Bishop Tony Green and Mother Grace Wilgefortis Ferris joined with 80 other Independent Catholic Clergy and Lay in a prophetic witness letter titled: Inclusive Catholics Speak Against Anti-LGBTQIA+ Hate Speech and Violence

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      As lay and ordained leaders of the inclusive Catholic movement, we grieve the victims of the heinous mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs on November 19, 2022, on the night before we prepared to observe Transgender Day of Remembrance. As we mark the one-month anniversary of that horrific shooting, we remain outraged by acts of violence in sanctuaries of safety and celebration, and our prayers continue to accompany everyone impacted by that tragic night.

      As people of faith, we are profoundly concerned about the intersection of twin epidemics: violence and anti-LGBTQIA+ hate speech. We call upon religious leaders of all faiths to open their eyes to the consequences of their words and actions on our LGBTQIA+ siblings. All who vilify members of the LGBTQIA+ community—through their proposal of anti-LGBTQIA+ policies and guidelines, their spewing of hatred through various media, and in their preaching and teaching—bear responsibility for fueling the escalating violence against the LGBTQIA+ community.

      As faithful sharers in the Catholic tradition, we are particularly outraged by the hateful rhetoric of some leaders in the Roman Catholic Church. As the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet state: “Language, beliefs and practices that condemn, reject, target or blame LGBTQ+ people must be explicitly rejected, particularly by religious leaders and churches. … All people deserve a life free from violence, persecution, discrimination, and hateful rhetoric that targets an individual or group because of their sexuality, race, gender identity, ethnicity, and/or religion.”

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