Georgetown Univ. celebrates ‘LGBTQ History Month’ with ‘OUTober’
Georgetown University’s LGBTQ Resource Center and GU Pride are currently holding “OUTober,” an ongoing event celebrating “LGBTQ History Month,” according to The Hoya. This year’s OUTober featured a “coming out day” and a lecture from a transgender activist.
According to the campaign description, this year’s theme for OUTober is “OUT FOR.” The description states that the theme “echoes Georgetown’s Jesuit values, highlighting the commitment and responsibility of Georgetown students as ‘men and women for others.’” However, the event description makes no mention of Catholic teaching on human sexuality.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that men and women with homosexual tendencies must be treated with “respect, compassion, and sensitivity,” but that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and that “[h]omosexual persons are called to chastity.”
Also, a Vatican statement entitled “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons” warns about giving young people incorrect concepts about sexuality. It reads in part:
Moral conscience requires that, in every occasion, Christians give witness to the whole moral truth… stating clearly the immoral nature of [homosexual] unions… so as to safeguard public morality and, above all, to avoid exposing young people to erroneous ideas about sexuality and marriage that would deprive them of their necessary defenses and contribute to the spread of the phenomenon.
GU Pride President Thomas Lloyd reportedly told The Hoya that OUTober is an invitation to “the Georgetown community to take part in conversations and events that are in direct celebration of our LGBTQ communities.”
The calendar of events for OUTober extends from October 1- November 20, with various lectures and activities scheduled for the LGBTQ community. October 10 featured a “Coming Out Day,” in which students were encouraged to wear promotional t-shirts and “come out” through a door located on the campus’ Red Square.
The event page read:
Come join GU Pride’s annual Coming Out Day. We are a better Georgetown today, but there are still challenges. This event will feature a door through which students ‘come out’ as proud LGBTQ Hoyas and Allies. Be sure to wear your ‘I AM’ t-shirt throughout the day to promote visibility and awareness.
October 21 featured a talk from Ruby Corado, a “humanist transgender” who founded Casa Ruby, “the first multicultural and bilingual LGBT center,” according to the Resource Center website. The talk, entitled “Invisible Others” purportedly focused on Corado’s “experiences and work as a local LGBTQ Latina activist and advocate for the most vulnerable sectors of our community.” Corado was recently married to a man in Washington, D.C., and Mayor Vincent Gray was present at the ceremony.
This is Georgetown University’s third year celebrating OUTober. Organizers were given $1,500 in funding by the Office of the President. The money was reportedly used to purchase GU Pride’s annual “I AM” t-shirts, which students are encouraged to wear in order “to promote visibility and awareness” during LGBTQ History Month.
The Cardinal Newman Society has reported on similar events at Georgetown in past years, including the “Gender Liberation Week,” coming out parties, “kiss in” demonstrations, Lavender graduation ceremonies, and the Genderfunk drag ball.
Reprinted with permission from The Cardinal Newman Society.
