youth experiencing gender dysphoria, the treatments that are often collectively called gender-affirming care, instead advocating for psychotherapy alone.
The document comes in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order barring the federal government from supporting gender transitions for anyone younger than 19.
“Our duty is to protect our nation’s children — not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions,” National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said in a statement. “We must follow the gold standard of science, not activist agendas.”
While the report does not constitute clinical guidance, its findings nevertheless conflict with not just the recommendations of LGBTQ advocacy groups but also those issued by organizations with relevant expertise in science and medicine.
The American Medical Association, for instance, notes that “empirical evidence has demonstrated that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations of human identity and expression.”
Gender-affirming care for transgender youth under standards widely used in the U.S. includes supportive talk therapy along with — in some but not all cases — puberty blockers or hormone treatment.
“The suggestion that someone’s authentic self and who they are can be ‘changed’ is discredited junk science,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “This so-called guidance is grossly misleading and in direct contrast to the recommendation of every leading health authority in the world. This report amounts to nothing more than forcing the same discredited idea of conversion therapy that ripped families apart and harmed gay, lesbian, and bisexual young people for decades.”
GLAAD further notes that the “government has not released the names of those involved in consulting or authoring this report.”
Janelle Perez, executive director of LPAC, said, “For decades, every major medical association–including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics–have affirmed that medical care is the only safe and effective treatment for transgender youth experiencing gender dysphoria.
“This report is simply promoting conversion therapy by a different name – and the American people know better. We know that conversion therapy isn’t actually therapy – it isolates and harms kids, scapegoats parents, and divides families through blame and rejection. These tactics have been used against gay kids for decades, and now the same people want to use them against transgender youth and their families.
“The end result here will be a devastating denial of essential health care for transgender youth, replaced by a dangerous practice that every major U.S. medical and mental health association agree promotes anxiety, depression, and increased risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts.
“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice, and no amount of pressure can force someone to change who they are. We also know that 98% of people who receive transition-related health care continue to receive that health care throughout their lifetime. Trans health care is health care.”
“Today’s report seeks to erase decades of research and learning, replacing it with propaganda. The claims in today’s report would rip health care away from kids and take decision-making out of the hands of parents,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of NCLR. “It promotes the same kind of conversion therapy long used to shame LGBTQ+ people into hating themselves for being unable to change something they can’t change.”
“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice—it’s rooted in biology and genetics,” Minter said. “No amount or talk or pressure will change that.”
Human Rights Campaign Chief of Staff Jay Brown released a statement: “Trans people are who we are. We’re born this way. And we deserve to live our best lives and have a fair shot and equal opportunity at living a good life.
“This report misrepresents the science that has led all mainstream American medical and mental health professionals to declare healthcare for transgender youth to be best practice and instead follows a script predetermined not by experts but by Sec. Kennedy and anti-equality politicians.”
The White House
Trump nominates Mike Waltz to become next UN ambassador
Former Fla. congressman had been national security advisor

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he will nominate Mike Waltz to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
Waltz, a former Florida congressman, had been the national security advisor.
Trump announced the nomination amid reports that Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were going to leave the administration after Waltz in March added a journalist to a Signal chat in which he, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other officials discussed plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations,” said Trump in a Truth Social post that announced Waltz’s nomination. “From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role.”
Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim national security advisor, “while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department.”
“Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to make America, and the world, safe again,” said Trump.
Trump shortly after his election nominated U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Trump in March withdrew her nomination in order to ensure Republicans maintained their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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