Rhode Island Democratic LGBTQ Caucus Issues Response to Tobin

Rhode Island Democratic LGBTQ Caucus Issues Response to Tobin

STATEMENT ON BISHOP TOBIN’S COMMENTS REGARDING PRIDE

Today, the Rhode Island Democratic Party LGBTQ Caucus condemns Bishop Thomas Tobin’s statement and all the hate and hurt directed toward the LGBTQ
community.

It is an absolute shame that Bishop Tobin would question the faith and morals of so many LGBTQ Catholic Rhode Islanders, including myself, simply
for being who they are and what their Creator had designed for their lives.

His remarks and beliefs are direct contradictions to the true beliefs of the Catholic Church. An example of this would be from Pope Francis himself who made the following comments to British gay comedian Stephen K Amos during the BBC series Pilgrimage: The Road To Rome, “Giving more importance to the adjective [gay] rather than the noun [man], this is not good. We are all human beings and have dignity. It does not matter who you are, or how you live your life — you do not lose your dignity. There are people that prefer to select or discard people because of the adjective. These people don’t have a human heart.”

Bishop Tobin’s suggestion that Pride festivals and events such as Drag Queen Story Hour is “harmful to children” is truly mean spirited, hateful and plain ignorant. Events like these allow children to see that the world is made up of people of all different ages, races, ethnicities, faiths, and backgrounds. It gives them the opportunity to learn how to live and love in this very diverse world of ours and to also live their own truth.

The Rhode Island Democratic Party LGBTQ Caucus stands firmly against hate. We believe in equal rights and dignity for all. Discrimination of any kind is contrary to the ideals of equality and freedom our Founding Fathers, who were also men of faith, spoke of and has no place in our society or behind the pulpit. We support our LGBTQIA+ community, celebrate the dynamic diversity of it, as well as, the numerous contributions in has made to our society.

Anthony F. DeRose
Chairman, Rhode Island Democratic LGBTQ Caucus