Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo opposes gay-rights ordinance

KALAMAZOO (RNS) The Catholic bishop in southwestern Michigan has issued a statement urging clergy to oppose Kalamazoo’s Nov. 3 gay-rights ballot issue, saying it might lead to behavior that is “contrary to Church teaching.” The Most Rev. Paul J. Bradley, bishop of the Diocese of Kalamazoo, said the ordinance in its current form “is problematic […]

KALAMAZOO (RNS) The Catholic bishop in southwestern Michigan has issued a statement urging clergy to oppose Kalamazoo’s Nov. 3 gay-rights ballot issue, saying it might lead to behavior that is “contrary to Church teaching.”

The Most Rev. Paul J. Bradley, bishop of the Diocese of Kalamazoo, said the ordinance in its current form “is problematic and its wording is not one the Catholic Church can support or endorse.”

The ordinance, set for an up-or-down citizen vote Nov. 3, would make it a city violation to use sexual orientation or gender identity to discriminate against an individual in housing, employment or access to public accommodations.


While the ballot issue’s attempt to combat discrimination is “laudable,” it “may result in the coercion of groups and private individuals to endorse behavior which in and of itself is contrary to Church teaching,” Bradley said.

The statement was released by the American Family Association of Michigan, the local branch of a conservative Christian group that opposes gay rights. Victoria Cessna, communications director for the Kalamazoo diocese, said it is “not aligned with a particular advocacy group” and was not aware the statement was being made public.

But Cessna verified the statement’s authenticity, and said the bishop’s position is “being sent to our clergy as an opportunity to affirm, educate and clarify” the church’s teaching. Bradley is the spiritual leader of more than 102,000 Catholics, including five Roman Catholic churches in the city of Kalamazoo.

The ordinance was originally proposed by the gay-rights group Kalamazoo Alliance for Equality two years ago and went to the ballot after the Kalamazoo City Commission twice passed it unanimously and opponents twice circulated petitions that challenged it.

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